Phil Lesh Appreciation Society: Enter the Philzone...

[edwinhurwitz]

Originally Posted by MLysh

Interesting side note: The night that I vividly remember hearing every single note Phil played; clear, fat, and resonant, he was playing a finish-stripped Fender Jazz bass.

That was a good one! I was pretty surprised to see him play it, but I was also surprised to see Bobby playing what looked like a Strat. It seemed like he and Jerry had done a swap over a long period of years where each went from a Fender style to a Gibson style or vice versa.

[Meddle]

Originally Posted by edwinhurwitz

Does that mean that someone took over for the rest of the show? The whole tape does circulate, but that might be mixes from the multitrack. It was one of the first really, really, good sounding DATs I got back in the early 90s. It was mindblowing how good it sounded.

All versions of that show I've heard have had a minor slapback delay on the drums which suggests it all came from the same source.

[OOTB68]

I'm a HUGE Phil fan. It was through Phil that I developed the love and appreciation for Alembic instruments, of which I'm now fotunate enough a '77 Series 1 and an '86 Spoiler, and have been consitently using an F1-X and SF2 for the last 14 years. Phil has such a wonderfully creative and different style that I have been mesmerized by for the past 30 years. While I have never attempted to mimick his unique style, his tone, or aspects of it (especially mid 70's), is something I am always aspiring to. The SF2 is a huge help in that department. I happen to also love the Grateful Dead as a whole, however, my love and appreciation for Phil Lesh, is something altogether different. He's one of my ALL-Time favorites. Please sign me up.

[sven kalmar]

nice to hear..

[walknbluez]

Please sign me up! I love Phil and go see him play whenever I can. Thanks!

[walknbluez]

Originally Posted by Bassman8416

What strings do you think Phil is using these days...I heard from someone "supposedly" close to him say nickel rounds, that he no longer uses Smith Slick Rounds, which seems to make sense being he doesn't have the purple wrapping these days

I asked Phil personally when I talked to him at Terrapin Crossroads a few months ago. He didn't mention the specific name brand, not that he didn't want to but almost like he didn't know which was strange. He sort of looked up like he was thinking and said they were made in Germany....I believe that was the country he named. Which leads me to believe that he was referring to Ritters. I asked if they were roundwounds or flatwounds and he said it was something in between roundwounds and flatwounds and I said "Like halfrounds?" and he said "yeah, halfrounds".

[sven kalmar]

thats what iv heard too..halfrounds..but thtas some time ago..i have a worn out set on my mex P.

[walknbluez]

For those of you in GD tributes, what gear are you using to help you get your Phil tone?

[edwinhurwitz]

Originally Posted by walknbluez

For those of you in GD tributes, what gear are you using to help you get your Phil tone?

'67 Guild Starfire with '73 or so Alembic Series II pickups and electronics.

Amp is a Grace M103 (I'm done with Eden falling apart) into a QSC CX120v and a fEARful 15/6/1.

Strings are Pyramid Gold.

Everything else is feel and approach. I probably don't actually sound that much like Phil since I prefer to play whatever I want to play rather than strictly follow his notes, but I've discovered that if you take a jazz approach, you end up being pretty close.

[walknbluez]

Originally Posted by edwinhurwitz

'67 Guild Starfire with '73 or so Alembic Series II pickups and electronics.

Amp is a Grace M103 (I'm done with Eden falling apart) into a QSC CX120v and a fEARful 15/6/1.

Strings are Pyramid Gold.

Everything else is feel and approach. I probably don't actually sound that much like Phil since I prefer to play whatever I want to play rather than strictly follow his notes, but I've discovered that if you take a jazz approach, you end up being pretty close.

I see alot of Dead players using a QSC which I've never even heard of. Thanks I'll check it out. I also think I need to find a Jazz 101 thread.

