Jon Camp from Renaissance

bassman_bob · Post by **bassman_bob** » Tue May 31, 2005 9:13 am

Jeff, eat your heart out; I get to play the Great White every day (right Mortivan !). She's lived at my house for almost 2 years now and I still get goose bumps every time I pick her up.

mortivan · Post by **mortivan** » Tue May 31, 2005 11:03 am

I was waiting for you to chime in, Bob! (Lucky dog...)

jps · Post by **jps** » Tue May 31, 2005 2:42 pm

I was going to bid on it but the extensive mods stopped me. I'm glad you have the bass. Play Ocean Gypsy on it for me, or Can You Hear Me or Black Flame or...! I knew how to play all that stuff decades ago.

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Tue May 31, 2005 9:49 pm

Bob - got pics?

bassman_bob · Post by **bassman_bob** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 8:27 am

Jeff, understood ! Glad you made that decision ! (boy am I selfish). I really didn't like the mods either but it was Jon's Rick and I worshipped it so threw my max bid at it and got lucky. Ilan, I'll see what i can do about pics. And John my friend, always glad you're out there. Since arrival, I've cleaned her up, had the jacks replaced (they were shot), had a professional set up and changed the strings. Have left everything else alone. Gave thought to having her restored to 1974 condition, with a professional repaint/refinish, but no, this is the way Jon chose to have it; I'm not going to undo what he did.

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 8:39 pm

What exactly did he do? can you describe the mods? thanks

bassman_bob · Post by **bassman_bob** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 6:04 am

This is what I saw and my tech guy verified:
1. Installed a 21st fret.
2. Removed stock bridge pickup and replaced
with DeMarzio P's.
3. Installed a "phase" switch for the De-
Marzio's' when out of phase the sound is
thinner, but cuts thru very well; I imagine
Jon used it for lead runs and when playing on
the upper frets. I've gotten some good
"clank" when out of phase. In phase, the
sound is fuller.
4. Stripped factory finish to bare wood and
refinished. Can't tell what was used but it
has held up well. Some checking and some
fading but has not turned the mucous yellow
we see on factory white 4001's. And the head
stock was done in black.
5. Installed a block of wood, covered in elec-
trical tape, under the bridge, which raised
the action significantly. (I removed this;
couldn't play it with high action).
6. Truss rods showed enough wear to know they
were carefully adjusted, but appeared to be
originals.
As a history, Jon placed the bass for sale in his local classifieds (seller sent me the ads)in 1984. He was then 17 years old. He used it from 1984 thru 1992 in local bands. It sat basically unused from 1992 to 2003, when the now family man
needed $ and put it on Ebay. We emailed extensively and were it not for the Big Pond between us, we would have become fast friends; hell of a nice guy !

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 6:31 am

I'm not disagreeing, but something seems odd about that...I saw Renaissance open for Yes once, and I'm sure it couldn't have been later than '76...I don't know many 9-year-olds who could lift a Rick bass, much less play it like that...please correct me if I'm wrong, and I apologize if that's the case.

bassman_bob · Post by **bassman_bob** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 7:49 am

Hi Dane. Jon was not 17, the guy he sold it to was 17 in 1984. Hope I didn't confuse you too bad.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 7:53 am

Thanks, Robert...you've rescued me from the Twilight Zone...for now, at least.

ilan · Post by **ilan** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:31 am

Thanks for the info! I wonder when did he have all those mods done to the bass. Do you think that on Scheherazade it was the DiMarzio? Or was it the stock pickup. Because his sound on that album is very similar to Squire's.

Good to know that Great White has found a good home, with a musician who can appreciate it.

bassman_bob · Post by **bassman_bob** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 9:44 am

Ilan, I'd say he was stock then. I can't recall where I got this impression from, but the mods may date to 1979-1980, around in there. After thousands of travel miles and thousands of performing/rehearsal/studio hours, she probably needed a good overhaul. And Jon was never shy about trying to get new sounds. He went full time to the Vigier in 1984.