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Phil Lesh Appreciation Society: Enter the Philzone...

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#421
silvertone said:
Allegedly Dan Healy was laid off by the GD as a result of the mixing decision to bury Bobby's guitar in the mix.

My first shows were 3 at RCMH in 1980 - but I was 15 and had not conceptual knowledge of the intricacies of bass tonality in these moments.

I do know I LOVE the songs, the memories and the experience of being at RCMH - Acoustic Dead was a treat.
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I bet. I blew the Warfield shows off from the same era because I was in one of my anti-Dead phases. I also blew off an invitation to Mickey's barn for a weekend jam/party, which I later found out was probably one of the jams in preparation for Apocalypse Now. The silly things we do (or not do) in our youth.
 
#424
Interesting thread. I only saw the GD once (Soldier Field, 1992) on an off night. Caught Furthur a couple years ago, Phil sounded phenomenal.

I've been listening to a lot of shows on archive.org lately. No matter the era, Phil always sounds beautiful to my ears, Starfire, Alembic, G&L, Ken Smith, Modulus, whatever. By far the most consistent performer, too. OTOH I liked Jerry's tone best early on when he played Strats into Fender combos--ballsy sustain instead of the hi-fi plinkity-plink of the Alembic/Travis Bean/Irwin/McIntosh rigs. :ninja:
 
#425
winston said:
Interesting thread. I only saw the GD once (Soldier Field, 1992) on an off night. Caught Furthur a couple years ago, Phil sounded phenomenal.

I've been listening to a lot of shows on archive.org lately. No matter the era, Phil always sounds beautiful to my ears, Starfire, Alembic, G&L, Ken Smith, Modulus, whatever. By far the most consistent performer, too. OTOH I liked Jerry's tone best early on when he played Strats into Fender combos--ballsy sustain instead of the hi-fi plinkity-plink of the Alembic/Travis Bean/Irwin/McIntosh rigs. :ninja:
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Ha, there was a time when I could only enjoy Jerry's '60s tone, Les Pauls or SGs into Fender combos, seriously monster huge tone.

Edwin, I like the sound of that re: Pyramid flats. I'll have to grab a set. I've been finding the TIs a bit too floppy when playing with a pick lately. I gather the Pyramids are a little higher tension, do you find them any better for pick playing?
 
#426
ShrewTamer said:
Ha, there was a time when I could only enjoy Jerry's '60s tone, Les Pauls or SGs into Fender combos, seriously monster huge tone.

Edwin, I like the sound of that re: Pyramid flats. I'll have to grab a set. I've been finding the TIs a bit too floppy when playing with a pick lately. I gather the Pyramids are a little higher tension, do you find them any better for pick playing?
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They are different. Each string has a different tension. The G string is much higher tension (it really gets that tone from the opening lick of Cumberland on E72!). By the time you get to the E string, it's just different. I'd say still higher tension than TI, but it's definitely a pretty idiosyncratic set of strings. In some ways, that's very cool because you can play in different registers for different tonal effect. However, they are more work to play than TIs. I'm still not sure which I prefer. Pyramids definitely have some magic in their tone. At least for me. YMMV, OMG, LOL, etc.
 
#427
winston said:
OTOH I liked Jerry's tone best early on when he played Strats into Fender combos--ballsy sustain instead of the hi-fi plinkity-plink of the Alembic/Travis Bean/Irwin/McIntosh rigs. :ninja:
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The tone in the 70s live in the room was anything but thin and plinkity-plink. The Bean did have more of a plink factor, but when hearing it off the stage, especially in the theaters, it was a very different experience from what the recordings would suggest.
 
#430
Dr Improbable said:
Edwin: About the Pyramid Flats. Do you only gig in your chosen genre or do you do the normal "bass player subs for everyone" thing (with the Flats)? Just curious...
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It depends. I also play a Modulus Q6 with Sunbeams (and sometimes a Lakland JO5 with the same). I've used the Starfire with flats in a number of different bands and it was my regular gigging bass with Great American Taxi for close to 3 years and we covered a wide range of genres.