[DJ Bebop]

MY mini Phil rig, Carvin BX1500 biampped into an Aguilar GS112 on the low side,
Eden CX110 for the high side. Carvin BB75 or whatever to thump on. It's little and quirky but, it has a nice little Phil tone
And it's easier than bringing out the 1810's and the "rack"

[Rev J]

I was wondering if anyone on this thread has heard of these:

http://www.hardtruckers.com/HT215B.html

I kind of wonder how close to the original they sound.

In one year I got to see Phil (and the rest of the Dead) sit in with Govt. Mule at their 1000th show at the Warfield, Phil sit in with Umpherey's McGee at the Great American Music Hall, and Phil and Friends at the Warfield in SF. Took my first hit of Acid at the Phil and Friends show.

Thinking about Phil and all of the bassists of that era all I can think is about how young an instrument the electric bass is. In the 1960's the electric bass was still less than 20 years old. Phil, Jack Cassidy, James Jamerson, Paul Mccartney etc. were just figuring out how this new instrument worked, what it was capable of etc. The technical and technological advancements we have now were exactly the product of their work.

Think about the irony of all of these kids that play active instruments screaming about how they hate the Dead. Kind of ironic since active electronics were invented for the Dead. The Bi-amped P.A. system. Kind of wild to think about it.

C/S,
Rev J

[sven kalmar]

i dont try to copy phil. but his way of playing is a big influence..like michael henderson and many others..i think my epiphone jack C bass wityh pyramid flats gives a nice 70s phil sound. My presicion(rw red) bass with tone rolled off a bit and played up by the neck is perfect for those counter melodies or what its called. on the femder i have the original fender rounds and i like them. i guess miles davis(70) and grateful dead are my most favourite stuff..

[spacebassed]

Originally Posted by walknbluez

For those of you in GD tributes, what gear are you using to help you get your Phil tone?

I agree with Edwin, if you're trying to sound like Phil the most important thing is your approach - Phil ends up sounding like himself no matter what he plays through:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wmewq8xPZ4


I don't play in a tribute, but Phil definitely inspired my old gigging rig. I ran an Eden WT800 biamped into an Eden D118xl (before that I had an old SWR Engineering "Big Ben" w/ a Bag End speaker) for the lows and either a Yamaha p.a. speaker (1x12" and a horn) or an Eden D210xst for the highs. I've also ran a friends Alembic Superfilter in the effects loop before, which was really cool.

For strings you'll want compression wound/groundwounds or flats, depending on the era you prefer. Using either will instantly get you closer to Phil territory if you're currently using roundwounds. I find it also helps to leave a little air between the strings and the frets, that helps me sound a bit more Phil-like than a super low action, ymmv.

[spacebassed]

Originally Posted by Rev J

I was wondering if anyone on this thread has heard of these:

http://www.hardtruckers.com/HT215B.html

I kind of wonder how close to the original they sound.

With all due respect to the folks at Hard Truckers - they make quality stuff, but I find that cab ridiculously overpriced. If you want the late '60's/early '70's Phil/Casady sound for that price you could find a Fender Dual Showman and a Sunn cab loaded with JBL D140f's.

[MtJam]

Cool video! Phil definitely sounds like Phil on whatever that bass is.

[MtJam]

I am a huge fan of Phil's 73-74 tone. When I got my Alembic Distillate with TI flats, I was immediately transported to Winterland 74 territory. Love that sound!

[jhuss88]

For anyone interested, here's a real silky version of Black Peter I played with my band on Wednesday with a guest drummer. Acoustic. I think it came out great. My buddy Neil's got a killer voice and we harmonize well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jth5h36C8qc

[jhuss88]

I'm playing a Franken-Jazz through a GB shuttlemax 12.0 and GB neo212 for anyone curious.

Phil is a huge influence for me. Not as much tone as technic, feel, syncopation, counterpoint.

[spacebassed]

Wow! Nice Job! That song can be deceivingly difficult to sing - he nailed it!

btw, at certain angles, your guitar player reminds me of a younger, balder Dan Tyminski.