The Cure - Freakshow - Simon Gallup

[MetroBass]

Didn't get to see this at the concert I attended, but it nice to see Simon playing a J-Bass in The Cure's latest release.

Freakshow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7Otdjc-Uas

[origami]

more cowbell.

they definately are going for a more direct rock sound since getting porl back and firing roger and perry.

cool, but i still have a soft spot for the keyboards.

i still think "torture" from the kiss me album has one of the coolest bass tones. i assume it was a stingray.

[myrockinbass]

Yeah, the concert was all about the thunderbird and ampeg svt. Which sounded HUGE I might add.

[phxlbrmpf]

That one close-up made it look as if his pickup polepieces were really huge, maybe his Jazz is loaded with Delano pickups?

This is pretty cool, I've never seen him with a Jazz before.

[RS]

Nice little ditty.

[origami]

simon is just awesome!!!

i've never seen simon with a jazz either. i noticed the PUs too. they remind me of those MIM fender deluxe basses from the late 90s.

simon generally plays the thunderbird/ampeg live now (except for the berlin concert where he played the ric, EB-2 and epiphone cassady bass. i thought i might of saw that he had some line 6 effects along with the boss stuff.

jazz bass, odd. maybe he wanted something different for the video.

he played a p-bass for a while early on, before moving to the ric and then the musicman (used it live, then was made into a studio bass) and then the EB-2 (real and custom made copy). now he just uses the thunderbird live. i've seen some studio shots where he uses the ric again for recording.

whatever bass or amp he uses ampeg, peavey, etc. he just makes it sound like him.

[The Hammer]

I saw the Cure in Atlanta about a week ago. Incredible! Over three hours of music and they played 36 songs. I was 3rd row in front of Porl. Simon was all over with the Thunderbird/SVT. One of the best concerts I've even seen in my 27+ years of going to concerts.

[john turner]

please use the proper forums - threads about recordings go in the recordings forum. imagine that. .

[jojo99]

Originally Posted by phxlbrmpf

That one close-up made it look as if his pickup polepieces were really huge, maybe his Jazz is loaded with Delano pickups?

I don't think they are current Delano...Delanos have the logo extending beyond the G polepiece almost to the end of the pickup. But there's def. some sort of logo on those large pole-piece pickups..but much smaller than Delano. It looks like he's using a pick directly above the bridge pup.
Which Cure albums/songs have a Ric? Curious...

[origami]

did we upset the mods?

um, simon in the studio with the ric.

possibly: "pornography". in the berlin trilogy concert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkelr1HunO0 he plays a different/darker (not fireglo) ric for the entire pornography set. i don't know if that references him using it in the studio back then (i thought he was recording with a p-bass then), or the fact that he was using a ric/p-bass live during the original pornography tour.

he may of used it (maybe) for parts of "the cure" but i think he used a white thunderbird for most of that.

probably: "just say yes" on greatest hits has the ric.

i've seen some recording studio outtake video somewhere where robert asks simon (who is playing a ric bass) "@did you get new pickups in that old bass" and he replies "no".

there is also video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF4vP2ZRqmA where he is playing a fireglo ric bass (about 6 min in)

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

at 2.05 you can see the closeup of the pickups. non-Fender bridge too.

he used a Jazz on some of Wild mood swings too. I agree that whatever he uses he still sounds like him.

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

an extensive page on his basses here-
http://www.wikicure.com/tikiwiki/tik...e=Simon-Gallup

[origami]

thanks! thats a great site for cure nerds like me.

back to the 'recording topic' i still think his best tone is 'kiss me' through 'wish' period. i swear it is a stingray for some of those songs, it just has that stingray attack. i think i read simon saying that the stingray bass was great for studio, but too 'ringy' live.

his bass tone was great for those songs, where there wasn't a lot of distortion from guitars. i can see why he moved to other basses when the guitars starting getting thicker.

mm

[scottice]

[john turner]

Originally Posted by origami

did we upset the mods?

not upset, just reminding folks to use the proper forums. we get about 5k posts a day here - could you imagine the chaos?

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

Originally Posted by origami

back to the 'recording topic' i still think his best tone is 'kiss me' through 'wish' period. i swear it is a stingray for some of those songs, it just has that stingray attack. i think i read simon saying that the stingray bass was great for studio, but too 'ringy' live.

his bass tone was great for those songs, where there wasn't a lot of distortion from guitars. i can see why he moved to other basses when the guitars starting getting thicker.

on some of the songs on Disintegration and Wish I thought the bass was buried- you could hear the lows and zing of the highs, but not the note- eg. Edge of the deep green sea and Swimming the same deep water as you- which were probably done with a stingray.

I only could hear what he was playing clearly on those songs when he played them on the Dick Knight custom hollowbody on the Show and Trilogy videos.

[darkrider1]

I'll try to email him and ask him what those pickups in the jazz bass are. The worst that can happen is I don't get a response.

[phxlbrmpf]

Originally Posted by The Mock Turtle Regulator

on some of the songs on Disintegration and Wish I thought the bass was buried- you could hear the lows and zing of the highs, but not the note- eg. Edge of the deep green sea and Swimming the same deep water as you- which were probably done with a stingray.

I only could hear what he was playing clearly on those songs when he played them on the Dick Knight custom hollowbody on the Show and Trilogy videos.

I'm not really familiar with "Wish" as an album, but I remember their two most popular singles from that record ("Friday I'm in Love" and "High") having an indistinct rumble underneath everything instead of clearly audible bass. Maybe I ought to listen them again now that I've developed a better ear for bass lines, I wonder what bass he used for those songs and why they decided to muddy it up.

[The Mock Turtle Regulator]

I'm pretty sure it was either a stingray or the modded EB2 (apparently with an EMG pickup at the bridge) on Wish- that scooped sound with deep lows, the zing of string noise on top, but no note definition in the mix.

on the Show video the bass is full and distinct on High and 'Friday.

[darkrider1]

I emailed him, no response. Not surprising.

I wonder what motivated him to move from the Stringray to the Thunderbirds for the live shows. They obviously sound a lot different.