LOW ARCHITECTURE: RICK TURNER MODEL 1 BASS

Before becoming a luthier of note Rick Turner was part of the group Autosalvage,  whose one and only album (AUTOSALVAGE, 1968) is certainly an unheard classic of the psychedelic era.  He honed his craft working for Alembic,  a company that supplied guitars and basses to the likes of Jack Cassidy of Jefferson Airplane  and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead,  both noted for their melodic and dazzlingly creative bass sounds. The Model 1's overall design seems somewhat influenced by the Kay Model K162 hollow body bass (1957,  the first commercially available hollow body electric bass),  although the Model 1 is a solid body, has of an arched top and a truss rod).  It seems both an exquisitely beautiful modern instrument and a dramatic re-fleshing of a vintage ethos.