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James Jamerson using a small 'pedal' here?

M

Meddle

Jul 27, 2009
2,520
87
Scotland
#1
I saw this photograph, and I was wondering what the small box was that is plugged into the output jack of his bass. Is it one of those Green Ringer effects, I think by Ampeg, that were originally made back then? Is it something else completely?

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#4
Dan Armstrong effects. They're making those boxes again, but no word on how they compare to the originals.

I sincerely doubt that Jamerson used a green ringer, at least not on any recordings I know. My bet is that it's a red ranger or yellow humper...

Any idea what year was that pic was taken?
 
#7
My first "pedal" ever was an early 70's fuzz gadget by EHX, that you directly plugged into the guitar and switched on/off by hand (with a sliding switch, like what you see on the Ibanez AW-7). What I see on the picture looks a lot like that.
I'm a Jamerson fan, but not really an afficionado, so I can't say if he ever used fuzz (or other effects for that matter), but it sure as hell look like what I had back then.
 
#8
If that Ampeg amp to the left of the drummer is Jamersons, then it makes the wireless a bit redundant no? Its the first I've heard of wireless gear existing that early on but I know very little on the subject.

Any Jamerson fans here hearing any effects in the recordings?
 
#13
Gio S said:
I doubt that there was any wireless in that day and age and for years afterwards that could be made that small. It is probably a splitter box.
Click to expand...

Well, I have no idea what that is in the picture.

However, radio transmitters existed before that which were quite small. Consider Leon Theremin's remote listening device, which was hidden in a gift from Soviet school children to the US ambassador.

http://www.spybusters.com/Great_Seal_Bug.html

It was tiny and could transmit outside the building without any power source. Obviously this specific tech would not have been good for MI use, but the point is that a radio transmitter could very well have been built in a box that size at that point in history. Why he would need a wireless system to go 5 feet away is beyond me though. It's definitely too early to be Dan Armstrong - his stuff came out in the 70s.

Aha, I found this thread, saying that the SITSOM book says it's a wireless.

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=549970
 
#14
It seems crazy to me that it would be a wireless, but Chicago Mike is right; no Armstrong stuff until 1973. The guys at Motown custom built most of their recording stuff, so I'd bet this is something they whipped up for him, whatever it is.

Edit: Conical beet me to it on the Armstrong date.
 
#15
Salud!

In the book "Standing in the Shadow of Motown, the life of extraordinary bassist James Jamerson", the footnote for that pic states it's an early wireless system, but I have that book boxed, as I'm moving, and can't look for the exact note.
 
#16
Krakmann said:
Salud!

In the book "Standing in the Shadow of Motown, the life of extraordinary bassist James Jamerson", the footnote for that pic states it's an early wireless system, but I have that book boxed, as I'm moving, and can't look for the exact note.
Click to expand...

This. The picture can be found on page 28 and the caption reads:

"James with drummer Uriel Jones in 1964 at a Detroit Club called Blues Unlimited. The small box plugged into the input of Jamerson's bass is an early wireless hookup. The box with the antenna on top of the piano is the receiver."
 
#20
newbold said:
I've heard that Jamerson's tone was actually pretty dirty. I bet it was something like an LPB-1 to drive the hell out of those tubes.

Tube Heaven by the end of the first song.
Click to expand...


No, he had a pretty dirty tone, but he did not "drive the hell out of those tubes." It was simply because that tiny little ampeg he was using had absolutely zero headroom.
 

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