Author Topic: John Entwistle and his V-head Spyder (Read 1150 times)

senmen · « **on:** July 30, 2007, 12:28:06 PM »

Guys, below see some pics you might have not seen before. All courtesy by G.D. Many greetings Oliver (Spyderman)

(Message edited by davehouck on July 30, 2007)

speicky · « **Reply #1 on:** July 30, 2007, 01:28:54 PM »

Hi, Oliver,

great pics, man ! Is this the very bass that JAE used on Too Late The Hero ? I can't tell any differences....

If it is, then THAT is the bass that led me towards being an Alembician. 1981 was the year...

Thanks for sharing,

Christian

senmen · « **Reply #2 on:** July 30, 2007, 01:34:46 PM »

Christian,
how are you doing? I hope all is well.
Yep this is THE bass of the TLTH album and this was THE bass that also led me to Alembic.
This has ever been my dream bass; with my once owned Spyder 4 I was close to it, but not close enough....
Who knows... :-)

Oliver (Spyderman)

speicky · « **Reply #3 on:** July 30, 2007, 02:38:16 PM »

Oliver, I'm fine, thank you ...even more when I start my summer vacation on Wednesday ;-)

Do you know by chance if John played that bass at the Rockpalast in 1981 when The Who were performing the rock night with the Deads in Essen/Germany late in March ? I have digged the internet for eons, and you can get many recordings of gigs from Rockpalast, but AFAIK, you (well, okay, I at least) cannot get the Who/Dead performance on tape/DVD.

Any legal matters, perhaps ?

senmen · « **Reply #4 on:** July 30, 2007, 02:42:52 PM »

Speicky,
no, at the Rockpalast gig John played his conehead Spyder No1, the one which failed at the Live Aid gig and was later sold to the Hard Rock Cafe and hang for many years at the wall at the Berlin HRC.
He played the v-head very rarely on stage as he said that this one was much heavier than the conehead Spyders.
Hey, the Rockpalast gig was sent on TV again last Saturday.
But it is also available on DVD in the US. Take a look on Ebay.
Oliver (Spyderman)

adriaan · « **Reply #5 on:** July 31, 2007, 04:29:54 AM »

Ah, the Rockpalast gig! That laser show! I enjoyed watching that live on television back in 1981, immensely ... is it that long ago already?! This was before the days of stereo sound on TV, but they probably recorded it properly.

We don't get WDR on cable where I live, just ARD and ZDF. Do they have a website where you can watch recent programs, like we have here in the Netherlands?

hieronymous · « **Reply #6 on:** July 31, 2007, 01:36:34 PM »

Very cool pictures. But, ummm, what's that Firebird thing attached to the bottom?!!! Maybe this is totally obvious? Is it a mandolin or a mandocello? How is attached there? And WHY? (I'm probably just not up on my John Entwistle lore...)

lindoom · « **Reply #7 on:** July 31, 2007, 03:27:51 PM »

there's a cool video on youtube with John playing this bass with Tony ashton on a show called Gastank. John plays a hot solo in it. it is the only film I have seen of this bass being played live.

David Houck · « **Reply #8 on:** July 31, 2007, 10:10:29 PM »

This must be it.

senmen · « **Reply #9 on:** August 01, 2007, 02:00:42 PM »

Guys,
there are totally 4 vids witgh John using the V-head:
1. the above vid, Gastank, Get America
2. also from Gastank, Twist and Shout, same venue as above
3. The Who, You better you bet
4. The Who, Another Tricky Day
All 4 on YouTube.

Oliver
(Spyderman)

senmen · « **Reply #10 on:** August 01, 2007, 02:03:03 PM »

Hieronymous,
sorry, forgot to answer your question.
The small T-Bird was buildt by Peter Cook, the guy that buildt
most of the older customs for John.
This one, called Christopher, was a gift for Johns son Christopher.

Oliver (Spyderman)

lindoom · « **Reply #11 on:** August 01, 2007, 04:40:34 PM »

What I ment was he was playing LIVE in the Gastank video. the other videos I have seen but they are not a live performance.
Hey Oliver did that other Explorer bass you were having made get finished I would love to see a picture of it if it is!

georgie_boy · « **Reply #12 on:** August 22, 2007, 10:40:20 AM »

i used to know Peter Cook very well!!
I always got him to do my bass work before tours, and any custom work I wanted
His shop was only 2 miles from where I used to live in London.
A GREAT luthier
G

bigbadbill · « **Reply #13 on:** September 13, 2007, 04:55:09 AM »

I only had 1 dealing with Peter Cook; I took a P-Bass to him many years ago to have a new bridge fitted and a set up done. He would only put Dean Markley strings on it (I wanted Rotos),and when I got it back it was harder to play than when I took it!

elwoodblue · « **Reply #14 on:** March 17, 2008, 11:47:14 PM »

John looks very happy and healthy in these pics...thanks Oliver