Tom Petersson and His Massive Cheap Trick Sound

[ChWillie]

I got into Cheap Trick just before Live at Budakon broke big, and I’ve never understood why this band never reached the level of fame they deserve. I saw them twice in the earlier days, experiences I’ll never forget.  Tom Petersson had and has a massive and powerful sound. Not flashy but a solid player.  He really puts 8 and 12 string basses to good use.  
 

Any of you play an 8 or 12?

[ARGH]

Deeply considering it, the only worry is string supply....But rather like a chorus pedal, once you start using it, it tends to confine your sound, possibly almost becoming a gimmick... I've been offered a 12 (a Dean) and an Ibanez 8. 

 

question is, do I really need them, as I prefer my Fenders as they are modified and so versatile.

 

[MacDaddy]

Until I saw Tom play it never occurred to me that you don't have to play all of the strings which are grouped together.

He was often just playing the lowest string in each group. Amazing technique.

[ChWillie]

2 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

Until I saw Tom play it never occurred to me that you don't have to play all of the strings which are grouped together.

He was often just playing the lowest string in each group. Amazing technique.

He’s seldom mentioned in bassist magazines and sites. He just doesn’t pop into people’s minds.   He’s no Geddy, but he’s perfect for Cheap Trick.  Such a subtle player, and if you listen closely to CT’s music, you start to appreciate what he does. 

[joel406]

Tom Peterson is one of my all-time favorites. The Dream Police is one of my all-time favorite albums. I've seen CT 3 or 4 times. Amazing show. Robin Zander lives about 10 miles away from me. I haven't had the luck of crossing paths with him. Maybe one day. I actually had one of those Ibanez 8 string basses. I even had a local guy build me an 8 sting once. Lately I've thought about trying to find a 10 string. I'm hopelessly addicted to 5 string. But I just got a Quadcortex so I probably don't need it.

[warwickhunt]

@12stringbassist will be along shortly.    

 

I've got more than a passing appreciation of him as I'm in a Cheap Trick tribute.   

 

http://www.cheattrick.co.uk/

 

 

[NancyJohnson]

I did some work for Waterstone a few years ago and got a TP12 for my troubles.  I was playing in a three piece punk band at the time and that was never going to work out.

 

Observations?  It was heavy and I never really got close to the Tom Petersson tone I desired.  It's an instrument that needs a bit of work tonally; in addition to the bass, it's useful to run it through a crossover, routing the lows/fundamentals through something like a Sansamp BDDI with a touch of grunt on it and the highs/octaves through a Sansamp GT2 with some distortion going on.  (EDIT: and then running into individual enclosures.)  I didn't have all the outboard kit to make this work for me; simply running it through a single amp with a bit dirt wasn't best - the octaves were incredibly bright.

 

Of the bass itself, heavy, no forearm cut, headstock heavy.  Played well enough after a considerable amount of tweaking.

 

And on to Cheap Trick.  First three albums and Budokan great.  Dream Police not so great.  Tom left and that was it for me.  The recent 'Out To Get You! Live 1977' album is great though.

 

Had they split up in 1979, I'd have more love for them. 

Edited December 19, 2022 by NancyJohnson

[ChWillie]

4 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

@12stringbassist will be along shortly.    

 

I've got more than a passing appreciation of him as I'm in a Cheap Trick tribute.   

 

http://www.cheattrick.co.uk/

 

 

 Very  cool.