Paul S Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Saw one of these in action yesterday - never seen one or heard of it before. Sounded extremely good. Headless along the lines of the Steinberger and Honer B2A but with the coolest body design I have seen on one of these small-bodied basses. Pic nicked off the interweb: Anyone got one? Know anything much about them? I read this morning about a fire that destroyed the factory, ending production after only a short run in the 80s. Which completely contradicted what the bass player told me yesterday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 They were quite popular in the 80s, nice basses. Dave Pegg from Fairport Convention used one for a while, there's even an instrumental track on one of their albums ("Gladys' Leap") called "The Riverhead" in honour of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted March 8, 2015 Author Share Posted March 8, 2015 Thanks for that. You may have seen the bass in question, actually, as it was the bassist from a Cardiff based band - The James Clode Band. Sort of country rock and pretty good - great singer. They were performing on one of the pop-up stages at the O2. Big weekend of country music there this weekend. Going there again for the second day, shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 (edited) I should still have an IM&RW review of the Riverhead somewhere. The design 'borrowed' heavily from the Burns Flyte (which was infinitely cooler by virtue of having a head ). Edited March 8, 2015 by Musky 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RhysP Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 [quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1425808355' post='2710814'] Thanks for that. You may have seen the bass in question, actually, as it was the bassist from a Cardiff based band - The James Clode Band. Sort of country rock and pretty good - great singer. [/quote] Nope, never heard of them, and country rock is something I like. Didn't even know there was a country rock band in Cardiff to be honest. They probably don't play locally as the gigging scene is controlled by the hipster mafia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaypup Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 [quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1425807704' post='2710800'] They were quite popular in the 80s, nice basses. Dave Pegg from Fairport Convention used one for a while, there's even an instrumental track on one of their albums ("Gladys' Leap") called "The Riverhead" in honour of it. [/quote] I had that bass for a while - he'd had it defretted too. Really nice to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Needless to say I have terrible GAS for one now. As I do for the Flyte, now you mention it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 [quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1425912716' post='2712100'] Needless to say I have terrible GAS for one now. [/quote] Me an' all. I tried one of these in the Bass Centre in Wapping (for those with long memories) in 1980-something. Had GAS for one ever since. A pink one, specifically. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Blimey - you haven't seen one since then?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I used to own one. It was nice. I realise that is not a whole lot of info. I bought it with money I had left over from my grant at the end of my first year of University. Yes I said "money left over/grant/University" all in the same sentence. Those were the days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 I know what you mean - I was at Uni 1976-1979, always had enough money to supplement the god-awful food supplied at the hall of residence I lived in (Commonwealth Hall in Russell Square - any other former inmates?). Those were the days - studying in candlelight during the 'winter of discontent'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 [quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1425933392' post='2712529'] Blimey - you haven't seen one since then?! [/quote] I've seen a few, but they ain't exactly like buses! Especially not the pink ones... J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TolerancEJ Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Michael Manring is a fan of them. According to this 2006 TalkBass thread, he owned 2 of them at the time of posting. I wonder if this bass was Manring's inspiration to have Zon build the Vinny (VB) bass. [font="Calibri"][size="3"][color="#000000"][url]http://www.talkbass.com/threads/riverhead-unicorn.271742/[/url][/color][/size][/font] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 [quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1425985572' post='2712997'] I know what you mean - I was at Uni 1976-1979, always had enough money to supplement the god-awful food supplied at the hall of residence I lived in (Commonwealth Hall in Russell Square - any other former inmates?). Those were the days - studying in candlelight during the 'winter of discontent'! [/quote] Ah, you were round the corner from me - I was in International Hall, but that was 1975-76, and that was where I joined my first rock band and took up bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 That was a nice place to be in the 70s, I always thought. I had a great time. Didn't do much studying, mind you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketreg Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Just found this thread, only a year late! I have a Riverhead Unicorn, in red. I've owned it from new, about 30 years now I guess. It's pretty worn looking now, a lot of buckle rash, but its still a cool bass. I bought it because it was as far from a 'standard' bass as i could find at the time. Have loved headless basses ever since. Although, i did recently trade a carbon status for a Dingwall Lee Sklar, but that's another story ! Now a headless fan fret bass, that would be something ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahambythesea Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 I remember seeing Ashley Hutchings play one in the Albion Band back in the day. They were performing numbers from the album Stellar Maris so I guess that he used it to record the album too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 Glad to see some love for these. I'm still waiting patiently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveFry Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Just dropping this here for reference , Music U.K. ( trade magazine ) July 1984 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHUFC BASS Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 I had two of these back in the day - mid 80s to be precise. One black and one pink which were bought for a stupidly cheap price off a guitar teacher I knew who wanted shot of them. They were very light with a unique string arrangement. Ball end of the string went into the bridge and the string was pulled through a small hole at the other end and secured by a grub nut. The excess string was simply cut off so you always had sharp string ends at the top. They were extremely light with not a massive amount of bottom end. The necks were quite comfortable from what I remember and finger and slap playing was quite easy on them. They had two volumes and a tone, but I can't remember if they were active - I'm assuming not as I don't recall changing batteries on them. They came with a leather gig bag which had hardly any padding and fitted the basses extremely tightly. I gigged with them for a while but moved them on when I got a '62 Precision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Bevis Frond wrote a song about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 On 08/03/2015 at 09:41, RhysP said: They were quite popular in the 80s, nice basses. Dave Pegg from Fairport Convention used one for a while, there's even an instrumental track on one of their albums ("Gladys' Leap") called "The Riverhead" in honour of it. Sorry to dig up an old thread... I've been trying to get The Riverhead sussed for years, but I'm not 100% sure I have it right, especially the harmonics. It's a great excuse for having 24 fret basses 🙂 Does anyone know if there is a tab for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 (edited) On 08/03/2015 at 09:55, Musky said: I should still have an IM&RW review of the Riverhead somewhere. The design 'borrowed' heavily from the Burns Flyte (which was infinitely cooler by virtue of having a head http://basschat.co.uk/public/style_emoticons/%3C#EMO_DIR%23%3E/tongue.png). http://blogimg.goo.ne.jp/user_image/0e/e8/8df170f7e0c93c4909e79f09be4921a7.jpg Necro-thread... I was looking for info on Riverheads and saw this; coincidentally, I acquired a Flyte a couple of weeks ago: Edited December 12, 2022 by prowla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralf1e Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 On 20/03/2016 at 00:09, rocketreg said: Just found this thread, only a year late! I have a Riverhead Unicorn, in red. I've owned it from new, about 30 years now I guess. It's pretty worn looking now, a lot of buckle rash, but its still a cool bass. I bought it because it was as far from a 'standard' bass as i could find at the time. Have loved headless basses ever since. Although, i did recently trade a carbon status for a Dingwall Lee Sklar, but that's another story ! Now a headless fan fret bass, that would be something ! They are out there. My Steven Hart built 5 ff headless. He even makes some limited stock to keep busy. This was one he had in stock when I came across him. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 10 hours ago, Ralf1e said: They are out there. My Steven Hart built 5 ff headless. He even makes some limited stock to keep busy. This was one he had in stock when I came across him. Mainstream as f*** these days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.