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If Cliff Burton were alive today..

#61
This thread cracks me up - it's AWFUL!
It should have been called "Name your favorite bass". That, plus all of the invented drama about Metallica...puh-leeze!
Someone earlier made what should have been the thread-ending statement: What difference does it make? He's dead!
 
#65
That Sustain said:
Metallica's music wouldn't be as bluesy if Cliff was still around.

From what I've read..Cliff was pretty much calling the shots in that band. He didn't start Metallica, but they moved across state for his approval.
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I don't know how their music would sound these days if he was still alive, but... I agree, he had a pretty big voice in the band.

If a band asks someone to join, and he says basically "Well, pick up and move four hundred miles from where you live now, and then I think I might join," that person clearly is going to have substantial influence in that band.


Anyway, as to what he'd be playing... who knows? He had played the Rickenbacker 4001 for quite a while, both before Metallica and in that band, before he switched to the Arias. He also had an Alembic at one point that was stolen, I think. Maybe he would have eventually gotten another one. Maybe he'd still be playing Arias. Maybe he would have gotten a Rickenbacker 4004. Perhaps he'd be playing a MusicMan, or a Warwick. Maybe he'd be into really weird gear and he'd have an Electrical Guitar Company bass. He's dead, we can't ask him, there's no way of knowing.
 
#66
Sartori said:
Yeah, but Jason never did while he was in the band. I see little reason to think that Cliff would be any more inclined to play a brand just because everyone else in the band did than Jason was.
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red%2520esp.jpg

esp%2520other.jpg


Jason was never an ESP endorser like James Hetfield or Kirk Hammett though he did play a few ESP basses on some of the earlier Metallica tours that he was on. Jason has never been into the Artist endorsment thing.
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Source: http://www.freewebs.com/jasonfan/puppetsgaragedays.htm
 
#69
I don't know where i remember reading this but i seem to recall an interview saying that if cliff hadn't died, lars was gonna get kicked out for lack of chops. I forgot who it was though.
Also i do remember for sure that kirk and cliff switched bunks at the last second due to a game of cards so if you think about it:

1. Kirk, not cliff would've died
2. Lars was gonna get kicked out
3. A WHOLE different metallica, one that may have not been super successful in the 90's but more in the vein of Dream Theater having more fans over time and building still to this day.

Also i'd imagine he'd stick with the rick until someone came up to him and made him a bass, and think of all the effects he could have and the amplifiers. Man that would've been cool...but he's dead so oh well.
 
#73
4stringfiend said:
Cliff, Dimebag, Dio and Gar Samuelson sounds more like a dead rocker superband to me. And Cliff Burton would obviously play a Modulus, if he did not stick with Aria. Aria makes really good instruments and Cliff could have made the SB series a mainstay in their product lineup, then if the SB series were developed forward for 30 years instead of occasionally reissued we would probably have more people playing Arias, because the SB is a badass design and I really think they sound excellent as well as play great.
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I forgot about Dio.....I feel pretty bad...........
 
#74
Touching on a few things here, under the assumption that neither Cliff nor Kirk took that bunk-- they stayed up playing cards:

1) I think it's a given that Lars would have been kicked out. Cliff and James were seriously discussing it at the time. Metallica was very tight with Anthrax and Armored Saint back then, so a Lars replacement may have come from either band.

2) Cliff was also teaching himself guitar at the time, so I think And Justice 4 All and the Black Album would have had more of his influence than Master of Puppets. He seemed to be okay with Kirk, from what I've read about early Metallica, so I don't think he would have been kicked-out, but it seemed pretty clear that Cliff and James called the shots.

3) Metallica would continue churning out epic metal instrumentals (right now there is only 2-- "Call of Ctulu," and "Orion"-- I'm ignoring "To Live is To Die," as it was overly-simplistic, and kinda sappy) to this day.

4) Did nobody else piece together the fact that the Ibanez SoundgeaR was first revealed at 1987 NAMM just months after Cliff's death? I could very easily see Cliff playing such a bass. In black, of course.
 
#75
I always think it's hysterical that people have all of these counter factual fantasies about Metallica "if only Cliff had lived." Yeah, and maybe if Franz Ferdinand weren't assassinated, World War I may have never started.

Edit: I should clarify, I don't mean what the OP is about. What kind of bass Cliff (or Jaco or Jamerson, etc.) would be playing today is a fun discussion. I'm talking about the people who are still in over 20 years of butt hurt that Metallica released a commercial album produced by Bob Rock and made a video, but if only "Cliff had lived," maybe they'd still be releasing dated-sounding trash albums that nobody cared about.
 
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#76
This discussion has gotten so far from the original question, I'm tempted to avoid it altogether. But, my big mouth is forcing me to put in my 2 cents...

Based on my own experiences with Cliff, I would suggest the following:

1. Cliff never conspired with James or anyone else to remove Lars from the band. It was not in his personality. If Cliff did not like your playing, he would say it to your face. Lars did a lot of marketing to get Metallica off the ground. Cliff appreciated that, and was happy with the albums they made together (Kill 'em All, Ride the Lightening and Master of Puppets). The band was on its way up. Cliff was happy to be part of it. No way he was about to rock that boat. I think this is simply ridiculous.

2. I also think its in terribly bad taste to ask what if Kirk and Cliff had not switched bunks or what if Kirk had died instead? Fate happened. Kirk lives. And, he is one of the nicest, humblest lead guitarists I have ever met. Don't pile on the guilt he feels about that night. Its not fair to him.

Now, as for what bass Cliff would play were he alive today, I offer these thoughts....

I do not think he would play any of the Fender variants (Fender/Sadowsky/Lakland/Ernie Ball) as he always marched to his own drummer. Cliff liked the unusual and being different from the masses. There were plenty of guitar shops in the Bay Area filled with P basses and Jazz basses when we were growing up. Cliff never gravitated to those places. He would not want a bass like everyone else. He would want something that was somewhat unique and individual to him. He would also want a bass with powerful pickups and a heavy voice. I'm thinking the following:

-- Based on his love of Skynyrd and Leon Wilkeson, I think Cliff would have experimented with Thunderbirds/Fenderbirds. I think he would have dug the body shape and the sound of the Gibson humbuckers.

-- Based on his love of fishing, I think he and Les Claypool would have become close friends. From that, I would bet that Cliff would have acquired at least one Carl Thompson bass. But, given the cost of those basses, I do not think he would have toured with it.

-- Finally, I think Cliff would have continued to live in Northern California and that he would have been approached by all of the local bass builders with endorsement deals. From those, I could see Cliff gravitating toward either Modulus or Zon. He would have dug the carbon fiber necks and the strength of those basses. My guess is, had Cliff lived, the current "Flea" bass might very well have been the "Cliff" bass. -- No disrespect to Flea, he is a fine player and most-deserving of a signature bass. But, Cliff was first. Had Modulus signed a deal with Cliff, its very possible that they would not have continued looking for another big name endorser.

Anyway, thats what I think. Sorry for the rant.
 
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#79
A teardrop Vox and he would be bald on top with long hair on the sides playing folk music while wearing sandals and a hemp shirt because James would have fired him for not respecting his soberness. Oh and Steven Adler would be his manager. Honestly he's dead.
 

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