Carol Kaye's string changing method !

[BazzTard]

from the excellent "Fender Bass Manual" by Paul Balmer (Haynes Publishing)

Carol "I never changed strings-hated to do that and had no time to do that. I merely ran into a music store on a break, handed in my old bass, and quickly picked out a new Fender Precision, and so every two years I had new strings."

rotfl , of course the downside is that each string change costs $1800 lol

great informative book, covers 51 and 57 Ps and 60s Jazzes plus most other models. Goes in depth with how to set up, upgrade parts etc.

 

[Funkmabassup]

IMAO stringchange is alot faster and more timesaving than running down to the guitarshop, and then you have to find the really really good fender among the basses, but every man and woman for him/her self i guess.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

That's amazing. The take-away of this story is that she only changed strings every two years? I can't imagine that the sound difference between a bass with two year old strings and a brand new bass wouldn't have drove the recording engineerrs bonkers. Hope this wasn't done mid-session!

 

[Lobster11]

Makes sense to me. I don't have time to stop for gas, so I just buy a new car when the tank runs low.

 

[bassbully]

She has always been a little "wacky" to me. I wonder what she did if she broke a string in the studio?

 

[bucephylus]

Great player, but quite the character.

I can actually see that fitting into her paradigm; which was to stay as completely busy recording as possible. Of course, it doesn't really make sense, except that it was part of her approach.

In some ways, seems to me she missed smelling some of the flowers along the way. I actually think it is worth the effort to get the strings on just the way I like them. Each to their own.

 

[Red Four]

Just keep in mind that she knows more about bass playing and hit records than all of you put together.

 

[bassbully]

Just keep in mind that she knows more about bass playing and hit records than all of you put together.

What does this have to do with her exchanging basses when they need string changes?

 

[BobaFret]

Just keep in mind that she knows more about bass playing and hit records than all of you put together.

And maybe these people know more than you.

 

[Up the dose]

She also took credit for changing Jamerson's strings too.

 

[Mushroo]

Just keep in mind that she knows more about bass playing and hit records than all of you put together.

Some people succeed in spite of themselves...

 

[bassinflorida]

Wonder if she just knew how to make her 'pick' get whatever sound needed in the studio regardless of string quality.

 

[Lobster11]

There's actually nothing odd about a player of her status buying a new instrument every couple of years, nor about going two years between string changes (especially if you are either using flats or like your rounds to sound like flats.) My guess is that she was joking when she suggested that she bought new basses just to avoid changing strings.

 

[shastaband]

the downside is that each string change costs $1800

1968 Fender price list shows a sunburst Precision list price of $239.50. Case extra. American-made, of course.
You could buy 7.51 Fender basses for $1800 in 1968!

 

[two fingers]

She's a hoot. Honestly, I think she was just in the right place at the right time. Sure, she was good, but not amazing. Her lines were fine. I like them. But most players could have sat in that chair and produced something equally as good. Her personality is one I would like to have beer with though. I think she's more bark than bite but I'm one of the few people on Earth who actually likes a good blowhard windbag as long as he/she doesn't get angry.


As for changing basses mid session, gimme a break. People act as though studio conditions are a fragile little flower than can be destroyed if the slightest little tiny thing changes. Never mind that they usually have enough equipment in there, and the world's best trained operators, so that you can play tuba on any recording and make it sound exactly like Geddy. Lots of engineers from back then talk about having trunks full of mics and just grabbing whatever they saw first for vocals, guitar, whatever. Fragile little flowers they were not. They used whatever regular gear was laying around. It took a few decades before we got to the point where we "needed" to spend a million+ dollars stocking a studio with things that nobody will ever be able to tell the difference in using or not. These days you "can't" use THAT mic for BASS and you CAN't use THAT compressor for vocals. Oy. (sigh) Back then they made amazing recordings and stuck a 57 in front of a singer and ran it to a reverb unit that most engineers would look down their noses at today.

Sorry. End of off-topic rant.

 

[Red Four]

What does this have to do with her exchanging basses when they need string changes?

Not much. But it has a lot to do with the rabble making fun of legitimate icons who are in a realm beyond as far as talent, experience, and expertise goes.

I know the folks getting the thread started were just having a bit of fun. You could say I was having some similar fun back.

 

[JimmyM]

That's amazing. The take-away of this story is that she only changed strings every two years? I can't imagine that the sound difference between a bass with two year old strings and a brand new bass wouldn't have drove the recording engineerrs bonkers. Hope this wasn't done mid-session!

Of course it wasn't! Yeah, like she's going to stop in the middle of recording a song and say, "Hey fellas, wait an hour...I have to go get a new bass!"

She has always been a little "wacky" to me. I wonder what she did if she broke a string in the studio?

She never did break strings in the studio.

She's a hoot. Honestly, I think she was just in the right place at the right time. Sure, she was good, but not amazing. Her lines were fine. I like them. But most players could have sat in that chair and produced something equally as good. Her personality is one I would like to have beer with though. I think she's more bark than bite but I'm one of the few people on Earth who actually likes a good blowhard windbag as long as he/she doesn't get angry.

She gets angry. Very angry. I've been subjected to it online, and it ain't pretty. Go along with her and she's the sweetest person on earth. Disagree or ask her something she thinks is stupid, and the fangs and claws come out

But she absolutely deserved every bit of credit she got for being great. She could come into any session, sight read the chart and play it perfectly pretty much every time. That's why she got so many calls.

 

[Jared Lash]

1968 Fender price list shows a sunburst Precision list price of $239.50. Case extra. American-made, of course.
You could buy 7.51 Fender basses for $1800 in 1968!

When accounting for inflation, the value of $239.50 is about $1650. That's a chunk of change to avoid changing strings.

I would take this more as a colorful anecdote than a true story. After all, you could pay a tech to change your strings for you for a fraction of the price and only 10 minutes or so longer than buying a new bass.

 

[darwin-bass]

She'd just swap basses every couple of years? Didn't she know that you had to have that perfect vintage instrument to be a commercial success? You can't make it by playing normal every-day basses. Sheesh, all that time focusing on making music rather than perfecting her gear. I'm telling you, she'll go nowhere.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I played a Cort headless and then a Steinberger for the first 15 years of my bass career. I should say, "career". Then I bought a Music Man SR5. Then the strings went dead, I had no idea how to change strings on it. This was pre-YouTube, so I ended up taking it to Guitar Center and had them show me how. Talk about embarrassing.