Guitar

Gordy Headless Bass. . . . . . .

You don't see many of these - in fact, I had never seen one until this

turned up for sale, a couple of years ago.

I had no idea what it would be like when it arrived - tried to find out
something about it but without any luck - Google "Gordy" and you get
details and images of all the people in the world called "Gordon"!!

So, when it arrived, I had a completely open mind about it, no
preconceptions no reviews, no comparisons. . . . Nothing.

Picked it up, gave it the "once over" and my first thoughts were how
well it was made, real quality and the fretwork is as good as I have ever seen.

The strings on it were VERY light, which at the time was not something I was

used to, as my usual preference is around 40 - 100.

Sat down, had a quick go - unplugged and found it so easy to play - thin

gauge strings encouraged a bit of bending, which is something I never

normally do - smiles all round.

When I did get round to plugging it in, smiles turned into frowns!

Nothing, dead! Bah - either there is something major here or we need a
new battery!

Battery installed, plugged in - WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was certainly a VERY powerful beast! It had a big punch to it, a lot of
depth plenty of brightness and loads of tone.

Put it on a strap, stood up - balanced perfectly and felt very light - just the job!

The strings were getting on a bit, so I ordered some of the same gauge,
having found that I liked the feel of them on that particular bass.

After fitting them, it sounded even better.

In a few words. . . a Cracking Bass!!

As I said, I know very little about it - from what I have found out, Gordy was
Gordon Witham and was originally part of Gordon Smith, who have been
making guitars for many years and are still very active.

http://www.gordonsmithguitars.com/

I think it's a mid to late 80's and from what little I have found, they were very
expensive at the time - mainly used by pro bass players when in that era,
loads of players went headless.

Since I have had mine, I have only seen one other and the only image I
can find of it, is from the back, in a very tasteful red.

If you ever come across one, it would be well worth a second look
and I'd seriously doubt you would see another one, in the flesh,
for a very long time.

Back next week with something Japanese.

Cheers. :)

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