Bass guitar legend Leland Sklar is selling PA System as used by Billy Thorpe as used from his days with Billy Thorpe’s band.
Leland Sklar was the bass player on some of the greatest albums ever made including Rod Stewart’s ‘Atlantic Crossing’ and ‘A Night On The Town’, James Taylor’s albums from 1971-1988, Warren Zevon’s ‘Excitable Boy’ and various Linda Ronstadt, Crosby Stills & Nash, Phil Collins, Hall & Oates, Rick Springfield, Leo Sayer and Carly Simon records.
He was the bass player for Billy Thorpe’s ‘Children of the Sun’ and ’21st Century Man’ albums.
As Lee tells the story:
“Billy Thorpe was a huge child star in Australia. We did this album and it was a conceptual album that he came up with. Spencer Proffer produced it in his studio in Hollywood called Pasha. We cut it as a trio: it was me and Billy and Alvin Taylor on drums. Billy was great. He was so strong and powerful and into it. He had such a commanding presence.
When we did that album it was another one that became a deep, deep cult thing. We went out and did a few gigs with it and it was really, really fun to play live. I’ve got a bass rig sitting in a warehouse that I put together specifically for playing with Billy. We played Santa Monica Civic out here in L.A., and it took over a semi just for our three guys’ band gear. When they pulled my bass rig in and set it up, they thought it was the PA system. The bass bins were two “W”-folded cabinets that are so huge that it takes like four guys to lift each one. I had two of those, then on top I had four midrange cabinets that were the same shape but they were front-loaded. Then I had four high-end speakers mounted on top of those. I made a trade with the guy who owned Altec Speakers. I had a pile of Yamaha P2200 amps and he wanted a couple of those. I gave him two of mine and he gave me two Altec 1000-watt mono amps. So each bass bin was run by a 1000-watt mono Altec amp. I had six more P2200’s driving all the midrange stuff, and then I used an SVT as a preamp for the rig.
Bob Easton at the time had come up with the 360 Systems Bass Synth, which was a pickup system that ran off the bass, and a guy named Wayne Yentis put this whole thing together. I had a transposition pedal hooked up for the bass synth that I could literally hit my low E string and drop it almost three octaves. We were getting down in the area of 6Hz at probably about 130dB. The first time we actually tested it we all threw up and cracked a wall in the warehouse. It was fantastic. It has been in moth balls since that tour. It is a true hi-fidelity system originally designed for theaters to be able to adequately represent earthquakes and things like that.”
Rig details:
(Left Side)
• L1 – Klipsch MCM 1900 Loudspeaker System Type MWM Serial #1251
• L2 – Klipsch MCM 1900 Loudspeaker System Type MSSM Serial #1084
• L3 – Klipsch MCM 1900 Loudspeaker System Type MSSM Serial #1097
• L4 – Klipsch MCM 1900 Loudspeaker System Type MSM Serial #1261
• L5 “B6” Altec High-Frequency Driver Model 291-16B Serial #03206 w/
Altec Sectoral Horn
(Right Side)
• R1 Klipsch MCM 1900 Loudspeaker System Type MWM Serial #1250
• R2 Klipsch MCM 1900 Loudspeaker System Type MSSM Serial #1098
• R3 Klipsch MCM 1900 Loudspeaker System Type MSSM Serial #1085
• R4 Klipsch MCM 1900 Loudspeaker System Type MSM Serial #1262
• R5 “B1” Altec High-Frequency Driver Model 291-16B Serial #03210 w/ Altec Sectoral Horn
ACCESSORIES INCLUDED: This item includes a variety of connecting cables.
EXTRAS INCLUDED:
• The Altec High-Frequency Drivers w/ Horns are mounted in road cases, as seen in the photos, which are included.
• The Klipsch Drivers are mounted in protective speaker cabinets.
PHYSICAL CONDITION: Very Good – All components show signs of age and prior use including minor scuffs and surface scratches throughout. They remain structurally strong and sturdy. Overall, the components are in very good physical condition.
The asking price is $4588 + shipping. Head here for the details
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