Back when Misfits were starting out, Jerry Only played a 1979 Rickenbacker 4001 bass. The bass was extremely heavily modified and eventually totally destroyed, but it still exists and you can own that particular piece of punk history!
One eBay shop named Black Bird Vintage Music currently has the remnants of the bass on sale, and we do mean remnants – you'd have to be an incredibly skilled luthier with a ton of time and replacement parts on hand to get this thing back in playable shape.
According to the shop, it was obtained by a Misfits collector who bought the body and topping skull. The collector told Jerry Only, who in turn sent him the remainder of the parts. How cool is that?
We obtained this from a local die-hard Misfits collector who advised us he bought the bare body on Ebay some time ago. He also said he bought the rubber skull online which went into the crowd the night Jerry smashed the bass. (See pic). When the collector told Jerry that he had bought this battered bass, Jerry sent him a care package full of his old parts: multiple extra modified bat-tuners, Rickenbacker bridge, and pieces, and a P-Bass style pickup.
Also included is the original strap, a small piece of material used as the pickguard, a thumb pick, and as an added bonus, an Ernie Ball/Music Man hardshell case owned by Danzig bassist Jerry Montano.
The back of the neck is fractured, part of the fretboard is missing and the side of the body is obviously broken off. Only a small part of the pickguard is included. Pots and knobs are missing. Making the bass playable again would be a challenge. Please note that the wood "M" shaped headstock attachment is a recreation made by the previous owner.
Please do not mistake this for one of Jerry's newer smash'em up basses. This is THE bass from the Danzig era of the Misfits. It's the one pictured in their classic Hollywood Walk Of Fame photo and many other well known live shots. This belongs in the hands of a true punk fan, rock memorabilia collector, live venue, or museum. It is being listed as a true auction with no reserve or Buy-It-Now.
So get bidding! Sure, it'll probably cost you something in the range of $2,000+ dollars, but when else are you going to be able to buy pretty much all the parts of Only's original bass?
