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Duff McKagan......Sound

#21
Man...i get so sick of guys on this site allways knocking a pro bassist cuz he plays simple parts or isnt a flashy player...or any bassist who plays the pocket for that matter. Jaco was great to who?....ya...guess what bass players and jazz fans..and most jazz fans know weather report but still dont know Jaco. Its like if you cant play a million notes and slap like a monkey ...you suck! Give me a ZZtop greasy ride anyday or a good Cliff Williams AC/DC 1/8 note drive or a Duff run and groove like on sweet child of mine...anyday and keep Portrait Of Tracy in the backroom cut bin:spit: I'll keep rockin and so will 98% of the other freeworld who know the other bands and bassist i mentioned above before they say Jaco who? Come on holding down the bottom and grovin is what bass is all about ....Jamerson did that so well and hell hardly anyone even knows who he is.
 
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#22
Duff is awesome. The tone on the GNR albums, especially Appetite, is one of my favorite recorded bass tones....ever.

Everything I ever read indicated early on Duff used the advance of money from the Appetite record deal to go out and purchase the white Jazz Special and GK 800rb with GK cabs.

Duff has stated in numerous interviews that he has relied heavily on the Yamaha SPX90 rack unit for chorus which goes hand in hand with his pick playing.

When I saw Velvet Revolver on last years Ozzfest, he primarily played an Aerodyne bass and was using what looked like the new GK 4x12's in the backline.

AWESOME tone and stage presence.... very deep in the pocket w/ Sorum
 
#24
bassbully43 said:
Man...i get so sick of guys on this site allways knocking a pro bassist cuz he plays simple parts or isnt a flashy player...or any bassist who plays the pocket for that matter. Jaco was great to who?....ya...guess what bass players and jazz fans..and most jazz fans know weather report but still dont know Jaco. Its like if you cant play a million notes and slap like a monkey ...you suck! Give me a ZZtop greasy ride anyday or a good Cliff Williams AC/DC 1/8 note drive or a Duff run and groove like on sweet child of mine...anyday and keep Portrait Of Tracy in the backroom cut bin:spit: I'll keep rockin and so will 98% of the other freeworld who know the other bands and bassist i mentioned above before they say Jaco who? Come on holding down the bottom and grovin is what bass is all about ....Jamerson did that so well and hell hardly anyone even knows who he is.
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+1

i hope everyone caught the sarcasm in my earlier post because i was laying it on pretty thick. :ninja:
 
#26
The solo in the beginning of 'Sweet Child O' Mine' is one of the major influences on me taking up the bass! When that came out, I was in seventh grade and very impressionable! Guns 'N' Roses rawness and attitude was like a kick in the face to me and my friends. No other bands at the time had that much 'tude. Great or not in hindsight Duff will always in my mind be the cocky Devil-may care bassist I (as a 12 year old) could't wait to be! And for that alone, he will always be cool in my book. Sure, there were other bassists who had chops, but none of them made me want to be like them. I guess you could say he was my personal version of Ace in Kiss to a lot of guitar slingers. Chops? No, but he made you WANT to play!
 
#28
bassbully43 said:
Man...i get so sick of guys on this site allways knocking a pro bassist cuz he plays simple parts or isnt a flashy player...or any bassist who plays the pocket for that matter. Jaco was great to who?....ya...guess what bass players and jazz fans..and most jazz fans know weather report but still dont know Jaco. Its like if you cant play a million notes and slap like a monkey ...you suck! Give me a ZZtop greasy ride anyday or a good Cliff Williams AC/DC 1/8 note drive or a Duff run and groove like on sweet child of mine...anyday and keep Portrait Of Tracy in the backroom cut bin:spit: I'll keep rockin and so will 98% of the other freeworld who know the other bands and bassist i mentioned above before they say Jaco who? Come on holding down the bottom and grovin is what bass is all about ....Jamerson did that so well and hell hardly anyone even knows who he is.
Click to expand...
+1
 
