Marcus Miller's Pickg. "snatched" from Larry Graham?

[Fran Diaz]

The first preamp I installed in Marcus' bass was made by Stars Guitars in San Francisco. It was a treble and bass boost circuit. About a year later they went out of business. They recommended I use the Bartolini TCT from that point on, which was a very similar circuit. At some point, the Stars preamp failed in Marcus' bass and I replaced it with the TCT. That is the circuit he has had ever since. In 1990 I began making my own circuit and that is what Marcus has in all of his other Sadowsky basses.

Roger

Thanks a lot for the info Roger.
I love Macus' slap tone as everybody else, but IMO there is nothing as sweet as the bass boost that your preamp gives.

 

[JimS]

Marcus has no shame in the pickguard. Here's a T shirt you can buy from his website:

Link Removed

 

[pyrohr]

From Steelydan.com:
"Tom credits heredity (he is the son of the late musician Tom H. Barney) and his education (at the Crane School of Music and with bassist Bob Cranshaw) for much of his musical ability and achievement.
But whither Tom's legendary "big bottom groove" springs, it seems that everybody wants a piece. He has recorded and performed with a veritable Who's Who of the entertainment industry, including David Sanborn, Eric Clapton, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, George Duke, Chaka Khan, Jeffrey Osborn, Aretha Franklin, Judy Collins, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Burt Bacharach, Ice T., Al B. Sure, All Saints, Mary J. Blige, Carlos Santana, Lauryn Hill... and many others.

Tom was a member of the Saturday Night Live Band for several years in the '80s and '90s, and you may have also seen him on David Sanborn's "Night Music", "New York At Night", or any number of his turns on "Good Morning America", "The Today Show", or playing for numerous major award shows. The occasional composing and work on numerous movie soundtracks round out his stellar resume, to which the "Schatzi The Safety Bear" '00 Award is but the latest notable addition."

As mentioned above, Tom played on SNL two different times. Tom told me it was his dad that was the original bassist for SNL and he recommended Marcus for the job! Also if you notice besides David Sanborn (and his show in the 80's where Tom and Marcus played) Tom and Marcus played with a lot of the same people including Luther Vandross, Miles, and Roberta Flack. Btw thanks for the poster who posted the Sanborn thing on youtube! That's an old concert for sure!

Just for giggles, while hanging with Tom at his house I asked about the upright leaning against the wall in his livingroom. I asked was that the bass he use's on broadway doing Lion King and he said no, that's the bass I use for the Liza Minelli/ Tony Benett gig's! I was speachless!

 

[MSIMSBASS]

I created Marcus' pickguard in late 79 or early 80. It was the second bass preamp install I did and the first on a Jazz Bass. I did not know who Larry Graham was at the time and never saw any photos of him with his bass.

Marcus trusted me completely on the preamp install and did not have any input into the design. I made room for the electronics and battery with a drill press and a chisel and made the pickguard to cover it all up and provide access to the battery. Within a few months of doing Marcus' bass, I learned how to make templates and use a router and developed the method of routing from the back and creating just a small cavity for the circuit and the battery.

So in hindsight, I am embarassed at the monster pickguard I had to make for Marcus because I was so green at the time.

Roger

I know I'm late but I just saw this! I think the plate looks very cool! It looks like it ready for battle, and is bulletproof! That was a successful embarrassment Roger!

 

[mrufino1]

As mentioned above, Tom played on SNL two different times. Tom told me it was his dad that was the original bassist for SNL and he recommended Marcus for the job! Also if you notice besides David Sanborn (and his show in the 80's where Tom and Marcus played) Tom and Marcus played with a lot of the same people including Luther Vandross, Miles, and Roberta Flack. Btw thanks for the poster who posted the Sanborn thing on youtube! That's an old concert for sure!

Just for giggles, while hanging with Tom at his house I asked about the upright leaning against the wall in his livingroom. I asked was that the bass he use's on broadway doing Lion King and he said no, that's the bass I use for the Liza Minelli/ Tony Benett gig's! I was speachless!

Digging up old news, but he was referring to Bob Cranshaw as his dad, I understand they had a very close relationship.

I work with someone every week who played and plays with all of them, as did his tech, and he's got some great stories (and is a master story teller of those stories). I didn't realize Tom barney lived in the same complex as Marcus, but it explains the interwoven web of people playing in various combinations.

I was born a generation too late...growing up in the 60's and 70's in NYC and being involved with music must have been amazing. I was only 6 at the end of the 70's sadly.