Biggest talent, worst gear

[Jase]

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='201451' date='May 18 2008, 11:53 AM'] They do suck a bit, don't they?

I understand Mike Stern (guitarist) has the worst gear possible but makes it sound fantastic.[/quote]


Mike Stern, great player!!!! did you see his Instructional vid? not much in the way of gear at all but as you say fantastic

[Jase]

[quote name='Dr.Dave' post='201397' date='May 18 2008, 09:58 AM'][url="http://www.lakland.com/artists/geezer_butler.htm"]http://www.lakland.com/artists/geezer_butler.htm[/url]

Found this (the youtube link doesn't work) but don;t know how recent it is. Great player , Geezer.[/quote]

The ol' Geezers gone a bit posh aint he!!

[ahpook]

[quote name='Starvolt' post='201570' date='May 18 2008, 03:39 PM']When you bear in mind that he'd been playing bass for about a month, and struggled to play Smoke On The Water, I thought that it was a rather strange investment, rather than a cheaper bass.[/quote]

well, it would keep its resale value better than a cheaper one i suppose...

[Doc B]

I recently downgraded my gear from a Nemesis NC410 combo and Status bass to a Squier and an Ashdown Electric Blue as I felt they better matched my playing ability

[Sparky]

[quote name='queenofthedepths' post='201170' date='May 17 2008, 05:48 PM']I'm sure John Entwistle would vote for himself, in his never-ending search for the perfect bass A bloody brilliant player, never satisfied with his tone...[/quote]
+1... wasn't sure if it was just me, but although the playing was amazing, in that clip of The Who with Entwistle's bass track solo'd (someone posted the link a while back), IMO the bass sounded just terrible!

[Soulfinger]

Pete Wentz!!!1!1!!

*ducks*





How about Seasick Steve?

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNoPNC3ebYQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNoPNC3ebYQ[/url]

Oh yeah, and on bass - Steve Swallow.

He keeps upgrading his basses only to downgrade his sound, it seems...

Edited May 19, 2008 by Soulfinger

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='Soulfinger' post='201985' date='May 19 2008, 10:44 AM']Oh yeah, and on bass - Steve Swallow.

He keeps upgrading his basses only to downgrade his sound, it seems...[/quote]
Doesn't he use a metal plecky? If so that would probably make any bass sound bad.

[Soulfinger]

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='202108' date='May 19 2008, 03:03 PM']Doesn't he use a metal plecky? If so that would probably make any bass sound bad.[/quote]I guess you´re right. It´s a pick made of copper IIRC.

Still, he always played electric with a pick and sounded great on those old Scofield records, using what sounds like a P bass with a healthy dose of overdrive.

[tauzero]

[quote name='thinman' post='201105' date='May 17 2008, 04:21 PM']Who are the biggest bas talents you know of with the worst gear?

(Or the reverse! My vote would go to some of the people at a Hedge Fund manager's "Hedgestock" event.)[/quote]
For the reverse, I'd have said Adam Clayton if he used decent basses, but he uses Fenders so that's OK.

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Soulfinger' post='201985' date='May 19 2008, 10:44 AM']How about Seasick Steve?[/quote]

I heard him for the first time tonight. OMG he's awesome. Seriously. There's a purity to his playing and a total lack of pretention. That, and I can't believe how good he can make a 3 string guitar sound.

[chris_b]

Paul McCartney. That bloody violin bass sounded awful then and still does!

[stingrayfan]

Macca and his Hofner Violin. Great player, terrible sounding bass.

[Buzz]

I have to pose the question regarding the sound of the basses:

Is everyone judging it on the solo sound (from special clips, singled out tracks, solos etc) or on the sound as it sits in the mix?

I only ask because I remember a similar discussion on these boards (may have been BW) about a couple of artists (big ones at that) who deliberately had a tone which sounded rubbish solo'd but when in the general mix it sounded [i]good[/i].

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='304204' date='Oct 10 2008, 10:25 PM']I heard him for the first time tonight. OMG he's awesome. Seriously. There's a purity to his playing and a total lack of pretention. That, and I can't believe how good he can make a 3 string guitar sound.[/quote]

[url="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qMf-em-56Mc&feature=related"]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qMf-em-56Mc&...feature=related[/url]

here he only has one string

[Deep Thought]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='304204' date='Oct 10 2008, 10:25 PM']I heard him for the first time tonight. OMG he's awesome. Seriously. There's a purity to his playing and a total lack of pretention. That, and I can't believe how good he can make a 3 string guitar sound.[/quote]

Saw him live last year on the beach in Newquay. Incredible-one of the best gigs I've been to in nearly 30 years.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Sparky' post='201976' date='May 19 2008, 10:25 AM']+1... wasn't sure if it was just me, but although the playing was amazing, in that clip of The Who with Entwistle's bass track solo'd (someone posted the link a while back), IMO the bass sounded just terrible![/quote]

John Entwistle always sounded like sh*t to me too. And I've never seen a bass player more obsessed with over-complicated gear.

[Monz]

[quote name='chardbass' post='201313' date='May 18 2008, 12:03 AM']Jeff Berlin and his Dean bass.[/quote]

I'm sorry but I can't decide which is the pile of sh*t out of those two

[waynepunkdude]

Didn't Billy Joe Armstrong use the same Fernandez Strat from whenhe was kid till a few years ago?

[Oscar South]

McCartney's violin bass sounded decent and worked perfectly in the mix, and Entwistle's bass tone sounded awesome.