Tommy Shannon's "Kumi" Bass

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Author Message Tnadr Username: Tnadr Registered: 01-2006 Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 1:11 pm:    I bought this bass directly from Tommy Shannon of Double Trouble. You all know he was SRV's bassist. It was given to him by Ibanez in the late 80's before the "In Step" album came out. It is named after his wife, Kumi. He stated that this is a very special bass to him and he requested that I take very good care of it, not only because it was named after his wife, but because it is "one of two or is THE bass" the first few notes of "Crossfire" was written and worked up on. It's in excellent condition with a beautiful bird's eye maple neck and active EMG pups. It sounds wonderful, powerful and crisp! What a piece of history. At least to me, this is an important bass because "Crossfire" was the first band-written song for Double Trouble and actually one of the best songs put out by the group. Even the case shows its history...the last airport tag has it going home to Austin. If anyone knows anything about the L.A. Custom Shop or the builder I would appreciate any info. Guitartim Username: Guitartim Registered: 04-2001 Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 2:50 pm:    Tnadr, what a great piece of history you have! I've never seen such exquisite birdseye before. Have you opened up the control cavities to search for any signage by the builder/luthier? From your note I guess there was no paper trail from the Custom Shop to Tommy Shannon. Sometimes companies do 'word of mouth' deals for celebrity pieces just to get new products into their hands. I have a similar situation with a Peavey bass made for the late John Entwistle of The Who. No autograph like yours however. Also, check with the IbanezRegister.com site. Their webmaster may be able to check it out for you. Worst case is that you find out that you have a truly unique, one-of-a-kind instrument...and that ain't too shabby either. Good luck. Johns Username: Johns Registered: 02-2001 Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 3:07 pm:    Very nice bass! Great provenance, too. The name of the builder is on the back of the headstock: Mace Bailey. There's info on him in the Ibanez: The Untold Story book and in the Rich Lasner interview on the Ibanez87.it website: http://www.ibanez87.it/english/e-rich-lasner.aspx Tnadr Username: Tnadr Registered: 01-2006 Posted on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 7:25 pm:    I'll check out the site for info. I've got to find and post some pics I have of Tommy holding the bass before he sent it to me. I also bought a Hartke Bass cabinet from him as well. It is one of a set of cabs that he used from '86 on. It was used at Alpine the night SRV died. It comes in a flight case that has his name stenciled on the side. Both are going into my studio at home. I'll post pics.

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