I just picked up the album "Greatest" today, and I absolutley LOVE IT!
I know that Maurice Gibb used a Rose Morris 1999/4001S, as Andrew Winter owns the bass. My question is how did HE get it???
Questions:
1. When did Maurice get the bass repainted from fireglo to white?
2. When did he stop using the Ric?
3. What basses did he endorse when he was done with the Ric?
4. Did he ever return to Rics?
5. Did Barry Gibb use Ric guitars at all?
Sorry for the delay in replying. Been on vacation...
My question is how did HE get it???
Is that me or Maurice?
I bought the bass in Jan 81 from a guy in London. This is the person who bought it when Pete Greenwood sold it in 1980. Maurice probably got this bass when Dick Ashby, who was previously manager of The Birds when they split up, was left with all their gear in 65/66.
He used the RM1999 until 1970. Then he uses a new white 4001 deluxe bass from Rickenbacker. I've seen him with a fretless Fender P in some footage, but he was a Ric man for many years, especially in the 70's. I've never seen Barry use a Ric....
Hi Jake.
I bought the bass from Honky Tonk Music in Essex in the late 70s for £275 after haggling 20quid off!.
If you think thats cheap,the same advert that the white RM was in also had a 1958 Strat for £295 1963 Tele £179 1960 Gibson 330 £295.
There are two new Ibanez 2617 and 2619 Artist guitars in the ad going for £325 and £375 respectively.
As you can now see there was no real "vintage" collectible market of any note in the late 70s.
I was earning around £60 per week at the time so it is like spending a month and a bit of salary on a guitar.
I was working for a TV electrical shop called Rumbelows at the time and on my lunch break I bought a copy of International Musician magazine.
When I spotted the bass I phoned the shop straight away and after being satisfied that it was all intact (even then I knew what original parts to look out for) as original except for the colour (which I liked!) I sent a cheque for a deposit and by return of post they sent me the HP forms.(thats hire-purchase)
When the bass showed up at the shop a few days later it was in a Fender precision cardboard box and I thought they had sent me the wrong guitar!
There was no case for it and I had a Bird Brothers flight case made for it....their ad showed a bulldozer driving over a case with a Les Paul in it!
I never ventured to ask about its history because at the time I didnt know how few Rickenbackers there were of this kind. I only guessed that it might have been Maurice Gibbs bass because my sister had a magazine a few years prior to this that had a cover shot of him with a white Rick and at the time it reminded me of Chris Squires bass. That was in 1972 and I think the magazine was FAB 208 the Radio Luxembourg fanzine.
I changed jobs during the time I owned DH163 and I got the sack from my job one day when they re-shuffled the staff.
I found it hard to make ends meet and got behind with my mortgage so I had to sell all my gear.
I was too embarassed to tell my family about my predicament and later my brother (who was away in the RAF) said he would give me the money to buy back my bass. I phoned Rhodes Music in London but the Rick had gone. the shop wouldnt even put me in touch with the new owner even when I asked them to pass on a letter for me.
A couple of weeks after that my (then) wife told me she had been seeing someone else and went off with another bloke and my whole world caved in on me.
I am glad to say that my family and friends were there for me.
It was a bleak time but I got back on my feet and whenever I saw old Ricks in the press I enquired just in case it was THE Rick.
I bought the ex-John Lodge RM but the neck wasnt very stable so I sold that one and after that time in the 80s the vintage thing took off largely (I think) as a result of Lennons death and the growing nostalgia for 60s memorabilia.
I suppose if some of the guys who saw my post about re-finishing my #2 CS in white see the background to all this they might realise why I want to do that.
I hope thats filled in some of the blank spaces Jake.
Thanks again Pete...Sorry I couldn't make oop North, it was a very busy few weeks there catching up after being gone a year...
I'd really like to fill the gap between '70 and when you bought it. Someone out there must recognize it, especially with the net as it is today. Dick Ashby told me he couldn't recall Maurice ever selling anything, he just used to give stuff away all the time...
As I've said before, this forum has been wonderful in putting old Rickenbacker's in perspective, and building friendship's. The latter really being the most important...
Mo has the Ric on the Jive Talkin' promo, but the Fender P on some other vid's around that time as well. You Tube shows a few from the 73-76 period.
At the time of myself buying the bass, I saw an ad in the Melody Maker, which was one of the leading music rags at the time, with a large classified section of used gear. The seller had it as a 64 4001, and I didn't know anything about Ric basses at the time, just that Chris Squire had one, I wanted one, and had read that the old gear was the most desirable. I phoned, and got on the train to go to Romford, IIRC, with what to a 17 year old was an awful lot of money. On getting there, he opened the case, and I was smitten, especially with that white finish as well...I fumbled a few notes, handed him the cash, and walked out with that feeling...
