Like many bassists and guitarists, Este Haim (naturally, from Haim) had been scouring the internet – or, as she aptly put it, “on the hunt” – for her dream bass for a long, long time.
One day she finally struck gold, and during an interview with Guitar World in a 2020, Haim recalled the “crazy story" of how she got her hands on her number one 1970s Fender Precision Bass.
“One cool thing about living in LA is that there’s never a shortage of people trying to get rid of or trade gear. I had been avidly looking on Craigslist, this was about 10 years ago, so I was still in college,” she detailed.
“I didn’t have a lot of money, but I was working in a coffee shop and had saved up $2,300 for a ’70s P-Bass. So it was probably not going to happen with that kind of budget, but I had faith I might somehow get blessed with the opportunity…”
After scouring Craigslist late at night after a study session, she spotted a listing for a ’74 P-Bass for, conveniently, $2,300.
“I felt like it was going to be a scam, but emailed them anyway, signing off as Este Haim. This was before anything had happened with the band.”
What Haim certainly wasn't expecting, though, was a reply from one of her favorite guitarists, who was actually selling the bass.
She continued, “I got an email right back from Blake Sennett, and I’m the biggest Rilo Kiley fan. I was thinking, ‘No way is this the real Blake Sennett!’ but he said he lived close by and I was welcome to come try it out. So I emailed back and agreed it was a crazy coincidence and would love to go to his house and try the bass out…”
As for her first encounter with the bass she had dreamed about for so long, Haim said it was “definitely love at first sight.
“She was beautiful,” she raved. “The headstock needed a little tweaking and the lacquer on the back of the neck was coming off, so I needed to get that fixed, but other than that, she was beautiful.”
After recently showing off her bass chops at this year's Glastonbury, Este Haim, together with her Haim sisters, have just released their fourth studio album, I Quit.
