Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm beginning a new project--Chris Squire's original "Fish Out Of Water" bass, with its original artwork by Paul Karslake. As many of you know, this instrument was seriously damaged in a recent venue tent collapse, and was not recovered from the water it was floating in, until the next morning.

The water and impact damage that it sustained can be seen in the photos below. There are a half-dozen badly chewed-up areas on the bass' body, and the airbrushed pickguard is toast. Happily, the "Chris Squire as a Japanese Woman" artwork on the back of the bass remains intact.

So, it's time, to sand, fill, and repair the paintwork. The biggest challenge will be to recreate the pickguard art, but with photos of the undamaged instrument at hand, I should be able to straighten things out in due course...

So, here are the "before" photos:



















Watch this thread for updates...

Ouch!

When did this happen, and where? I need to get out more often....they tell me.

Hope the wood didn't soak up too much water!

Thanks for sharing the project with us....

After that violent storm and stage collapse, I'm surprised it's not in worse condition than it is. Looking forward to seeing the restoration.

rickenbrother wrote:After that violent storm and stage collapse, I'm surprised it's not in worse condition than it is. Looking forward to seeing the restoration.

I definitely expected to see something out of Katrina. That's not to say that the neck isn't twisted like a pretzel.

rickenbrother wrote:After that violent storm and stage collapse, I'm surprised it's not in worse condition than it is. Looking forward to seeing the restoration.

I agree; I was waiting to see a snapped off headstock or something.

rickenbrother wrote:After that violent storm and stage collapse, I'm surprised it's not in worse condition than it is. Looking forward to seeing the restoration.

+1

How did you get chosen to do this project, Paul?

I gotta believe Chris felt pretty badly when he first saw this damage. It will be fun seeing the progress on restoring it back.

JakeK wrote:How did you get chosen to do this project, Paul?

Name one other person who could do it better.

aceonbass wrote:I noticed that the bridge pickup surround is a current 4003 part that has been flipped around. I wonder why something more "correct" wasn't available for this bass? Notice also that the horns have been rounded off ala C64S.

All that points to it being a C64S that was painted, except that the headstock is right side around, not flipped like the C64/64S basses.

And the heel shape suggests that it was a 4003 neck with a c64s body..
And it has a Rick-o-sound plate.

It appears to be a full on hybrid....

Eden.

Ok I am really out of the loop here...

1st - Does Mr. Squire still own this bass?
2nd - Was this from the stage collapse last year in Oklahoma?

Regardless.. its in good hands. Thanks for sharing this Paul

Chris Squire is the current owner.

Will the bass be refinished as it was,before the accident?