Beatles/Bee Gees

tom · Post by **tom** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 8:51 am

Just thought I would pass this info along....
In the March 24 Billboard Magazine, theres a Bee Gees interview....in it the Bee Gees say they ended up with some of the Beatles instruments... mainly the second Rickenbacker 360-12 that George played on the 65-66 tours and the Vox equipment that the Beatles toured with....Both bands were managed by NEMS, Robert Stigwood the Bee Gees manager teamed with Brian Epstein in 66, Brian managed the Beatles/Cilla Black and Stigwood took over the other artist, things might have been a little different at Apple had Brian lived....the Bee Gees on Apple Records? Cream on Apple Records? probably not but thats another story.....
anyway after the Beatles quit touring the Bee Gees got all their Vox amps, Im guessing these would include the two AC-100 and whatever Paul was using for a Bass amp, Ac-100?.....
Maurice got George's roundtop Rickenbacker 360-12 and a Gibson acoustic, as a birthday gift... what a B-day....I dont think he has the Rickenbacker anymore from reading the artical....they still have John Lennon's Vox amp...it also says that Paul Mccartney was given a Bee Gees Demo to check out and told Stigwood to sign them....

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 10:27 am

Thanks so much for this information Tom. If George's 360/12 New Style had to end up with someone, it was sure nice that it ended up with Maurice Gibb. This information is also consistent with the observations made by some that George's second Rickenbacker is in Australia.

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 10:33 am

I guess I am speculating it went to Maurice Gibb as he is a Rickenbacker fan and player from way back. I have never seen a photo of Barry with a Rickenbacker.

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 10:50 am

While we're on the subject of the Bee Gees, was the finish on the Rickenbacker bass they used in the 60's white from the factory?? I've seen clips of them using a 4001S or a Rose Morris mdl. and it looked as though it was white.....

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 11:03 am

leftybass: It is my understanding that it was white from the factory. Perhaps Mark or Dr. will add their views.

rick12dr · Post by **rick12dr** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 12:42 pm

Peter;
All I can say here is I distinctly remember seeing the Bee Gees "Trafalgar" LP, and on the cover is [Maurice?] with a white, checkerboard bound , gold pickguarded, inlayed 4001.I'm open to corrections on my memory if anyone has the old LP cover to look at, but I believe my memory is intact on this one.

glen_l · Post by **glen_l** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 5:58 pm

Peter, I was looking at that page of Maurice Gibb pics. There's one with him playing what looks to be a 350Jg. Funny thing is there is no 5th mixer control. It has an 'R' tailpiece so it should have a mixer. I can't tell what knobs it has going by that pic. They could even be Rogans. Perhaps it's a 350 that has been customised to have a 50's appearance.

tom · Post by **tom** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 9:58 pm

I wish we could track down the 2nd Rick 12 George had....I wonder if someone has it and doesnt know it? Rickenbacker should have the serial # on file right? who would Maurice have given the guitar to?
The Bee Gee Brothers were originally from England and lived there in the late 60s until they move to Miami during the disco years... so I wouldnt put too much into the rumour that the guitar ending up in Australia....unless the other 2 non-Gibb Brother members, of the group got the guitar and took it back to Australia...maybe Maurice traded it for the Rick white 4001....

tom · Post by **tom** » Thu Mar 29, 2001 10:02 pm

this is off the subject but Ive heard that George Harrison gave Pete Ham of Badfinger his 65 Gibson SG standard.....Tom Evans played a Rickenbacker 4001 in a video Ive seen...just to keep this Rickenbacker-y

admin · Post by **admin** » Fri Mar 30, 2001 4:57 am

Nice work Glen. So I wonder if it is a 320/350 with modified electronics or a 325V59 with a modified tailpiece and knobs. No problem, we will just wait for Maurice to post and the whole thing will be sorted out.

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Fri Mar 30, 2001 5:06 am

Yeah, and hopefully Maurice can talk about the white 4001 as well.

seyesbass · Post by **seyesbass** » Tue Apr 03, 2001 12:07 pm

I bought a white RM1999/4001s from Honkytonk Music in Essex sn.DH163 in 1978.The people at the shop said it was from some "name band" and as I got it mail order I never pressed them for more info on it.I dont have the bass anymore and regret selling it (in 1980)to this day.It was painted white allover,and someone had added a plexi "scratch plate" to the back of the body.The paint job seemed quite good and had been done a number of years prior to 78.Other than that it was all original.Could it have belonged the Bee Gees?I like to think it might have been since there are odd clips of them on TV with a fireglo 1999 then a few years later with a white 4001s.

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Wed Apr 04, 2001 3:57 am

Pete, that's what I remember seeing on TV---a white 4001S---I remember a dot-inlay fingerboard on the bass that The Bee Gees had. It would be interesting to know if it's still in that configuration today with its white finish. Maybe it's still in the UK somewhere.......

seyesbass · Post by **seyesbass** » Sat Apr 07, 2001 4:09 am

Lefty,I sold the bass in question to Rhodes Music in London and when I wanted to trace it they claimed to have no record of the purchaser.This was only a couple of months later so I think it probably ended up in a collection.Theres a bit of a Bee Gees revival at the moment with the new album so look out for old clips on TV.One lesson I learned from all this is never sell a rare Ric to pay your mortgage..sell the wife first.

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Tue Apr 10, 2001 9:57 am

Sell the wife?? Hey that's my line!!!

Well, maybe the 4001S AND the Harrison round-top 360/12 will both re-appear in the near future.