First bass No.4 – Aria on a budget

Somewhere in the North East of England, I’m guessing near Sunderland, I’m on stage, seemingly willing my bass to levitate. This picture is notable for several things. Firstly, note Simon Kay, Tubeless Hearts’ drummer, behind his highly collectable Ludwig Vistalite kit. He bought it with money he won at the Casino, and although he admittedly sold it so he could buy Phil Collins’ actual kit from the Genesis “Duke” album and tour, he was financially too embarrassed to hang on to this classic. Note also, my doomed John Birch from an earlier entry, now relegated to being propped up against the amp as a spare bass, and if you look really closely, you can see how I let some half-assed “luthier” (I use the word loosely)  install a Fender p-bass split pick up with a brushed aluminium plate, at the expense of the original John Birch pickup. What was I thinking? Obviously not a lot, as the John Birch soon left my hands in order to bolster my ailing bank account.

In retrospect, I suppose a guy who wears a sports headband in an ill-advised Dire Straits moment, and Aladdin Sane make-up 8 years after Bowie had discarded it is always going to be accused of bad judgement. So let this be a lesson to all of you…..

The bass around my neck, (if not actually in my hands) is an Aria Pro 2. I think the model is an 800b or something. It comes with a simple single pickup configuration, and a coil tap switch. it was quite simply, the heaviest b*stard in the world, and I’m pretty sure I can trace my recent visits to a chiropractor right back to this joker.
The upside was, I found it in a second-hand shop in Leeds  for 125 of your English pounds, in pristine condition, complete with hard case, and in fairness, it produced a lovely rich tone, which was not surprising, considering the wood had a density rivalling that of a white dwarf. (the star, not a small Caucasian person).

It became my constant companion for several years…

Next time; losing my head….

First Bass no.3 – A Shapely Swede

This is the only existing photo of my lovely Swedish-made Hagstrom semi-acoustic 4 string bass guitar. In sunburst with cream piping and a bridge and tailpiece, (the bass, not me) – I sit proudly cradling it by the swimming pool at “The Farm” in Spennymoor, County Durham, during the summer of 1981. The Farm was a musician’s dream, a retreat for travelling bands touring the North, it used to be a schoolhouse and boasted an outdoor pool and the legendary Rita who ran the place and provided us with enormous breakfasts. I’m sat with the two Trev’s; Midgley and Sargent, the guitarists from Tubeless Hearts original line-up. We are almost certainly working on “Telephone” – our first single, which would be released on Posh records some months later.

The Hagstrom is probably from the Concorde series, perhaps from around 1968, and they were popularly known as “The Viking Bass”. I bought it in Drammen, a small town in Norway just outside Oslo, whilst touring Scandinavia that previous winter.

The fate of this bass perfectly illustrates the plight of the perpetually cash-strapped musician, not to mention the ill-judged impetuosity of youth. These basses, quite rightly, are now highly sought after collector’s items, and I got rid of it because the more “80’s” bass I wanted wasn’t really affordable unless I did some selling. Stupid, stupid boy. I look at the photo now, and that beautiful bass sits there, nestled between my skinny legs, mocking me.

Kev Moore

Next time: second-hand, second thoughts….