Joe Osborn Gear

cjac9 · #1 04-01-2011, 04:16 PM

I'm most interested in what picks (material, gauge, shape) he used, what was his main amp?

Also, did he use any muting? I know he only used the neck pickup but was tone wide-open or rolled off?

Mojo-Man · #2 04-01-2011, 05:25 PM

I read once were Joe used.
1960 Fender Jazz Bass.
Heavy Fender Triangle pick.
LaBella Flatwound strings.
He would mute with the palm of his picking hand. (right)
For early recordings he used a early 1960's Fender Concert Amp. (4-10's)
Or a Early 1960's Bassman Amp with a 2x12 cab.

cjac9 · #3 04-01-2011, 05:34 PM

I don't think he muted with his hand. Look at his technique: http://www.lakland.com/direct/mercha...ory_Code=4STRS

paganjack · #4 04-01-2011, 05:37 PM

I'm no JO expert but flats do not make it sound like you are palm-muting.

cjac9 · #5 04-01-2011, 06:31 PM

You just can't palm mute picking that close to the neck.

pgbassman · #6 04-03-2011, 04:52 AM

I use the JO flat wounds and love the tone they have. They're nicely muted as are the majority of FW's but they do have a nice ring and feel to them. I switched from D'Adario chromes and have noticed a big difference in the openness of the fundamental tone of my Jazz Bass. To me they sound more like a half wound. I don't know how close these lakland FW's come to the strings he used back in the day but to my ears and style they are great sounding flats

dougjwray · #7 04-03-2011, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mojo-Man

I read once were Joe used.
1960 Fender Jazz Bass.
Heavy Fender Triangle pick.
LaBella Flatwound strings.
He would mute with the palm of his picking hand. (right)
For early recordings he used a early 1960's Fender Concert Amp. (4-10's)
Or a Early 1960's Bassman Amp with a 2x12 cab.

I remember that info from an early '70s Guitar Player interview. He also said that he still had the factory installed strings on the bass, over 10 years later.

JTE · #8 04-03-2011, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dougjwray

I remember that info from an early '70s Guitar Player interview. He also said that he still had the factory installed strings on the bass, over 10 years later.

Not really. They were a set of LaBellas he put on it shortly after he got it, and they were on the bass just about forever. At the time of the GP interview they were easily 10 years old, and he went on to record a lot more with the same set. But they weren't Fenders.

He did use a Fender Concert amp (essentially a Super Reverb without reverb- 4x10 in an open back cabinet, a pair of 6L6 tubes in the power amp, and a tube rectifier. Same kind of amp Carol Kaye used for a lot of her stuff too.

John

mccartneyman · #9 04-03-2011, 06:12 PM

60s Jazz bass had foam under the bridge cover, thus no need to palm mute. he claims not to have changed LaBella flats for 15 years after installing a new set in 1962. However, since the Lakland JO has no bridge cover, I'm not sure what he does for muting now other than use Lakland's JO flats. He also used only the front pickup on the Jazz because he said the bridge pup added too much midrange.

Interview here: Interview with Vintage Guitar by Joe Osborn on Myspace

dougjwray · #10 04-04-2011, 05:32 AM

Okay, I stand corrected on the strings. Thanks!

JTE · #11 04-04-2011, 07:54 AM

I don't recall every seeing pictures of him using the bridge cover either. A huge part of the sound is that he used the neck PUP only as has been stated, and a pretty heavy pick. When I got my first set of Lakland JO strings, they included a pick with his name on it. It's a good sized, rounded triangle pick about the same feel as a Fender heavy. He also has excellent right-hand control over the sound and note duration.

John

cjac9 · #12 04-10-2011, 10:27 PM

Which one?

http://www.fender.com/products/searc...dSubType=Picks

bluesdogblues · #13 05-13-2011, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mccartneyman

... he claims not to have changed LaBella flats for 15 years after installing a new set in 1962...

Can somebody tell me please what kind of LaBella flatwound string was that?

Thanks.

JTE · #14 05-13-2011, 08:43 AM

In 1962 there was only ONE LaBella flat available. It came in different gauges perhaps, and they sized them for different scale lengths, but it was the same string. In the '80s they called them "Old Originals". They were marketed for a while as "The James Jamerson" set, but now it's the ""Original 1954 Flatwound", gauged 52/73/95/110.

John

bluesdogblues · #15 05-13-2011, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTE

In 1962 there was only ONE LaBella flat available. It came in different gauges perhaps, and they sized them for different scale lengths, but it was the same string. In the '80s they called them "Old Originals". They were marketed for a while as "The James Jamerson" set, but now it's the ""Original 1954 Flatwound", gauged 52/73/95/110.

