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Sanford Parker

chanson

chanson

Supporting Member
Dec 3, 2008
2,101
1,529
San Francisco, California
#1
Couldn't find much talk about Sanford Parker on here, so I'm starting up a thread about this monster of a bassist/producer. This guy is all over the place. I was shocked when I found out how many bands I listened to were produced by him.

Minsk has become one of my favorite bands, and his playing really stands out to me. He gets a very fuzzy, crunchy tone. It sort of reminds me if Al Cisneros played with a pick.

Anyone know exactly what gear he currently uses? I know he used to play a Kramer aluminum necked bass, but he has switched to a custom made Electrical Guitar Company all aluminum bass. In pictures it also appears he uses an Ampeg SVT-CL on top of a 215 (Emperor?) and two Emperor cabs stacked on top of each other. The one on top is either a 410 or a 412. I can't find a good picture of the cab on the bottom, and have yet to see them live, so I can't really say for sure. here is some kind of amp/power amp on top of these which I can't identify.

Anyway, any info, praise, pics, stories, etc. about Sanford would be appreciated.
 
#2
May have found his rig on the Emperor site...it looks identical to his. It's a 412 on top of a 215. Been listening to Minsk nonstop lately. Where is the love for Sanford?

empcab4x12_23.gif
 
#3
Played with them a few times.

Uses all Solid State amps whenever I saw them.

Usually 1 Ampeg and 1 Power/Pre

Cabs were 1x18, 4x12, 2x15 last I saw...All Emperor

Pedals, Sovtek Big Muff, EHX DMM, EHX Bass Micro Synth, Moog Ring Mod, Moog LPF...ernie ball volume pedal...a bunch of others I can't remember it's been awhile.
 
#4
Thanks for the info, dude. It really helps. I'm hoping more people will chime in. I'm trying to figure out how he gets his tone...it's somewhat unique. It sounds similar, in my opinion, to Dave Edwardson of Neurosis. It's brittle but still has depth and low end to it at the same time. I wonder if that's his Muff at work.

Here is a picture of his board, link previously posted by another TB member.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Here is his custom Electrical Guitar Company bass, pic taken from his myspace.

electric.jpg


And here is the man at work, playing said bass


sanford1.jpg
 
#5
I saw them back in '07, but I can't remember much about it, other than the fact that they were touring on Ritual Fires of Abandonment, played second of four bands, and I bought the Cedars of Lebanon record from them.

But me and a friend (actually, the same friend who was with me at the aforementioned Minsk show) did decide that Aaron Turner is trying his damnedest to become Sanford Parker jr.
 
#6
I rarely do this, and usually get annoyed when people ask this type of question, for various reasons which shall not be named....but, how can I get a similar tone to Sanford Parker?

It's obvious he has some kind of fuzz/distortion going, but it has a lot more treble/bite to it than I've heard most people use. Anyone have any gear or equalization suggestions?

Examples of his tone:

 
#11
Here's a thread I'd never though I'd see! I can't say anything about his rig unfortunately, that EGC is sweet though. After Kurt Ballou, Sanford is definitely my favorite metal producer. His records always sound big and warm and they always seem to sound WAY better on vinyl. He's an incredibly talented guy, I'm excited to see what he produces this year.
 
#12
Agreed. Kurt and Sanford are some of my favorite producers ever. As far as upcoming works from Sanford, I know he is producing the upcoming Dark Castle and Rwake albums. Other than that I don't know that much without looking.

Regarding his gear, this is straight from Sanford via facebook: "Electrical custom bass-> Marshall gov'ner distortion-> moog freq box-> moog low pass filter-> moog ring mod-> memory man-> sansamp DI-> 1500 watt Carvin amp-> 4x12 cab, 2x15 cab"
 
#13
chanson said:
I rarely do this, and usually get annoyed when people ask this type of question, for various reasons which shall not be named....but, how can I get a similar tone to Sanford Parker?

It's obvious he has some kind of fuzz/distortion going, but it has a lot more treble/bite to it than I've heard most people use. Anyone have any gear or equalization suggestions?

Examples of his tone:

Click to expand...



Anyone?
 
#16
I currently have a Kramer Stagemaster Standard bass (aluminum neck, P style pickup), and while it sounds similar, Sanford definitely has a unique sounding grit to his tone that is difficult to replicate. Not trying to sound exactly like him, but I do love his tone.
 

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