Claypool's bass sells for $50,599.99!!

Primus front man and all round legend has just auctioned his Pachyderm Prototype bass with a winning bid of a whopping $50,599.99 (or around £31,500). This was all for a very good cause as Les was raising money for his nephew who has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia. 

"Watching my younger brother and his wife go through one of the most heart aching situations that any parent can endure has been gut-wrenching," Claypool said. "On top of that there is the unbelievable expense of the treatments ($80,000 for one particular shot alone and Matthew needed two of them). I do what I can financially, and the fellows in Primus have been very generous to do performances as well as create special merchandise items for Matthew's cause, but unfortunately we are just pushing against a tide of debt that my brother will be dealing with for many years." 

The bass itself was built by Dan Maloney and (according to the eBay advert) designed by Les Claypool to be the most comfortable and easy to play four string bass to his standards.  This particular bass has a walnut top with a maple back and exotic wood pick guard.  It is 32” scale with LED lights in the side of the fingerboard and has a Kahler brand tremolo bar.  Keeping the electronics simple, Les equips his basses with one single custom split EMG pickup with a single control knob.  It has a bronze Pachyderm medallion set into the headstock. This combination of woods and electronics gives this particular bass a warm but punchy attack with a medium finish.  These basses are light and extremely comfortable in the lap as well as on strap.

It's good to see so much money going to such a good cause, as well as such an amazing bass going to a good home!!