Billy Gould Equipment, bass and effects... help me

xminduimx · #1 07-12-2005, 11:22 AM

Please i can't find this information.. help me
THANKS

msquared · #2 07-12-2005, 11:46 AM

You want the "Search this Forum" thingy up toward the top.

James Hart · #3 07-12-2005, 11:55 AM

good suggestion.... I just did that myself.

Faith No More(What bass did Billy Gould use on The Real Thing?)

Lots of good info. Aria then Zon... Peavey then Ampeg seems to be mentioned.

zongeek · #4 07-17-2005, 06:46 PM

he used to have an old school gibson grabber. that was replaced by his aria integra bassess. which were then replaced by his mainstay zon basses. which he still uses today. far as i know he has always used peavey gear for amps and cabs. im sure hes used just about everything theyve ever made. at one point he had a dod bass flanger and a tube screamer. later he went to the psa-1 by sans amp. he played with both a plec and his fingers.

countshockula · #5 04-19-2010, 04:37 PM

Just watched Coachella footage. Looks like Zon bass, Peavey heads and Ampeg 8x10s. Who knows though

Benjamin Strange · #6 04-19-2010, 08:19 PM

Billy got my shop backstage passes to their show at the Warfield last week. My boss asked Billy about his tone, and Billy said this:

"Fulltone Bass Drive. I can play through ANY rig and have my tone. My entire setup varies except for that pedal."

For the record, Billy used his one Zon bass, an Ampeg 8x10, and a Genz-Benz head (which looked like it was set flat), and the Fulltone sitting on top of one of the cabs. He didn't turn the pedal off once the whole set.

Kink Rimson · #7 04-20-2010, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benjamin Strange

Billy got my shop backstage passes to their show at the Warfield last week. My boss asked Billy about his tone, and Billy said this:

"Fulltone Bass Drive. I can play through ANY rig and have my tone. My entire setup varies except for that pedal."

For the record, Billy used his one Zon bass, an Ampeg 8x10, and a Genz-Benz head (which looked like it was set flat), and the Fulltone sitting on top of one of the cabs. He didn't turn the pedal off once the whole set.

Might we have the key there to his amazing sound?

A Fulltone's got to be much cheaper than buying a Zon...

Benjamin Strange · #8 04-20-2010, 09:36 AM

Well, I'm sure the Zon helps.

JimmyM · #9 04-20-2010, 11:19 AM

genz benz...of course! ya, it looked like he was using genz benz heads at coachella into two 810e. wasn't sure at first, but now i am since you guys mentioned it.

Addison · #10 04-20-2010, 01:21 PM

I remember reading an interview years ago about his love affair with Peavey amps...

I'm assuming it was before he ever got an endorsement deal... but to paraphrase, it was something like, "The reason why I love Peavey cabs so much is not because they're good, necessarily... it's because when you drive them really hard the speakers break up and give a natural distortion and punch you cannot get with better cabs. Hi-end cabs are designed to take lots of volume and keep their clarity... Peavey cabs can't handle being driven that hard, but that's why I like them."

Anyway... I think BG is one of the most underrated bassists EVER. Definitely in my top 5 of all time.

JimmyM · #11 04-20-2010, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Addison

I remember reading an interview years ago about his love affair with Peavey amps...

I'm assuming it was before he ever got an endorsement deal... but to paraphrase, it was something like, "The reason why I love Peavey cabs so much is not because they're good, necessarily... it's because when you drive them really hard the speakers break up and give a natural distortion and punch you cannot get with better cabs. Hi-end cabs are designed to take lots of volume and keep their clarity... Peavey cabs can't handle being driven that hard, but that's why I like them."

apparently he's over it

Addison · #12 04-20-2010, 01:59 PM

lol... yeah, well, these days, he probably plays whatever is free or is available for rent on the road... I'd wager that the only things that he uses that are "his" are the bass(es) and that pedal that was mentioned.

Take this ad for example:

Quote:

02.24.2009 -

Bill Gould plays Road Rage

We are beyond excited to announce that Bill Gould will be playing Road Rage cabinets on the North American leg of the Faith No More reunion tour. We met tonight and he played through everything and loved them. He will also be recording with them on Jello Biafra's new disc.

There's an example of one company claiming BG uses their stuff, yet I haven't seen a picture with him using Road Rage cabs once... and I'm a total FNM nutswinger who looks at a ton of their pics.

So, really... who knows what the heck he's using??

JimmyM · #13 04-20-2010, 02:14 PM

the way the two heads were all neatly racked into one unit with a handful of other stuff i couldn't make out tells me that was his gear. if it was rented it would have been racked differently.

why is it so hard for some people to believe that others actually like ampeg stuff? the dude can play anything he wants. just because you may not like it doesn't mean everyone shouldn't like it.

Addison · #14 04-20-2010, 02:24 PM

I'm trying to figure out where I said I didn't like Ampeg stuff.

It's all speculation at this point, so for anyone to claim to know what is or isn't the case is pointless.

Why so defensive?

JimmyM · #15 04-20-2010, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Addison

I'm trying to figure out where I said I didn't like Ampeg stuff.

It's all speculation at this point, so for anyone to claim to know what is or isn't the case is pointless.

Why so defensive?

sorry man...but that seems to be a recurring theme on here with people who don't like ampeg...the usual "we're all sheep and we're only using it because rock stars use it," "we're only using it because we don't know any better and we never heard (insert favorite cab name here)," "we're only using it because it's rented backline and we'd all rather play something else," all that crap and nonsense. so yeah, i get a little defensive about it when someone says something about rented backline.

but having much experience with rented backline, i can tell you that backline companies who have anything other than ampeg, hartke, gk, swr, or eden are rare. even genz benz, aguilar, and markbass are rarities despite being great sellers.

EdHunter · #16 04-21-2010, 09:21 AM

He used a Jazz for Evidence.

Waht a bassist though! How on Earth is he hardly ever mentioned around here? Woodpecker From Mars is a masterpiece, and all of Angel Dust is mind blowing.

skulletwhip · #17 04-21-2010, 09:56 AM

I just got my ticket for Philly July 3 and I am also seeing them in Brooklyn on July 5. I can't wait to see them.

Idiot Savon · #18 05-13-2010, 08:50 PM

If you can't buy a Zon or Modulus, track down a Peavey G-Bass. Graphite neck, 35" scale (even on the 4!), and an 18-volt active circuit. It's vanilla, sure, but if you want a nice, clean signal to dirty up on your way to the input jack, it can sound pretty close to Billy's.
And yeah, I just got my tickets for Brooklyn on 7/5!

JimmyM · #19 05-14-2010, 12:33 AM

btw, they were great at coachella. their opening song makes the whole show. i do miss jim martin, though. he's a human dynamo. the new guy's good but jim was the man.

rockstarbassist · #20 05-14-2010, 02:26 PM

The Download 2009 Fest in Britain he was equipped with a Zon 4 and 5, 4xPeavey 410 cabs, 2 Peavey heads and a Sansamp PSA-1 (didn't think it was the RBI or RPM b/c it was silver). Sounded amazing.

IMO a lot of that is the Zon, as much as he says it's the Fulltone. From a heavy graphite-necked instrument user, I could easily cop that tone with just about anything from Mod or Zon. Just has that "snap" and "attack" to it. Awesome.