• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Bobby Watson on MJ's "Rock With You" -- P or Stingray?

#41
Dr. Cheese said:
I know you are right, but I know of too many people, myself included, who bonded with basses, let them go, only find that nothing can really replace what they had.

For what it is worth, Bobby Watson created his iconic work with his P-bass,
that is the sound of his that is history. Playing a Fodera now does not change Rags to Rufus or Off the Wall.
Click to expand...

It does fly in the face of him using only one bass though, right? That's why I mentioned it. And even guys who use multiple basses afterwards don't affect their previous recordings so that's an interesting point you're making.
:)

There are also plenty of folks who never really figure out what one bass is capable of.

I know what you mean but I've seen just as many if not more play different basses and get the results "they" want. It's more of a romantic notion of the "one man, one bass" thing than actual reality IMO. Worse, I've seen even more buy bass after bass trying to address an issue that really doesn't fall on the bass at hand.

I personally love playing basses that are fun to play and since it's not cheating, I don't see a good reason not to play more than one. I know what all of my basses do in my hands. And I've hung onto the ones I've really loved so I can still grab them whenever I want. Best of both worlds I guess.
:D
 
#42
Brad Johnson said:
It does fly in the face of him using only one bass though, right? That's why I mentioned it. And even guys who use multiple basses afterwards don't affect their previous recordings so that's an interesting point you're making.
:)

There are also plenty of folks who never really figure out what one bass is capable of.

I know what you mean but I've seen just as many if not more play different basses and get the results "they" want. It's more of a romantic notion of the "one man, one bass" thing than actual reality IMO. Worse, I've seen even more buy bass after bass trying to address an issue that really doesn't fall on the bass at hand.

I personally love playing basses that are fun to play and since it's not cheating, I don't see a good reason not to play more than one. I know what all of my basses do in my hands. And I've hung onto the ones I've really loved so I can still grab them whenever I want. Best of both worlds I guess.
:D
Click to expand...

It is a romantic notion, but I remember own development. I bought my first good bass just before I went to college. For the next even years I could not afford another bass, so I just played what I had, and learned to get a ton of sounds out of it. When I finally could get another bass, I did, and proceeded to run through a bunch of them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJ Bebop
#43
Brad Johnson said:
Bernard with his P Bass, Stingray, BC Rich, etc.?
;)

It works either way on a regular basis. Some people like playing different basses, some don't.
:)

BW has a Fodera now.
Click to expand...

So does Tim Bogert since we are talking about Vanilla Fudge. I want to say an Emperor 5 but I don't know my Fodera that well.

Back on to Rock With You, great track, great playing all around. That song gets cranked in my car when it comes on
 
#45
suppppp Bobby. Wasinu gone play now? I don't know but wasinever I play its gots to be "funky". Welcome to talkbass you are amongst Family and I think I speak for most of us when I say u a badddd baddd man. And to think you didn't think you were that good,just thought you were an ordiary Joe. Well, You're not. YOU DA MANNNNNNNNN.
 
#46
ontour4ever said:
just saw this thread today and wanted to chime in ,,
on the song "Rock with You" I used my natural wood (paint removed) 1969 Fender Precision bass, I played this same bass with flatwound Labella strings for many years, I bought the bass at Sol Betnun's Music store on Larchmont in Hollywood /
I carried this P Bass around in a leather bag that had Cactus written on it ,, I found the bag at "Norm's rare guitars" in the San Fernando vally, I knew it was an original bag that Timmy Bogert owned ,, when I was in high school I was a big Vanilla Fudge Fan //

I owned one bass throughout the Rufus days and that Bass did all my recordings & live gigs ,, I did buy a Jazz Bass (New) and a Rick bass, but never played them live or on any recording , they were for pictures only ,, I could never get the right sound when I put my P bass down, I've never owned a Ray bass, although that was what Lewis Johnson used exclusively .. I loved the ray's sound but couldn't groove on it like my old P Bass ..
Click to expand...

