Hey
I have a few questions about Billy Sheehan. THe one and only! Well, how does he get his harmonics so clear and harsh? Are they false harmonics? Does he use a distortion pedal for his bass solo 2 on his website? And does he use single finger double picking? Thankyou for your time.
Thanks
Troy

one that I've heard about him is he always uses distortion and tons of compression. Compression will make harmonics ring better. He uses a lot of guitar technique so the harmonics could very well be pinched harmonics.

I'm not a fan of fast wanky solos and the artists that make them so that is all the help I can give. Hope that helped

He has a customised bass with two output jacks for two cables.
I believe each pickup is connected to it's own output jack and that he has one going to an amp with distortion and the other one going to a cleaner setup. I'm just guessing but I think this is how he gets both a clean sound and a harsh sound at the same time.

Hey hey,

I'm a big Billy Sheehan fan myself.

He uses a few different techniques for harmonics. One way is using natural harmonics. Rest a left hand finger over a fret, but not fretting a note , and then pick normally.

The other is with pinch harmonics. He uses a technique close to what Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top uses.

These are either enhanced with distortion from his Pre-amps, or but turning up his middle pickup. His bass (I own one BTW) has two outputs one for the Neck "woofer" pickup, and one for his middle pickup. Each is sent to it's own amp, and then EQ'd with the highs off the Woofer pickup, and the Lows off the middle pickup. This add lots of clarity to the sound.

I have built a version of his "wife" with the EBO at the neck with stereo outputs and it really helps. Distort the hell out of the woofer and leave the P-bass pickup clean. Get's a nice dirty sound with plenty of definition.

This company is no longer around , but used to build the preamps for Bill , and the single reason , imo , ( along with Evintide harmonizers ) , for the harmonics you hear from him. I have and still use a Pearce BC-1 pre amp w/ Bill Sheehan mod ( this was an option).Even scratching a string with a right hand fingernail will ring out crazy high tones with some settings on the Pearce. I know he is pushing his Ampeg pre amp model , but why do I still see those Pearce units in his rack , and turned on , lol.

Hey
And does he use single finger double picking? Thankyou for your time.
Thanks
Troy

In his video lessons, he plays with 3 fingers and shows how he does it (always starts with ring finger).

Hey
Thanks for all your replies. Which video is this? What are pinching harmonics?
Thanks
Troy

Listen to " Talas" , " High Speed on Ice " album/ cd . Pinch harmonic , right hand..use thumb as a mute ( thumb tip , think narrow ) and and engage a string with another finger and release ( pinch) . Left hand fretting anything on that string . And do this through a Pearce/ Evintide combo and watch your parents wedding crystal break into a thousand pieces , lol.

You know , I meant Talas , Sink Your Teeth Into That ( studio) . The harmonics he does are just plain sick on this , though the songs and other instruments do kinda fail.

Hey
That sounds just like artificial/false harmonics. Is it?
Thanks
Troy

Hey
Thanks for all your replies. Which video is this? What are pinching harmonics?
Thanks
Troy

It's an instructional video published by guitar.com

This company is no longer around , but used to build the preamps for Bill , and the single reason , imo , ( along with Evintide harmonizers ) , for the harmonics you hear from him. I have and still use a Pearce BC-1 pre amp w/ Bill Sheehan mod ( this was an option).Even scratching a string with a right hand fingernail will ring out crazy high tones with some settings on the Pearce. I know he is pushing his Ampeg pre amp model , but why do I still see those Pearce units in his rack , and turned on , lol.

I remember reading in the 80's about his Pearce's w/ "contaminated chips" that were responsible for his distinctive sound. Now it sounds like BS, but it's good lore. :D

Pearce bass amps just blow everything else away imo. I'm still catching up though , at least , as of , say 1994 lol.

I have an Ashly pre amp & Ashly compresser that give "almost" that Sheehan sound- very close, but I need the neck pick-up and 2nd channel to get any closer.

I also think the roto's help the harmonics.


David