Found this guy while surfing eBay. Pretty interesting pickup choice; I’d love to hear some sound clips….

Check out the auction for more photos: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200385919293

And just for old time’s sake, the bass that started me down the hollowbody path:

Low and behold, Mr. Adam Clayton is rocking out with a vintage Epiphone Rivoli. Screencaps:

At first I thought it was just for show, but I’m pretty sure he actually played the Rivoli (or some type of mudbucker-equipped bass) in the track. Listen to the bass interlude/solo starting @ 1:16 in the video and you’ll know what I mean.

Link: U2.com Media Page

If you find any cool/historic/unique patents that I missed, post a link in the comments!

Up first, “Electric Bass Guitar and Elastomeric Bridge Therefor“:

Gibson/Epiphone/Norlin Patents:

Epiphone ‘Scroll’ Bass

Leland Sklar Signature Bass

Gibson Victory Bass

Peavey Patents:

T-40 Bass

“Razer” Body Shape

Fender Patents:

The Classic – 1959 Precision Bass

P-Bass Pickup

Fender/Squier Bullet Bass

Starcaster Headstock Design

Modulus:

Graphite Bass Neck

Mosrite:

Guitar & Bass Design

Kent:

Hollowbody Guitar Design

Patent art can sometimes be crudely drawn, or in some cases, drawn well but just plain ol’ funny. Check out this image from Patent #7030304:

Overall, the show was okay. Got to play a couple hollowbody basses and other stuff that I hadn’t been able to get my hands on prior to the show.

I’ll start with the few that I got pictures of. Pics are from an iPhone, so they’re not spectacular quality. First up is a DarkStar’ed Ibanez ASB-140:

DarkStar sounded pretty good (from what I could tell over the crowd noise while playing through a tiny amp), and the setup on this bass was impeccable.These recent long-scale hollowbodies from Ibanez are very well built, but I’ve never warmed up to the shape/size/profile of the neck.

Next up is the bass I probably would have bought, had I not just dropped a bit of cash on a Danelectro ’63 (more on that to come): a slightly used DiPinto Belvedere Standard. The dealer was asking $350 for it (fair price). I had a chance to try it out through a random Hartke head and 4×10 cabinet, and I was surprised at the tonal range. Sounded great finger-style as well as with a pick. Neck was a very comfortable Jazz Bass width and profile. I hadn’t had the chance to play any DiPinto basses until this show and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised.
 

Yes, I know the Gibson RD Artist above isn’t a bass (nor is it hollow), but that doesn’t keep it from being dead sexy. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to play the RD plugged in. I also had the opportunity to play one of the recent Gibson RD Standards (the silverburst ‘guitar of the week’ model), and the original had a better neck profile and was a little lighter.

I played several other basses that I didn’t stop to take pictures of, including a 60′s Guild Stafire w/ Hagstrom pickup, a couple Gibson basses (Ripper & Thunderbird), a Sekova beatle bass, and several others.

I’ll leave you with a couple random pics. First up, a Maestro beatle bass:

And several vintage pieces from the Low End, notably the black late 60′s Jazz Bass with matching headstock, blocked-and-bound neck, and gold hardware:

Click for Auction Link.

Here’s a flier scan from fortmadisonguitars.com:

The transparent finishes are kinda blah; the white and black finishes are classic, but the pink, silver and two-tone gold finishes are awesome.

Couple close-up pics (from thatnewsound.com):

From 8th Street Music:

Check it out:

I’m pretty stoked to see these getting some mass-market play. When I saw this flyer the first thing I though of was Fritz Brothers and their “F.B. Bass”, which is a hand-crafted copy of the K5965. According to more of their marketing material, the current incarnation of Kay Guitar, Inc has pegged Mr. Fritz to oversee production of this ‘reissue’ line:

Any Kay purists reading this have probably already taken note of the fact that these ‘reissues’ aren’t vintage-correct because they sport the “Kelvinator” headstock instead of the more plain headstocks of the original 5965′s. But I’m not complaining – love the Kelvinator. It’s big, bold, and perfectly gaudy:

MSRP on these puppies is $1k. Based on that, I’m assuming they’ll be made in Korea. Price includes fitted hardshell case. See this catalog page for more specs:

I’ve got an email in to Kay to get some more info. If/when they get back to me I’ll post an update.

The K5965 “Pro” Bass isn’t the only thing Kay has up it’s sleeve. They’re also planning a reissue of the K5970 “Jazz Special” Bass! YES! The Jazz Special is my favorite Kay design, complete with Kelvinator and all:

I have no idea when/where/how these things will be available to consumers, but as I find out the info I’ll let you know.

I guess if the second pickup is legit, the model would technically be an EB-6D?

Either way, it’s a rare bird indeed:

Here’s the link, for as long as it lasts: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270244556826