Chris Squire's 1969 4001

[weemac]

Looks like it has it's nick name...
The Starship trooper bass!
emac.

[jps]

Wonderful, Vincent! If it weren't for you Chris might never have sen that bass again.

BTW guys, he prefers Vincent so be respectful, thanks.

[wints]

Congratulations Vincent....

I'm glad no one else got hold of this one...

[bob_atherton]

Congratulations Vincent....

I'm glad no one else got hold of this one...

I agree, except for me of course!!.

I didn,t go for it because....

A: I didn't think it was the real deal

B: I didn't have the money handy.

Does this mean that CS will get the bass back or will it stay with Vincent now? Starship Trooper eh? One of may favorite YES tracks. Great story, great bass.

[seyesbass]

Well done Vincent!
You got there in front of me by the way.
I was well on the way to going over and buying that.
I didnt believe the Music Ground description at first but when they claimed to have provenance I got in touch with them late on in the day after they closed.
The email was late coming back with the pictures.
The bass had gone by the time I finally managed to speak to the shop.
Even after buying a second CS just days before,since the debacle over DA24 my wife has realised how valuable vintage Ricks are and she would have been ok with this one.
I would have let Chris have it back for cost plus a guest appearance with my Yes tribute!....(after letting him sweat for a while!)
The profit from a full house would be compensation enough.

Now all we need to do is track down the white Telecaster Bass....did that one end up in the attic too?
I emailed Chris at his website and suggested that he gets the Fender Custom Shop to build him another one.
Ltd Edition Signature perhaps?

Back to Rickenbacker though,
With all the interest in this bass and the very few others like it,wouldnt a 1969 21 fret 4001 Vintage re-issue be in order?

[just_bassics]

Does this mean that CS will get the bass back or will it stay with Vincent now? Starship Trooper eh? One of may favorite YES tracks. Great story, great bass.

My guess is that it will be returned to the original owner, the one and only.... Fish! But we'll have to wait and see how much Vincent wants to share with us...

[ajish4]

Does this mean that CS will get the bass back or will it stay with Vincent now? Starship Trooper eh? One of may favorite YES tracks. Great story, great bass.

My guess is that it will be returned to the original owner, the one and only.... Fish! But we'll have to wait and see how much Vincent wants to share with us...

+1

I think that would be an amazing act of friendship.

I'm glad it has surfaced after all these years, and we now know where it is...at least, for the time being.

[teeder]

[quote]With all the interest in this bass and the very few others like it,wouldnt a 1969 21 fret 4001 Vintage re-issue be in order?Pete Greenwood (seyesbass)

Count me in!

[henry5]

Ah, now it all becomes clear........excellent story! Can't wait to hear more!

[vincent_gallo]

Many, many, many, many, many years ago I purchased my first Yes album. It was The Yes Album. I took it home, put it on the hi-fi, and everything changed. I got so much deeper into music, became much more open minded, and I began to play music—the bass guitar. My favorite song on the album was Starship Trooper, and without ever seeing him live or seeing him move, Chris Squire became my idol.

In 1998 I went to London for the British premiere of Buffalo 66. I had already met all the members of Yes several times, was friendly with the children of Jon Anderson, and was extremely fond of and friendly with Chris Squire. But during that brief period in London, I would for the first time meet all the Squire girls--Chris’s three daughters and his ex-wife Nikki. I spent the most time with Carmen, Chris’s older daughter who actually had another natural father but was adopted by Chris at a very young age. She’s the little girl posing with Chris in the Yes Fragile booklet. The whole Squire clan came with me to the premiere of my new movie, which featured some heavy Chris Squire playing and the music of Yes.

Chris had told me that a lot of his musical instruments, clothing, and other valuable possessions were stuck in the hands, or at least in the possession, of his ex-wife Nikki and that it was not going to be easy to get any of it back. He told me about his beloved ‘69/70 21-fret maple glow 4001 that he had used to record a lot of early Yes music. As well, he mentioned another ‘64 Rose Morris bass that Donovan had given him years ago and he also talked a lot about his Bosendorfer piano. I joked with Chris that I would try to buy everything from his ex-wife Nikki, however during that stint in London I got the vibe that the best thing was not to mention anything at all about Chris’s stuff. The pleasant time I had with the Squire girls was spent with as little mention of Chris as possible.

Around seven years ago Chris told me he had made an agreement with Nikki and would be getting back all of his stuff. So one day we drove out to the airport to open up a couple of crates that had flown in from England. One giant crate housed his Bosendorfer piano. Also showing up at the airport were his 8-string bass and the Donovan ‘64 Rose Morris. The ‘69 /70 4001 was not to be found.

One day recently I noticed the clowns at Music Ground in England had placed a very ambiguous ad for a celebrity-owned ‘69 Rickenbacker 4001. I knew right then and there that they had somehow gotten Chris’s bass. Seven years earlier when we couldn’t find it at the airport, Chris’s ex-wife Nikki said that it was stolen or lost. So either Music Ground had purchased the stolen bass or somehow it had remained with Chris’s ex-wife who was now looking to sell it or maybe already had. It turned out in fact Nikki had sold it to a dealer in England who was a good friend of the Music Ground, a guy named Phil Harris. Mr. Harris has had a lot of experience buying celebrity-owned instruments and I still wonder what he paid Nikki for it. In any case, the Music Ground creeps were trying to sell it for $16,000 and I suggested to Chris that he contact Phil Harris directly and explain to him that in fact the bass was still his and should not be for sale. After all, the bass was not part of any divorce settlement but instead it was still under the ownership of Chris Squire. Chris could have reported the bass stolen and prevented the sale, but with those guys at Music Ground involved and an ex wife who has mixed feelings about who owned what, most likely the bass would have just disappeared and remained underground so I suggested to Chris that I would purchase it. He was thrilled with that idea and wanted it to remain here in the United States with me—of course for him to use whenever he wanted it. Chris was extremely happy when the deal was settled as his conversation with Mr. Harris upset him.

Yesterday the bass arrived here in Los Angeles. It is missing the original truss rod cover so if anyone can help out and has one of those for sale, I would be grateful. It would be the later clear type with the model 4001 written on it. The pickup and surround seem to be from ‘64 as per the shape of the surround, the raised plastic lipped bobbin, and the very unusually Phillips cut adjustable pole screws. The pick guard is original as is the finish and all the wiring. Though the pots date from ‘66, they do not appear to have been swapped out. Knobs are early type. The neck is fantastic and it has the best sounding toaster of any I have heard.

So there you have it. Please anyone with photos of Chris playing the bass, I’d love to see them. If anybody has a pickup and surround for a ‘68-‘72 bass for sale, I’d love to have it standing by, tucked away in the case along with this bass.

[ajish4]

PM sent Vincent.


What a fantastic history, thanks for posting.

Glad it's in safe hands.

A bass with a history like that should be protected and preserved.

[cheyenne]

Grrrreeeaaaat story. Im glad the bass is in good hands.

[leftybass]

Wonderful account, Vincent....A great read. I for one would be curious to know how the horseshoe p/up ended up on this bass, maybe Chris has a story about this he could relate to you.........

[vincent_gallo]

I did ask Chris about that though sometimes it takes my asking several times before he remembers exact details. He has recalled quite a bit of his past and he tells stories beautifully. So far he's in a fog about the pickup. Pictures of him with the bass would help. I feel the pickup came from a 64 bass of which several were floating around England at the time.

[mgauction]

Looks like Music Ground just can't let go of it:
http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDe ... em=1866881

Isn't Phil Harris a member of this forum? A lawyer in the London area?