Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Never mind, I think I figured out what's going on, maybe!

I think Chris just did what was needed for the package - it was a benefit... great to see all those folks doing good and havin fun. Gotta love it!

Just watching "Fish Outta Water" DVD and Squire says he played "Lucky Seven" on his Telecaster bass 'with and extra pickup to make it more like a Fender Jazz'. He also says that it was later stolen and he would like it back!

And the Thunderbird was on "Canon" along with the 8-string Rick. I'm still betting the T-Bird was on "You By My Side" too.

The green Mouradian CS-74 was the first one made. Number 2 is the black one that is now in Japan. My white one was number 3. the first CS-74s had custom made Joe Barden pickups that are very Rick-ish in sound. Apparently Joe and Jim Mouradian had some sort of disagreement and all other CS-74 had EMG jazz pickups in them. Only a few CS-74's were made in Jim's shop perhaps no more than 12-15. After that about 45 were made in Japan by Zildjian (yes the cymbal company). Jim just installed the pickups and wiring on these. They differ in both construction and electronics from the USA made basses.
Heres a pic of mine

Wow Larry & belated welcome!

Thanks for your post!

There doesn't seem to be too much information on these basses.

What do you think of the bass?

Are you the original owner?

The Hammer wrote:The green Mouradian CS-74 was the first one made. Number 2 is the black one that is now in Japan. My white one was number 3. the first CS-74s had custom made Joe Barden pickups that are very Rick-ish in sound. Apparently Joe and Jim Mouradian had some sort of disagreement and all other CS-74 had EMG jazz pickups in them. Only a few CS-74's were made in Jim's shop perhaps no more than 12-15. After that about 45 were made in Japan by Zildjian (yes the cymbal company). Jim just installed the pickups and wiring on these. They differ in both construction and electronics from the USA made basses.
Heres a pic of mine

Hi Larry, I would love to find out more about your bass and how you got it! You are absolutly correct about the Zildjian connection, as I purchased my Mouradian from our Zildjian rep (I worked for a music store at the time...) AND mine was white (with a bit of sparkle in it). I purchased the bass directly from the rep, he had a black one(if I recall correctly he later told me he sold the black w/sparkle finish CS-74 to Ed Roman, memory is a bit fuzzy on that thou) with sparkle finish and the white one. Mine was made in Japan, it had all Schaller hardware in black, Bartolini pickups and an ebanol fingerboard. Jim told me the truss rod cavity was pre-filled with an epoxy resin compound, before installation of the truss rod, to prevent neck twisting. I used the bass live for several years in the early '90's and I recall it was a bit painfull in the rib cage because of the body shape and how I liked to adjust the strap. I sold mine to someone in Torrington, CT who later told me he sold it to a collector in europe.

I have some old pictures of the white CS-74 I had, email me if you are interested. I'll have to look for them thou...

Kenny

[email protected]

So, since Chris himself used to promote these basses in the 1980's (with the quote "Quite simply the bass of the 80's") in a lot of the major guitar magazines, how many were actually produced and where are they now? My same question applies to the Reality Bass which he still uses as well, at least up to the Tsongas concert of 2003...

Here's a cool pic from 1970 that I found...

That's a class photo.

Early shots like that are pretty rare nowadays.

Check the bar after the nut. Was he having problems with the string break angle as early as that?

Yes he was, and he wasn't the first!

Many photo's of Roger Waters show him using a similar method a few years earlier, and my RM1999 had one too.

Notice no vermilion headstock wings?

Correct me if I'm wrong but this looks like it could be before it received the final cream finish.

It was covered with tin foil or something at this time I do believe!

haw wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong but this looks like it could be before it received the final cream finish.

wints wrote:It was covered with tin foil or something at this time I do believe!

The bass in this picture confuses me about Chris's early basses and which one actually got the cream finish. The bass pictured above also appears in early Yes videos from Germany with Peter Banks and has binding, dot neck inlays and no headstock wings. Before this time, when Chris was in The Syn, he appears in a photo with a bass that is clearly his FG 4001S. How many did he own at the time?