But, it's been quite a while since I've done the general freelance thing. I've been wanting to get some different styles of gigs to see how well it would fit in.

So, my take on it at this point is that it's potentially a very flexible tonal setup, but I haven't had the opportunity to really put that into practice. Clearly, it's not the first choice for gigs where I'd want to slap, but I have slapped with the TIs on my Starfire and it's a pretty credible tone.
 
#432
Phil Lesh Appreciation Society:
1. spacebassed
2. edwinhurwitz
3. bassman10096
4. PaulMacCnj
5. Zootsuitbass
6. MtJam
7. MrBEAR
8. FretlessMainly
9. StrangerDanger
10. JFMusic
11. DJ Bebop
12. BluesWalker
13. TwentyHz
14. bassRunner
15. Basshappi
16. Musicphan
17. Philonius
18. RDagBasses
19. Nathan Levine
20. bmb73
21. HolmeBass
22. twhitedc
23. RCCollins
24. N.F.A.
25. Bassman8416
26. TigerInATrance
27. Passinwind
28. sven kalmar
29. kbodonne
30. micgtr71
31. ChrisPbass
32. joe vegas
33. Todd GT5
34. Big Brother
35. Dave Klausner
36. OOTB68
37. walkinbluez
38. MLysh
39. Rev J
40. jhuss88
41. baba
42. preside
43. zfunkman
44. StephenR
45. geeza
46. BoxofRain
47. sleepy_monkey
48. shakman
49. The Bartender
50. Modulicious
51. Slowburn
52. conebeckham
53. jcpassport1
54. Dee-man
55. oldleftybass
56. Popps
57. EMF
58. Harpo61
59. Mound of Sound
60. enjoytheband
61. mhandley16
62. moonliner
63. PlaysAJunker
64. Bassman316
65. MarkBC
66. silvertone
67. andertone
68. MIMJAZZ
69. Rob S
70. Duuuuuuuuuude
71. SolarMan
72. MellyMel
73. Dig Wilbur Ware
74. Slough Feg Bass
75. Brondle
76. Meddle
77. Bassmanmike1
78. smokin-bear
79. ShrewTamer
80. CosmicRay
81. Border
82. boomboom4200
83. Dr Improbable
84. soflbass
85.

Let me know if I missed anybody.
 
#434
I like so many of Phil's tones from the different eras. I play in a couple of Dead related bands and can't really decide which tone I want to settle in on. I really like his current tone and have seen him recently in a fairly small room. But I'm also a big fan of his 70's tone, both '72 and then later in '77. Anyone who hasn't heard this Scarlet from '77 might enjoy this....lots of slides and tone that I like: Invalid Link Removed

Here's a rippin' Jack Straw from 2011 at TRI studios, great sound and they are all on their game.
 
#437
Dr Improbable said:
Anyone know what kind of picks Phil used/currently uses? I'm very picky (excuse the pun) about my plectrums, and I would imagine a guy as aware of his tones as Phil must be too. I heard something about a felt pick on the Starfire, is that true?

Update: I found this link to Phil's gear: http://dozin.com/phil/lesh.htm

fender heavy. is this still currant?
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He's used a number of different picks over the years, but settled on the Dunlop Big Stubby Graphite. They went out of production about 15 years ago.

He now uses the Telefunken version.

It's this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TELEFUNKEN-...257?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item416e179bf9

I have a couple of the originals (one courtesy of Phil via Barry Sless) and they are pretty much identical.

I'm skeptical of the felt pick story. It just doesn't sound like it to me. I remember reading an interview where they said that back in the Starfire days he used a plexiglas pick.
 
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#440
MLysh said:
For the best electric bass sound ever committed to vinyl, look no further than "American Beauty" or David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name." Steve Barncard really captured a sound that I'd not heard before and have not heard since. Close second: "Grateful Dead" aka the Skull and Roses album...
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I only blinked a couple times and missed this?
I'm adamant about this view. Your ears are blessed and your prose is spot on.


(... must learn to ignore the prevalence of that "stoner/doom" affliction and check in more often!)
 
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