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Felix Pappalardi anyone?
- Thread starter johnk_10
- Start date
Mountain is one of the more under-appreciated bands of that glorious era of rock & roll. Leslie West used an entry level Gibson Les Paul Junior with a single P90 to get some of the greatest rock guitar tone ever.
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
- 9,060
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- Endorsing Cataldo Basses, Whirlwind products, Thunderbucker pickups
I can hear the Theme for a Imaginary Western! That looks spectacular, glad you found the time to put it right. One of these has been on my bucket list for decades.
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Felix was my Step-Uncle. Felix sr married my Grandma. I never got to meet him. When Felix died my Grandfather wanted all of his stuff sold off. My cousin Robert (who was very close to the band Kiss in their early days) apparently took care of all of that. That was before I got started in music. Both of my Grandparents were a little upset when I started playing. They were concerned that I'd be living wild drug-filled life. It didn't turn out that way. Anywayyyyyy...
I love Mountain, Felix's playing, tone and his work as a producer. I'd love to own one of these one day, and one of his SUNN rigs.
Beautiful bass!!!!
I love Mountain, Felix's playing, tone and his work as a producer. I'd love to own one of these one day, and one of his SUNN rigs.
Beautiful bass!!!!
Great Job on the EB1. That bass is solid mahogany and I mean solid!
i would'nt want to do jumping jacks with that bass around my neck.
i would'nt want to do jumping jacks with that bass around my neck.
I love Mountain so much. Found them by accident in my dads record collection when i was a kid. They just looked so bizarre that i had to listen. Theme from an Imaginary Western came on and i was hooked. Loved the bass tone so much and lesli west instantly became an all time favorite guitar player of mine as well.
Funny enough I've been listening to Nantucket Sleighride a lot recently
I saw Felix with Mountain in 1971. It was my very first concert. Felix and Leslie West tore it up! and then.......Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill. It was a pretty awesome first concert.
I heard them at Woodstock (didn't want to get close enough to see them, knowing I'd never get out of that crowd around the stage alive). Off in the distance I could see that the stage was lit with what must have been immense blacklights. And the sound system sounded gigantic! I had never heard of them before, but their sound was fantastic; unimaginably heavy. I was in a band at the time, and wanted nothing more than to sound like Mountain. I bought their first album as soon as I got back from the festival. Still listen to it. Then, about a year later, I saw them at the Capitol Theater. Again, they blew me away. Didn't hurt that I was doing mescaline that night. Felix had a voice that could really project, and his bass playing was exemplary.
Speaking of Sunn amps, didn't Mountain get theirs from Jimi Hendrix after he switched to Marshall?
Tom
Speaking of Sunn amps, didn't Mountain get theirs from Jimi Hendrix after he switched to Marshall?
Tom
Sure it wasn't oregano?
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
- 9,060
- 38,446
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Cataldo Basses, Whirlwind products, Thunderbucker pickups
Lol I already fixed it. Fng spell check makes me question myself.
Not only Felix, but Jack Bruce has taken a liking to these basses as well, for instance at the Cream reunion at Royal Albert Hall.
Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
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by the way, for those wondering. my EB1 is a really heavy little mother. it weighs barely shy of 9lbs at 8lbs 15.7 oz!
with the new sweet finish I too desire to see a nod towards the various styles of purfling Gibson used, but in this case a burnt gold pinstripe ala Singer sewing would offset it perfectly, if there's nearby top talent.
