fretless Bob said:
If you're able, check out Tortoise. It's instrumental music, and they use the Bass VI as a lower register melodic instrument. It creates a wonderful and unique sound in that capacity.
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George Harrison on Bass!
- Thread starter The D
- Start date
If you're able, check out Tortoise. It's instrumental music, and they use the Bass VI as a lower register melodic instrument. It creates a wonderful and unique sound in that capacity.
Most non-musicians I know never think of the individual Beatles as great musicians. They're thought of as the first big Pop band, great song writers, Beatlemania, Style and Trend setters et al.. Their musicianship is as incredibly special (IMO) as the rest of the phenomenon. I could use lots of examples, but, McCartney on Penny Lane is a good one. What he could do with 1-3-5 is quite an achievement.
I recommend listening to George's bass work on "Old Brown Shoe". I gotta believe he used a Fender VI.
And wasn't John playing bass on "Helter Skelter"?
I recommend listening to George's bass work on "Old Brown Shoe". I gotta believe he used a Fender VI.
And wasn't John playing bass on "Helter Skelter"?
fabubass said:
If that's a Fender Bass VI in that video, then I have three of them in my guitar rack right now.
Got to agree with fabubass here, no doubt in my mind that's a Telecaster Guitar George is playing there. The famous "rosewood" Tele for certain.
tightbidness said:
thanks for the heads up, i really meant that as a bass they are kinda useless in my eyes, im sure if used the way that guys like Duane Eddy did they are gonna sound interesting.
Dave
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fretless Bob said:
Check this out. In this band there are TWO Bass VI players and they each use their instrument in another way. One of them plays low pitched rythmic riffs while the other uses his as a pure bass. Showing the full potential of the instrument.
Found this list of credits for the White Album on the www so it must be true:
http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/venue/8313/discography/a_10.htm
http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/venue/8313/discography/a_10.htm
I own a Hellcat VI (Schecters equivalent to the Bass VI) and it definately is a real bass. I don't see how you guy can find such an instrument "useless". It has an increased range for more melodic playing, it's a way to EXPAND the instrument. Maybe I'm the only one who sees a use for it other than to double guitar parts?
fretless Bob said:
I've used my Danelectro VI "as a bass", and I can assure you it is not useless. It sounds like a bass. It IS a bass.
Blazer said:
there is loads of low end in that clip ad i cant really hear anything real distinct fom either of the guys playing the bass VI but i get what you mean about playing different parts
Dave
Showdown said:
fair enough, but for the way i play (fingerstyle, dont use a pic) it just does not seem like something i could use as a bass.
maybe it is just me though
Dave
- Dec 18, 2000
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Actually you can step up the gauges just a teensy bit from what you usually find in a Bass VI / Jerry Jones / Danelectro set and you have a meatier short-scale bass sound. 30". And some rather close string spacing, but let's recognize what's what. One can approach this either as a guitarist or a bassist.
fretless Bob said:
I play 4 string bass 75% with fingers and 25% with a pick, so using a pick on the Dano VI is no problem. I can also play it fingerstyle if I'm careful. It is good to be able to use as many techniques as possible.
I know he plays on Let It Be. That Bass VI was apparently passed around to George and John when Paul couldn't play it. I saw some site a couple weeks ago that has a track-by-track breakdown of their guitars, but I forget what it was.LarryR said:
BTW, those who consider the Beatles average musicians are both right and wrong. Any decent musician can play what they play. But the way they used odd chords, time signatures, and dense harmonies to make music that you'd play on the jukebox, well let's just say I've yet to hear anyone write songs with half the creativity and innovation.
- Dec 18, 2000
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Thank George Martin for teaching the members of the Beatles a lot about chord changes, more sophisticated song structure, arranging/orchestration, recording techniques, etc.
greenboy said:
George Martin is a brilliant man and incredibly humble when you see him interviewed. I think the Beatles and George Martin learned a lot from each other. . . and together. He introduced them to the world of recording, orchestration, etc. while they pushed him to experiment and invent in order to achieve the sounds they were hearing in their heads. It as one of the greatest marriages in the history of recorded music.
JimmyM said:
With all due respect I think people who consider the Beatles to be average musicians are flat out wrong. Certainly they weren't/aren't virtuosos, but the parts they played on almost every single song serve those songs perfectly. That IMO is the mark of brilliant musicianship. George's guitar playing and Paul's bass playing in particular reached levels of sophistication in the late-'60s that puts them with the best in pop rock history.
I've been involved in Beatles tributes on both guitar and bass, and it's challenging to play the parts exactly as they did on record. I've read interviews with Jimmy Vivino and Will Lee in which they say the same. Vivino has compared the Fab Faux to a chamber orchestra performing Mozart.
GlennW said:
On "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", I had always thought that someone is playing the Fender 6 on that, as the bassline has a neat twangy sound to it. On the link that GlennW posted, it states that Paul plays bass. Either he's playing it lefty or what I thought was that VI bass all these years is actually a guitar simply doubling the bassline?? I'll have to listen to it again.
tightbidness said:
I've been learning a lot of Paul's bass lines lately, and while some are simple some of them are deceptively hard. I was surprised at "I Saw Her Standing There" since I always thought it was a pretty simple song with an easy bass line. It took me a couple of days to play the line at the speed he played it, and he sang lead while playing that line. There is a clip on YouTube of them playing it live, and he plays it and sings with seemingly no effort.
