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Jeff Berlin's basses before his Dean signature model?
- Thread starter phxlbrmpf
- Start date
Lorenzini said:
One other impression (for what it's worth, since I don't know him personally) but I've heard comments at various times that Jeff Berlin is a bit arrogant and this puts people off a bit ... but judging from his concert presence, he didn't seem that way at all. He was self-effacing and struck me as a generally warm person. I suspect his New York sense of humor may put some people off.
Jeff Berlin has mentioned in some recent articals that he used to have some anger issues from childhood.....but it dosen't matter, I've followed his career from the beginning, whatever bass/rig he was playing at the time, he always sounded like Jeff Berlin......man!.....he can play!!!!!!!! 
I went to BIT in 85-86 and a student had a Yamaha BB something that Jeff sold him, I think it was red. Tobias had shaved the neck down for Jeff, Mike also built him a new neck that year for his famous p-bass in the pictures above. Tobias also loaned him a bass to record his first album and Jeff was bummed he had to give it back.JimK said:
I got a chance to play the p-bass with the old neck and it was crap. Yet he could still make it sing.
I saw Bruford's "Gradually Going Tornado" tour in Montreal, Ottawa/Gatineau and Quebec city. This is the bass he was using back then. And I am sure he recorded the 3 Bruford albums with it, Jeff really loved his custom neck some luthier build for him. But unfortunately, some deranged individual stole both the P-Bass and his black Jazz bass, there were never recovered to my knowledge.
I met Jeff Berlin at my first NAMM show in 2006, and found him very funny and personable...not to mention informative. He loves to talk everything Bass, and seems to enjoy talking to fans. He does have a wicked New York sense of humor (dry and snarky) but once you realize where he's coming from, he's great. I look forward to meeting with him every year at NAMM Anaheim. One of my favorite players.
The first time I recall hearing of Jeff Berlin was when I was a Fender dealer ('77- '88). He was featured in a Fender dealer newsletter where he talked about his highly modded Jazz bass (the one with the Hi-A (which became Bartoloni) pickups and the BA bridge) and how it was modded but at heart was a Fender. Later of course I became much more aware of him, starting at my first NAMM in Chicago in the summer of '78 I think. I was walking past an outlying booth first thing Sunday morning (first thing for musicians being about 10:30 AM) and there was this big guy standing at the Leo Quann booth, playing incredibly hip bebop stuff on what I thought was a fretless electric bass, executed with exquisite intonation- all while chatting with an unbelievably hot looking brunette (sigh).... And then I saw the bass had frets.
We got the dealer lit from Yamaha with the ad talked about above with Billy Shehan and Berlin holding Yamaha basses that weren't typical but also weren't much like what eventually became the Attitude. That advertising mostly pitched the B100-II amps, which Nathan East also used. Then he hooked up with Peavey and the Palladium came out. I really really liked those basses and have been tempted a few times to get one. It's got a very comfortable neck (even though I really like bigger Precision necks better), excellent fret work, pickups that translate the sound of the bass very well, and it was rock-solid in all respects. A passive bass that's versatile and completely focused on getting the instrument out of the way so you can play without the bass being an impediment.
I've not played a Cort Rithmic, but I did play several of the Deans and even got to attend a seminar at the local Dean dealer at the time (I did ask him about his assertion that all fretless players are coming from Jaco- long story not related to this thread). I expect that the Cort is very much like all of the previous models. A well designed neck, solid construction, simple but effective controls, and a high-mass bridge.
John
We got the dealer lit from Yamaha with the ad talked about above with Billy Shehan and Berlin holding Yamaha basses that weren't typical but also weren't much like what eventually became the Attitude. That advertising mostly pitched the B100-II amps, which Nathan East also used. Then he hooked up with Peavey and the Palladium came out. I really really liked those basses and have been tempted a few times to get one. It's got a very comfortable neck (even though I really like bigger Precision necks better), excellent fret work, pickups that translate the sound of the bass very well, and it was rock-solid in all respects. A passive bass that's versatile and completely focused on getting the instrument out of the way so you can play without the bass being an impediment.
I've not played a Cort Rithmic, but I did play several of the Deans and even got to attend a seminar at the local Dean dealer at the time (I did ask him about his assertion that all fretless players are coming from Jaco- long story not related to this thread). I expect that the Cort is very much like all of the previous models. A well designed neck, solid construction, simple but effective controls, and a high-mass bridge.
John
I had a Dean Jeff Berlin, back when they were still in production. It was a ridiculously nice bass for what I paid for it, with a fast neck, Bartolini pickups, and a Badass II bridge. I didn't keep it long, because I wasn't playing it. I wish I had it now, because my taste in basses is going back in that direction.
Yeah don't believe the hype. I had some classic series single coils in a jazz bass with a 3.3AP preamp. Larry Graham for days. Not a single dark note!
Berlin's Bartolinis in that old blonde Fender were a custom wind for him, not duplicated in any production offering, IIRC. He also adjusts the pickup to be very close to the strings, sort of like a ramp but not quite.
