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John Gustafson's gear

Tractorr

Tractorr

Guest
Aug 23, 2011
1,328
166
Philadelphia
lamplighterphiladelphia.bandcamp.com
#1
So I have been searching about the internet and have only been able to find limited info about the instruments and amps that JG played.

The things I have read are the following:
1) He made his first bass guitar by converting a guitar into a bass.
2) He apparently played a T-Bird bass early on
3) There are pictures of him playing a p-bass
4) He eventually had his own Wal bass the JG

I have been really interested as to what he was playing during the Roxy Music years. Was he playing earlier Wals? Was he playing a p-bass (which would be my guess)?

What type of strings do you think he was playing on the Roxy Music records? They don't sound like rounds because they don't have much zing on them but they don't really sound like flats. Perhaps it is just a matter of EQ and how loud the bass is usually mixed on those albums.

Finally, what type of amps did he play? I have not been able to find anything about this yet. I have seen some pictures of a small almost combo amp behind him but that might not even be his amp. What do people think were there amps used on the Roxy Music stuff or was he going direct (which sounds like it could be a possibility)?

John Gustafson is probably the most criminally under discussed bass player I can think of (at least in the States not sure if he gets more love in the UK) so I would love to hear anything people know.
 
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#2
I have always like early Roxy Music and liked John Gustafson's and John Porter's work. From what I have been able to learn, most of his work with Roxy was done with his Wal. He was as he said "a straight up pick player" and I'm sure he went direct in the studio but who knows what kind of effects he used. He actually did tour with the band for a short period of time and there are videos of his performance but I've never seen them.
 
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#4
Mikhail1 said:
I have always like early Roxy Music and liked John Gustafson's and John Porter's work. From what I have been able to learn, most of his work with Roxy was done with his Wal. He was as he said "a straight up pick player" and I'm sure he went direct in the studio but who knows what kind of effects he used. He actually did tour with the band for a short period of time and there are videos of his performance but I've never seen them.
Click to expand...

I forgot that I have a Roxy Music DVD somewhere that has a number of music videos and live performances on various television shows. Now where did I put that?
 
#5
theevilplankton said:
I always though he was playing a P on the Roxy records as well?
Click to expand...

It certainly sounds like it but I also have absolutely no idea what a 70s era Wal sounds like so it is possible that he made it sound somewhat P-like. He did not get his signature Wal until after Roxy Music so there are one of two ways to look at that either he switched to Wal because they offered him a signature model or they offered him a signature because he was playing a Wal. Also, it is likely that he could have switched during his time with the band as the bass sound changes a fair bit across the three records he performed on.
 
#6
I read an interview one time where he claimed to have gotten a very early Wal and used it on the Roxy sessions. He had played a Precision before that. The Wal JG came later. Porter used a Precision as did John Wetton who did most of their mid '70's tours. Most of the videos I have seen of this era is Wetton, who is no slouch as well.
 
#8
Tractorr said:
I just read that he played a modified Quad amp with his earlier band The Big Three. That amp later found its way into Paul McCartney's hands. Man things were strange back then.
Click to expand...
The Big Three were a Merseybeat band that shared the same stages as the Beatles back in the day. They were also managed by Brian Epstein's NEMS for a short time. Their original lead guitarist was apparently the one who did the modding. He also recorded the Fab Four live in their latest German stint.
 
#9
Tractorr said:
So I have been searching about the internet and have only been able to find limited info about the instruments and amps that JG played.

The things I have read are the following:
1) He made his first bass guitar by converting a guitar into a bass.
2) He apparently played a T-Bird bass early on
3) There are pictures of him playing a p-bass
4) He eventually had his own Wal bass the JG

I have been really interested as to what he was playing during the Roxy Music years. Was he playing earlier Wals? Was he playing a p-bass (which would be my guess)?

What type of strings do you think he was playing on the Roxy Music records? They don't sound like rounds because they don't have much zing on them but they don't really sound like flats. Perhaps it is just a matter of EQ and how loud the bass is usually mixed on those albums.

Finally, what type of amps did he play? I have not been able to find anything about this yet. I have seen some pictures of a small almost combo amp behind him but that might not even be his amp. What do people think were there amps used on the Roxy Music stuff or was he going direct (which sounds like it could be a possibility)?

John Gustafson is probably the most criminally under discussed bass player I can think of (at least in the States not sure if he gets more love in the UK) so I would love to hear anything people know.
Click to expand...
 
#10
JOhn was a fantastic bassist and one of my favorite recordings he was on was the power trio album -Quartermass. - Of course the Roxy Brian Ferry stuff- but you can get the Quartermass album on iTunes for 7 bucks and its way beyond worth it. Plus it may be my personal favorite album cover!
 
#13
I believe John played most of his Roxy stuff with a P-bass. I've never seen him with a prototype Wal (John G. Perry had one and was also a prominent session player at that time) but only with the JG model he started to use around Ian Gillan Band's third album "Scarabus" in 1977. It is also on both "Live At The Budokan" albums. On "Live At The Rainbow" video (1977) he is still playing the Precision. IIRC he had Acoustic 370 amp then.
With IGB he is pictured with a Fender Mustang on the inner gatefold of "Clear Air Turbulence".

With Quatermass he used a Fender Jazz and Orange amps. The Jazz was also used with Hard Stuff in early seventies and it's pictured on the booklet of Spinchter Ensemble's jam session album released a few years ago. Recorded in 1972 it features Peter Robinson, Ann Odell, Trevor Morais, Paul Buckmaster, Tony Walmsley and Martyn Ford - Gustafson's usual session partners.

He also played with Shawn Phillips along with Robinson and is featured on 1974 release "Furthermore". Excellent folk/prog/funk/fusion (for a lack of a better description) and superb tight bass from John. Sounds like P-bass again.
 
#15
Early Roxy with a Ric, great player!
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