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Double Bass Eddie Gomez

#21
I still think that he's tone on three quartets sucks, but the writhing on that album and the playing is so good that I tend to overlook his tone, you just don't hear the acoustic sound, that woody sound, some guys might as well play fretless electric, when I saw David Friesen live he had a beautiful sound and he was only playing acoustcally then I got his album Other Places Other Times, and it sounds like a fishman sound very thin, just real annoying at least Eddie's sound is not that annoying every now and again you can get through one of his CD's.
 
#22
there is a trio lp on ecm with eddie, ralph towner and dejohnette with a great bass sound. also, the esp lps he recorded in the 60s were great,
one with paul bley and one with gussepe logan. both are unamplified. i think most bass players are unaware of how much sound is being put out by the bass itself, i play quite loud free jazz, 90% unamplified, even with loud drummers, and the bass will usually get through. i find that one of the things the amp takes away is the percussive drive, so even if im loouder, it's weaker. the great john lindberg said: you never need an amp, you just need different musicians!
damon smith
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#23
I got the feeling from an interview with him that he's a very "hands off" (sound engineering wise) kind of guy and doesn't even bring his own bass and just uses whats available. I played with a drummer for a short time who played a few gigs with Eddie years ago and he seemed to confirm this. I would think that this would give you somewhat limited control over your captured sound live or on record. I don't have a ton of his work but I like what I've got.
 
#24
When Eddie plays acoustically in my shop, his sound is big and gorgeous! Many people forget he was a star Juilliard student of Zimmermann before Bill Evans hired him. His bow arm is as good as any I've heard. FYI, Eddie prefers a pickup from Japan which is built into the bridge adjuster wheels (stereo). He mainly plays and records these days with a dark-varnished 3/4 bass that I reconstructed. Don't tell anyone, but it began life as a Kay model M...
 
#25
...like most here, I'm not too thrilled about his tone(kinda 'thin'?).
That said-
Three Quartets & Friends by Corea and Steps' Smokin' In The Pit + their debut(Eliane on piano) are nice examples of Gomez' playing.
 
#26
My favorite recording with Mr. Gomez is the live album from the Village Vanguard with Evans and Philly Joe Jones on drums. I think this was recorded in August 1967 and is avaliable in its entirety in that huge Evans box set - the one that comes in the metal box. I don't think he's ever sounded better. I'm surprised no one else here mentioned this recording. The Best of Bill Evans on Verve has one track from this particular engagement if you just want a small sample. Hopefully Verve will be releasing it alone, in its entirety someday...

Mark
 
#28
If you watch the recent DVD of Eddie, you will notice that his action is NOT very low, and the sound he gets from his pickup is very nice.
I asked the guys at Gage's shop once and they all confirmed his action is set fairly high.
So I kept mine fairly high and tried to get his tone; it's possible. I don't have anywhere near the technique Eddie has, but if your touch is right you can get his sound.....as a matter of fact, lower action DOES NOT facilitate his sound at all; you will sound more like Bromberg or Clarke that way.

As far as more natural recorded tones of Eddie, check out any of the Bill Evans albums with him on them until 1971 or so; beautiful tone with gut strings too.
 
#32
musicman5string said:
If you watch the recent DVD of Eddie, you will notice that his action is NOT very low, and the sound he gets from his pickup is very nice.
Click to expand...

I own that DVD, and I love his sound, the bow'ed parts are
lovely... The only thing that drives me ABSOLUTELY nuts is
his singing along with his mental flow :) It really gets annoying
when at one point BOTH he and the pianist start doing it :)
 
#33
Pacman said:
Maybe I'm the oddball here (probably because I'm coming from the "other" bass), but I heard Three Quartets this weekend and loved Eddie's tone... The reason I found this thread was trying to find out how he got it....
Click to expand...

You're not the only one Jon. That album is one of my
alltime favorites. The whole atmosphere of the album
is 'edgie', the piano, the sax and the bass take on that
character intentionally IMHO. Its a masterpiece.
 
#34
jfv said:
I own that DVD, and I love his sound, the bow'ed parts are
lovely... The only thing that drives me ABSOLUTELY nuts is
his singing along with his mental flow :) It really gets annoying
when at one point BOTH he and the pianist start doing it :)
Click to expand...



Yeah, that's true....but at least he's not Keith Jarrett, who absolutely takes the prize for most annoying genius.
 
#40
jfv said:
I own that DVD, and I love his sound, the bow'ed parts are
lovely... The only thing that drives me ABSOLUTELY nuts is
his singing along with his mental flow :) It really gets annoying
when at one point BOTH he and the pianist start doing it :)
Click to expand...

I have the DVD too, and the singing is really annoying. No offense to Gage, but he really should have turned the mic off when they were playing. The reason you can hear him so loud on the DVD is because the mic for his talking is still on. It wouldn't annoy you if the mic was off....

Eddie uses this pickup:

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Does anyone know what type of strings he uses? If they are Spirocores, he gets a decent arco tone from them. Why can't I be so successful?
 

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