^ A couple of years between basses. She says she was too busy doing session work to put the bass off the road and it was simpler to just trade it in for a new one and run off to the next job. Makes sense.
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What brand of flats did they all used to play?
- Thread starter FishDub
- Start date
Well, that's what I've read. It never made a whole lot of sense to me either.
I am actually curious about Will Lee in the Barry Manilow days of Copacabana..I know he uses Sadowsky basses and probably rounds but back then he played 62 and 63 Fender Pbasses, so you know he had flats on those, which brand I don't know...Anyone?
Maybe because it was back in the late 70s and it was very thumpy..just a safe assumption
Flatwounds were less common in the late '70s than they are now. For pop music, they were really out of style at that time.
But today, Flats are back with a vengeance
Yes. That's what I meant. Every new band I've liked for the last 20 - 25 years, except for one, has used flats. It's not clear cut what the "modern sound" is when every modern band is using a '60s sound.
I can testify to that. There weren't that many choices to start with, usually branded whoever made your instrument, with Black Diamond and Labella thrown in.
I used Fender Precision Bass Flatwounds, even on my J from 67 - 72. Whole different animal for sure.
A much more lively and sustaining string if memory serves me well.
My first string set change was to LaBella for Fender, which pretty well wrecked the neck of that bass. This would have been in 1966. From 1967 to around '73 I used flatwounds by Gibson, Hofner, and Vox, all IMO better and more bass-friendly (short scale) than the LaBellas.
Of course, for years before i started playing, the dolphin-nosed Silvertone 1444 basses in the Sears showroom had rounds, Black Diamonds I believe. My Silvertone U1-to-bass conversion done before my first real store-bought bass and which nearly ripped my nose off, had Black Diamond rounds -- purchased from my local drug store.
Of course, for years before i started playing, the dolphin-nosed Silvertone 1444 basses in the Sears showroom had rounds, Black Diamonds I believe. My Silvertone U1-to-bass conversion done before my first real store-bought bass and which nearly ripped my nose off, had Black Diamond rounds -- purchased from my local drug store.
I read that James Jamerson (famous Motown bassists)used Labella flats, reportedly the deader the better. Can't remember who said it but i'm not doing that if I can help it.
Yes, it was Jamerson who insisted that "the gunk keeps the funk".
Hmm, wondering where you got that. I'm about as big a Beatle guy as there is and I've never heard that one. Plus as a former apprentice piano tech, have you ever "clipped" a string out of a piano? Just very doubtful that he'd have at the ready at all times wire cutters strong enough to do that, not to mention eye protection to avoid getting whacked in the head by a piece of metal traveling at high speed.
As for the Hofners, I think I did read they came with Pyramids but not sure. (Someone will look it up! )
My 13 year old is on a Beatles kick and he loves that song. Probably my least fave Beatles tune. But yeah that tone is weird! But it sure is tuba-like, the sound and the phrasing, gotta hand it to Macca. I'm sure that's what he was going for.
I've come close to this tuba tone, on a P-bass loaded with tapes, by lifting up the string between thumb and forefinger and letting it snap back directly onto the frets.
View attachment 3307068 And, my '73 Rick 4001 would have come from the factory with German Maxima flat wounds... As for Hofner? They would have had made-for-Hofner Pyramids; still do, I think. IIRC, the only difference between factory and store-bought, is the silk color...
Jamerson, La Bella’s, Ricks, & Maximas already mentioned on page 1
Cassidy and Lesh used Pyramids on their Starfires. And I seem to recall McCartney used Pyramids on his Hofner. But that might be a hollowbody thing.
No but I wouldn't mind trying them out..do they still make/sell those?
