Fred Smith from Television

[Futurebass]

Fred is amazing in the way he anchors the music. Billy Ficca is a very expressive drummer, and both Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd are totally self indulgent (not always a bad thing). Fred just stands there and holds the thing down. I always thought he had a strong reggae influence in his tone.

 

[ForestThump]

I agree. Is his sound a flatwound sound?
What do you think he used as a bass on Marquee Moon?
The posted photo of a Kay chambered bass intrigues me because there is a kind of lo-fi non-clinical "organic" approach.
I'm really trying to develop a similar approach to playing.
Minimalist, solid groove thing where fills become "events" because they are so scarce.

 

[Futurebass]

Someone just emailed me a live Television performance from 1978 and Fred was playing a Rickenbacker 4001!

Other things I have seen him play are Kay hollowbody, Fender P, Dan Armstrong plexi, Fender Mustang.

Fred used to work at the biggest vintage guitar store in NYC, so he would have had access to pretty much everything.

On Marquee Moon he used the Ampeg.

 

[ForestThump]

I guess working in a big vintage guitar store in NY would have its advantages.
That's a pretty diverse set of instruments that you listed.
Do you think he uses round or flatwounds?

 

[Futurebass]

On recordings you can clearly hear that he uses both flatwounds and roundwounds. On a lot of the Tom Verlaine solo albums he has a very clear roundwound sound. Live his sound is so unclear that I would guess flatwounds but who knows?

 

[Malcom]

I usually seem to see a one-pickup dano shorthorn and a funky pointy-logo Peavey amp.

 

[ForestThump]

Can a shorthorn dano really cut through all that guitar?
Do these basses require outboard pre-amps and/or compressors?

 

[Malcom]

Can a shorthorn dano really cut through all that guitar?
Do these basses require outboard pre-amps and/or compressors?

1) From my memory, the Dano's are brighter than many short-scale basses.

2)I certainly hope not! When Nat Daniel invented them, compressors were about four-rackspace all-tube affairs. Outboard electronics were first developed around the time Television came to fruition, and they weren't exactly cutting-edge in terms of equipment.

 

[envika]

Fender Precision during 90s reunion
Fender Mustang bass, not sure when
Fender Jazz, not sure when (probably recent)
Rickenbacker during "Adventure" era (late 70s)
Some Gibson? (recent)
Definitely a Kay or Dano or something similar

Probably with flatwounds, definitely with pick.

 

[russellmania]

I see a mustang in this photo: Television: Last Word is the Lost Word - Index