Any love for Stu Hamm?

[frankie5string]

I remember when I took over in a prog band for a bass player who idolized (and basically copied) Stu Hamm.
The band wanted a smoother, rounder sound, so they picked me. The other guy couldn't understand why I didn't really know about Stu. Then I started looking around at some of those old MI tapes he was on.

I felt he was a one-trick-pony, and the Satriani stuff reminded me of Muzak for guitar slingers. Now he actually has a broader technique vocabulary. He actually can do blues, neo-Motown, R&B and rock styles, but he's kinda slotted in with that hair-band instrumental era that nobody wants to bring back.

He's also had some health setbacks in recent years. I'm sure a few people were surprised by that gigantic "NO REGERTS" tattoo he was showing off to be a smartass for a few years.

Oh well... hopefully he's making decent money teaching.

 

[India_Sierra]

What is the story or significance of the 'no regerts' tattoo. I saw it a few years back and wondered what the significance of it was, I assumed it was some in-joke that I had missed. Stu is quite into his tattoos these days.

 

[Craigmartini]

From my experience Stu is a generous guy, and a great player. Stu Hamm was generous enough to share his MarkBass rig with me for a week during a G4 event a few years back. There was a mixup with backline, and the company didn't send a bass amp. That was bad, I was playing bass for Phil Collen, Warren DeMartini, and Paul Gilbert, that week and was going to have to go direct through wedges. The amp company that endorses me wouldn't send anything without me going out of pocket which I couldn't afford. There was only one choice, I had to approach Stu, (whom I'd never met but had always been a fan of) and explain my situation and ask if I could use his rig for the concerts. He was super cool about it, understood the position I'd been left in, and told me to go right ahead and use it, change the settings if I wanted, and to move it wherever I wanted it on the stage. What a relief!! The amp rocked, all the shows were great, and I will forever be grateful to Stu for being such a humble nice person to a guy in a bad situation.

India_Sierra, I respectfully disagree about Joe Satriani. I watched he and his band play every night of the 2018 G3 tour. He is one of the most innovative and interesting guitar players of all time still. You may not feel he matches your taste these days, but he's lost nothing in his abilities or writing. The bass lines in his songs have always been somewhat simple. Surfing with the alien was a drum machine (other than Satch Boogie), and himself on bass. It's always been about what Joe delivers on guitar, the band is there to make a place for him to do his thing.

 

[ryco]

Remember seeing him at G3 shows a couple of times with Satch, Eric Johnson, and Vai late 80s and he blew my mind! I had never heard anybody tap, or do those sweep arpeggios, and the two handed tapping was unworldly sounding!! Seriously sounded like EVH on bass and definitely NOT sloppy AT ALL! Made me wanna go home and burn my basses! I'm not all that into tapping and speed harmonics for myself, but sure enjoy people who do it well (read: Micheal Manring!!).
Me more a meat and potatoes basser guy.

I modded out this 75 P bought used in 80. Modded it because back then "if it wasn't pre-CBS it wasn't poo" was the prevailing attitude dejour - so just had fun with it. Wonder if he saw it at a show

 

[Revolver]

Look for impressive displays of technical skill on the various media platforms available to us now. Its not difficult to find a number of players who match or exceed Stu's skills.

You are correct. There many people out there that can match (and in some cases exceed) his shredding skill set. That being said, as one of the original innovators of this very small market (also agree), what the vast majority of these youtube shredder types are doing is pretty much copying they guy (and if we are talking about Wooten and Marcus Miller, it is a thousand times more obvious). As the saying goes 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery', and there's plenty of flattery going on.

 

[DuluthDank]

You are correct. There many people out there that can match (and in some cases exceed) his shredding skill set. That being said, as one of the original innovators of this very small market (also agree), what the vast majority of these youtube shredder types are doing is pretty much copying they guy (and if we are talking about Wooten and Marcus Miller, it is a thousand times more obvious). As the saying goes 'imitation is the sincerest form of flattery', and there's plenty of flattery going on.

That's true, and the fact that we all know his name and can jump in with our opinions shows how influential he has been.

But this discussion also shows that if you build your career not on the strength of your songwriting, but on how fast you can play, all it takes for your catalogue to fall into obscurity is the next person that comes along who can play a bit faster.

Still, anybody who can make a career as a bass guitar soloist deserves tremendous respect.

 

[Rexylab]

He's absolutely NOT sloppy (what a ridiculous statement) and absolutely IS a virtuoso of the electric bass. He was doing right hand tapping way before Victor Wooten, and his incredible slap approach has left many would-be solo bass players with jaws on the ground. Also, his compositions were excellent. He used his very highly advanced technique to great effect. And he's a very humble guy who is more than willing to share his musical knowledge with world.

I totally agree!

 

[Rexylab]

The Factor, what more can you say?
Can wait for the video on the Factor!
The first time I had played a Factor was though a Trace Elliot 115 combo.
A very much WOW experience with that combination of the two.

Peace
and Hope everyone has a great day today!!

You can subscribe to my Channel so you don't miss it.
YouTube.com/Rexylab

 

[Revolver]

But this discussion also shows that if you build your career not on the strength of your songwriting, but on how fast you can play, all it takes for your catalogue to fall into obscurity is the next person that comes along who can play a bit faster.

Still, anybody who can make a career as a bass guitar soloist deserves tremendous respect.

I'm on the same page as you here on both statements.

 

[frankie5string]

What is the story or significance of the 'no regerts' tattoo. I saw it a few years back and wondered what the significance of it was, I assumed it was some in-joke that I had missed. Stu is quite into his tattoos these days.

He's a big believer in the whole "No Regrets" idea - kind-of like YOLO, so to drive it home he purposely (and ironically) got the tattoo artist to misspell "Regrets." I noticed recently he had his knuckles tattooed, but didn't catch what words he had put on them. It all seems pretty cheesy to me.

