Jason Newsted is selling a collection of more than 60 guitars and basses on Reverb, including basses he played while in Metallica.
He Jason Newsted Official Reverb Store will be released next Wednesday (July 24) and will see the long-time metal bassist part ways with a few select axes from his vast collection.
“I’m partnering with Reverb to sell some pieces from my collection for the first time,” Newsted said in a press release. “Over the last 30 or 40 years, while traveling around playing music for people, I’ve collected some great stuff. I traveled the world to collect these pieces and many of them traveled the world with me. I’d like to get them into the hands of other musicians because I can only play so many at a time, and wonderful guitars like these shouldn’t live in cases forever… they deserve to be enjoyed!”
The crown jewel for Metallica fans will undoubtedly be the 1992 Alembic Europa Custom 10-string bass that Newsted used on the tour to promote “The Black Album.”
“It’s a very special piece of metal history and it’s one of a kind,” Newsted said. “This thing is a beast… you have to be a tough guy to carry it, let alone play it.”
Another Alembic, one of Newsted's first: a 1989 20th Anniversary model with serial number six of 200 (as seen in the A year and a half in the life of Metallica)—will also be for sale, as well as a rare cherry sunburst finished PRS bass that was used in the …And Justice for all tour and a fretless 5-string Zon bass (used to record “Until It Sleeps”).
“This is a piece of metal tradition,” Newsted said of the fretless Zon. “You have the song in your collection.” [and] That’s the bass that played it.”
Other highlights of the collection include a late-1960s Barney Kessel Custom, a 1966 Firebird III; an original Ampeg AUB-1 Scroll Bass in excellent condition; a custom 3-string Music Man bass inspired by Tony Levin’s design; a rare Mosrite 5-string electric mandolin with a sunburst finish; a 1980 Rickenbacker 4080 double-neck in blue; a 1937 National Dobro “Exploding Palm Tree” Tri-Cone Resonator; and a similar 1928 National Dobro Mandolin Style 2.
You can see a preview of the collection through Reverberation and check out a video of Newsted discussing the gear, as well as some close-up photos, below.
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