John

Thanks JTE!
So on his Jazz Bass Joe Osborn was using the same string as James Jamerson Precision, right?
(same string that I use

..)

I just read in Fender Forum about this Jamerson LaBella (on Jazz Bass).. Someone (named BrotherDave, who I know has a good knowledge and a good bass oriented website) said there that the strings damaged his basses so he suggested anybody not to use it.

But IME years since I use this string on my 2 P basses, everything is OK till now. Just a bit truss-rod adjustment.
So your info about Joe Osborn use this strings make it clearer for me that no it doesn't have to damage our bass, so I'll keep using this strings I love.

Thanks again...

jaywa · #16 05-13-2011, 09:19 AM

Nobody has ever copped JO's vintage sound 100%. Nobody.

Some of Carol Kaye's recorded work comes close, but there's only one Joe.

JTE · #17 05-13-2011, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluesdogblues

Thanks JTE!
So on his Jazz Bass Joe Osborn was using the same string as James Jamerson Precision, right?
(same string that I use

..)

I just read in Fender Forum about this Jamerson LaBella (on Jazz Bass).. Someone (named BrotherDave, who I know has a good knowledge and a good bass oriented website) said there that the strings damaged his basses so he suggested anybody not to use it.

But IME years since I use this string on my 2 P basses, everything is OK till now. Just a bit truss-rod adjustment.
So your info about Joe Osborn use this strings make it clearer for me that no it doesn't have to damage our bass, so I'll keep using this strings I love.

Thanks again...

I don't put a lot of credence in people who blame strings for "ruining" their basses. With some exceptions (due to poor neck build) any decent Jazz bass IF PROPERLY cared for will be able to handle the tension. Yes, it WILL pull the neck up from where it sits with a set of DR Sunbeams. But if you adjust the truss rod CORRECTLY it should stabilize. That means you don't just start cranking the truss rod nut, it means you pre-stress the neck so you're not asking that little nut to move the neck, only hold it in place.

Also, I don't think I'd put a set of LaBellas Originals on a Geddy Lee because those necks are really skinny, don't have much wood, and early ones are reputed to have some stability issues.

However, I don't much care for the sound of the LaBellas. I had a set off and on my Precisions (the original '73, and later on the VS '6s I got in '82) for a LONG time. They have a definite thump on the low, but they tend to be lacking in definition of a precise note. My search for flats over the last 30+ years has lead me to the GHS Precision Flats and the Lakland Joe Osborn Signature set. They're the same strings with the exception of the E string being 1/1000th of an inch different. They have all the essential character of the classic flatwound string sound. And, they have a NOTE in them, not just a dull thump. A great side advantage is that they feel more similar in tension to the rounds I use (DR Sunbeams or HighBeams 45/65/85/105) than most flats.

John

bluesdogblues · #18 05-13-2011, 10:41 AM

Well said John.
I think in the future (if I ever break these strings, or if I own a new/other bass) I'll try that JO flats.. But for now I'm happy with the LaBella.

Thank You Verymuch

dperry · #19 08-23-2011, 09:05 AM

I have a 1960 Jazz Bass with the same La Bellas that Joe used. And I play with a pick.
And I don't sound anything like Joe. I think his JB and the string/amp set up were magic that nobody can reproduce.

JTE · #20 08-23-2011, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dperry

I have a 1960 Jazz Bass with the same La Bellas that Joe used. And I play with a pick.
And I don't sound anything like Joe. I think his JB and the string/amp set up were magic that nobody can reproduce.

There are a lot of examples of that. Having an SG bodied Les Paul plugged into a non-master volume 100 watt Marshall with both 4x12 cabinets and everything dimed won't make me sound like Clapton in Cream. I read a Guitar Player magazine interview with Clapton around the time of his first solo album. He was using the 'burst Strat and a Dual Showman and he told them where he put the knobs on the Showman. Within ten minutes I was at the local guitar store plugging a Strat into a Dual Showman... and still sounded like me.

Ted Nugent is reported to have once remarked in an interview that he and Van Halen were playing a show together and they swapped rigs. Edward played Ted's Byrdland and stacks of Twins while Ted played EVH's home-made Frankenstein guitar through the magic brown sound Marshall. They both pretty much still sounded like themselves rather than the other guy.

Some of it's down to individual chunks of wood, wire, metal, and magnets that are the specific instruments and amps. A lot of it is the touch with both hands. Joe Osborn hears something in his head that's the sound he's going for and his hands work to extract that from his tools.

John