Bill Wyman's gear

[JTE]

Well, forgive me if im wrong, but he used his homemade, then a Framus Star bass, Then a Sg Bass, then a Mustang, And then a Travis Bean which he used during the 80's... until he got into steinbergers.
Correct me if im wrong, but i am pretty sure that sums up his instrument wise gear....

I love his late 70's early 80's Tone.

Thanks.

an "Sg Bass"? Do you mean a Gibson EB-0 or EB-3? Curioius, because I've never seen any pictures of him with a Gibson. And the Gibson SG only came out in the last five or ten years.

jte

 

[Bassgrinder77]

Look on line.
In the 70's he used several short scale basses live including Fender Mustang, Gibson EB3, clear plexiglass Ampeg Dan Armstrong and wood Dan Armstrong with the sliding pickup.

Does anyone have a decent pic of him playing a clear Dan Armstrong ?

 

[halloweenfiend]

Look on line.
In the 70's he used several short scale basses live including Fender Mustang, Gibson EB3, clear plexiglass Ampeg Dan Armstrong and wood Dan Armstrong with the sliding pickup.

Yeh, I can attest to him playing an EB-3 during the mid 70's as well as the Fender Mustang and Dan Armstrong's. I currently have the Rollin' With the Stones book from the library and there are lotssss of pics. I recommend it.

 

[KramerBassFan]

an "Sg Bass"? Do you mean a Gibson EB-0 or EB-3? Curioius, because I've never seen any pictures of him with a Gibson. And the Gibson SG only came out in the last five or ten years.

jte

Woops!
Sorry, i meant an EBO.
He used them mostly in the late seventies, unless i'm mistaken...
My bad...

Thanks.

 

[Stingray_EB]

I attented a seminar held by Bill around 2 years ago where he largely talked about Muddy Waters rather than the Stones or bass. However, there was a big slideshow behind him and most of the pics had him playing a Gibson EB-0.

 

[Aussie Mark]

I've never seen any pictures of him with a Gibson.

 

[Mike19]

I was lucky enough to catch the Stones on TV during their first US tour. This was like May or early June 1964. They were on a local NYC afternoon dance show (Alan Fried ?). They were lip synching "It's All Over Now" and Bill was "playing" a Framus (it appeared to be semi-hallow).

BTW, it is my understanding that Framus is a German manufacturer and their products are not cheap.

 

[Ric5]

Many of the good bass tracks on old Stones records were played by Keith richards.

 

[GM60466]

didn't keith play bass on most of the studio recordings. I have a DVD the shows him playing a Fenderr P Bass.

G

 

[GlennW]

I've read where he said most of the early recordings were his homemade fretless, the first electric fretless bass.

He played the Framus most of the time live. He had a Vox which he didn't like, but felt obligated to play it sometimes because Vox gave it to him.

The Mustang came around the time of JJ Flash.

 

[Fly Guitars]

I've also seen one pic of him with a Gibson Grabber, G3 or Ripper. It is on page 462 of 'Rolling with the Stones'. Unfortunately the controls/pickups are in a shadow so you can't see which of the three. It looks like it is from a french magazine.

 

[FronTowardEnemy]

Many of the good bass tracks on old Stones records were played by Keith richards.

Thank you,

That totally KILLS!!!!!!!!! All stars of rock, very inspirational.

 

[grrg63]

Bill using an EBO

 

[pbass2]

You can always tell when it's not Bill (when it's Keith, or Mick Taylor, etc.). The bass is always too busy, and doesn't lock in with Charlie in the same sublime, deep way.

 

[1stnamebassist]

You can always tell when it's not Bill (when it's Keith, or Mick Taylor, etc.). The bass is always too busy, and doesn't lock in with Charlie in the same sublime, deep way.

You mean like Sympathy for the devil?

 

[pbass2]

You mean like Sympathy for the devil?

Yeah, I mean, great classic bass line, but it's not the same kind of sparse deep pocket playing Wyman was so great at. I do like some of the other guy's bass tracks (I LOVE Keith's tone on Jumpin' Jack Flash), but I just always prefer Wyman's feel.
I think Exile is an album that is a great example of the big difference in the type of feel Wyman had vs. that of Keith or Mick Taylor. There's bass tracks from all those guys on that double album.
(can you tell I'm a huge Wyman fanboy?

 

[buldog5151bass]

A few months ago, BP had an article on it.

 

[Bullitt5135]

I highly recommend "Rolling Stones Gear" by Andy Babiuk & Greg Prevost. Meticulously researched, with great photos. 700+ pages.

Ditto for "Beatles Gear" by Andy Babiuk.

 

[Skokiaan]

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This is on my bookshelf waiting for me to finish this first:

 

[rtslinger]

I was lucky enough to catch the Stones on TV during their first US tour. This was like May or early June 1964. They were on a local NYC afternoon dance show (Alan Fried ?). They were lip synching "It's All Over Now" and Bill was "playing" a Framus (it appeared to be semi-hallow).

BTW, it is my understanding that Framus is a German manufacturer and their products are not cheap.

That is a EB3 in this photo