Welcome to Talkbass! I'm a fan of your work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: shojii
#48
Dr. Cheese said:
It is a romantic notion, but I remember own development. I bought my first good bass just before I went to college. For the next even years I could not afford another bass, so I just played what I had, and learned to get a ton of sounds out of it. When I finally could get another bass, I did, and proceeded to run through a bunch of them.
Click to expand...

My development was different, my first "good bass" was maybe my fourth or fifth one. But I learned how to do what I needed to do on all of the previous ones. If I stuck with my first good one there's no path to me playing six strings nor fretlesses. Or a bass with something other than two single coil pickups. Or a bass with a preamp. Or a different tone set.

I have no issue with "one bassist, one bass" working for anyone else... it really would've hampered me. And quite often you don't know what you're missing if you never look.
;)
 
#52
Brad Johnson said:
My development was different, my first "good bass" was maybe my fourth or fifth one. But I learned how to do what I needed to do on all of the previous ones. If I stuck with my first good one there's no path to me playing six strings nor fretlesses. Or a bass with something other than two single coil pickups. Or a bass with a preamp. Or a different tone set.

I have no issue with "one bassist, one bass" working for anyone else... it really would've hampered me. And quite often you don't know what you're missing if you never look.
;)
Click to expand...

The biggest difference between us is that you a true musician, while i stagnated in musical knowledge, and did not challenge myself in terms of knowledge or get a teacher. I was the self taught guy who learned licks from recordings and occasional tidbits of knowledge from magazines and other players. Like a lot of people in my situation, I looked to the gear instead of knowledge. The result was that I have improved, but nowhere near the rate I should have improved. For me, I have reduced my amount of gear and I am concentrating on lessons at this late date.

Playing less gear and simpler gear helps me focus on the music.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJ Bebop
#53
Good move. I was fortunate... I was so broke early on focusing on gear wasn't an option. It was only much later, after I'd spent time learning that I got better non music related jobs and could indulge in checking out what I couldn't before.

But I learned very early on to be brutally honest with myself and not look to gear to get where I was trying to go. If I can't do something it's most likely my fault.

And I still kick myself for not taking it as seriously as I could've. So I'm still learning.
 
#55
Brad Johnson said:
Good move. I was fortunate... I was so broke early on focusing on gear wasn't an option. It was only much later, after I'd spent time learning that I got better non music related jobs and could indulge in checking out what I couldn't before.

But I learned very early on to be brutally honest with myself and not look to gear to get where I was trying to go. If I can't do something it's most likely my fault.

And I still kick myself for not taking it as seriously as I could've. So I'm still learning.
Click to expand...

I had a bass teacher very early on who gave me good knowledge, and probably just as importantly at the time inspired me to sound and play better. One of the things he said multiple times is that the basses with active electronics and more than just 1 or 2 pickups and a tone knob were going to stunt the growth of new bassists(this was '83 or '84). He was very firm on the belief that hands and technique was where different tones came from...not knobs and switches. My amp was to be set dead flat for every lesson. The funny thing is I still set the majority of my amps pretty much flat or disable the eq.
 
#59
ontour4ever said:
just saw this thread today and wanted to chime in ,,
on the song "Rock with You" I used my natural wood (paint removed) 1969 Fender Precision bass, I played this same bass with flatwound Labella strings for many years, I bought the bass at Sol Betnun's Music store on Larchmont in Hollywood /
I carried this P Bass around in a leather bag that had Cactus written on it ,, I found the bag at "Norm's rare guitars" in the San Fernando vally, I knew it was an original bag that Timmy Bogert owned ,, when I was in high school I was a big Vanilla Fudge Fan //

I owned one bass throughout the Rufus days and that Bass did all my recordings & live gigs ,, I did buy a Jazz Bass (New) and a Rick bass, but never played them live or on any recording , they were for pictures only ,, I could never get the right sound when I put my P bass down, I've never owned a Ray bass, although that was what Lewis Johnson used exclusively .. I loved the ray's sound but couldn't groove on it like my old P Bass ..
Click to expand...

I stand corrected! Thanks for the info and the inspiration!
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back