John Stirratt's (Wilco) Starfire I

I was thumbing through The Wilco Book when I spied a nice photo of John Stirratt's refinished Starfire I (sorry for the crummy pic):



He had this to say about it:

"This is one of the first basses I had in Wilco - the Firebird (sic), with one pickup. I just dated it as a 1965. I love that thing. I got it at Wayne's (Midwest Buy & Sell), where we've gotten most of our stuff. This bass was on lots of Being There, and at least two songs on every record. A Shot In The Arm. It has a hoofey sound."

It can be heard very prominently here. My '67 sounds exactly like this when aggressively picked:

Here's a video of John using it on a TV appearance way back in '95:

thanks!

BIG fan of John's (and Wilco) here, and this crappy screen grab is what John has been playing a lot lately. It's a Lakland with a Dark Star



Here's what he had to say about it in Bass Player magazine:

“I mainly play Fender Precisions, but Lakland built a bass for me that I just can’t put down,” claims John Stirratt. “It has a Hammon Dark Star pickup that’s a replica of the old Guild Starfire pickups. It has so much personality. With the tone all the way up, it’s very much like an old P-Bass, and with the tone rolled off, it’s super woofy—that distinctive Starfire sound. So it’s the most versatile bass that I’ve had.” John’s sunburst Lakland Bob Glaub Signature is fit with a narrower, Fender Jazz-style neck."

Very cool bass, with an unfortunately unobtanium pup...

Oops! Dupe post there!

LOVE John's Lakland! Here's another shot:

I've never heard that guy lay down a bad bass line. Ever.

johnbiscuti said:

"This is one of the first basses I had in Wilco - the Firebird (sic), with one pickup. I just dated it as a 1965. I love that thing. I got it at Wayne's (Midwest Buy & Sell), where we've gotten most of our stuff. This bass was on lots of Being There, and at least two songs on every record. A Shot In The Arm. It has a hoofey sound."

Click to expand...

Far be it from me to question anyone else's memory or research but the PU position suggests 1966 or later and not 1965 to me.