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Double Bass Lazy Sting

#41
salcott said:
Yeah-2:22 was really funny-a real good demonstration of the "if it breaks, I'll send one of my lackeys out for another one" attitude. What a jackass.
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Relax, the bass was obviously a prop, there are a lot of edits in this video, (around 1:39 it disappears for a few frames for example) it's doubtful that he owns the instrument and besides, he's prolly thinking something more like "I told you so you dumbass" :D
 
#43
Honestly, I'm just glad Sting enjoys the bass enough to still play it. After The Police, he could have permanently given this role to someone else in his band and concentrated on singing and songwriting. I'm sure we can all think of bass playing front men who've gone this route (I'm looking at you, Peter Cetera). I'm glad he's continued to play bass in his song-serving style throughout most of his solo career and had the guts to play fretless bass, EUB and double bass in a rock/pop context at one time, even if he mostly sticks to a fretted P-Bass these days. He also hired excellent players when he did give the role of bassist to someone else.

In fact, I also give Kenny Rogers credit for playing the double bass in that video after laying off of it for a long time (another bassist who hung up the instrument when he went solo). That took some guts and I think any musical flaws were offset by the casual nature and humor in that performance.

- Steve
 
#47
First off, I like Sting's work and his bass playing. I wouldn't want to meet him from what I've read, there'd be nothing to talk about anyway.

As far as him being lazy, I feel that he's at a stage where if he hears something that he feels someone else can play better, he can go for it if he wants. It's his game anyway.

That's why I went with the "hire Christian McBride" comment.

But it doesn't mean I don't like his lines.
 
#50
Exactly the response I thought I would get. I do believe some would actually put their instrument before their firstborn. I guess it explains the reaction from some here even though they know nothing about the particular bass in the video. Maybe it was just a piece of wood. ;)
 
#51
Here's an idea...

In the absence of Mr Sting feeling the (inexplicable ) need to come on here and get involved in this, how about we drop the incredible assumptiveness, judgementalism, apparent knowledge of things that we patently have no real knowledge of and in some cases, demonstration of extraordinary powers of ESP that are being demonstrated here and stick to the facts.
Which are:
Sting hasn't appeared to have played DB in public recently.
A DB shaped object fell over in a video.

All other attributions are basically without foundation.
 
#57
On stings musicality....

On the South bank show of Melvyn Bragg.

Sting said about playing bass:

"I like playing bass because it is a big and chunky instruments, and I have got big ugly hands which are only good for playing bass or punching people in the face...... Better to use them to play bass..."

And on his musicality he said:

"I am grateful to my right hand man Dominic Miller, because I have a very musical brain but my talent ends in my wrists...... :)".

The bottom line, not just because we are talking about the bass, (My goodness some one shoot for my bad puns -its all Bass Players magazines fault), He is a great:

Musician

and less of a:

Instrumentalist! - I think I have just made that word up....

Any how happy bass playing and again I repeat I was having a laugh with the title!
 
#58
oldprussians said:
Good God there's some strong feelings here!

I actually don't mind his playing and I have seen him play more complex DB stuff!
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Whoa there! The Police was one of my favorite bands when I was growing up. I still don't think any of Sting's music specifically needs a DB. The overwhelming majority of my gigs these days are on DB and have been for the last two decades. I spend more time on this side of the site only because I'm a tinkerer who enjoys modding basses, and that's a lot easier and cheaper to do with slabs than doubles. Also because familiarity with more than one instrument is kinda frowned upon in the DB section. I glean what information one can from a website there and go on about my business.

And actually his solo stuff was more Jazzy than any of the police stuff!
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You're right, but that to me doesn't suggest that a DB is better for it. No preference for one bass over the other in my listening. I use DB for jazz because I love to play it, but the listener in me enjoys the sound of an EBG in that genre just as much.
 
#59
Um, it's all quite simple. Between the techniques he employs, and the foam rubber he puts under his strings, he gets reeeeeeeally close to an URB tone using his P bass. Of course, it is not close enough for those of us who have spent years honing the craft of playing URB, and not electric bass, but it is close enough for everyone else (and "everyone else" makes up about 99.999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% of the population. The other couple hundred of you will just have to live with it or listen to something else.)
 
#60
I've never seen Sting with foam under his strings and his electric bass playing sounds nothing like a double bass. You can clearly hear the difference when he plays double bass on his recordings.

- Steve
 

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