Herbie Flowers

"I bought the bass on Oct. 12, 1959, from Manny's in New York. If you remove the neck you can see Leo Fender's signature and because it's a prototype it has various bits that are not standard. For example, underneath the pickguard they installed what was tantamount to a fuzzbox but it was very primitive - a couple of resistors that cut the signal in half and fouled it up. It had a switch on it and when you tried to cut the roughness out it wouldn't cut out properly, so I took it out."

Despite Flowers' claim to have bought the bass in '59, its serial number is 57025, a 1960 number.

Paul Alcantra later told Curtis Novak Guitars and Pickups "I solved the discrepancy with the patent numbers on the headstock of Herbie's bass and the date at which he recalls buying it (1959/60). The headstock decal—which was flaking off—was apparently changed by George Harrison's guitar tech when Herbie was working on the 'Gone Troppo' album! So there you have it. Regards, Paul"

Flowers' official website elaborates: "WHAT HAS ADDED TO THE CONTROVERSY MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IS THE 'DECAL' (TRANSFER) ON THE HEAD OF THE INSTRUMENT. A PATENT NUMBER SHOWS THE DATE AS 1965. HERBIE SAYS THAT THE ORIGINAL CAME OFF AFTER THE INSTRUMENT GOT WET DURING AN OPEN AIR GIG WITH T.REX., AND WEEKS LATER GEORGE HARRISON'S GUITAR TECHIE REPLACED IT WITH A SPARE ONE THAT HE HAD – SADLY NOT THE REAL McCOY."