BassAdder60 Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 Been reading about U2 bassist Adam Clayton and his setup using at some point Ashdown ABM amps I understand he was running the Sub Harmonic on all the time set low 7:30 ( o’clock ) and drive on set 12:30 - 1 o’clock Might just try this next practice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 Really like his playing. Gets a lot of (very dull) stick here. I’m not a massive U2 fan, but appreciate what he brings is perfect for their sound. Didn’t know he was an Ashdown user. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 Someone will be along very soon to tell us that he is not going slappityy-tapitty-300bpmityy-shredityy. But they are probably not in a full time succesful band in the music business who could retire on the proceeds tomorrow. And fund their children for the rest of their lives. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 From what I’ve read the first time he used an Ashdown his words were “now that’s proper bass amplification”. Couldn’t have put it better myself. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveXFR Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 26 minutes ago, owen said: Someone will be along very soon to tell us that he is not going slappityy-tapitty-300bpmityy-shredityy. But they are probably not in a full time succesful band in the music business who could retire on the proceeds tomorrow. And fund their children for the rest of their lives. Ever noticed how few successful bassists play million notes a second slap? There are many more who have sold millions of records with nothing more than simple, solid lines with solid timing. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 Adam Clayton was one of the reasons I picked up the bass in the first place. The Joshua Tree came out when I was in my early teens and I thought his playing on it was what kept everything together and really brought the whole album alive. I'd give my right arm to be as inept, talentless and successful as him 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 They use his name a lot talking about the EQ tuning of the Meters headphones. Maybe he really knows his stuff on frequencies and all sorts of important muso stuff that doesn't involve shredding on the bass? I dunno. I'm no U2 fan but fair play to him. I'm sure they could have booted him out at any moment they wanted if he was truly useless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buff Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 A bassist should never get grief for an egotistic singer 🤣 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveXFR Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 1 minute ago, buff said: A bassist should never get grief for an egotistic singer 🤣 Unless the bassist is the egotistic singer 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 2 hours ago, oldslapper said: Didn’t know he was an Ashdown user. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 Always liked what he brought to U2. A perfect fit for them IMO. My fav song New Years Day. Great bassline and the song that made me sit up and listen to them. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 He's not known for playing the wrong thing. His interview on the Rockonteurs recently was most entertaining, too. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nail Soup Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 34 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said: Always liked what he brought to U2. A perfect fit for them IMO. My fav song New Years Day. Great bassline and the song that made me sit up and listen to them. I don't really listen to U2 , so thanks for posting the example. I took a listen and AC does great job on that, great bass sound and probably the main hook in the song. Don't see the problem. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 I remember reading that one of their gigs was detected by seismographic equipment somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 I met him on the 1st January, but he didn't return my greeting. It seems all is quiet on new year's day. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 2 hours ago, owen said: Someone will be along very soon to tell us that he is not going slappityy-tapitty-300bpmityy-shredityy. But they are probably not in a full time succesful band in the music business who could retire on the proceeds tomorrow. And fund their children for the rest of their lives. I couldn't care less about slappityy-tapitty-shredityy neither, but might there be better metrics for evaluating musical worth than money? Btw, I see Craig wotsit from Bros has done very well for himself, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 16 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said: I couldn't care less about slappityy-tapitty-shredityy neither, but might there be better metrics for evaluating musical worth than money? Btw, I see Craig wotsit from Bros has done very well for himself, too. I am sure there are very many other metrics for measuring musical worth. However, if I did not have to be at work for 8.30am tomorrow I would have WAY more time to write music/record/promote my music/etc. So actually earning enough money to do that has to be a pretty significant metric. Good on Craig as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 3 hours ago, BassAdder27 said: Been reading about U2 bassist Adam Clayton and his setup using at some point Ashdown ABM amps I understand he was running the Sub Harmonic on all the time set low 7:30 ( o’clock ) and drive on set 12:30 - 1 o’clock Might just try this next practice I suspect that setting up like that adds depth to the sound but without being really noticeable as an effect. Whatever anyone thinks of Adam Clayton or U2 they’re not likely to do anything that has a negative impact on the sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geddys nose Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 That Live in Paris gig is probably the best visual band performance I've ever seen, I love his playing just perfect for the band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linus27 Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 (edited) Adam Clayton was also one of the reasons I picked up the bass. I was only 14 and been outside BMXing. It was a mega hot day so I came in to cool down and purely by mistake saw U2's performance on Live Aid. I didn't know the band, the songs or have any desire to play music (I had a huge crush on Madonna at the time) but I saw Adam strutting around stage and I thought, that guys looks so cool, playing guitar (didn't know it was a bass), strutting around stage looking awesome, I want to be that guy. A few years passed and I was hanging out with mates and I then heard the Joshua Tree blasting out of a friends car and it blew me away. At that point I decided to learn to play bass. Move forward about 10 years and I'd learnt to play bass, learnt every U2 song, been in a few good bands and managed to get a record deal with my current band. We were going to head to Seattle to be have our first album produced by Rick Parasher of Pearl Jam's 'Ten' fame but the guy who ended up producing it was a guy called Mark Wallis who did the It Bites and Travis album's. He's also produced The Smiths, Talking Heads, REM, Wet Wet Wet, Iggy Pop, Japan, The Primitives, Debbie Harry, Joan Armatrading, The LA’s and The Go-Betweens to name a few but it turned out he also mixed and engineered on U2's Joshua Tree. We had many a long chat about U2 and the things he told me about Adam is that he may not perhaps come up with the most spectacular bass lines but he is one of the most solid, tightest bassists he has ever worked with. He may play a lot of 8 and 16 note bass lines but every single note is consistent and in time. He said not many bass players can play that tight repeatedly and they tend to wander, even if its 1 or 2 or 3 notes in an 8 note sequence but Adam never does, he is so tight. I thought I was good at this until he pointed out I wavered during the recording process. It was quite an eye opener to be honest. He said that Adam just has a fantastic natural internal click and ability to play in time, not something he see's in many other musicians despite other bassists being far more technical. Edited November 21, 2021 by Linus27 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 Just shows, sometimes doing the simple stuff isn’t quite as simple as would initially have been thought. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted November 21, 2021 Share Posted November 21, 2021 2 hours ago, Ricky Rioli said: I couldn't care less about slappityy-tapitty-shredityy neither, but might there be better metrics for evaluating musical worth than money? Btw, I see Craig wotsit from Bros has done very well for himself, too. I thought his name was Ken … 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 Personally, i don't rate him. Hes not bad, I just don't think he's that good. But then he porbably says the same about me, and the nice thing about the string section is how broad a church it is in terms of abilites, styles and tastes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 12 hours ago, AndyTravis said: Unless he recently started playing Ashdown again, he switched to Aguilar a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 7 minutes ago, Doddy said: Unless he recently started playing Ashdown again, he switched to Aguilar a few years ago. Ah yeah - I remember that. He still has an affiliation with them, was in a lot of the literature for “Meters” headphones. I suppose once you reach his level, it’s anything and everything - he’s had multiple signature basses for Fender and Warwick - after playing Lakland for years. A very nice position to be in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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