Drumroll......my new 1964 Rose Morris 1999!!!

[johnallg]

Tony, awesome! Congrats!

[GATSBY]

Wow, Good luck!
Henry

[opticnerve]

Yes Ronbo, that's the one.

The bass was owned by hard rocking & hard living English bass player Michael Griffith.

Here's the story...below are excerpts from email correspondence as told by his son Jackson.

It was my father's bass, he bought it second hand in 1968, and the guitar itself dates to April 1964 according to the serial number. As far as I know, it's always been here in the UK. My father gave it to me in the early 1980s and it's been in storage ever since. I'm not a guitarist so I've never played it. My Dad played it hard in the 70s (himself, and the guitar!) and he's now been sitting in a care home for the last 8 years recovering from a liver transplant. He's only 62 now but he doesn't have the strength to strum anymore and likely never will.

My Dad was never a famous guitarist, he lacked the social stability, liked to party too hard to hold it all together and stay pro for very long. He had his chances, he gigged around with David Coverdale from 1970-1973, he was bassman to David's awesome vocals. Then in 1973 David joined Deep Purple, then formed Whitesnake 3 years later, and that was that. He offered my Dad various session gigs, but he never took the offers! I keep in touch with David from time to time. I last bumped into him at a Whitesnake gig in Oslo in 2008, pic attached. He looks a little weatherbeaten in this pic, but trust me, on stage he still rocks! We all originate from the north east of England (Middlesbrough and Redcar), which was a hot bed of the European music scene in the 60s and 70s (Eric Clapton, Chris Rea, David Coverdale and such).

I did have a couple of pics from the late 60s, fantastic promo shots of his two piece band at the time, "Blue Velvet", him with his Rickie and his side kick guitarist (who moved to Michigan in the mid 70s - I still keep in touch with him from time to time). Sadly, I suffered a hard drive PC crash a few years back and lost the pics. I've asked my Mum if she has any copies. I did also have a demo tape of Coverdale and my Dad from early 70s, but that's been long since lost.

My one regret (on my father's behalf) is that he's not kept many archives from those times. He kind of shunned the scene late 70s, fell back on the booze and never really recovered to be honest. He threw out most of his gear over the years but I managed to keep a hand on the Rickie and safe guard it in my storage. Wasted potential for sure, he had his moment, could've tagged on with David in the Deep Purple move, but never could manage to cope with the excesses of that lifestyle. Drink and violence always got the better of him. How many similar musicians do we hear of who burn so brightly, but for a short period of time, it;s a common theme!

He's a sweet, docile old man now, still with a charismatic spark in his eye.

I'll see if I can recover any 60s/70s era pics from around the family ... needless to say, he had long, curly black shoulder length hair. He still fights to keep his hair long and his fingernails varnished to this day!

We had the bass repaired slightly on a whim in 2002, to fix the crack in the neck and the repair guy also chose to replace the pickup and scratch plate. I still have the original pickup (horseshoe), see the attached pics. You can see on pic 1016 where there's been a new piece of wood inlaid to strengthen the neck (it was damaged when my Dad whacked his lead singer with it on stage).

So my primary desire here is to simply get the bass to a better home. It certainly doesn't deserve to be sitting in storage all this time. But I'll certainly be honest with you on it's condition, it needs some restoration, but the bass is otherwise quite solid, no major problems other than the crack in the neck and hasn’t been played for a long, long time.

Jackson.

[windchimp]

Cool story Tony!

"...(it was damaged when my Dad whacked his lead singer with it on stage)."

So what's the verdict on the bass - how much work does it really need?

[opticnerve]

Cool story Tony!

"...(it was damaged when my Dad whacked his lead singer with it on stage)."

So what's the verdict on the bass - how much work does it really need?

Jackson told me that when his dad realized what he had done, he wept! He loved the bass and besides that one episode, he took very good care of it. It's too bad his temper got the better of him that night.

More from Jackson...

"...he did also have a Hofner in the late 60s, clearly trying to mimic his idol, McCartney, he was a crazy Macca fan (and not too keen on Linda, as most weren't at the time!), with both the Rickenbacker 4001 and the Hofner. Sadly, the Hofner is long gone, lost or given away many years ago."

The bass really needs no work, the neck repair is fine. There is another crack (see pic) that is stable so it was left alone. It does need some parts. The luthier who worked on it in 2002 replaced the horseshoe pickup and pickgaurd. In the process, the HS pu bobbin, original pickgaurd (that was painted with black nail polish) and thumb rest were tossed! OUCH!!! Luckily, the surround and the rest of the HS pickup was saved and put in the case.

I do have a correct raised lip bobbin. It's a 6 pole now...it's being converted to a 4 pole. It will retain the original winding...so, it'll be as correct as you can get.

