How Twitter Helped Flea Acquire His 1961 Fender Jazz Bass]

Flea has built quite a bass collection over the years. The Red Hot Chili Peppers powerhouse’s treasure trove includes, perhaps most notably, his cherished 1961 Shell Pink Fender Jazz Bass, which has been his primary studio instrument since 2006.

However, Flea himself admits that, for many years, he was far from a gearhead. “I always thought [with regards to] electric rock musicians’ obsession with equipment, ‘Give me a break, man. It’s all in the fingers in the heart. Give me any piece of shit, I don’t care,’” he tells Rick Beato. “That’s how I always felt. That was kind of one of my arrogant things.”

However, that all changed when Flea gave an old Fender a spin and resonated with its tone. It was an enlightening experience. From that point on, he was hooked.

In his quest for a vintage bass sometime in the 2000s, Flea took to what was then known as Twitter, then still in its earliest days.