Bill Wyman

This was the Japanese Bass that Bill Wyman transformed into a fretless. He used this in their very early gigs in 1963. He last used it to mime The Last Time in the Top of the Pops. https://youtu.be/27ouOE4RvUc

Bill nicknamed this bass "Humbug" because he thought the finish resembled a British striped candy by that name.

This photo shows Wyman with a Vox Teardrop Bass.

Wyman can be seen in this photo tuning up his Fender Mustang Bass.

Wyman can be seen playing a Bass Centre Wyman Bass in this photo.

Wyman can be seen in this photo playing a Gibson EB-3.

Bill Wyman needed a higher quality bass guitar as opposed to his Japanese homemade one. He used this extensively, since it fit his short-scale stature, from 1963 to 1965 and predominantly in 1964.

Bill Wyman is seen here using his Dan Armstrong bass. He used it alongside Kieth Richards' Armstrong guitar in live concerts in the 70's.

Bill had several custom short scale TB2000s made for him

In this video Bill Wyman is seen playing a violin bass made by vox in the rock n roll circus.

in this gig, bill Wyman and Brian jones are playing guitars through Vox t 60 cabs

In this photo from 1964 we can see Bill playing his bass guitar into a Vox AC-100.

In this live performance in late 1964, Bill is seen playing into a Vox Foundation Bass Speaker Cabinet.

Bill used them for years starting in 1969 when the whole band used the first 5 made, he used them always at least throughout the 70's with The Rolling Stones. I'm surprised no one here has put this in yet as he is much more well known for SVT's than anything else.

Used on "Brown Sugar", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Johnson in this September 21, 2018 ProSoundWeb interview.

And guess what we came up with for Bill Wyman? Do you remember those Plexiglas body basses that were around then?

I checked with David Hood later and he says it was a Dan Armstrong. So to the best of our recollection, that’s what it was. He played through David’s Fender Bassman setup, the tube head and separate box.

(...) Did you have a mic on the bass amp?

Yes, the bass guitar mic was an RCA 44. We didn’t have direct back in those days.

An image of Hood's Bassman rig, taken from this March 1, 2019 al.com interview, reveals that it was an AB165.

That said, the bass amplifier rig Hood used for his classic Muscle Shoals Sound Studios work is a Fender Bassman amp head and blonde Fender speaker cabinet.

In 2016, Muscle Shoals Sound reopened at original Sheffield location 3614 Jackson Hwy. and restored to retro ’60s/'70s prime. Hood’s rig was returned to the same spot it was during many vintage sessions. Against the studio wall, just left of the drum booth.

Hood thinks he acquired the Fender head and cabinet in the mid to late '60s.

"My father was in the tire business and got hooked up with a purchasing-agent-type place who would connect you with people to buy things wholesale," Hood says. "They hooked us up with Manny's Music in New York, on 48th Street. It's no longer there, but it was a famous music store. I would call and order things from them. I could hardly talk to them because they spoke so fast, but I started buying amps and would sell them to somebody and buy another one, things like that."

(...) From Manny’s, Hood purchased the blonde cab, containing two 12-inch speakers, originally to use as an extension cabinet with the bass amp he was using. He ended up selling that amp. Now he had an extra cabinet. He then purchased a black Tolex-covered Bassman piggyback amp. “And I can’t remember why I did it, but I brought the blonde cabinet to 3614 (Jackson Hwy.) and we started recording that and using the black Bassman head with it, to monitor myself. Sometimes they’d mic it and sometimes we’d go direct. But I used it always as a monitor. In a studio full of loud guitars and keyboards and everything, you just can’t hear the bass well, even with the headphones. It’s getting where nowadays they have so many channels on the recording stuff they can use several channels for a bass. A long time ago you were lucky if you’d get one channel.”

A 6G6 cabinet was used on "Brown Sugar", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Johnson in this September 21, 2018 ProSoundWeb interview.

And guess what we came up with for Bill Wyman? Do you remember those Plexiglas body basses that were around then?

I checked with David Hood later and he says it was a Dan Armstrong. So to the best of our recollection, that’s what it was. He played through David’s Fender Bassman setup, the tube head and separate box.

(...) Did you have a mic on the bass amp?

Yes, the bass guitar mic was an RCA 44. We didn’t have direct back in those days.

An image of Hood's Bassman rig, taken from this March 1, 2019 al.com interview, reveals a blonde 6G6 cabinet as part of the stack.

That said, the bass amplifier rig Hood used for his classic Muscle Shoals Sound Studios work is a Fender Bassman amp head and blonde Fender speaker cabinet.

In 2016, Muscle Shoals Sound reopened at original Sheffield location 3614 Jackson Hwy. and restored to retro ’60s/'70s prime. Hood’s rig was returned to the same spot it was during many vintage sessions. Against the studio wall, just left of the drum booth.

Hood thinks he acquired the Fender head and cabinet in the mid to late '60s.

"My father was in the tire business and got hooked up with a purchasing-agent-type place who would connect you with people to buy things wholesale," Hood says. "They hooked us up with Manny's Music in New York, on 48th Street. It's no longer there, but it was a famous music store. I would call and order things from them. I could hardly talk to them because they spoke so fast, but I started buying amps and would sell them to somebody and buy another one, things like that."

(...) From Manny’s, Hood purchased the blonde cab, containing two 12-inch speakers, originally to use as an extension cabinet with the bass amp he was using. He ended up selling that amp. Now he had an extra cabinet. He then purchased a black Tolex-covered Bassman piggyback amp. “And I can’t remember why I did it, but I brought the blonde cabinet to 3614 (Jackson Hwy.) and we started recording that and using the black Bassman head with it, to monitor myself. Sometimes they’d mic it and sometimes we’d go direct. But I used it always as a monitor. In a studio full of loud guitars and keyboards and everything, you just can’t hear the bass well, even with the headphones. It’s getting where nowadays they have so many channels on the recording stuff they can use several channels for a bass. A long time ago you were lucky if you’d get one channel.”

Used for "Brown Sugar", as stated by mix engineer Jimmy Johnson in this September 21, 2018 ProSoundWeb interview.

(...) Did you have a mic on the bass amp?

Yes, the bass guitar mic was an RCA 44. We didn’t have direct back in those days.

By the mid to late 1970's Bill had migrated from the heavier acrylic bass to the Dan Armstrong 'London' series bass. Here he can be seen playing a 342 short scale bass. Notice the newer type body styling - though with the words 'London' still on the headstock.

Much to Keith's dismay he played this most uncool looking thing for the '81/'82 tour. They have a good sound. He stuck with Steinbergers, but changed model