Bassist's Basses That You Liked?

[Jonesy]

Bob Weston - Travis Bean TB2000

 

 

Who needs all those controls?

[drTStingray]

1 hour ago, tegs07 said:

Wasn’t he primarily a guitarist before the Beatles? A short scale less bulky instrument may just feel more natural?

Considering he played a Wal for years, along with a Rickenbacker and others (including the Yamaha) this is unlikely. 
 

I understand Elvis Costello persuaded him to resurrect the Hofner, at the start of the ‘everything must be vintage 60s’ fad and hoodoo - prior to that McCartney had considered it an instrument which would be out of tune as much as in tune - however he managed to get someone to fix it so that it was more reliable - not sure what the sound’s like though.

 

I have always liked his tone whatever bass he has been using, but it’s clear the Wal is far and away the best of all - however the weight of instruments becomes more of an issue for performance as age increases and no doubt the featherweight Hofner is great from that point of view. 
 

It’s incredible to think some of our famous artists are now octogenarians. 

[bartelby]

13 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

Bob Weston - Travis Bean TB2000

 

 

Who needs all those controls?

 

But you also need his and Albini's production skills!

[drTStingray]

Another couple of great influences of mine from the past - literally big hitters of the bass guitar (whacked hell out of the strings)!!

 

Leo Lyons (Ten Years After) - Fender Jazz

 

 

Larry (The Mole) Taylor - Canned Heat; John Mayall - Fender Precision (I liked the sunburst one he usually played but this picture shows him playing a black slab bodied Precision - which is OK as well)!!

 

 

Sunburst with obligatory curly lead - playing a 10th (v unusual in 1968)!! 
 

Edited September 22, 2021 by drTStingray

[tegs07]

25 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

Considering he played a Wal for years, along with a Rickenbacker and others (including the Yamaha) this is unlikely. 
 

I understand Elvis Costello persuaded him to resurrect the Hofner, at the start of the ‘everything must be vintage 60s’ fad and hoodoo - prior to that McCartney had considered it an instrument which would be out of tune as much as in tune - however he managed to get someone to fix it so that it was more reliable - not sure what the sound’s like though.

 

I have always liked his tone whatever bass he has been using, but it’s clear the Wal is far and away the best of all - however the weight of instruments becomes more of an issue for performance as age increases and no doubt the featherweight Hofner is great from that point of view. 
 

It’s incredible to think some of our famous artists are now octogenarians. 

Apparently it was light and looked fine upside down for a lefty!

[drTStingray]

11 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

Apparently it was light and looked fine upside down for a lefty!

Definitely the original reason for having the Hofner, but not the reason for its resurrection. 

[Guest]

From a recent interview with McCartney's people about recording his most recent album:

 

Keith: 90% of it was the number one Hofner 500/1. Paul’s got other Hofners, and he’s got other basses. He’s got his Rickenbacker - the Ricky from the 1970s and a Wal five-string and a couple of other things that we’ll occasionally drag out if he wants to try something different. But 9 times out of 10, he’ll pick up the Hofner. When he plays the Hofner you can tell it’s just part of him. It’s so organic and such a natural feel and sound for him, and it always sounds phenomenal. For years I’ve been trying to find a really good spare. I think we’ve got about 12 other Hofners, some of them I’ve acquired to try and be the number two spare, and it’s only just happened in the last year or so where Nick from Hofner came over and we went through every little bit of Paul’s. He ended up building a number two from ’61 and ’62 parts. But this one, the number one, he just picks it up and plays it and it sounds great. It’s one of the most unique sounding - not just basses, but Hofners.

 

Steve: It doesn’t sound like any other Hofner. Sometimes they can be quite hard to record, Hofners. They can be really subby without a lot of tone to them, it’s all woof. But there’s something unique about Paul’s one, maybe it’s just the amount of music that’s gone through it from his fingers! It’s like a good old acoustic guitar, there’s something about how the wood absorbs all of those frequencies.

 

Keith: I think I’ve noticed with the Rickenbaker - it doesn’t change his playing style - but maybe because he’s experiencing a very different sound from the Ricky than from the Hofner he’ll maybe use some slightly different techniques. But it’s almost irrelevant because his number one, go-to is the Hofner.

