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08-15-2009, 01:23 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Boston, MA | | | Polarized views on Billy Sheehan?
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As an outsider trying to look in (as in, I don't normally listen to the music he plays), I've seen a lot of opinions on this guy. Most of them are either in his defense or flames against him.
Why is it like this? What is it about Sheehan that gets to people? I'm just curious.
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08-15-2009, 01:29 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Victorville California | | | cuz hes the best... |
08-15-2009, 01:29 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Wheeling, IL | | | Sheehans the man
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08-15-2009, 03:06 PM
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designer/builder for Ark Amps | | Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Windsor Ontario | | He is the Eddie Van Halen of bassists in a way  |
08-15-2009, 03:23 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: montana | | | I have attended 3 of his clinics and he seamed like a down-to-earth good guy too me.
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08-15-2009, 03:31 PM
|  | Remember 12/21/2012! ...it's my birthday! | | Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Cheviot, OH | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Rudreax As an outsider trying to look in (as in, I don't normally listen to the music he plays), I've seen a lot of opinions on this guy. Most of them are either in his defense or flames against him.
Why is it like this? What is it about Sheehan that gets to people? I'm just curious. | People love him cause he's a good guy and a great bassist. Others (mostly guitarists and old-school bassists) hate him because he is not an in-the-pocket kinda bass player. He also has some funky looking Yamaha basses too. His style doesn't fit everything but I've learned a lot from watching his lessons and I've been playing for over a decade.
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Adam
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08-15-2009, 04:05 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Seattle, WA | | | One word....
Scientology. |
08-15-2009, 04:19 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Southwest Virginia | | Quote:
Originally Posted by NKUSigEp Others (mostly guitarists and old-school bassists) hate him because he is not an in-the-pocket kinda bass player. | Wrong, and that's exactly why people are so polarized about him: Because Billy IS an in-the-pocket kinda bass player! VERY much so. He creates the deepest, most solid pockets of groove in rock, and he spends 95 percent of his playing time doing just that. But because of the other five percent where he totally schools every other rock bassist in history with the most mind-bending technique ever applied to bass, he gets shat on as an overplaying guitarist wanna-be.
Billy's the best rock bassist in history. The next-bests aren't even close.
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Last edited by TimWilson : 08-15-2009 at 04:21 PM.
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08-15-2009, 04:27 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Nevada | | | Sheehan does his OWN thing. His OWN tone, his OWN different unique bass, his OWN style of playing...and doesn't give an F what anyone thinks of any of it.
He's the most technically accomplished UNBORING bassist in history. He's not my FAVORITE bassist, but his ability is simply mindblowing...both to rip your head off with technicality AS WELL as his ability to lay back and groove. And I love that thick 70's distorted controlled tone. What's amazing about Sheehan is that he can STILL play with all his insane ability WITHOUT all of his distortion and compression. THAT'S mindboggling.
He's completely unique. No one can touch him.
Even people who hate everything about him usually respect him.
Then there's that small group of bassists who just HATE anyone better than them...and Sheehan is technically just about better than EVERYONE ha ha...
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08-15-2009, 04:30 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: El Segundo, CA | | | Big Fan of Sheehan here
He's good and when he does solo he does it at the right times and places
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08-15-2009, 04:36 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Nevada | | | Another thing about Sheehan...
His FINESSE in his playing is unparallelled. He's not choppy. He has full control of nuance and all the important aspects BETWEEN the notes. He's not just a scale shredder...it's the little bends, slides, and just flat out smoothness of what he does and how he does it that impresses.
There was some YouTube clip where he's at some bass-off with a few other top name bassists that people drool over...and he just slayed them. He has feeling, chops, finesse. Everyone else sounded like they were struggling, choppy, off time, unsure of themselves, and just boring...especially the ones that have that thin acoustic guitar tone. But Sheehan's smooth control over what he does is unreal.
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Originally Posted by vin*tone More basses should be made out of duckbilled platypus poop. | |
08-15-2009, 04:41 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Hamburg, Germany | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Intenzity One word....
