Capitalizing on a continuing trend that proves that even rock stars use eBay to rid themselves of goods, original Metallica bassist Ron McGovney took to the auction site to sell the Fender bass he used in the late ’80s.
McGovney’s 1985 Fender Precision bass went to a winning bidder this past Friday for a final bidding price of $919.
“The bass is a 1985 USA made Fender p-bass ivory in color,” wrote McGovney on the listing. “The only things ever changed on it were the strings. It is all stock. It is in great condition, and has not been used very much at all since I was in Phantasm in 1987. I plugged it in yesterday, and it still has that great p-bass punch. It comes with a hardshell case that is kinda worn and the latches are a little rusty, but they still work.”
McGovney provided the winner with the original sales receipt for the bass, which included his then-address in Norwalk, Calif. He also notes, “The phone number on the receipt is the same as the one most Metallica collectors will recognize as being the same as the number on the original Metallica business cards.”
When McGovney left Metallica in 1982, it wasn’t on good terms. He reportedly had frequent rifts with both lead guitarist Dave Mustaine and drummer Lars Ulrich.
In a 1997 interview, McGovney explained, “The truth of the matter was that things just didn't click. I was a different person back then. I was a brash person that was always drunk and having fun and James [Hetfield] and Lars were withdrawn little boys. James hardly ever talked to people; we did that Saxon gig a while back and he was singing but it was I who talked in between songs. The whole thing was that I had too much to drink. But I f*** up one time and it costs me the band and they f*** up 100 times... There’s been times when I had to carry both James and Lars because they were so drunk.”