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John McVie - Gear Auction


cetera

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  • 2 weeks later...

And the results are in. The "Rumours" Alembic went for $100,000, while Mick Fleetwood's wooden balls apparently fetched $128,000. Suspect we'll not be seeing *them* on the BC Marketplace in a few days... 😉

 

https://www.julienslive.com/auctions/catalog/id/443?page=1&catm=any&order=order_num&xclosed=no&featured=no&key=bass&items=100

 

https://www.julienslive.com/lot-details/index/catalog/443/lot/196381?url=%2Fauctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F443%3Fpage%3D1%26items%3D100%26catm%3Dany%26order%3Dorder_num%26xclosed%3Dno%26featured%3Dno%26key%3Dmick%2Bfleetwood%2Bballs

 

 

Edited by tony_m
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Out of those two Alembics I think the fretless went for way more that it might have sold through somewhere like Ebay.  And the graphite necked one went for less than I expected.  A selection of items went for way more than their estimates as well including that 1960 P bass.  Given the choice between a pair of wooden balls and two Alembics, the decision would be easy given the total values are so similar.

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4 hours ago, Kiwi said:

Out of those two Alembics I think the fretless went for way more that it might have sold through somewhere like Ebay.  And the graphite necked one went for less than I expected.  A selection of items went for way more than their estimates as well including that 1960 P bass.  Given the choice between a pair of wooden balls and two Alembics, the decision would be easy given the total values are so similar.

Let's face it, you probably need a pair of wooden balls, or something similarly robust, to fork out so much money on items that won't necessarily be great investments in the long term. 

 

I am a big fan of John McVie's bass playing but I am sceptical that the tools he has used are imbued with magical properties making  them more valuable. Will collectors in 20 or 30 years time still believe in Fleetwood Mac?

 

As the baby boomers pass into history, will the generations that follow place such importance on the artists of that era? Only time will tell.

 

The only magic I would pay these prices for is if John McVie had found a way to make his Alembics balance properly on a strap in a comfortable playing position and weigh less than about 9 1/2 pounds. And even then, if John McVie doesn't want them, why should I?  Presumably the basses he is keeping offer some advantages over the ones he is getting rid of.

 

 

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18 minutes ago, grenadillabama said:

Did he come back to Fender ? (from Alembic ?) Years ago I saw the Moody Blues and their bass man played an Alembic ; later he played an active Fender. 

He's played a load of other brands since including Rick Turner, Musicman, Fender, Godin and Tobias.  If you have a look through the auction sale results, you'll see some of them 

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I saw him playing a lovely old Fender P Bass with a blocked and bound Jazz neck and what looked to be a Badass bridge and Di Marzio pickup a few years ago. I wouldn't be surprised if he had kept that one.

 

I think that's the bass his custom USA Lakland P was supposed to emulate. 

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Funnily enough, not so long ago I found the old (or should I say"vintage") pair of BHS underpants I used to use to polish my first ever Fender bass that was my pride and joy about forty years ago. It's a strange thought that if my music career had gone slightly different ( i.e if I had had one) they might be worth a few quid as memorabilia, especially if I had a road case for them that could be auctioned as a separate item.

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This is where the fretless Alembic ended up - not owned by the player in the clip, (Nashville session guy) Tony Lucido, but by Jim Irsay (owner of the Indianapolis Colts).

 

Irsay is a big music fan, with a few bob to spend putting on shows and the like (that he often gets to perform at himself!).

 

The clip, btw, is from Tom Bukovac’s (first-call Nashville session guitarist) YouTube channel, which is well worth a watch as he’s fine fine player and all round musician…

 

 

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