Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea is launching a range of affordable bass guitars to help students who may not be able to afford decent models to learn on.
Flea was inspired by his students at Silverlake Conservatory of Music in LA, after he saw how many of them had trouble learning to play on their cheap guitars. He told Kerrang! Magazine "I found that a lot of the kids I was teaching were coming in with inexpensive basses, which were pieces of s**t. The necks were warped and were falling apart. They were like toys. I wanted to make something that kids could afford but were quality, play well and last a long time.
"It's hard to get it perfect the first time, but I'm really happy with what we've made. When I was a kid, skateboarders would form their own skateboard companies. It was f**king cool to have a DIY (do it yourself) company. I had been adding my name to established bass models for many years, but I thought, 'F**k it, I'll make my own bass! I'll make it b**ching and it'll be cool!' I just want the kids to rock!"