Below is a listing of basses and guitars played by Randy throughout his career.
Jump to the guitar section here.
BASSES
Basses are listed alphabetically by brand.
FENDER
Fender Jazz
The earliest photos of Randy playing bass show him playing a sunburst Fender Jazz.
In the photos below, Randy is playing the same Fender Jazz twenty-four years apart (note the scratches above the pickguard).
He is playing a different Fender Jazz below with a maple fingerboard and block inlays.
Randy had this black Fender Jazz custom-made to be more lightweight.
Fender Precision
1959 Gold Fender Precision
Randy purchased this bass in the mid-late-60s and it became his go-to bass for the next several years.
Photo © Cindy Dakin
In 1971, he added an anti-war sticker to the left of the pickguard. It read: “War is not healthy for children and other living things.” The sticker was given to him by a friend of his cousin, Tony Meininger.
Mike Douglas Show, April 1, 1971
In 2014, Randy’s gold Fender was displayed in the Grammy museum during their exhibit: The Sounds Of Laurel Canyon: 1965-1977.
Below: A selection of other Fender Precisions played by Randy.
Poco, Amsterdam, Oct. 24, 1989
Photo ©Peter Van Leeuwen
Amsterdam, June 22, 1993
Photo ©Peter Van Leeuwen
Fender Telecaster
Randy played this bass during the Eagles’ tour of New Zealand, Australia and Japan in 1976.
Photo © Vincent Barker
GIBSON
GIBSON EB-0
Epiphone Viola Bass
(manufactured by Gibson)
HAGSTROM
Red Hagstrom
Randy played two different red Hagstroms. The instrument on the left has a white plate over the knobs and switches.
Photo ©Henry Diltz
Photo ©Jeffrey Mayer.
Black Hagstrom
Photo ©William Allen.
HAGSTROM HII BN
Both photos of Randy playing this bass are from the same concert (Shrine Auditorium, LA, December 31, 1974). I included both images because one shows the color of the bass, while the b&w image shows more detail.
HOFNER
VIOLIN BASS
Photo: Jennifer Meisner
MOSRITE
In 2003, Randy recalled that when he was with his ’60s band The Poor, he traded his Mosrite bass for a Hofner:
“I’d very unwisely traded my Mosrite bass for a Hofner violin bass because it ‘looked cooler’…big mistake!…what a horrible instrument, respect to Paul McCartney for being able to play it at all!“
I couldn’t locate a photo of Randy playing a Mosrite.
MUSIC MAN STINGRAY
Manufactured in 1976, Randy played this bass with the distinctive oval pickguard throughout the Fall leg of the Eagles’ 1976 tour.
PEAVEY
Peavey Foundation
Photo: Cary Park
RICKENBACKER
Rickenbacker 4001
For most of the Eagles’ 1977 Hotel California tour, Randy played a mapleglo Rickenbacker 4001.
Rickenbacker 3001
Randy tuning and playing what appears to be a white Rickenbacker 3001, during a soundcheck at the Capital Centre in Largo, MD, March 21st, 1977.
GUITARRÓN (ACOUSTIC BASS)
ERNIE BALL EARTHWOOD
Randy played the guitarrón on “Bitter Creek” from Desperado (1973, uncredited) and “New Kid In Town” from Hotel California (1977). Many thanks to Randy’s friend and bandmate, Donny Ullstrom, for information regarding the Ernie Ball acoustic basses, which is what Randy would have played. The Ernie Ball basses, first manufactured in 1972, were inspired by the Mexican guitarrón, which was a six-string, fretless acoustic bass. Ernie Ball created his acoustic “Earthwood” bass with four strings and frets. In 1973, Randy described the guitarrón he played on “Bitter Creek” as a four-string bass, with a deep, wide body.
Randy:
“Another track we recorded called Bitter Creek has me playing guitarrón which is a bass guitar with the usual four strings but an extra deep and wide body. It gives the same sound as an upright bass.”
–Beat Instrumental, March 1973
Ernie Ball’s Earthwood bass, c.1972
GUITARS
Randy’s first instrument was a guitar (see the Silvertone below). He also played guitar onstage as a solo artist from 1978-1983.
