Peter Tork

Seen here in 1966. This is the closest model to what Tork had in '66. When The Monkees TV show was aired, the production company reached out to Gretsch to produce several models of guitars, basses, and drums for the members to play. With that, Peter received a Burgundy Gretsch Bass with the Model 6073. This Gretsch bass has been seen in countless appearances by The Monkees and used by Peter from late 1966 to the spring of 1967 (according to monkeeslivealmanac.com), from mimed TV performances to live shows. But, when 1967 rolled around, Peter replaced this Gretsch bass with a Guild Jetstar, and the main reason for it, was speculated to be feedback.

In this concert photo, Peter Tork is playing a Guild Jetstar II Bass, as captured by Monkeeslivealmanac.

During the 1965 Pilot episode of The Monkees, in the music video for I Wanna Be Free, Peter Tork is seen sporting a Fender Jazz Bass, complete with both a pickup and a bridge cover. It may be speculated that this is a '63 to '65 Jazz bass with the three knobs.

Peter would only use this bass for the Pilot episode, and was most likely a borrowed or supplied instrument by the TV show.

Sometime in 1967, Peter had replaced his Gretsch 6073 Burgundy bass with a Guild Jetstar bass. This bass bears a resemblance to Gibson's Non-Reverse Thunderbirds, but with only one pickup, and two plastic thumb rests/finger rest. During the Monkees 1967 summer tour, Peter would use the Guild as his main instrument of choice. The Guild Jetstar can also be famously seen in the Rainbow Room, where The Monkees performed most of their 1967 hits. It is also a given that whenever Peter had to move to keyboards, Davy Jones would move to bass and would play this bass (though he is given his own bass model). This particular model of the bass had been discontinued in 1970, and was first built in late 1966 due to the 4 in-line headstock configuration. This bass was last seen with Peter during The Monkees' Australia and Japan tour in 1968.