Ricky Gardiner - modified 1987 Aria Pro II fretless five str...

Hammer

£460

Ricky Gardiner - modified 1987 Aria Pro II fretless five string bass guitar; Body: original Aria Pro II white finished body, minor buckle scratches, dings and other marks; Neck: replacement rosewood board fretless neck; Electrics: replacement Kent Armstrong active pickups; Hardware: replacement Wilkinson tailpiece; Case: soft bag; Weight: 4.42kg; Overall condition: good for age

*Ricky Gardiner was a renown guitarist, songwriter, composer who notably collaborated with iconic artists such as Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and producer Tony Visconti. Gardiner’s notoriety came about with the success of work he wrote with Iggy Pop and David Bowie for Pop’s album ‘Lust for Life’ in 1977, as guitarist for the famed ‘Idiot’ tour that included Bowie on keyboards and backing vocals, and as guitarist Bowie’s album LOW during the Berlin period of albums of the late 70s.

Gardiner was founding member and guitarist for Beggars Opera who were a Scottish progressive rock band from Glasgow, Scotland, formed in 1969. They toured UK and Europe extensively and appeared on German TV's legendary Beat-Club, and at the First British Rock Meeting in Speyer in September 1971.

After moving to South Wales to start a family, Gardiner continued to experiment in music, electronic music, improvisation and made several Beggar’s Opera albums as a duo with his wife Virginia Scott, composer and mellotronist for the band. Most notable is the sixteen- minute pastoral guitar piece ‘Auschwitz’ made in 1995 marking the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the camp of the same name, and later his only solo album released in 2013
(and final) album, ‘Songs for the Electric’.