Guitars are listed alphabetically by brand.
ARIA
ELECORD
MARTIN
Randy played mostly Martin 6-string and 12-string guitars onstage.
GIBSON
LES PAUL JR
SILVERTONE
SILVERTONE 1460L2
Possibly Randy’s first guitar. Silvertone guitars were manufactured by the Kay Musical Instrument Company for Sears. Randy later recalled buying a guitar through the Sears catalog and putting bass strings on it, which would have been his first bass. It’s possible this Silvertone was that guitar.
Randy (left) playing the Silvertone 1460L2 during a rehearsal for a talent show at Scottsbluff High School, March 1961.
Randy probably purchased the Silvertone in Sears’ 1960 Christmas catalog (the #2 guitar below):
Wow! This is a lot of work! Thank You Jessica for putting in the time to give us such a great article! 🌹
I appreciate it, Gwen! Thank you!
Great work. Nice to see all the basses Randy has played. Just a quick note – the Gibson “SG” model bass is actually called an EB-3 (if it had two pickups). Made famous by the late, great legend Jack Bruce during his time playing with Cream in the 1960s. There was also a single pickup version called the EB-0.
Hi Manny,
Thanks so much for this information. Could it be an EB-0? The image of Randy playing the bass came from some footage and it’s only shown for a few seconds, plus it’s very dark. But I can only make out one pickup near the head. I don’t see another one unless I’m mistaking it for the bridge.
Here is the footage. The closeup of Randy’s bass is at 1:44.
https://videos.files.wordpress.com/gxKwZ0Dz/rick-nelson-im-walkin-live-late-sixties-9dmgsgbbl_y-480p-1660348812449.mp4
I appreciate your help!
EBO
That’s what I’m thinking.
Also, an EB-3 has more knobs (additional Tone & Volume, + rotary pickup selector switch), and those would be visible even in these limited images. So, another vote for EB-O.
In general, the thing that stuck me is the variety of basses Randy used. Many bass players settle on one and stick with it. It looks like Randy was always searching for something different.
Hi,
Thanks for commenting.
Randy did switch around a lot, especially in the ’70s. However, he seemed to always go back to Fenders, especially Fender Precisions. He also had one Fender Jazz that he played for about 30 years (or longer).
I agree, EB-0. You can see when Randy moves his hand up slightly there is no pickup by the bridge, there is only the one pickup by the neck.
Thanks Manny for catching that error and for all your help!
Jessica
Do you know if Randy used his Rickenbacker bass on the actual “Hotel California” album sessions or if he just used it for the tour?
I know that he likely used his Fender Precision Bass on the first two albums and the black-and-red Hagstrom on “On the Border” and “One of These Nights”, but I’m not sure about his primary bass for the “Hotel California” sessions.
My guess is that he probably didn’t use it for the recording sessions since Hotel California was recorded and released in 1976 and we don’t see Randy with the Rickenbacker until March 1977.
Thanks for your help, Jessica.
Speaking of the Rickenbacker, an intriguing coincidence is that Randy used three basses that are associated with Sir Paul – not just the Rickenbacker, but also the Höfner 500/1 and the Fender Jazz Bass (Paul used it on much of the White Album).
Thank you Jessica for all the work you put into this!
Nice to see that Randy has the same kind of basses i prefer to play on, the Fender Precision (my to-go bass), Fender Jazz and Musicman Stingray. The Rickenbackers where always a kind off out of reach for me, they are so hard to find and a bit too expensive for me. I have had a Epiphone Violin bass and funny to read that Randy also didn’t like playing his Hofner Violin bass!
Yeah, he didn’t like that Hofner. Thanks, Franck. Great to hear from another bassist.
Thank you Jessica for all your work putting this together! I was curious about his using a Rickenbacker Bass. Do you know if he liked playing it or if he liked the sound of it for certain songs? As was mentioned by Franck, I have always wanted a Rick but it has always been out of my price range. I love the way they look, however.
Hi Michael,
I’m not sure what Randy thought of playing the Rickenbacker. As far as I know, he only played it during the Hotel California tour in 1977.
Magnifique !
love !
André
When I saw them on the ’77 tour there was a box clamped to Randy’s mike stand – you see it in a lot of the photos from that tour.
