i think Billy Sheehan's been practicing...

[Fine Cut]

so i've been following Sheehan a good bit since i discovered him a couple years ago, trying to learn as much as i can. i'd always thought that his earlier tone, such as that with Roth and Mr. Big, was messy, and it kinda seemed like the overdrive crowded his notes a bit. i noticed in a couple recent interviews he's been talking about putting his nose back to the grindstone and cleaning up his technique, and after watching some cuts from the Mr. Big 2009 reunion tour, i can really tell! his sound seems alot less cluttered to my ears, and his notes are alot more pronounced, even better than his sound on Steve Vai's Astoria DVD.

i wonder if he's using less overdrive than before, or if it's got anything to do with the new line of Attitude he's playing now? it's just amazing to me that after playing so long a certain way, you can go back and improve ever further...

i guess old dogs CAN learn new tricks lol, i dunno bout you but this just inspires me further

[BillyIVbass]

Billy def. still works hard at his playing and sound. I attended his clinic in NYC a few weeks back and yes, inspiring is a word I'd use.

The guy talks about still learning new things and that he still gets a thrill from playing.

[DubBassfunk]

yea i saw him about 3 months ago at my school for a seminar/jam/Q&A and he was talking about this. he is definetly a cool guy who still works really hard to get where he's at and where he's going. i love his tone on the niacin stuff. even though i was never really a fan, but damn do i have respect.

[davec]

Billy always reminds me of a spider attacking its food when he plays. I've never seen anyone attack the bass like he does. Its like he's gonna devour it!

[JimK]

...playing with Dennis Chambers (in Niacin) was possibly an eye-opener.

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by JimK

...playing with Dennis Chambers (in Niacin) was possibly an eye-opener.

I need to give the Niacin stuff a closer listen. I've only heard two of their tracks: the first one had easily the cleanest (least distorted) tone I've ever heard out of Billy Sheehan...I almost couldn't believe it was him.

The second track sounded exactly like what I expected from Billy Sheehan: Way too much distortion, not enough clarity/separation from note to note, just end-to-end messy fuzz wanking.

So they're batting .500 for me so far.

[john turner]

billy sheehan is awesome, imo. the ultimate rock bassist. he gets his press for his gymnastics, but he can do -anything-. i heard a soundcheck jam with him, neil peart and alex lifeson for rush, from back when mr. big was opening for rush in the late 80s, and i guess geddy was stuck in traffic or something, heh. he did the best geddy lee impersonation i had ever heard, and i've been a rabid rush fan for almost 30 years. geddy's style is a lot different than billy sheehan's preferred style, but he still nailed it perfectly.

[jgroh]

Originally Posted by john turner

billy sheehan is awesome, imo. the ultimate rock bassist. he gets his press for his gymnastics, but he can do -anything-. i heard a soundcheck jam with him, neil peart and alex lifeson for rush, from back when mr. big was opening for rush in the late 80s, and i guess geddy was stuck in traffic or something, heh. he did the best geddy lee impersonation i had ever heard, and i've been a rabid rush fan for almost 30 years. geddy's style is a lot different than billy sheehan's preferred style, but he still nailed it perfectly.

+1 billion

If you havent heard the soundcheck where Billy is playing the Wal with Alex and Neil, go to Billys website and check it out. He sounds AWESOME on that jam. I think he is an incredible player and seems like a really good guy, but his tone has always left me wanting. Him on the Wal though....KILLER!

[john turner]

Originally Posted by jgroh

+1 billion

If you havent heard the soundcheck where Billy is playing the Wal with Alex and Neil, go to Billys website and check it out. He sounds AWESOME on that jam. I think he is an incredible player and seems like a really good guy, but his tone has always left me wanting. Him on the Wal though....KILLER!

yeah. there's a lot of folks that have their own sound, and can really play, and really groove.

but to pick up another dude's axe, and jam with his bandmates, and have it work, is really amazing. and if that dude is geddy lee, and his bandmates are rush, and you totally rock the situation like sheehan did, then you are the ninja-norris-god of bass.

[bassrique]

Originally Posted by jgroh

+1 billion

If you havent heard the soundcheck where Billy is playing the Wal with Alex and Neil, go to Billys website and check it out. He sounds AWESOME on that jam. I think he is an incredible player and seems like a really good guy, but his tone has always left me wanting. Him on the Wal though....KILLER!

I went to the site looking for that, but came up empty. Link? Anyone?

[john turner]

Originally Posted by bassrique

I went to the site looking for that, but came up empty. Link? Anyone?

try this one...

http://www.billysheehan.com/audio/rushsoundcheck_hi.ram

here's a youtube recording (no video just the jam - starts slow heh, picks up around 3:30)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mxZPc58hZc

here's part 2 - some cool geddy-inspired riffs here heh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KwpF...eature=related

btw, this was done 19 years ago heh.

[jgroh]

Originally Posted by bassrique

I went to the site looking for that, but came up empty. Link? Anyone?

http://www.billysheehan.com/audio.html

Scroll down to Miscellaneous

Edit....or what John said!

[bassrique]

Thank you gents.

[WalWarrior]

Originally Posted by Hoover

I need to give the Niacin stuff a closer listen. I've only heard two of their tracks: the first one had easily the cleanest (least distorted) tone I've ever heard out of Billy Sheehan...I almost couldn't believe it was him.

The second track sounded exactly like what I expected from Billy Sheehan: Way too much distortion, not enough clarity/separation from note to note, just end-to-end messy fuzz wanking.

So they're batting .500 for me so far.

I caught Niacin -B3 at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA two years back. I was sitting front row and overheard Billy saying to Dennis..." Go easy on me man" That was great. Billy is a monster, and a hell of a nice guy. At the meet and greet afterwards, I told him I was going straight home to burn all my gear...and he says....."no man...don't do that, don't do that". It was funny! John Novello put together a cool band in Niacin. They're on Magna Carta records.

[rmkesler]

Originally Posted by Fine Cut

so i've been following Sheehan a good bit since i discovered him a couple years ago, trying to learn as much as i can. i'd always thought that his earlier tone, such as that with Roth and Mr. Big, was messy, and it kinda seemed like the overdrive crowded his notes a bit. :

The tone he had with Roth and Mr. Big was watered down compared to the sound he had in Talas. That was some crazy stuff.

[NKBassman]

Anyone have a link to the new Attitude? I glanced around the Yamaha page earlier but couldn't find anything about.

[wizay]

Originally Posted by NKBassman

Anyone have a link to the new Attitude? I glanced around the Yamaha page earlier but couldn't find anything about.

http://www.samash.com/webapp/wcs/sto...tegorySA182949

I got one. Its Suuuper

[Lync]

Billy is one of the masters...and being so he has the fundamentals down first and foremost. His articles back in the young days of bass player always had his insight and you just learned from him that it starts with the groove and then you just take it from there (but you really need to have the basics down to be good).

[countrybassist]

I played in a, dare I say, Metal band, lol, back in the 80's and we opened up for Talas at this venue called City Limits. I spoke with Sheehan for awhile and I guess what I was most impressed with was that he honestly told me that he knows very little theory and didn't know his scales much at all. Just goes to show how talented the guy is IMO.

[Lync]

Sink your teeth into that!