I couldn't stand looking at the bass with the awful pickgaurd and Jazz bass pickup...so I cut off the bottom of the replacement gaurd & re-installed the HS pu. The luthier used the original gaurd as a stencil and lined up the holes correctly...no extra holes under the gaurd....just the one above the bridge near the E string.

More pics...

[1965]

We had the bass repaired slightly on a whim in 2002, to fix the crack in the neck and the repair guy also chose to replace the pickup and scratch plate.

Good god, stay away from that "luthier." Who takes that kind of liberty on any guitar in for repair? I'd be like dropping off your Les Paul at the shop, and when you go to pick it up has a strat pickup in it.

[opticnerve]

More...

- no extra routing anywhere
- I replaced the two ugleee knobs with correct vintage ones
- 2 pots, switch and some wire replaced on the harness...I have a correct vintage switch and wire,
but will need two '64 pots

More pics...

[opticnerve]

Oh...PLM was a project of Michael's...Pretty Like Me!

More pics...

[s4001]

Clever how they made the jazz pickgaurd without drilling additional holes.

Enjoy the beast!

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

that closeup shot of the bass w/o the pickguard seems to show the horseshoe w/o coil ? also looks like someone moved the tug bar to the bass side at one time. i'm sure that other crack is repairable on the headstock. very nice booty fer sure ! it's like getting a special firearm with historical documentation. what was the name of the band coverdale and his dad had prior to purple ? there is no info available on any coverdale sites save for where born and where worked . did you read that last portion of the coverdale interview in my last post ? was that with his dad ?

interesting to note how many variations of surrounds there were through the '60's !

nice to see that the luthier made use of all the original screw holes for that huge scratchplate !

[opticnerve]

that closeup shot of the bass w/o the pickguard seems to show the horseshoe w/o coil ? also looks like someone moved the tug bar to the bass side at one time. i'm sure that other crack is repairable on the headstock. very nice booty fer sure ! it's like getting a special firearm with historical documentation. what was the name of the band coverdale and his dad had prior to purple ? there is no info available on any coverdale sites save for where born and where worked . did you read that last portion of the coverdale interview in my last post ? was that with his dad ?

interesting to note how many variations of surrounds there were through the '60's !

nice to see that the luthier made use of all the original screw holes for that huge scratchplate !

Oh, you're right Ronbo...it does look like someone moved the tugbar...there are two extra holes above the E string. Somehow I missed that. Good eye, thanks!

I did mention that the coil was missing...the HS pu bobbin...

"The luthier who worked on it in 2002 replaced the horseshoe pickup and pickgaurd. In the process, the HS pu bobbin, original pickgaurd (that was painted with black nail polish) and thumb rest were tossed! OUCH!!! Luckily, the surround and the rest of the HS pickup was saved and put in the case. I do have a correct raised lip bobbin. It's a 6 pole now...it's being converted to a 4 pole. It will retain the original winding...so, it'll be as correct as you can get."

I did manage to find pics of a band that Coverdale was in pre-Deep Purple. It was called Government. Michael Griffith did do time with that band, but unfortunately, he's not in the pics that I found.

As far as the interview you posted...I don't know if MG was in the band that Coverdale spoke of.

Also...interesting how the Jazz pickup was installed. It was screwed into a block of wood, and the block was wedged into the factory route. I just pulled it out. There are no extra screw holes in the route.

[wints]

Tony,

Congrats!

Nice to see this bass come out, and have some background on it's history. It's always nice to see an original RM1999 with it's FG paint, and good honest wear. Not worn out, just well worn in...

Pre June '64, so with the short surround, and although a shame about the original bobbin, it's pretty much all there in regards to returning to original.

Tony, I don't know if you have the exact bobbin from a lapsteel, the thin plastic lipped version from 63-67, but I'd try and find the exact period correct piece if you could.

This bass deserves it!

[opticnerve]

Tony,

Congrats!

Nice to see this bass come out, and have some background on it's history. It's always nice to see an original RM1999 with it's FG paint, and good honest wear. Not worn out, just well worn in...

Pre June '64, so with the short surround, and although a shame about the original bobbin, it's pretty much all there in regards to returning to original.

Tony, I don't know if you have the exact bobbin from a lapsteel, the thin plastic lipped version from 63-67, but I'd try and find the exact period correct piece if you could.

This bass deserves it!

Hi Andy,

Thanks! Yes, my 6 string bobbin is correct. It has the same dimensions, raised edge & pole pieces as the bobbin on my '64 Deluxe. The only parts that I don't have are the pickgaurd, thumb rest & the two pots. Have any of those lying around?

I suppose that I'll never find an original pickgaurd and thumb rest...good thing repros are easy to obtain.

I'm just thankful that the original surround was saved!

Cheers!

[rickenbrother]

Cool story, great thread!

[paul_yan]

Wow, great story, Tony!