[EssentialTension]

50 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

... he played a Wal for years, along with a Rickenbacker and others (including the Yamaha) ...
 

 

 

Also lefty Fender Jazz in White Album period.

[matski]

Steve Severin's StingRay and Bruce Foxton's Precision were the instigators of my black and maple bass fetish.

[matski]

Unpopular opinion: I still prefer Mick Karn's Travis Bean over the Wal. 😛

[cetera]

Basses I lusted after, had pics on my wall etc.... :

 

Gene Simmons (KISS) - his 1974 Lobue, his custom 1977 Spector SB1 and longer top horn SB1, his Staccato MG bass..... and the Axe!

 

Sting (The Police) - white Spector NS2

 

Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) - blue sparkle P bass

 

Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy)- black P bass with chrome scratchplate

 

Eddie Jackson (Queensryche) - black Spector NS2, white Spector NS2

 

Rachel Bolan (Skid Row) - White pearl Spector NS2

 

Kip Winger (Winger) - Jackson sig model and Hamer Impact

 

Masayoshi Yamashita (Loudness) - ESP PPJ-160 P-style bass with double P AND a J pickup!

 

Duff McKagan (Guns n Roses) - White pearl Fender Jazz Bass Special 

 

Barry Dunaway (Yngwie Malmsteen) - red firecrackle custom Spector NS2 (I now own this very bass!)

 

Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue) - Reverse & Non-Reverse Spectorbirds!

 

Rick Savage (Def Leppard) - Hamer Scarab

 

Perry Richardson (Firehouse) - all-white (inc neck) custom Yamaha TBird

 

Geddy Lee (Rush)- black Wal MK1

[Jonesy]

2 hours ago, bartelby said:

 

But you also need his and Albini's production skills!

 

 

Very true! Pretty much everything they lay their hands on sounds like gold to my ears and their tone, both live and on record, is just amazing! Which reminds me.......when's their new album out? There was talk of about 10 tunes being recorded before the pandemic and last time i saw them there was about 3 new songs in the set. Hopefully they'll release it when touring becomes feasible. 

[Graham]

4 hours ago, Jonesy said:

Bob Weston - Travis Bean TB2000

 

 

Who needs all those controls?

He's the fella from Shellac isn't he? Love his playing and tone

[Musicman666]

8 hours ago, matski said:

Unpopular opinion: I still prefer Mick Karn's Travis Bean over the Wal. 😛

He only made one album with the wal…the rest was this one.

[itu]

An all white Moon with a mic has not been mentioned.

A 36" Overwater C... what else? Yes, a two string fretless played with slide! Adventurous people, have to say.

[LeftyJ]

16 hours ago, cetera said:

Eddie Jackson (Queensryche) - black Spector NS2, white Spector NS2

Oh man, that thumping tone on Operation:Mindcrime 

[WAYNESWORLD]

Mike Pacaro  Peavey cirrus very underrated bass imho

 

[SteveXFR]

2 minutes ago, WAYNESWORLD said:

Mike Pacaro  Peavey cirrus very underrated bass imho

 

 

I think most Peavey's are underrated. I had a Zephyr and still have an International and considering how well they play and how good they sound, they are dirt cheap.

I regret selling the Zephyr. 

[Fozza]

His signature model (which I really like) has been mentioned but I've always liked the look of Jack Casady's Guild. All those knobs!

 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[dmccombe7]

For me these guys deserved a signature bass.

 

 

[casapete]

On 22/09/2021 at 10:56, Skin Lewis said:

Ronnie Lane's Zemaitis:

 

Another shout out for Ronnie - this is the Zemaitis I always associate him with, he had a few though!

 

[Graham]

Ra Diaz's purple Spector Coda 5 is lovely

[Andermtc]

Rory MacDonald from Runrigs Trans Teal Musicman Stingray, which was why I bought one.
(Terrible picture but all the decent pictures of Rory playing have him using a Black Stingray.)

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by Andermtc

[joeystrange]

I love Jennifer Finch’s Misfits bass that she used in L7.

 

Also Melissa auf der Maur’s silver metal flake Precision which inspired my wife to get a similar one in red. Which also looks great!

 

Edited September 23, 2021 by joeystrange