#30
bassbully43 said:
Man...i get so sick of guys on this site allways knocking a pro bassist cuz he plays simple parts or isnt a flashy player...or any bassist who plays the pocket for that matter. Jaco was great to who?....ya...guess what bass players and jazz fans..and most jazz fans know weather report but still dont know Jaco. Its like if you cant play a million notes and slap like a monkey ...you suck! Give me a ZZtop greasy ride anyday or a good Cliff Williams AC/DC 1/8 note drive or a Duff run and groove like on sweet child of mine...anyday and keep Portrait Of Tracy in the backroom cut bin:spit: I'll keep rockin and so will 98% of the other freeworld who know the other bands and bassist i mentioned above before they say Jaco who? Come on holding down the bottom and grovin is what bass is all about ....Jamerson did that so well and hell hardly anyone even knows who he is.
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I'm sure not knocking a pro, or amateur bassist, for playing in the pocket. Not at all. In fact I prefer that to bass wanking.

My only point was that I would hardly call Duff one of Rock's great bass players. There are a lot of players far better IMO. But just because someone plays more than simple lines doesn't mean they're wanking either.
 
#31
When i was 14, Appetitite for Destruction was out and my first proper band at the time learned all of the tracks on the album. I actually wore out the cassette tape as I listened to it so much.

I remember being disappointed when I heard them live cos Duff's sound was missing the low end. I know he's a plectrum player but his sound was all kind of scratchy and lacking foundation.

this was sad for me cos it was listening to Duff that got me playing properly.
 
#33
Sundogue said:
I'm sure not knocking a pro, or amateur bassist, for playing in the pocket. Not at all. In fact I prefer that to bass wanking.

My only point was that I would hardly call Duff one of Rock's great bass players. There are a lot of players far better IMO. But just because someone plays more than simple lines doesn't mean they're wanking either.
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Yea i understood ya. Duff's good but i also put alot of other rock bassists before him. In those horrible metal years there were few bassists who stood out...you could rarely hear a bass line in the hair metal bands....i sware they were unplugged and ran around looking good.When GnR came out at least Duff stuck some cool lines out there and they made the songs strong.I just got on my high horse when some guys always put simple bassists down for holding the groove but idolize some wanker who really doesnt use the bass for what it was intended to be used for.Duff was ok but not flashy but served his job well and also has in Velvet Revolver....i'll take him and one half a dozen others like him over slappers and crazy jazz bassists who fill records of boring bass solos and crappy wanking. IMO the bass is as cool as all get out when funked up, heavy grooved, playin the pocket and laying it down with the drums...besides that a few solos are cool but anything beyond that is wanking and boring...i will never own a bass soloist album...never.
 
#34
Some killer ifo there guys rock on!!!

i agree with alot of what u guyshave said where u dont have to rip through a 24 bar solo to be known as a bass player sometimes i perfre the guys who just play in the pocket laying down the groove for the rest of the band and yes the ocassional fill or run thats duff is my favourite bassist of all time:bassist:
 
#35
i bought an old ibanez powertrio pedal and was struck by how "guns n roses" the Chorus effect was. i only use the eq section on it though, just when i'm playin through a strange amp to quickly find a base sound i'm happy with. but yeah, if G n R is your thing, i'd recommend this pedal for cheap and cheerful play-along-ability! then again, i'm not exactly a tone master...
 
#38
Murf said:
I thought Duff was amazing on Apettite for destruction until I found out that Steve Bailey actually played most of the basslines on the album :(

(kinda like the Bon Jovi/Huey McDonald thing.)
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glad someone finally said it.

that may explain why hes always buried in the mix live.

so, how cool are you when you cant even do your own job?
and for that kind of money?
 
#40
Why Do we always have to bring Jaco into EVERYTHING, sure he was great but I personally prefer to listen to Flea over Jaco...Call Me a Blasphiemer if you will...but He doesn't influence me the way Bon Jovi, GnR, Poison...All the 80's stuff did...And that's my opinion...It doesn't much matter to me if you like it or not..
 

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