Hi Guys,
I am urgently seeking a Status Buzzard I.
So if you have one for sale, plse send me a mail with pics and your price to:
senmen@web.de

Many thanks for looking
Oliver (Spyderman)

Hi Oliver,

Have you contacted Status to see if they would make you one as a special order? I would be interested in what they say. I would love a Status Buzzard some day, but dont have the money right now.

Trev.

Trev,
yes I talked to Rob and Dawn about this and there will be no more anymore. No Chance!
Problem is that Chris, the son of John Entwistle, sold the rights on the name Buzzard, the design and the name John Entwistle to Warwick. The lawyers of Warwick then went to Status to forbid them officially to produce the Buzzards anymore. I am not sure but I also heard that Rob had to destroy the moulds on the Buzzards too.
As said, I have a good relationship to Dawn and Rob, but no chance to get a Buzzard I buildt again.
This is the reason why the Buzzard prices go up that high at the moment.
Oliver (Spyderman)

I wondered if something like that had happened.

this one was for sale a while back on ebay, http://www.thegoodges.co.uk/buzzardforsale.htm but it looks like the seller got greedy and puled the sale because i didnt go high enough. I though that was what reserve was for!

Yes,
I was in contact with the seller. The bass was sold, outside of Ebay, for nearly EUR 13000,means nearly 9000 GBP.
I know of another B1 located in the UK, but the seller now wants to have GBP 12000 for it.
This is really crazy. On the other hand, I do own some nice basses and they are also very special JE. The Alembic Spyders I mean. But I get the feeling that I was too slow in getting a Buzz 1...

Oliver (Spyderman)

What?? That's crackers. The Status was by far the better bass, John himself said so.
IMHO, the only good Warwick Buzzard is this one...

hehe!

Thats the most playable `Varvick' I've seen in a long time!

Sadly, the situation concerning the Status Buzzard is true - they (Rob and Dawn and the lads) are not even allowed to talk about them - its as though they never existed! I played one at a show once and tonally, it was one of the best basses I've heard. I think its crazy but thats the world we occupy.

Nick (hi Rich!)

It's a little funny when you consider that one of Warwack's (pun intended) most successful basses was actually a rip off of Ned Steinberger and Stuart Spector's design... ;)

Seems they learnt enough from that experience to guard their own backside when conducting business.

Status should make another "rock'n'roll" bass, and make it different enough for Warwick to be unable to sue them. That would provide fans with the "real" rock'n'roll bass (although they wouldn't be able to use the Buzzard or JE name), but still...

People who care would know which bass it was... ;)

doh.... They already did, obviously.... *smack*

I'm sure theremust be a design that could be used that would hint at the original without infringing copyright issues.

Warwick originally agreed to pay Stuart Spector a license fee - they allegedly did so for a period of two years; they then stopped after having made modifications' to the design of the Streamer basses (yeah right!!)! I agree Status should perhaps introduce a new bass aimed at the rockier' end of the market, call it a `JE' model as a non-specific tribute instrument! JE could be anyone, for example, Johnny English!

I've got a US Spector NS-2 in my collection and its a superb instrument - Warwicks have come been and gone - never owned one for more than 8 months!

Nick

A part from the "Fender" horns on the one above, I'd say it's pretty much like the JE model anyway? I think it's close enough... I did get the point, and I'm not even a Entwistle fan. :)

Maybe they should be braver about the horns, too... and wasn't the Buzzard a complete graphite bass? This has an alder body.

Yeah, I know the story about Warwick and the copyright trouble towards Spector. Dirty business. If you make an agreement, you should respect it.

Oh well... I guess there's not really much point in complaining. history is history, and no matter what happens, the Buzzard Is will become collector's items. Good for their owners, of course, but a shame for the enthusiasts.

The Buzzard-1 was indeed a one-piece graphite instrument. Apparently, the first 3 prototypes caved in before Rob found the production methods necessary to make it stable. I think he transferred the technology and know-how into the newest KingBass model.

Rob made the B-2 as a birthday present to John, who had a second one made later. The alder body has that bulge at the top, which serves as a miniature armrest. John used armrest bodies from the mid-70s until he died (Gibson Explorer, custom Alembic "Spyders" and Warwick and Status Buzzards), largely to make it easier to do his "typewriter" tapping style.

The B2 has exactly the same neck (designed according to John's needs for 26 frets and maximum response) and electronics as the B1. From what I understand, it sounds a bit woodier (naturally) and hangs a bit differently. Other than that, there's apparently no difference.

There's a brief clip of John rehearsing with a B2 in the eulogy section on the John Entwistle Band live DVD. He never used it onstage or when recording, as he had several B1 models which he loved like no others.

While they are of the same scale and VERY similar, if you play the 1 & 2 back to back you notice that while the B2 neck remains the same thickness front to back over it's entire length, the B1 gets thicker as it passes the 12 th fret and merges with the body..I actually like the feel of the 2 better, but maybe that's because the B2 is my daily instrument and the B1 comes out of it's case only once or twice a month.

Any idea why? Maybe to strengthen the meeting point between the neck and body sections of the 1-piece graphite construction, as opposed to the bolt-on neck on the B-2?

The bolt-on has to fit into the pocket for the neck, therefore it can't get fatter. Why it is that way on the B1, I dunno.
JAE used the B2 for jam sessions, informal get-togethers, trips down to the pub to sit in with others...it is transportable in a gig bag you can throw over your shoulder. The B1 with the huge road case and massive wing, is difficult to use on a small stage, and John had no intention of carrying those road cases anywhere without the crew to do it for him. Remember, he hadn't had to lug equipment around himself since the mid-sixties!

I think I could get used to having someone lugging my gear around. In my band I have to organise my gear and the lights. The lighting rig is growing so more and more gear for me to lug around!:( Looks smart when it is all up and running though! :D

so how much is a B2 then?

(opps i got GAS :o)

Here's Rob Green's answer to my B-2 price query from last week. These numbers don't include shipping, taxes, import duty or other associated fees.

--------------------
The B2 costs 1495 Pounds Sterling which is about $2690. (Including a flight case). Side LED's will cost 350 Pounds Sterling = $630.

Delivery is currently about 8 - 10 weeks.
We need a 50% deposit with the order and the balance prior to shipping.

Thats not a bad price, need to start saving...:D