Is it true that JD played the MusicMan Stingray on ADATR (although stated as Fender bass on the sleeve)?
I heard about this some time ago, but listening to Millionaire Waltz I doubt it, as the Musicman sounds a bit more aggressive than the Prec...
We know that a video clip does not always show the actual gear of a band - TYMD is played on a Stingray in the Videoclip....
Anyone an idea?!
I don't exactly know, but I'm pretty sure that John used the Precision on the Record and the MusicMan on the following tour... This may be confirmed by the fact that Queen had a much rougher overall sound when playing live, which would have suited the MusicMan perfectly...
You're right... As the "Play the game" video teaches us (Brian's Stratocaster), they're not always reliable enough to understand the gear a band used...
:-)
Albyboy
Thanks Albyboy,
sounds logical! I mean, the overall bass sound on ADATR is Fenderish, but on NOTW I am quite sure that he played the Stingray. Or Roger, however, on the two Taylor songs. Too bad that such things we will never know for sure - okay, the Stingray sound is different from the Prec - but in the mix it not always comes trough (except on Bites the Dust)
By the Way - Play the Game - the Fender Strat is fake, okay, but I am sure that John played the Kramer DMZ on the record too, as it has a very big sustain... (I would love to play the Kramer, although it has a steel neck, which is very cold and detunes)
deleted user 05.10.2004 13:50
All I know is, on the ADATR sleeve, John had 'Fender bass' listed on instruments played like Brian's 'guitar orchestrations, choir meister, etc.'
ivanV8 wrote: All I know is, on the ADATR sleeve, John had 'Fender bass' listed on instruments played like Brian's 'guitar orchestrations, choir meister, etc.'
sorry, but Musicman is a follow-up product of Mr Leo Fender and his staff, plus many of the credits on the sleeve are not correct (who mentions J. Deacon playing rhythm guitar on most of the Hot Space track? Or that Freddie played Hammond on Now I'm here?)
Just wanted to know if someone has a precise information about the gear used for the studio album.
I love this topics!!!
Well, as for the Musicman, John bought it (actually his roadie bought it for him) in America before the beginning of the 1977 Races tour (which is before the taping of TYMD); T-sakamoto, a Japanese musician, had suggested John might have used a different bass in Long Away since it sounded like a new neck or something like that. But, Long Away is one of the few songs from we have photos from the sessions, and John was playing one of the Precisions. Perhaps he had put a new neck in that
As for News Of The World - hard to tell. The "obvious" theory would be that he used the Fretless in Melancholy Blues. But, live shows don't neccesarily confirm what was used in the studio. Otoh a fan club magazine in late 1977 included a q&a thing when some fan asked if John had used the fretless in the album and the answer was "no" (still, we don't know who said that and he/she could be wrong, it wouldn't be the first or the last time anyway).
The same magazine said that Roger used one of John's P-Basses in his tracks. The "artificial" effect must be because of the mixes, or maybe Roger used different amps.
Hi Sebastian,
hard to say on MMB - John uses no slides at all, so it is almost impossible to tell if it is fretless or not... He has nearly no attack in the sound of the bass, maybe it is "sponged" ;-)
My girlfriend listened to the track, she says the first bars are fretless, and the rest is not. Too bad!
It is played too precise for a fretless IMO - I am bass player too since 14 years, and I have a fretless bass as well - but I couldnt play it that precise all the way. Definetly it is a Precision bass... or maybe not?!
On the other hand: why should he play it on a fretless bass, when nobody recognizes it as a fretless bass - ...
I think on NOTW he also played a Stringray, perhaps on "Get down" - defintely not on "Sleeping" - "It's late" is P-Bass - "Champions" ... well, watching the Video it is a Stingray, but I doubt it on the album... "All dead" is P-Bass too - the Taylor-songs are somehow artificial, as you said before, I guess they compressed the bass - or even used the Stingray...
It's time to change the topic subject to "Deacons studio work in general" - seems there are at last 2 other persons interested in it :-)