Pete Back Jazz Bass (1978 - Made for Steve Dobby Dawson of Saxon?)

Steven writes to me with an incredibly exciting story that I'm hoping some of my readers may be able to shed some light upon. First of all, here are some photos of the guitar we're about to discuss:

Wow, what a guitar - an 8-string Pete Back Jazz Bass. Let's hear what Stevie has to say:

"Hi, I came upon your site while looking for info on a bass that belongs to a friend of mine.It's a through-neck 8 string Jazz bass with flying V headstock,Jazz width neck, slab body. It allegedly was built for the band Saxon. Unfortunately the neck has twisted, but i have been told that this should be repairable. Any info you could give me would be appreciated. Here are a couple of pics."

 Well, first of all, let's take a look at the guitar. It's may had a respray at some point judging by the photos. The headstock shape and the pups put the guitar within the 1977 - 1983 timescale and I would guess we are looking at around 1978 or 1979 for this model although its difficult to be precise because of the alterations. There have been a number of switches and adjustments added over the year by the looks of it but the core beauty of the guitar remains.

Now, to the interesting question of whether the guitar was built for the heavy metal band Saxon, who are still touring to this day. I cannot personally say for sure whether this is the case (if anyone out there can, please do get in touch). However, what we do know is that Saxon formed in 1976 (although they were touring under a different name since the early '70s), in Barnsley, which was definitely within the radius of Pete's Rotherham shop.

The bassist of Saxon, Steve "Dobby" Dawson (the inspiration for This Is Spinal Tap!'s Derek Smalls), came from Swinton originally but lived in Sheffield for many years, meaning he would have undoubtedly come into contact with Pete and his work around the time of their debut album. Dobby's signature guitar is of course - a Jazz Bass (although he usually played a white 4-string model). We could speculate more, but without some more information or proof it would be pointless to get too excited! Here's a photo of Dobby in action:

Either way, this is a rare, wonderful and historical Pete Back bass so thanks very much for getting in touch Stevie - if anyone comes forward with some information I will let you know.

Pete Back Special (1982)

Andrew writes to me a wonderful email about his 1982 Pete Back Special, which I'm just going to reproduce here in full:

"I have a Pete Back Special which I bought direct from his shop on Ferhan Road in Rotherham in early 1982. Its solid mahogany with a double octive neck and maple fret board. Sunburst red. Its fitted with a Gibson Dirty Fingers and a Dimarzio pickup, and Ibanez machine heads.

Pete had not long finished the guitar and had strung it, but not yet tuned it. A friend from the village, John Parkes, who knew Pete and had a Pete Back guitar of his own, took me down to the shop to see what he had in. I tuned the guitar and decided there and then "it would be mine". John used to play in a S Yorks band called Mickeys Monkeys (I have a couple of tapes I recorded of them), who played working mens clubs in S Yorks. Pete's son, Steve, played in the same band.

To add injury to all this, my Dad was Pete's dentist in Rotherham for some time. I recall my Dad saying that he'd negotiated a "deal" on the price of the guitar while Pete had gone to see him about his teeth ! "Now then Mr Back, how much did you say ???".

After buying the guitar, Pete lent me a wooden carrying case for it until he ordered in a Les Paul case, which I've still got, but is slowly falling apart. The only mod that was ever done was Pete installed a switch on the rhythm pickup that puts the coils in phase. It gives a fairly thin sound and I never use it.

If Pete, John, or Steve are out there, please get in touch!"

I like the look of this guitar, looks like a proper workhorse that can take some use and abuse. Its a no-nonsense kind of style with a Brian-May style body with small cutaways. Solid mahogany for the body will ensure it sounds thick and sustained (and weigh a ton!). You mention it has a maple fretboard (I think you may mean neck as that looks like rosewood to me). The headstock carries the familiar early 80s decals, although lacks the "Custom" of the bespoke versions. As usual, all the parts are top-quality branded gear, as you would expect from Pete.

Nice guitar, a real collector's piece and one I'm sure sounds great after all these years.