Scientology. | +1
Sheehan deserves mad props for his bass playing, but him being a member of Scientology just doesn't do it for me.
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08-15-2009, 04:41 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Logan,W.V.(not up some holler) | | | I Love Billy's playing/style.It just seems as of late his tone is getting raspier and raspier every time I hear him lately.I simply LOVE his tone from the Talas/DLR era.Awesome.
His present tone reminds me of angry bees on the war path.But,as I said,awesome rock player.The best. |
08-15-2009, 04:44 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Purple Mountain Majesties | | Quote:
Originally Posted by NKUSigEp Others (mostly guitarists and old-school bassists) hate him because he is not an in-the-pocket kinda bass player. | I think NKU meant that there is a perception that he's not an in-the-pocket player, and I don't think that was NKU's opinion necessarily.
Fact is, Billy can do it all and frequently was in the pocket with Mr. Big. It was damn strange when he was in the pocket, because you know the guy can literally keep up with Paul Gilbert, and when he played lines you could actually comprehend, or got a good groove going with Torpey, it was like ***?
I hate his tone soloed, but in the mix, excellent. |
08-15-2009, 05:00 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Florida | | Quote:
Originally Posted by ggoat!!! Another thing about Sheehan...
His FINESSE in his playing is unparallelled. He's not choppy. He has full control of nuance and all the important aspects BETWEEN the notes. He's not just a scale shredder...it's the little bends, slides, and just flat out smoothness of what he does and how he does it that impresses.
There was some YouTube clip where he's at some bass-off with a few other top name bassists that people drool over...and he just slayed them. He has feeling, chops, finesse. Everyone else sounded like they were struggling, choppy, off time, unsure of themselves, and just boring...especially the ones that have that thin acoustic guitar tone. But Sheehan's smooth control over what he does is unreal. | I would like to see that video.
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08-15-2009, 05:04 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Metro Detroit | | | I never heard Sheehan until DLRs Eat Em' and Smile album. I was amazed then and I'm still amazed now. Great stuff! |
08-15-2009, 05:05 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: May 2006 Location: North Houston | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Rudreax As an outsider trying to look in (as in, I don't normally listen to the music he plays), I've seen a lot of opinions on this guy. Most of them are either in his defense or flames against him.
Why is it like this? What is it about Sheehan that gets to people? I'm just curious. | A lot of folks strongly dislike his tone. Some say too thin, distorted, processed etc. It's a very unusual tone and it isn't everyone's cup of tea.
There is also the impression that he is a shredder for the sake of shredding based on some of his 80's work. Case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5omFFeLEXFE
The scientology thing doesn't help.
Billy is generally very tasteful and has a tone that sits pretty well in the mix. His old recorded solo from the Talas days is still one of my fav's.
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08-15-2009, 05:08 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Nevada | | Quote:
Originally Posted by perfektspace6 | That is still one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life.
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Originally Posted by vin*tone More basses should be made out of duckbilled platypus poop. | |
08-15-2009, 05:36 PM
| | | | Billy
Watch the youtube stuff of him and Dennis Chambers...
Billy has groove for sure. |
08-15-2009, 06:04 PM
| | Remember 12/21/2012! ...it's my birthday! | | Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Cheviot, OH | | Quote:
Originally Posted by TimWilson Wrong, and that's exactly why people are so polarized about him: Because Billy IS an in-the-pocket kinda bass player! VERY much so. He creates the deepest, most solid pockets of groove in rock, and he spends 95 percent of his playing time doing just that. But because of the other five percent where he totally schools every other rock bassist in history with the most mind-bending technique ever applied to bass, he gets shat on as an overplaying guitarist wanna-be.
Billy's the best rock bassist in history. The next-bests aren't even close. | I would say we have extremely different views of what "in-the-pocket" means but regardless, I won't disagree with you about being one of the greats. I think what's even more important is that he's always willing to teach someone and lend a hand. That says more about him than his playing.
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