Anyone got any idea what it is ?
In some photos you can see that it has a knob. It may have been a volume knob for his microphone or his monitor.
Do you know if the family still has any of his basses he used throughout the eagles?
Just curious because most musicians sell their gear and are always trying different instruments
Yes. From what I understand, he still had a lot of them.
What an interesting read. Thank you Jessica for all your hard work you put into your fabulous articles.
My pleasure, Leonie. Thank you!
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing. Love to hear stuff like this!!
Hello! Bassist & huge Randy fan here… thanks so much for all your hard work. I’ve noticed on the Seattle ’76 footage that he seems to play a Gibson Explorer bass – possibly with a Fender neck – on Take it to the Limit.
Out of interest, do we know where his gold Precision is now? Is it on display anywhere?
Thanks again!
Thanks, Michael! I’m pretty sure Randy is playing a Fender Precision in the Seattle footage. The lighting makes it look like the Gibson you’re talking about. As far as I know, the gold Fender is not on display anywhere. But I believe he still had it at the time of his death. None of Randy’s possessions have been moved out of his home yet due to ongoing litigation involving his former conservator, who sued his estate. Hopefully, once this is resolved, his instruments will end up with his children/grandchildren where they belong.
Thanks, Jessica. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to see it – it’s pretty iconic in my world. Re: the Explorer, I’ve just put my glasses on and taken another look… it’s the stage riser behind him that makes it look like an Explorer 😀
Thanks Jessica, i often wondered about the red bass he used during 1974/1975, I thought about the Swedish made Hagstrom, also known here in the U.K. as a Futurama back in the 60’s, interesting to note that despite his fame he was happy to use a relatively low cost instrument at this stage in his career
Yes. He kept the Hagstrom the rest of his life.
Yes, I have seen photos of him in the final years of his life with that Hagstrom. He must’ve really liked it.
I never thought that he had a guitarron mexicano as early as 1973, as I used to think that the only song that he used it on was “New Kid in Town”.
He mentioned playing the guitarron on “Bitter Creek” in a 1973 interview with Beat International. It’s odd that he wasn’t credited for it.
I took the photo of Randy from the World Classic Rockers. Happy to see it on this beautiful site. CHEERS!
Hi Stephen! I will make sure you are properly credited. Thanks so much!
Jessica, I want to thank you for all of the work you obviously have put into this. I am a recent Randy “groupie”. 🙂 This will sound silly, but it wasn’t long ago that I realized he and Timothy B. Schmit were two different people! I’ve always been an Eagles fan but never really followed the band closely other than always listening to their music. Once I started researching and reading about them (mostly, Randy), I was hooked. Randy was such a talent and, by all accounts, a great human! I now listen to their early music with a completely different appreciation, and I won’t admit out loud how many times I’ve seen the 1977 live footage of him singing Take it to the Limit. He had the most beautiful voice and such emotion when he sang that song. It’s now my favorite by the Eagles. Lastly, I also recently saw the footage of their 1998 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and loved Timothy B. Schmit’s acknowledgment of Randy and his appreciation for him “paving the way” for TBS being there. Randy’s surprised look was priceless! Thanks again for putting this all together. I’m looking forward to making it all the way through the photos, clips, etc.
Hi Rose,
I’m so glad you found my site. I think a lot of people get Randy and Timothy mixed up or didn’t know Randy existed at all, especially younger fans, who only know about the Eagles with Timothy. I think TBS owed Randy that acknowledgement during the Hall of Fame ceremony. Where would his career have been had he not replaced Randy in two bands? Enjoy looking around. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send me a message.
Jessica
Jessica
Just out of curiosity, do you know what bass Randy considered his number one favourite?
I mean in general, not any specific brand or model, and did you know that Jim Messina went onto bigger and better things with Kenny Loggins in the duo Loggins & Messina?
I think only Randy could have answered the question about his favorite bass. But he played the sunburst Fender Jazz from the ’60s to the ’00s. So, it must have been one he enjoyed playing.
I’m well aware of Loggins and Messina. Thanks.
My pleasure, Jessica, and I really appreciate all the hard work, time and effort you put into your tribute website to Randy.