who here has a good idea of what method John used to play bass and in what songs for example? I think I have noticed some pick playing and some finger style playing, plus some thumb playing, but am not too sure.
Straight from Ratty:
"In Early Queen days John never used a pick for live shows, he started using them around 1979/1980 - if I remember correctly...... He only ever used blue Martin heavy picks. He would use them selectively on stage: sometimes he just use fingers on certain songs (Another one bites the dust) sometimes just pick (Under pressure) and sometimes both fingers and pick (Now I'm Here) It could also depend on his mood. The graphic equalisers were part of John's electronic rack which controlled his sound on stage. He did have 2 - he had 2 of everything. The reason being, he could switch between his sound controls to get a different sound and the second one was a spare if anything went wrong or broke!!! It didn't, because his roadie was very good - totally professional!!! "
I think that he played his Precision Bass with his cock.....
deleted user 21.09.2005 16:36
erm, he played it abit like this:-
picks up bass
puts it on
plugs it in
starts dancing and hopping around crazy
plucks any string his fingers can find that make a noise
still hopping around as if he was a little child!
I cannot help myself at wondering why he used to lick the fingertips. For a proper picking? I did't see that (as frequent as with John) at other bass players.
But, then again, there are other people picking their nose, so what John did is not that weird...
An Ordinary Guy wrote: I cannot help myself at wondering why he used to lick the fingertips. For a proper picking? I did't see that (as frequent as with John) at other bass players.
But, then again, there are other people picking their nose, so what John did is not that weird...
If your fingers are moist when playing bass, you tend to get less percussive noise or string buzz when you pluck the strings. a handy little tip. As for why john did it more than other bassists - perhaps he has naturally very dry skin. Who knows?
lol...
anyway - didn't he start using his thumb more often in the 80's, for the funkier, dry basslines like in AOBTD and UP ? In the 70's it was all heavy eights with middle finger and forefinger from what I remember.