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Tiran Porter
Tiran Porter
About
Discography
Gear
Contact
Tiran Porter
Tiran Porter
About
Discography
Gear
Contact
About
Discography
Gear
Contact
  Takin It to the Streets Fender Precision Bass   
 
 
I only have one bass left from my career with the Doobbie Brothers. I played this bass on road, in the studio and on Takin it to the Streets. When I brought it into the studio the producer said,

Takin It to the Streets Fender Precision Bass

I only have one bass left from my career with the Doobbie Brothers. I played this bass on road, in the studio and on Takin it to the Streets. When I brought it into the studio the producer said, “Don't ever sell that one.” So I haven't. Fender Precision Basses have a very specific sound. It has a Fender body with Fender pickups and the only thing I changed was the neck because when I first played that bass it had a fretted neck and I hated it. It was too wide. Now it has a Warmoth ebony neck. You can see where I tried to sand some of the finish so I could see what the wood was. I’m still not sure what type of wood it is. I bought that one from Guitar Showcase in San Jose in 1974 or 75. I didn't start using it until 1976, which is after we cut the Taking It to the Streets album. I used it for I think one or two tours before I went back to my “different bass for every tour model.

  The Mermaid   
 
 “The mermaid was originally a Fender Squire body, and I put a Warmoth neck on it. There were two or three basses that I bought as Fender Squire, mostly for the body, and then took the neck off and changed it to a fretless Warmoth.

The Mermaid

“The mermaid was originally a Fender Squire body, and I put a Warmoth neck on it. There were two or three basses that I bought as Fender Squire, mostly for the body, and then took the neck off and changed it to a fretless Warmoth. Squire is a cheap version of Fender's body that they made first in Japan and then moved to China and Indonesia because of manufacturing costs.”

  Nameless  
 
 
“This one I designed to be very low. It has a mahogany back with an African mahogany top. Mahogany has the lowest Q of any of the body woods. It's really low. The neck is, once again, padauk on the top with a different kind of ebony

Nameless

“This one I designed to be very low. It has a mahogany back with an African mahogany top. Mahogany has the lowest Q of any of the body woods. It's really low. The neck is, once again, padauk on the top with a different kind of ebony on the bottom, Macassar ebony. That's what accounts for the streaks. Regular ebony is just all dark, but my Macassar ebony has these beautiful striations. Some basses come out a little higher frequency pitched than others. This one I want it to be low and keep it low. I played it at the Rio Theater on one song with Keith Greeninger and this was the last bass I played with Jerry Miller.”

  The Wolf  
 
 
“This is the first one that I made that has all Warmoth parts. This bass has a smaller body than most of my other basses. It is all mahogany. The back of the neck is walnut and the fingerboard is bloodwood, which is my favorite finge

The Wolf

“This is the first one that I made that has all Warmoth parts. This bass has a smaller body than most of my other basses. It is all mahogany. The back of the neck is walnut and the fingerboard is bloodwood, which is my favorite fingerboard wood. It’s also called satine. Bloodwood is that dark red in color and it’s very dense with a smooth feel.”

©Tiran Porter