Cliff Burton's gear

FC Bass · #1 12-08-2007, 02:14 AM

What did Cliff use?
I've exhausted every other option to answer this riddle... (incl. Talkbass)

Here's what I know (or think I know...):

Edited with info from this thread
Main contributers: funkytoe, metallicafan18, RapierSix and Night Prowler. Thanx!

Basses:
*P bass brand: ??? with Spastik Children, borrowed for the gig
*Rickenbacker with Gibson EB humbucker and Dimarzio Jazz Bass pickup (same color as the bass, Burgundy)
*Aria pro II SB 1000 black
*Aria pro II SB Black 'n' Gold
*Aria Pro II ??? (He got 3 basses from Aria)
*Alembic Spoiler '83 black (stolen)

Amps:
*Sunn Colliseum Lead head
*Randall ???
*2 x 18 cab
*Mesa Boogie Bass 400 head
*Mesa 4 x 12 type ???
*Mesa 1 x 15 type ??? (custom made I think, I remember something like "to match with the 4 x 12")
*Ampeg SVT-1540HE

Effects:
*E-H Big Muff (year???)
*Morley Power wah Fuzz in the early days, also the Power Wah Boost is mentioned a lot.
*EH Bass Balls
*Some kind of tremolo and a pitch shifter can also be heard in some solo's...
*Delay can be heard in some solo's (only in the first part with a slow swell from the wah)

Strings:
???

Shoes: ???

Pics:

P Bass:

Rickenbacker:

Alembic Spoiler:

Aria Pro II SB 1000:

Aria Pro II SB Black 'n' Gold I

FC Bass · #2 12-31-2007, 03:59 AM

Round 2... anyone?

arai · #3 12-31-2007, 04:09 AM

is it that important? not like he had a "wow thats a killer tone"
im no cliff basher , hes the reason i got an aria way back

Night Prowler · #4 12-31-2007, 04:23 AM

I think he used a Morley Power Wah FUZZ and Ampeg SVT-1540HE.

Night Prowler · #5 12-31-2007, 04:28 AM

And he used rotosounds strings, but I read that on talkbass so take it with a grain of salt.

BELLATOR · #6 12-31-2007, 02:29 PM

Who cares what gear he used?

smogg · #7 12-31-2007, 02:35 PM

wow, ease up you guys. a little trivia never hurts any thing.
I always thought he used aria basses and ampeg rigs, never occurred to me could have been mesa gear.

metallicafan18 · #8 12-31-2007, 03:10 PM

He used Ampeg and Mesa. He mainly used Mesa, but some times used Ampeg. In the early tears (Spastik Children I guess) he used a Randall amp. The only Ampeg thing that I could find that he used was a cabinet.

He used the Mesa 400 head, 4x12 cabinets, and a custom 1x15 cabinet. The Ampeg cabinet was the SVT-1540HE Classis Series Enclosure.

Hope this helps.

He used all the basses that you guys said that I could find. He did have a Gibson EB-0 pickup in the Rickenbacker.

UPTHE1RON5 · #9 01-01-2008, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BELLATOR

Who cares what gear he used?

fair enuff i'm not really a cliff burton fan but thats a ridiculous statement. if it was jaco or victor wooten thread you wouldn't post that message

FC Bass · #10 01-01-2008, 10:24 AM

Hey, movement in the thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by arai

is it that important? not like he had a "wow thats a killer tone"
im no cliff basher , hes the reason i got an aria way back

I'm in a Metallica tribute band and we're trying to get our sound as close as possible to the real thing.
I love the Cliff and Jason sounds, though in my own "original" band I use a complete different more agressive sound (more drive and mids)
I bought a '87 Mesa Bass 400 last week btw

More info on the Randall amp is more than welcome, could be the amp he used on Kill 'em all.

Thanx and a spacial 2008 to y'all!

jsbass · #11 01-01-2008, 07:12 PM

That P-Bass looks like a Fender.

EDIT: I'm pretty certain that IS a Fender.

BELLATOR · #12 01-02-2008, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UPTHE1RON5

fair enuff i'm not really a cliff burton fan but thats a ridiculous statement. if it was jaco or victor wooten thread you wouldn't post that message

Actually, I would probably post the same thing. It really doesn't matter what kind of gear an artist plays. People should select gear based on what they think sounds good and not what some artist is playing.

UPTHE1RON5 · #13 01-02-2008, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BELLATOR

Actually, I would probably post the same thing. It really doesn't matter what kind of gear an artist plays. People should select gear based on what they think sounds good and not what some artist is playing.

so u have no interest whatsoever of what gear people use? loads of threads on this forum is about gear and artists using them and achieving other peoples tones. it doesn't nessasarily mean ur gonna buy every single piece of equipment, theres just no harm in knwoing. so to answer the question 'who cares?' cliff burton fans care

BELLATOR · #14 01-02-2008, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UPTHE1RON5

so u have no interest whatsoever of what gear people use? loads of threads on this forum is about gear and artists using them and achieving other peoples tones. it doesn't nessasarily mean ur gonna buy every single piece of equipment, theres just no harm in knwoing. so to answer the question 'who cares?' cliff burton fans care

I guess I just don't care about their gear as much as you do. I find my own gear and focus on what I can do with my own gear. Isn't achieving other people's tones the same as being unoriginal? Find your own tone

UPTHE1RON5 · #15 01-02-2008, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BELLATOR

I guess I just don't care about their gear as much as you do. I find my own gear and focus on what I can do with my own gear. Isn't achieving other people's tones the same as being unoriginal? Find your own tone

why did u feel the urge to let people know that u didn't care? that was my complaint. if u have nothing useful to say, don't say it at all. no-one gives a toss

!Tool · #16 01-02-2008, 03:04 PM

He used only two effects

ZanaZulu807 · #17 01-02-2008, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by !Tool

He used only two effects

I read somewhere that when they first started playing with Cliff, Dave let him borrow some kind of delay or echo effect for his solos and Cliff kept it when Dave forget most of his stuff when they booted him.

FC Bass · #18 01-02-2008, 04:27 PM

There are some freaky sounds on Cliff 'em all, sounds like a tremolo or something Click here (starts at +/- 1:22)

He also used an Octaver and a Delay
The best cliff solo I have on tape, starts slow with a lot of delay and a slow swell of the wah, delay is turned off at the "screaming" wah part
I think he used the octaver during the Master of Puppets tour.

as for the unoriginal part: I am unoriginal, I'm in a coverband

FC Bass · #19 01-02-2008, 04:35 PM

Here's the Octaver: Click here (starts at +/- 2:09)

BELLATOR · #20 01-02-2008, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UPTHE1RON5

why did u feel the urge to let people know that u didn't care? that was my complaint. if u have nothing useful to say, don't say it at all. no-one gives a toss

You asked me "so u have no interest whatsoever of what gear people use?" I responded. I did have something useful to say: "find your own tone". I'm just stating my opinion. I see you "give a toss" for some reason