these are my Holy Grail basses! the evolution of those big ol' Sidewinder / mudbucker PUs keeps me wary of plunking down for anything other than the older issues with the black Royalite or nickle plated brass cover in hopes of getting a higher reading than the average of 30k, some have hit 35k! I just got a '60s chromie that reads just under 30k, but how useful such a Neanderthal bass could be today is hard to say cos there sure ain't gonna be no more Felix and Mountain fans packing stadiums and I don't know who could get away with what they did then, they barely got away with it in the day, and with Mountain you had to hit'm on an exceptional nite to really hear what Leslie could pull off when on fire. he was their make or break point and notoriously lazy, plus everybody talks about his tone first and last, but he could really pick, in spirited spurts. in the first 3yrs he was gung ho, had Bill Graham on his side, and before the love affair ended Felix was able to keep grumpy Les from canning Steve Knight who, like Corky, was crucial to their classic sound. after '72 it was never the same. and the tragic part on top of everything else is the lone AAA audio of Mountain (at The Fillmore in 1970) has disappeared from yt, there's next to nothing at all now. you must have superb recording capabilities to capture Felix properly, maybe even better than the audience's abused ears, and Bill had that at his disposal. tho parts of that tape can be found, this one show stood above all others, hell, there's virtually 0 otherwise to hear from arguably the greatest American classic Rock band ...how insane! their few live records don't catch the best, in fact their studio output is very spotty and Felix didn't abuse the bass amps for the LPs, in fact he often used his Thunderbird II for a broader, mellower sound. of course in concert his bass sound typically went to crap, critics hated it, another reason they'll never be recognized as they should is they kinda sabotaged their performances by having no strict stage mgt. under Felix, no smart pacing to blow crowds away like Humble Pie or Grand Funk would. instead they'd typically open with a barnburner and then let the momentum immediately die instead of slamming out 3 killers before talking endlessly or singing a ballad, and heaven forbid no Silver Paper, Roll Over Beethoven, or Happy Birthday / Jingle Bells lol not when they had so many amazing tunes! but on those hot nites West would use his 'Master of the thin pick' capabilities beyond the human norm and feeding off the bond he had with Felix on stage they could make their songs into real powerhouses that had even Jimi Hendrix questioning his own worth. but unless somebody is finally willing to pony up the goods we may never hear the very best of Mountain except in drips and drabs from now on. thankfully I saved that vaporized audio, now if I could only find it... incredibly, Mountain didn't play So. Cal much at all, I missed their far too brief hey day, but they are truly unheralded when when firing on all cylinders.
@ The Warehouse, NO - 1970
these are my Holy Grail basses! the evolution of those big ol' Sidewinder / mudbucker PUs keeps me wary of plunking down for anything other than the older issues with the black Royalite or nickle plated brass cover in hopes of getting a higher reading than the average of 30k, some have hit 35k! I just got a '60s chromie that reads just under 30k, but how useful such a Neanderthal bass could be today is hard to say cos there sure ain't gonna be no more Felix and Mountain fans packing stadiums and I don't know who could get away with what they did then, they barely got away with it in the day, and with Mountain you had to hit'm on an exceptional nite to really hear what Leslie could pull off when on fire. he was their make or break point and notoriously lazy, plus everybody talks about his tone first and last, but he could really pick, in spirited spurts. in the first 3yrs he was gung ho, had Bill Graham on his side, and before the love affair ended Felix was able to keep grumpy Les from canning Steve Knight who, like Corky, was crucial to their classic sound. after '72 it was never the same. and the tragic part on top of everything else is the lone AAA audio of Mountain (at The Fillmore in 1970) has disappeared from yt, there's next to nothing at all now. you must have superb recording capabilities to capture Felix properly, maybe even better than the audience's abused ears, and Bill had that at his disposal. tho parts of that tape can be found, this one show stood above all others, hell, there's virtually 0 otherwise to hear from arguably the greatest American classic Rock band ...how insane! their few live records don't catch the best, in fact their studio output is very spotty and Felix didn't abuse the bass amps for the LPs, in fact he often used his Thunderbird II for a broader, mellower sound. of course in concert his bass sound typically went to crap, critics hated it, another reason they'll never be recognized as they should is they kinda sabotaged their performances by having no strict stage mgt. under Felix, no smart pacing to blow crowds away like Humble Pie or Grand Funk would. instead they'd typically open with a barnburner and then let the momentum immediately die instead of slamming out 3 killers before talking endlessly or singing a ballad, and heaven forbid no Silver Paper, Roll Over Beethoven, or Happy Birthday / Jingle Bells lol not when they had so many amazing tunes! but on those hot nites West would use his 'Master of the thin pick' capabilities beyond the human norm and feeding off the bond he had with Felix on stage they could make their songs into real powerhouses that had even Jimi Hendrix questioning his own worth. but unless somebody is finally willing to pony up the goods we may never hear the very best of Mountain except in drips and drabs from now on. thankfully I saved that vaporized audio, now if I could only find it... incredibly, Mountain didn't play So. Cal much at all, I missed their far too brief hey day, but they are truly unheralded when when firing on all cylinders.
@ The Warehouse, NO - 1970
