“The guy met me in a Tower Records parking lot and gave me that bass... I’ve recorded every record on it since I got it”: How Flea landed his cherished 1961 Fender Jazz Bass after finding a seller during the early days of Twitter

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Flea has built quite a bass collection over the years. The Red Hot Chili Peppers powerhouse's treasure trove includes, perhaps most notably, his cherished 1961 Shell Pink Fender Jazz Bass, which has been his primary studio instrument since 2006.

However, Flea himself admits that, for many years, he was far from a gearhead. “I always thought [with regards to] electric rock musicians' obsession with equipment, ‘Give me a break, man. It's all in the fingers in the heart. Give me any piece of shit, I don't care,’” he tells Rick Beato. “That's how I always felt. That was kind of one of my arrogant things.”

However, that all changed when Flea gave an old Fender a spin and resonated with its tone. It was an enlightening experience. From that point on, he was hooked.

In his quest for a vintage bass sometime in the 2000s, Flea took to what was then known as Twitter, then still in its earliest days.

“I remember it was in the very beginning of Twitter... and I was like, ‘I want a bass.’ And some guy wrote me, ‘I've got one for you.’ [The] guy met me in a Tower Records parking lot and gave me that bass. I traded him a Modulus for it!”

“You got the better end of that,” quips Beato, echoing what the rest of us are thinking.

“I hope that he feels good that I have gotten so much [out of it],” Flea replies. “I've recorded every record on it since I got it. I don't play it that much in big stadiums with the Chili Peppers, because [of] the old pickups and stuff. But it's a beautiful bass.”

His love affair with Fender Jazz Basses has been going strong since then, culminating in the release of his own signature bass in 2016 – a precise recreation of this rare Twitter find.

“The ’61 Fender Jazz Bass is magic. It's truly the greatest bass I’ve ever played,” Flea said upon release. “Fender embodies everything I love about music and individuality. The Flea Jazz Bass is a true resurrection and possesses that wave of energy a bass should give you when it’s in your hands.”

In more recent news, Flea has just announced his first solo record and shared the first taste of what we can expect with his debut single, A Plea – recorded in collaboration with double bassist and composer, Anna Butterss.