Eddie Gomez

I don't have a lot of Eddie Gomez on record, but I really dig his playing, tone and all (even though it is not the kind of tone I would personally go for in my playing). It has a certain dry "stinging" quality that seems to go well with his style of playing.

If Eddie wanted to get a different sound, I'm sure he'd be able to get it. This just happens to be his conception -- the sound he hears in his head.

One of my favorite performances by Eddie is on Eliane Elias Plays Jobim. It happens that on this particular recording, his tone is fuller and more "woody" than on, say, Chick Corea's "Three Quartets."

 

I was disappointed with his tone on a new release by Jack Wilkins.

 

I bet you'll enjoy his sound on his 1974 duo record with Bill Evans, "Intuition." It's a great record and EG's bass sounds really well.

 

I have a recording that he made in Japan and was recorded sans pickup -- beautiful tone! He has the same problem that I, Miroslav, Gary Peacock,..., have -- and that is that if you get that vocal, open quality out of the bass, it doesn't amplify well. I hate the sound that Gary gets with the amp, but his tone in the studio (acoustically) is really awsome. Same with Miroslav. If I ever figure out how to amplify that type of tone, I'll certainly (keep it a secret) let you guys know Until then, I'll continue to cringe with each note that comes out of the amp...

Eddie was playing a wierdo bass on the Three Quartets stuff. Kolstein still had it for sale at his site last time I was there. Last time I saw Eddie live was with Eliane, and I think the thing he was playing was a big, French bass. He had some kind of pickup that was incorporated into the bridge adjusters and then wired together similar to an Underwood. He said it was Japanese, but I forget the manufacturer. He was playing through an SWR combo with a couple of 10" or 12" speakers. It sounded amplified, but wasn't bothersome at all. Also remember that when a lot fo those albums were recorded, the amplified sound was in vogue.

 

Have you tried playing not using a pick-up? When I need to amplify the bass I use a microphone; it doesn't get any better.

 

I have the AMT mic -- great mic. It's sounds great and is better than most mics at cancelling ambient sound. There is still a limit to how loud you can get. When the sound pressure on stage reaches a certain level any mic will fail. Especially in the small rooms that you have to play in NY. I start with the mic, fall back to mic+pickup and adjust in more and more pickup until things are loud enough that I'm just serving as an expensive mic stand for the drums, then I go all pickup. I play a lot of duo and trio stuff, where I can get away playing acoustically for the most part. That'll spoil you on tone -- any amplified sound is agony after a night in a good room sans decibel support....

 

RP
Was the "big, French bass" also very dark varnish?

I've seen that pickup thru the adjusters. IMHP not as good as what K&K can do.

 

I've always thought the Eddie Gomez sound was due to his incredibly low action so that he could do all that Scott LeFaro style stuff. I assumed that was where the string sound was coming from. I really like his playing but I don't think his sound is the best (although lately I've been loving Henry Grimes so maybe I'm not the best person to talk).

 

His live sound has supposedly really been nice since he ditched the SWR and started using the Acoustic Image Contra. Equipment DOES make a difference, and I wish more pros took the time to make their stage sound as good as they can sound. I'm sick of paying big bucks to see someone sound like they are playing in the bottom of a well. I've seen far too many bassists with their Realist into the clubs crappy Peavey amp and get a lousy sound. It's good to see guys like Eddie and Buster Williams start carrying small good sounding amps so their sound is the one you hear. I recently heard Richard Davis in a big outdoor area, and he sounded great using a Schertler Stat-B into a preamp into the board. It wasn't exactly microphone like, but it was HIS sound as clear as could be.

Monte

 

I always thought that as well. One day while I was at college my bass teacher had to send in a sub as he was going on a short tour. The sub told me about when he went to NY to get a lesson with Eddie (about twenty years ago I think) He said that when he played Eddie's bass the strings were so high he had a hard time playing it! I don't know if this was the case all of the time but that's the story I got. The fact that many albums were recorded with "the dreaded bass direct" doesn't help. Look at what they did to Ron Carter in the 80's (Third Plane)

 

Don -- yeah, it was a dark-varnished bass.

 

Ron did it to himself.

Saw him live last year (hadn't seen him in a good 20 years) and was very surprised. He endorses the AMT mic but at that gig he used it to mike his AMP!!?? and he was getting that metallic buzzing tone you hear on the records, clear as a bell

 

That may have been the 4/4 Claudot that he had. I played it when he left it at Arnold Schnitzer's shop for sale. Uncomfortable fingering, and unexceptional tone.

 

4/4's can sound great, for sure. Kinda nifty when the G string shakes the bass.

 

Just goes to show what a wonderful musician he is, though -- I listen to that record a lot. It's not my fantasy tone, but he makes that bass sound as if it plays "like buttah."

 

An amazing record featuring Eddie Gomez is Mike Mainieri's "An American Diary". He gets a gorgeous tone, and even has an arco feature. His stuff with the Gadd Gang and Steps (Smokin in the Pit) are also ones to check out if your into Eddie.

 

I saw Eddie a year ago and sat about 3 feet from his bass. He was using the above-mentioned pickup through an Acoustic Image amp. The sound coming out of his bass was very natural and woody, moreso in the low register than high. The action was also on the high side. His hands must be strong as hell. As for his recorded sound, it must not bother Eddie too much since it is fairly consistent from album to album. BTW, a great album with Eddie on it is the "Great American Jazz Trio" recording with Hank Jones and "Smitty" Smith. Eddie tears it up on about 20 standards.

 

A great recording of Mr.Gomez is trio date of all Monk tunes with Dave Liebman and Adam Nussbaum.Talk about mic only sound,great cd!A Must have....