i read anthony kiedis' biography and he claimed that flea is breaking bass strings once every few shows during their early days. did he made it up? or were strings way weaker back then or is flea just a monster?
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flea is a monster?
- Thread starter BrandonBass
- Start date
There's a point beyond which plucking, banging and picking only serve to break things..they won't actually produce any more sound...they just fail; this holds true for guitar strings, bass strings, and drum sticks.
If a musician is routinely breaking his strings or sticks, his technique needs work.
If a musician is routinely breaking his strings or sticks, his technique needs work.
I have one technique I like to do that's real nasty on a string.
I hook the B-string or the E-string (depending on whether it's a 5-stringer, low-strung 4-stringer, or standard-tuned 4-stringer) with my thumb, just as if I was pulling on the elastic band of my underwear. Or on my suspender straps.
I get it hooked real good, and I yank it out as far as she'll go, kind of like a bowstring.
Then llet it snap back and ring for a while *FWUNK-KLAWWWWNG* Very loud and rude.
I hook the B-string or the E-string (depending on whether it's a 5-stringer, low-strung 4-stringer, or standard-tuned 4-stringer) with my thumb, just as if I was pulling on the elastic band of my underwear. Or on my suspender straps.
I get it hooked real good, and I yank it out as far as she'll go, kind of like a bowstring.
Then llet it snap back and ring for a while *FWUNK-KLAWWWWNG* Very loud and rude.
- Dec 18, 2000
- 13,201
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- greenboy designs: fEARful, bassic, dually, crazy88 etc
Never broken a string in my life. I second what Basshole said.
greenboy said:
I do it on the B-string (or E-string if there ain't no B-string) and probably get it out a good inch and a half before letting go. Usually have to do it on the lowest string, otherwise there's not enough room to hook your thumb under it good enough. And I let it resonate for a while. It's a form of popping, yes, but it's not one I can recall seeing done very often.
Thats probably because it sounds awful.
I don't think that breaking things means your technique needs work, it just means you have to be able to replace them.
My drummer bought some el cheapo drum sticks. He breaks a pair every practice. Maybe back in the day, Flea used cheap strings. After all, he did have a habit to support.
MammaryVest said:
So breaking a string mid-song, having to stop and get another bass or restring the one you're using is alright?
I've broken my E and low B strings a few times (still not sure exactly how... they broke at the bridge), from highly aggressive slapping.
Maybe match too-aggressive slapping/popping and cheap strings.
Maybe match too-aggressive slapping/popping and cheap strings.
I think I've had just two incidents where I've broken bass strings. The first was when I first started playing. The G string broke, but I can probably attribute that to the cheap strings that came on that cheap first bass.
The second time, I broke two strings on another bass, right at the tuning pegs. I'm pretty sure that was because I had kept taking those strings off and putting them back on for various reasons, and the core of the string at the point where it's bent into the tuner post got metal fatigue from all the repeated bending and winding and stuff. Kinda like if you take a paper clip and keep bending it at the same point; eventually it'll break in two!
The second time, I broke two strings on another bass, right at the tuning pegs. I'm pretty sure that was because I had kept taking those strings off and putting them back on for various reasons, and the core of the string at the point where it's bent into the tuner post got metal fatigue from all the repeated bending and winding and stuff. Kinda like if you take a paper clip and keep bending it at the same point; eventually it'll break in two!
I've only broken two strings. The one time I remember clearly was back when I hadn't been playing for very long and I was in a straight-edge style hardcore band in Columbus, OH where I grew up. It was a D string, GHS Boomers. I've never used them again. I didn't know **** from shinola but I knew a bass player probably shouldn't break a string.
Flea is an agressive player and being on tour means your going to be playing hard on long all the time so no doubt its gonna take it's toll on your strings... and your fingers.
Off-topic but does anyone else notice that Flea gets completely underated by some people on this forum? It seems people want to dislike him for the sake of disliking because he is not as technically skilled for example as wooten. Many new bass players are influenced by Flea and alot of new bass players haven't experienced other top bassists and from this it just seems that a certain dislike is generated by some people towards Flea because they think that he doesn't deserve the credit he gets.
Thats pretty unfair imho. Flea may not be the most technically skilled player but in terms of creativity there aren't many bass players that produce some of the insane bass lines like he does. It is really unfair that amount of stick people give Flea on these forums. I'm a pretty experienced player myself and can play lots of technically advanced stuff but just because you don't see Flea playing like Wooten, it doesn't make Flea a bad bass player.
Sooner or later you should come to the realisation that being a bass player is not about being insanely technically skilled. It's about holding the groove. Many people seem to miss this and for this reason I still class Flea as one of the greatest bass players around.
Bass playing is about the Groove. Don't forget that.
Peace
Off-topic but does anyone else notice that Flea gets completely underated by some people on this forum? It seems people want to dislike him for the sake of disliking because he is not as technically skilled for example as wooten. Many new bass players are influenced by Flea and alot of new bass players haven't experienced other top bassists and from this it just seems that a certain dislike is generated by some people towards Flea because they think that he doesn't deserve the credit he gets.
Thats pretty unfair imho. Flea may not be the most technically skilled player but in terms of creativity there aren't many bass players that produce some of the insane bass lines like he does. It is really unfair that amount of stick people give Flea on these forums. I'm a pretty experienced player myself and can play lots of technically advanced stuff but just because you don't see Flea playing like Wooten, it doesn't make Flea a bad bass player.
Sooner or later you should come to the realisation that being a bass player is not about being insanely technically skilled. It's about holding the groove. Many people seem to miss this and for this reason I still class Flea as one of the greatest bass players around.
Bass playing is about the Groove. Don't forget that.
Peace
