"If there is a bass guitar
Batman plays, this is it," deadpans John Entwistle about the latest
version of his self-designed Buzzard. 
The
new bass, built by Status, boasts a "basket-weave" finish
and a slightly shallower neck then its Warwick-Buzzard predecessors. It
also features a 26-fret fingerboard, a Hipshot XTender Key (tuned to D,
so John can grab octaves in one fret), jumbo LEDs on the side of the neck,
and active pickups feeding a custom tone circuit that includes a midrange
filter. The main difference in the Status Buzzard, though, is its one-piece
graphite construction.*
For more information on the Buzzard, try Status Graphite and/or buzzardbass.com
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Entwistle is
currently running a slightly more scaled down rig than his "little
Manhattan" sized rigs of the past. The rig begins with his Status
Buzzard Series 1 and 2 basses plugging directly into an Ashdown Engineering
RPM-1 preamp. The RPM-1 features a tube and solid state preamp section,
flexible 7 band EQ, a subharmonic processor as well
as onboard crossover. Entwistle crosses the rig's highs over to an
Ashdown PM600 poweramp running stereo, powering 2 Ashdown/ASS 2x12
cabinets. The lows from the preamp run to an Ashdown PM1000 poweramp
in stereo powering 2 Ashdown/ASS 1x15 folded bottoms.
He then further modifies his sound using a DigiTech 2120 Artist guitar preamp in the effects loop of the Ashdown RPM-1. This permits John to use the chorusing and guitar-like overdrive tones he is so well known for. Additional PM600 and PM1000 series poweramps as well as RPM-1 preamps are kept in the rig for spares.
j
 Ashdown Unveils John Entwistle Bass Preamp |
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*above explanation reprinted with permission from Bass Player Magazine |
