Clarky Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Watched the excellent Nick Cave evening the other day on BBC Four and was struck by the fact that - based on the appearances over the years on Jools Holland's late night show - the Bad Seeds bass player Martyn Casey has used one bass only live for last 20 years - a very relic'ed 62 sunburst Fender P, I think. His amp/cab (Ampeg SVT) also looks to have stayed the same, although I am less certain of that. This means his net expenditure on GAS over the past 20 years has been ... er nil! When I compare this to my net expenditure (and undoubtedly those of others on this Forum) as we search for the perfect bass/rig it puts me to shame I also think its pretty cool getting your set-up and sound and just sticking to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah5string Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Unless he's bought tonnes of basses/amps but never let them get filmed/photographed.. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3V17C Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 yeah i noticed he had the same bass all the way through - was cool to see it getting progressively more beaten up over the years too, and all through genuine graft. peace c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born 2B Mild Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 The least GAS Guzzler I can think of is Herbie Flowers. In 1959 he bought a prototype Jazz base, and a double bass ...and that's all he has bought in nearly 50 years. Apart from the Roland combo he bought 30 years a go, and a Trace Elliot 20 years a go. He doesn't change strings in between decades either. Not one to take a walk on the wild side, really! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayfan Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 [quote name='Clarky' post='235120' date='Jul 8 2008, 05:21 PM']I also think its pretty cool getting your set-up and sound and just sticking to it.[/quote] Nah - boring! Where's that link to the "stuff for sale" section gone.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt-pluck Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 (edited) I'm 99.99% sure that I've seen footage of him playing a Jazz, although I've seen Nick Cave and/or Bad Seeds/Grinderman live god knows how many times and never seen him playing anything other than that P. Not that I'm an obsessive Cave fan or anything. I love the unintrusive and complementary way Casey plays. Pluck Edited July 8, 2008 by sgt-pluck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 [quote name='sgt-pluck' post='235210' date='Jul 8 2008, 07:33 PM']I'm 99.99% sure that I've seen footage of him playing a Jazz, although I've seen Nick Cave and/or Bad Seeds/Grinderman live god knows how many times and never seen him playing anything other than that P. Not that I'm an obsessive Cave fan or anything. Pluck[/quote] I've seen him with a Jazz too. It's the same colour scheme as his P Bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 [quote name='sgt-pluck' post='235210' date='Jul 8 2008, 07:33 PM']I'm 99.99% sure that I've seen footage of him playing a Jazz, although I've seen Nick Cave and/or Bad Seeds/Grinderman live god knows how many times and never seen him playing anything other than that P. Not that I'm an obsessive Cave fan or anything. Pluck[/quote] He does indeed have a Jazz (natural/m/n), it was on a stand at the back of the gig they showed on Beeb 4 from the recent tour - but he didn't play it once! Presume its a back-up if he breaks a string .. and that he never breaks a string on his ancient P bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 To be fair, if I had a 'burst '62 P, and Ampeg stack and a road-crew to haul it all around, I'd be almost totally GAS-free, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='235221' date='Jul 8 2008, 07:46 PM']To be fair, if I had a 'burst '62 P, and Ampeg stack and a road-crew to haul it all around, I'd be almost totally GAS-free, too.[/quote] I don't think you should complaining about owning a beautiful P bass (or three!) Very jealous of your avatar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WalMan Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 (edited) Nice when it works out for you. Until last summer I had had my Wal for 20+ years and TE combo for about 8 or 9. The TE got sidelined for a BOD Pro xt a couple of years back. And then last summer I joined BassChat and whoops the TE went (to be fair that had been on the cards as it wasn't getting used) to be replaced by the MB combo & at the same time I bought a SUB5 on here that lasted 6 months to be replaced by the G&L L2500. So a brief hiatus in a fairly static GAS free bass journey for me, but I could actually quite easily see the Wal, G&L L2500 & MB CMD121H seeing me out now. If you find a good'un why break something that doesn't need fixing. Then again I'm no pro Edited July 8, 2008 by WalMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgt-pluck Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 (edited) Right - sorry for turning this into a total train-spotters thread - but I've conducted some research Here are my findings: [list] [*]There is more than one P-Bass. 