 

[FFEJY]

He's a big believer in the whole "No Regrets" idea - kind-of like YOLO, so to drive it home he purposely (and ironically) got the tattoo artist to misspell "Regrets."

 

[OldSchoolFlats]

Just sayin'...

 

[Herrick]

Since the fast-playing criticism came up in this thread, I thought I'd post this from a somewhat recent Stu Hamm interview.

Mutli-faceted bass virtuoso Stu Hamm releases "best of" compilation

It's so weird for people that know me from all that excessive, you know, tapping "Moonlight Sonata," don't know that I play upright, that I can swing my ass off, that I can read really well, read treble clef and sight read pretty much any chart you put in front of me, you know, happy to play whole notes, and all that stuff. Man, play simple. Realize that you're the anchor of the band, and you've got to create a pattern, and be happy playing with it and not, like, noodle around. Abe Laboriel Sr. said, "Music is oom-pah-pah, and if you don't like the 'oom,' then you shouldn't play bass. And that's really what holds it together. And listen to the sound of it. People are in such a hurry to play all this fast ****. When I ask you to play a scale, think about the sound and the quality and the length of every note you play and make it sound good. Make it big, fat, and realize that you're the foundation, man. You're the bricks, the concrete of the whole song. And if you're up, noodling around the top of the neck, it's going to be weak. But if you're down there at the bottom, holdin' it together, then it's going to be a sturdy house.

 

[Jack Butler]

I'm a bassist and all of those names are pretty obscure. I couldn't name a tune by any of them lol.

I've been playing for a long time, but only became aware of Stu in the early 2000's. Then I learned he has been active since the mid 80's.

There could be many reasons why we don't hear much of him. But I wonder if part of it is that, the idea of a bassist with his level of skill, who plays a lot of solo work (bass is the featured instrument), has become much more common?

If I think back to the 80's and even 90's, and attempt to build a list of similar players, it would pale in comparison to what we have today. There are SO many artists like Richard Bona, Felix Pastorius, Mike Bendy, Janek Gwizdala, Hadrien Feraud, .... the list goes on .... there are so many now that maybe someone like Stu has become obscure?

 

[Jack Butler]

No real commentary on Stu, but playing bass for Warren DeMartini would be a privilege I'd be over the moon about. I'm not really a fan of Ratt, but always loved Warren's playing with them and even his solo stuff.

From my experience Stu is a generous guy, and a great player. Stu Hamm was generous enough to share his MarkBass rig with me for a week during a G4 event a few years back. There was a mixup with backline, and the company didn't send a bass amp. That was bad, I was playing bass for Phil Collen, Warren DeMartini, and Paul Gilbert, that week and was going to have to go direct through wedges. The amp company that endorses me wouldn't send anything without me going out of pocket which I couldn't afford. There was only one choice, I had to approach Stu, (whom I'd never met but had always been a fan of) and explain my situation and ask if I could use his rig for the concerts. He was super cool about it, understood the position I'd been left in, and told me to go right ahead and use it, change the settings if I wanted, and to move it wherever I wanted it on the stage. What a relief!! The amp rocked, all the shows were great, and I will forever be grateful to Stu for being such a humble nice person to a guy in a bad situation.

India_Sierra, I respectfully disagree about Joe Satriani. I watched he and his band play every night of the 2018 G3 tour. He is one of the most innovative and interesting guitar players of all time still. You may not feel he matches your taste these days, but he's lost nothing in his abilities or writing. The bass lines in his songs have always been somewhat simple. Surfing with the alien was a drum machine (other than Satch Boogie), and himself on bass. It's always been about what Joe delivers on guitar, the band is there to make a place for him to do his thing.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

I think Stu faded away mostly because he kind of plateaued. While I don't think most players could ever come to his level, he blew everybody out of the water and then just kept doing the same schtick. He was crazy innovative... until he wasn't.

I have not heard of the negative fan interactions. I have a friend who was a HUGE Stu fan. My friend ended up on a bass promo tour with Stu (maybe just an evening stop during both of their tours, it's been years...) He said that Stu was unbelievably gracious and was super cool to meet in person. They talked a lot of bass. You worry about meeting your heroes but Stu delivered for him.

 

[silky smoove]

He was in town (Seattle) a few years ago offering lessons. I sat down with him for a quick half hour session. Musical tastes notwithstanding I found him to be a very nice guy who seemed eager to help people learn. We didn't cover much since it was such a short lesson but he did spot one thing in the way I was playing vibratos and bends that he suggested I change, or at least incorporate an alternate method which he then taught me. It's truly become a staple of my playing on tunes that call for more laidback and melodic passages. It was very valuable to me as a player and I'm grateful that he was able to share that with me.

 

[Killing Floor]

I learned a lot trying to keep up with him. And his MEAN hand stretches are AWFUL and they work! His torture techniques still have me spanning an extra fret at least. Torture and madness. Don't do it. They hurt. But yeah, do it.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

I think it was more of the end of an era, the end of kings.
The only gigs all those virtuosos can get are those in Estonia, Moldova, Romania, etc. I think they all can blame Curt Cobain for putting an end to their careers…

But at least Stu has a Warwick Signature Bass, though…



I can't believe it's been 6 years already since the video came out…

Just FYI Stu Hamm played bass with Satriani on the very hugely successful G3 tours in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 2000.

 

[KeithPas]

I was a big fan of Stu's earlier albums and was blown away by his playing as were many other bassists at the time. I have no comment on the stories of questionable gig behavior. I know that he has had some health issues recently and was glad to see that he pulled through his medical procedure successfully. As far as I know he has kept busy enough but things are different now than in the 90's.