JPJ got fingered…

[Guitalia]

Chuck Rainey one-fingers things when required as well.

John Paul Jones is a master musician, arranger, producer, player. If you ignore him, don't study him, you are missing out on a LOT.

I always include this when talking about JPJ. Years ago, in an interview in GUITAR WORLD, he was asked about he and John Bonham being the pattern for so many heavy rock rhythm sections that followed. He allowed he wasn't sure that was true, but he was certain that the ones that followed them had skipped something he and Bonham considered absolutely vital: They were both huge Motown nuts, and that the younger cats that followed them lacked that grounding and were all the poorer for it.

Motown, sure, at least early on, but definitely a huge influence from James Brown later.

In a deep-dive interview with Jimmy Page published in Guitar Player, Page said that there was a period when every time he arrived at the rehearsal room or recording studio, Bonham and Jones would already be there, playing the latest James Brown record over and over so they could nail the bass and drums parts. That's where Plant's "Where's that confounded bridge!" line came from.

The James Brown influence is obvious in the later Zeppelin songs with funky start-stop rhythms.

 

[JohnFrancis]

Jpj is da man. He’s why I play a jazz with flats and took up mandolin this year.

Not here to burst your bubble but I read JP say he used round wound strings.

 

[M-Mittlesteadt]

JPJ was (and still is) a major influence on my playing. Mostly out of dealing with pain and numbness I had to resort to that one finger approach. If I have to play anything fast I need to use a pick.

And yes, JPJ used roundwounds, but it was that Acoustic 361 cab with a single 18" speaker that had no top end at all that give him that signature tone.

 

[LowActionHero]

Mudshark optional.

 

[Ritter667]

I am perfectly well capable of 3 finger plucking technique, or even four if I include my thumb, but I just started predominantly just using my middle finger, as it produces a better tone than the rest of my fingers.

This is actually not a joke, it does, and no matter how hard I try, it is impossible to get my other fingers to produce as great a tone as my middle finger.

Like really snappy and clear.

Must have something to do with the shape of its tip.

And if I need more speed I can always use the flamenco guitar style finger flicking technique.

 

[Petethebassman]

JPJ was (and still is) a major influence on my playing. Mostly out of dealing with pain and numbness I had to resort to that one finger approach. If I have to play anything fast I need to use a pick.

And yes, JPJ used roundwounds, but it was that Acoustic 361 cab with a single 18" speaker that had no top end at all that give him that signature tone.

I watched the Becoming Led Zeppelin film and noticed that in the very early live footage JPJ still had the string mutes on his ‘62 Jazz Bass, but in footage from late 1969/early 1970 he had removed the mutes.

 

[FretRiff]

Uses more fingers now.

 

[p12bassnut]

I noticed myself unconsciously reverting to one fingering method I think for the same reasons of consistent tone/volume, Didn't realize it was happening until I tried playing on a really fast 16th note bar and couldn't do it right with just 1 finger.
I thought at that point I will practice using both methods

 

[Lefty Joe]

Uses more fingers now.

it's like how one of my analog synthesizers uses oscillators: the first one always, the second one when two are needed, the third only in tandem with the first two ...

 

[jasper383]

It doesn't surprise me JPJ did this. Upon retrospect, it sounds like it. Wasn't he fan of Jamerson too?

I do it quite a bit. I also tend to keep my finger nails long on my right (plucking) hand. I like it for certain songs or a particular feel.
The one finger technique is good (for me) to approximate a picking attack at slow to moderate speeds. However, for songs that need really fast pedal or rapid fire baselines, it's a pick.

He was/is a big Jamerson fan. Maybe more generally Motown. His pre-Zeppelin studio recordings show lots of Motown isms.

 

[buldog5151bass]

@brianrost beat me to it. It always amazes me what some players can do.

 

[Michedelic]

Jack Bruce is another one who started out on upright bass in jazz bands and continued to use only his index finger when he switched to electric. When he met James Jamerson while touring with Cream, they were both amused to find that they used the same technique.

There is a story that when Marvin Gaye went to the UK for a tour, Bruce was in the backing band, and Marvin was so impressed that he wanted to hire Jack full-time.

 

[Guitalia]

There is a story that when Marvin Gaye went to the UK for a tour, Bruce was in the backing band, and Marvin was so impressed that he wanted to hire Jack full-time.

Jack's autobiography, Composing Myself, relates that story. He said that Gaye tried to persuade him to move to the U.S. My guess is that Jack was the only other bass player he'd ever encountered who drove a band the way that Jamerson did. Pretty wild, considering all the U.S. bass players Gaye must have come across.

He also says that he'd never used an electric bass until he was hired for a recording session backing Ernest Ranglin, the Jamaican guitarist (often called the inventor of ska and reggae). Ranglin liked his playing but wanted him to play an electric bass, so Jack borrowed an electric from a music shop.

As soon as he realized how much easier it was to carry an electric on busses and in the tube, he switched to playing electric almost exclusively.

 

[dougjwray]

The only reason Jack turned down Marvin Gaye's offer to join his band in the U.S. was that he was newly married, to Janet Godfrey. He felt that he needed to play it safe, careerwise.

 

[Guiseppe]

It doesn't surprise me JPJ did this. Upon retrospect, it sounds like it. Wasn't he fan of Jamerson too?

I do it quite a bit. I also tend to keep my finger nails long on my right (plucking) hand. I like it for certain songs or a particular feel.
The one finger technique is good (for me) to approximate a picking attack at slow to moderate speeds. However, for songs that need really fast pedal or rapid fire baselines, it's a pick.

Interesting comment about the pedal. I was listening to Pat Methany's "Last Train Home" and spent a playthrough doing one finger plucking. I think the ability to be consistent with tempo on pieces like that is a critical skill - and much downplayed. I have gotten a lot more respect over the years being known for my pocket than that I can pull off a Squire or Entwistle lick.

 

[JMacBass65]

Not here to burst your bubble but I read JP say he used round wound strings.

Nope. In a 1977 interview with Guitar Player Mag, he was VERY specific about this. Flats on his Jazz, Rounds on his Alembic and Bec Var. And almost mentioning it as an aside, rounds also on his single coil (51?, 52?) Precision, stating that with flats "you kinda lose half the instrument" (referencing the Precision, Alembic and Bec Var). The recorded history of these instruments backs this as well. And yes, I am WELL aware that sometime in the 2000s he said it was rounds on everything. Well, I take his word as being more accurate closer to the time period in question, and that would be the '77 interview. Well, that, and my ears too.