'The' P-bass is very old and battered and has cream pups, but there is another, newer sunburst P-bass with black pups. [*]There is a sunburst Jazz. [*]There is a natural/cream Jazz [*]I have footage of the Seeds here with Casey playing a black Jazz. [/list] As an aside - here is a picture of Warren Ellis playing what looks like a miniture T-bird. Thank you for your time! Pluck Edited July 8, 2008 by sgt-pluck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 (edited) [quote name='sgt-pluck' post='235252' date='Jul 8 2008, 08:33 PM']Right - sorry for turning this into a total train-spotters thread - but I've conducted some research Here are my findings: [list] [*]There is more than one P-Bass. 'The' P-bass is very old and battered and has cream pups, but there is another, newer sunburst P-bass with black pups. [*]There is a sunburst Jazz. [*]There is a natural/cream Jazz [*]I have footage of the Seeds here with Casey playing a black Jazz. [/list] As an aside - here is a picture of Warren Ellis playing what looks like a miniture T-bird. Thank you for your time! Pluck[/quote] Blimey, some serious research! But fact remains he played the battered P bass on every track from every era on Beeb 4 night - and he's still probably spent less than me over the years Edited July 8, 2008 by Clarky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 Instruments are tools for the the pro's. For us amateurs they are toys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARGH Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 (edited) [quote name='bass_ferret' post='235277' date='Jul 8 2008, 09:15 PM']Instruments are tools for the the pro's. For us amateurs they are toys [/quote] True.....But we still pay a pros price for the custom and 'different'. I prefer Cave with Blixa onstage...'Loverman' at glasters in 94 was awsome. Edited July 8, 2008 by ARGH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 [quote name='ARGH' post='235283' date='Jul 8 2008, 09:20 PM']True.....But we still pay a pros price for the custom and 'different'.[/quote] We have got proper jobs and can afford it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor_of_the_bass Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 nowt wrong with GAS.... `...cos I'm the GAS man - yeah, I'm the GAS man....etc etc' PS - that mini T-bird looks like the one John Entwistle had made to commemorate the birth of his son `Christopher' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Mickey Quinn from Supergrass is another example - he's been playing the same Ibanez Blazer (or is it a Roadster?) for his whole career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 [quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='235146' date='Jul 8 2008, 06:00 PM']The least GAS Guzzler I can think of is Herbie Flowers. In 1959 he bought a prototype Jazz base, and a double bass ...and that's all he has bought in nearly 50 years. Apart from the Roland combo he bought 30 years a go, and a Trace Elliot 20 years a go. He doesn't change strings in between decades either. Not one to take a walk on the wild side, really![/quote] I like the phrase "Gas Guzzler" in this context! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 [quote name='TheRev' post='236286' date='Jul 10 2008, 08:36 AM']Mickey Quinn from Supergrass is another example - he's been playing the same Ibanez Blazer (or is it a Roadster?) for his whole career.[/quote] And I've read Mr Quinn also uses the same beaten-up old Carlsbro combo that he's owned for years for recording all those tasty 'Grass basslines... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='235146' date='Jul 8 2008, 06:00 PM']The least GAS Guzzler I can think of is Herbie Flowers. In 1959 he bought a prototype Jazz base, and a double bass ...and that's all he has bought in nearly 50 years. Apart from the Roland combo he bought 30 years a go, and a Trace Elliot 20 years a go. He doesn't change strings in between decades either. Not one to take a walk on the wild side, really![/quote] I've seen him playing at least two Jazz bass's in the last 8 months. A blue one and a red one that looked like a Squier. Edited July 10, 2008 by dave_bass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjb Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 (edited) Doesn't old-man McCartney still drag his Hofner around on tour these days? For a guy worth hundreds of millions, his GAS has been restrained to say the least.... Perhaps he paid off Heather Mills with his bass fund! Edited July 10, 2008 by rjb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-T-P Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 [quote name='sgt-pluck' post='235252' date='Jul 8 2008, 08:33 PM']As an aside - here is a picture of Warren Ellis playing what looks like a miniture T-bird. Thank you for your time! Pluck[/quote] That's a 4 string Mandobird isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weird War Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 Martyn Casey is a quality player - an exemplar of not playing too many notes. I agree with Argh that the Bad Seeds are not quite the same since Blixa left the band... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted July 10, 2008 Share Posted July 10, 2008 I have to agree... Herbie Flowers is the least GAS driven player I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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