Author Topic: It's back! (Read 2976 times)

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #15 on:** March 19, 2016, 09:05:57 AM »

This started off in another thread, about the silk thread wrapped around the ends of bass strings. Since one of the functions is to identify the manufacturer, I thought it would be interesting to see if those were Casady's original black tape strings (probably LaBella?), on the bass this excellent thread is about.

I searched the 'net for color photos of that bass back in the day, and discovered that apparently color photography wasn't groovy or something. Few and far between. But I thought I'd share what I could find, and let others weigh in.

A question that has arisen is whether the Hagstrom single coils were actually Bi-sonics or regular single-coils with an extra magnet and pole-pieces, so they resemble humbuckers but actually aren't.

Casady's mojo is fierce:

I kinda like the color it is now, though I still think the moron who decided to refinish it should be stripped and subjected to a mass frowning. (At least they didn't use house paint.)

Extras: the 1965 Starfire at the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame's great page on Jefferson Airplane.

Alembic #1 (seemed appropriate to mention it.) The pic in the link is much larger.

Anybody have a link to a discussion of that bass?

? GettyImages 2016

gtrguy · « **Reply #16 on:** March 19, 2016, 10:07:26 AM »

My best friend back when I started playing guitar (68) had a Hagstrom III guitar. I happened to play one last month at a music store. They are not bad sounding guitars and the neck is great. You could lower the strings right to the fretboard without any buzzing when they were new. I would say their real failing was that they did not have much of a distinctive sound of their own.

edwin · « **Reply #17 on:** March 19, 2016, 10:34:03 AM »

I don't know where the term Bi-Sonic came from, but they are most definitely single coils. If you google Dark Star pickups, you'll likely come across a discussion of their construction. A while back I had a late 60s Starfire II and got a couple of extra magnets from Rick Turner and that beefed up the tone a bit. Finances dictated the sale of that bass, but I did have fantasies of sending it to Alembic for a new headstock and other treatments.

They are great pickup, especially with the spider group sex preamps.

I have an old Hagstrom II guitar. I took out one of the original pickups and installed a Dimarzio strat pickup and a humbucker. Didn't really improve it all that much. I got that guitar for about $45 in 1976. The finish was gone and one of the saddles was replaced with a house from Monopoly. Now, it has a Stars Guitars bridge. Or maybe it's an Alembic. It was done when I had sold the guitar, but then I found my friend who I sold it to, and bought it back. Not a great sounding guitar. But, I digress.

elwoodblue · « **Reply #18 on:** March 19, 2016, 10:46:43 AM »

Ed,
here's a link for ya(more links at the bottom of thread)
http://club.alembic.com/Images/411/2565.html?1417971005

...and a random pic

rv_bass · « **Reply #19 on:** March 19, 2016, 11:42:59 AM »

Curtis Novak makes a great sounding replica of the bisonic pickup:

http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/BS-DS.shtml

http://curtisnovak.com/

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #20 on:** March 19, 2016, 01:54:41 PM »

Thank you, Mr. Blue. I will use it well. I'm fascinated by the progression of ideas.

Speaking of:

quote:My best friend back when I started playing guitar (68) had a Hagstrom III guitar. I happened to play one last month at a music store. They are not bad sounding guitars and the neck is great. You could lower the strings right to the fretboard without any buzzing when they were new. ...

Thank God, this will save us both a thousand words:

Isn't that brilliant? Its got a terrific Jetson's name, too: The H Expander Stretcher. (and if you've ever had your H expanded, you know how uncomfortable that can be. The stretching is the worst part.)

Check out the long history (the little tabs at the top of the page. It took me forever to find it, and that homepage goes on forever.)

Cheapskate gear hounds like me can save a ton of money on pawnshop prizes in this realm. In a lot of cases, Hagstrom issued the exact same guitars under names like Goya, Merson Cromwell, and especially Kent. (They made a lot of those.)

mavnet · « **Reply #21 on:** March 20, 2016, 11:43:16 AM »

On one of my trips to Alembic when they made my basses (76-77) Casady's bass with the sliding pickup was there getting some work done. Rick T let me play it for a while - I guarantee, it's all in the fingers. I'm sure Jack can make anything sound like Jack, and a great instruments makes it easier for him to play. Me playing Jack's bass? Sounds like me with higher fidelity. Also got to play McVie's continuously fretted bass when there. I also sounded like me

5a_quilt_top · « **Reply #22 on:** March 22, 2016, 11:37:17 AM »

I really like this thread - thanks to all of you for contributing, especially the photos.

To me, all of Jack's basses are iconic / influential and, in the case of 72-01, personally inspirational.

mtjam · « **Reply #23 on:** March 22, 2016, 02:42:36 PM »

So...does anyone know how this bass got back?

edwin · « **Reply #24 on:** March 22, 2016, 03:19:07 PM »

This is the story I heard:

Jack's 67 Guild Starfire bass is indeed back in Jack's arms ! It looks different as someone refinished it after it was stolen. It was stolen after a Jefferson Airplane show at the Seattle Center Coliseum October 11th, 1969. In 1979 my dear friend and bass player bought the guitar from a fellow employee. He had no idea of its history. January 5th this year, I saw a post that Jack had written and somebody shared. I took one look at that picture and said that's Leroy's bass ! I called him right away, and asked if he wanted me to contact Jack to get it back to him. Leroy paid $1800 for it in 1979. He said do it. So after a lot of chatting with people that knew Jack, I finally spoke with Jorma. We made a little funny plan , to surprise the hell out of jack. I'm not going to tell the whole story here, because I have written the story already. To wrap this up, I shipped Jack's bass to him about a month ago ! Jack is very happy !

This details it more, but it's laid out in a way that's hard to read:

[moderator's edit: long, unwieldy URL removed; see TinyURL three posts down]

(Message edited by davehouck on April 03, 2016)

mtjam · « **Reply #25 on:** March 22, 2016, 03:28:48 PM »

Thanks, Edwin! Awesome story behind this reunion! Great to see Phil and Jack returning to their musical roots.

elwoodblue · « **Reply #26 on:** March 22, 2016, 04:05:12 PM »

Thanks Edwin!

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #27 on:** March 22, 2016, 04:13:01 PM »

Edwin, I made a TinyURL for ya:

http://tinyurl.com/z9moq37

quote:The following URL: ... [omitted] ...
has a length of 326 characters and resulted in the following TinyURL which has a length of 26 characters:

Lost 300 characters in the process. I feel lighter already.

edwin · « **Reply #28 on:** March 22, 2016, 05:14:23 PM »

Thanks! I didn't realize the size, as the new Safari window doesn't show it all and the tiny edit window here fills up fast.

Hopefully at some point Jack will play the bass out in the real world! I'd love to hear him on it again.

JuancarlinBass · « **Reply #29 on:** March 22, 2016, 06:49:50 PM »

Will never get tired of saying it. Along with Jaco?s Bass of Doom being recovered, Peter Frampton's recovery a little while of his Black Beauty Les Paul infamously stolen in my country in 1980, this is another wonderful history of a musician reuniting with his instrument. I am sure there are still a lot of fine instruments waiting to reunite with their original, rightful owners, but every now and then I wonder when will show to the surface the Funk Machine, James Jamerson?s P bass...