DOKKEN's JEFF PILSON Gets 'Missing' Bass Back After 23 Years

Marty O’Brien, an acclaimed bassist whose touring credits over the years include playing for Lita Ford, Tommy Lee, DISTURBED, STATIC-X, METHODS OF MAYHEM and Gus G., has shared the following story via his Facebook page:

“It’s story time… So… as a teenager in Rhode Island, I saved up all my money and finally bought my first ‘real’ pro bass. A used ’85 Spector bass from a store that told me it was previously owned by Jeff Pilson and used on tour with his band DOKKEN. As a kid, I saw DOKKEN, METALLICA and VAN HALEN at Sullivan Stadium in Massachusetts, and Jeff was playing THAT bass.

“This Spector was my holy grail and I used it on ALL my club gigs when I was a kid growing up in Rhode Island… literally every rehearsal, and every show I ever played in my teens and 20s.

“It turns out that Jeff never sold this bass, but rather it just ‘disappeared’ from his collection some years back. Flash-forward to my adult life; I’m now living in L.A. and have been friends with Jeff for 15 years now. He would sometimes mention this ‘missing’ Spector bass of his that ‘disappeared’ many years ago. I never once mentioned to him that his missing bass was sitting in my parents’ house in Rhode Island in storage. I always thought that someday the time would be right. So, yesterday morning, I showed up at Jeff‘s and just gave him the bass. His jaw hit the floor and he says ‘That’s the bass! Where did you find it!?!?’ He was even more in shock when I told him I’ve owned it since I was a teenager. I’d just been borrowing it. For 23 years.”

Pilson is a veteran bassist who has played with DIO, FOREIGNER, DOKKEN and T&N, among others. He is also an acclaimed producer who has worked with KILL DEVIL HILL, ADLER (the band led by former GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Steven Adler) and LAST IN LINE, the new band featuring fellow ex-DIO members Vivian Campbell, Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain and Claude Schnell.