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famous bass players on flats
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Commerford uses EB Regular Slinkys, not flats...rounds...
Unless Boo has found a magical pedal that make tape wounds sound like the "Take the Power Back" into....
Unless Boo has found a magical pedal that make tape wounds sound like the "Take the Power Back" into....
Flea used GHS Flats on his 61' Jazz for most of Stadium Arcadium.
im not sure if Flea used GHS precision flats on his jazz bass, although its possible, but from what i've seen in photos of his jazz when he still had it strung up with flats, he was using Chromes (blue thread as seen in that article in Bass Player with Bootsy...my GHS precision flats have purple thread...)
that said, he definitely used some kinds of flats, its very obvious when he isnt using them on a handful of tracks on SA
that said, he definitely used some kinds of flats, its very obvious when he isnt using them on a handful of tracks on SA
Even on the slap stuff? I'm a TI Flats player and I think I can get a credible slap tone out of them.
I am guessing, just from the sound, that Bruce Thomas used flats on most of the EC and The Attractions recordings, but does anyone know what kind?
Thanks for the mention, I forgot all about him. He's a favorite of mine, too, and I've alway wondered what kind of bass he plays. He's one of the only great reggae bassists I've never seen live.
I first got into him through Delroy Wilson's 'Sarge' album- just one of the tastiest small band workouts I've ever heard. When I found out it was him on the Harry Mudie Dub Conference recordings, and with Glen Brown on Termination Dub, amongst others, my admiration knew no bounds.
Regarding Bruce Thomas with the Attractions, I'd put money on him playing Roto Swingbass, though I've no info to back this up other than my ears.
Wow. so much speculation and so much conjecture from limited data...
Flea said he used flats without specifying brand on his Jazz bass for that one album, so that's correct, but the sound most folks hear in their head with Flea is bright roundwounds.
Bruce Thomas used rather heavy GHS Boomers, but they were quite dead he reported in the one Bass Player Magazine interview I recall.
Carole Kay has always used flats- Fender 850s for her classic studio work (because that's what came on P basses, and she got a new bass instead of changing strings), then LaBella flats of some sort for a while before she discovered TI's maybe 10 years ago.
Ben Kenney's Bass Player interveiw around May of 2004 he said he used flats, but refused to name a brand because he hadn't decided which ones he preferred.
We know Jamerson and Babbit and Joe Osborne use flats. Joe used the same set of LaBella flats from shortly after he got is Jazz bass in 1960 through all his major session work. He's got Lakland's Joe Osborne flats on his Lakland signature bass. BTW, those are MY favorite flatwound- they have the nice round "thud" I expect from a flat, but they have a definite note in them too. And the tension is very similar to the feel of the DR and Lakland stainless rounds I use so alternating between basses at a gig is easier.
John Paul Jones has said differnt things at different times about when he stopped using flats. Decades ago in Guitar Player (yeah, that was before there were any bass magazines- I think around 1977) he said he started using rounds when he got his first Alembic because the flats just didn't do it justice. Much more recent interviews have him reporing he quit using flats in his pre-Zep studio days. I dunno...
Entwhistle reported pretty consistently that the solo on the common studio version of "My Generation" was a Jazz with LaBella flats.
Jack Bruce used LaBella flats at least through 1974, and only starts mentioning rounds when he started endorsing SITs. It's possible the Danelectro had Dano rounds on it, but the EB-3 was probablly always the flats.
Lots of studio players will have at least one bass with flats, but that doesn't mean their regular sounds are flats. Then again, it's often difficult to tell on recordings whether it's flats or rounds (see "My Generation"!).
Wilton Felder says he used LaBella flats on "I Want You Back" by the Jackson Five (on a single-coil Telecaster Bass).
jte
Flea said he used flats without specifying brand on his Jazz bass for that one album, so that's correct, but the sound most folks hear in their head with Flea is bright roundwounds.
Bruce Thomas used rather heavy GHS Boomers, but they were quite dead he reported in the one Bass Player Magazine interview I recall.
Carole Kay has always used flats- Fender 850s for her classic studio work (because that's what came on P basses, and she got a new bass instead of changing strings), then LaBella flats of some sort for a while before she discovered TI's maybe 10 years ago.
Ben Kenney's Bass Player interveiw around May of 2004 he said he used flats, but refused to name a brand because he hadn't decided which ones he preferred.
We know Jamerson and Babbit and Joe Osborne use flats. Joe used the same set of LaBella flats from shortly after he got is Jazz bass in 1960 through all his major session work. He's got Lakland's Joe Osborne flats on his Lakland signature bass. BTW, those are MY favorite flatwound- they have the nice round "thud" I expect from a flat, but they have a definite note in them too. And the tension is very similar to the feel of the DR and Lakland stainless rounds I use so alternating between basses at a gig is easier.
John Paul Jones has said differnt things at different times about when he stopped using flats. Decades ago in Guitar Player (yeah, that was before there were any bass magazines- I think around 1977) he said he started using rounds when he got his first Alembic because the flats just didn't do it justice. Much more recent interviews have him reporing he quit using flats in his pre-Zep studio days. I dunno...
Entwhistle reported pretty consistently that the solo on the common studio version of "My Generation" was a Jazz with LaBella flats.
Jack Bruce used LaBella flats at least through 1974, and only starts mentioning rounds when he started endorsing SITs. It's possible the Danelectro had Dano rounds on it, but the EB-3 was probablly always the flats.
Lots of studio players will have at least one bass with flats, but that doesn't mean their regular sounds are flats. Then again, it's often difficult to tell on recordings whether it's flats or rounds (see "My Generation"!).
Wilton Felder says he used LaBella flats on "I Want You Back" by the Jackson Five (on a single-coil Telecaster Bass).
jte
Thank for the correction, JTE. Nice to see you here, you always contribute so much factual knowledge. I guess I lose my money on that one, though I did mention it was a guess.
BTW, Entwistle mentioned a few times in interviews that he used Labella tapewounds for the 'My Generation' session, after breaking a few sets of the rounds that came stock on his Danos. He had to go out and buy a new Dano to replace the strings each time they broke on a take as they weren't available aftermarket in the UK! he eventually gave up and used a Jazz with the tapes. I know recordings can be deceptive, but I can't imagine getting that tone from a set of traditional flats.
