The secret to his sound: Jumping on a mini trampoline while playing! Check Invalid Link Removed out, guys!
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Stings Police Arsenal
- Thread starter pontz
- Start date
have been watching his dvd, "the brand new day tour." he plays his vintage p on it. i'd be interested to know what he strings this bass with and what strings he typically uses.... any ideas? 
- Nov 27, 2003
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- Rogue luthier employed at Knooren Handcrafted bass guitars
bassman blue said:have been watching his dvd, "the brand new day tour." he plays his vintage p on it. i'd be interested to know what he strings this bass with and what strings he typically uses.... any ideas?
DR. Sting is an official endorser of those strings.
...and with The Police he had Rotosound 'Swing Blues' mediums (.040", .060", .075" and .095") on all his bass guitars (according to the link in my latest post).
Inspired by this wonderful thread, I just watched "Every Breath You Take - The DVD". The only bass to be seen in the "Roxanne" video is the blonde fretless P with maple fingerboardBlazer said:
In the videos to the songs from the "Ghost In The Machine" album he's playing (with) a sunburst Precision with fretted rosewood fingerboard. Considering those videos were shot at the Air Studios in Montserrat when The Police were recording that album, I think Sting might have actually played it on the album, too!
re. Ghost in the Machine, it's the Z EUB on "everything she does is magic" and "darkness", probably doubled on some others too.
in the book "Rock Hardware", there's a pic of Stewart Copeland in his home studio, playing an EUB exactly like the one Sting used (the actual same one?)
in the book "Rock Hardware", there's a pic of Stewart Copeland in his home studio, playing an EUB exactly like the one Sting used (the actual same one?)
Hi, Mr.Mock! Well, among the bonus material on the DVD I had mentioned before, there's a documentary "The Police in Montserrat" where that freak from Squeeze is interviewing the guys, and Sting presents his Z Bass telling that there's only two like this one existing, the other one being Stewart's.The Mock Turtle Regulator said:
That bass sounds very nice in "Darkness"! One of the better songs from "Ghost..."! I remember being sooo disappointed by that album when it had just been released back in '81 - All that bloody brass just didn't do it for me (= basically the whole middle third of songs). The previous, "Zenyatta Mondatta", was the very first record I had ever bought with my own pocket money, and I still love it. "Reggatta De Blanc" is my fave, though
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volker said:
That's not true, in an interview that Henk Van Zalinge gave in the Dutch Music magazine "Musicmaker" he said that he had made around seventy Z-basses. The management of the Police bought two, the one of Sting and the other for Steward.
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it says here that approximately 265 Z basses were made!
was this Henk Van Zelinge a racing driver and car designer too?
in the live video from the Synchronicity tour when Sting is using the EUB on Walking on the moon, he swaps it with his tech for a (hilariously large- oh how technology has moved on ) video camera, which he plays around with.
the tech then plays the EUB out of shot to end the song.
BTW I just worked out you meant Jools Holland by "that freak from Squeeze"
it says here that approximately 265 Z basses were made!
was this Henk Van Zelinge a racing driver and car designer too?
in the live video from the Synchronicity tour when Sting is using the EUB on Walking on the moon, he swaps it with his tech for a (hilariously large- oh how technology has moved on
) video camera, which he plays around with.the tech then plays the EUB out of shot to end the song.
BTW I just worked out you meant Jools Holland by "that freak from Squeeze"
Jools Holland, yes! Dunno how I could forget his name Needless to say he takes the opportunity during the documentary to have a couple of jams with Sting and Andy
I have to correct myself in my previous post, guys! What Sting really was saying about "Brian" (apart from the fact that "he had his goolies chopped off" - originally, it must've still had a double bass' shape) is that "He was especially made for me by a man called Van Zalinge. Stewart's got one as well...creep." My apologies for the incorrect piece of information *slaps himself*
By the way, in the link I had posted earlier on it says somewhere that "Brian" was "...an electric upright bass, which has no accoustic body chambers...". That's not quite correct as its body actually is hollow.
Needless to say he takes the opportunity during the documentary to have a couple of jams with Sting and Andy I have to correct myself in my previous post, guys! What Sting really was saying about "Brian" (apart from the fact that "he had his goolies chopped off" - originally, it must've still had a double bass' shape) is that "He was especially made for me by a man called Van Zalinge. Stewart's got one as well...creep." My apologies for the incorrect piece of information *slaps himself*
By the way, in the link I had posted earlier on it says somewhere that "Brian" was "...an electric upright bass, which has no accoustic body chambers...". That's not quite correct as its body actually is hollow.
That so reminds me of a TV performance by Cliff Richard in the very early '80s, singing his "Wired For Sound", having a "gigantic" walkman attached to his belt *thumbs up for Cliff*The Mock Turtle Regulator said:...in the live video from the Synchronicity tour when Sting is using the EUB on Walking on the moon, he swaps it with his tech for a (hilariously large- oh how technology has moved on
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The Mock Turtle Regulator said:
He said of that number he made around seventy himself, afterwards he hired a number of people to help him make the others.
At Knooren I have seen several Z basses up close. They have Maple necks with Ebony fingerboards and plywood bodies with a fully hollow construction and are amplified through a big Piezo pin that sticks from the top and just barely touches the underside of the arch of the bridge. The Bridge itself is made out of plywood too, for one of the Z basses we repared we made a solid maple bridge to replace the original because the plywood was coming apart. It meant a drastical improvement in sound.
I find the bass in this song quite interesting: In the intro it sounds like there's a piano dubbing the bass!? The sound then changes, after the verse's first line (chorus-like sound - probably two basses playing the same stuff). I'm not sure what's going on in the chorus: Is that a muted guitar dubbing the bass line or a bass playing one octave higher? I don't think it's the 8-string bass that's been mentioned earlier - especially in the second chorus you can hear differences between the two lines.jenderfazz said:
By the way, in the "Old Grey Whistle Test" footage from "Every Breath You Take - The DVD", Sting is playing through a Marshall stack, and there's another small speakerbox next to it. Just to add to his arsenal
I remember reading that on "Ghost in the Machine" (I think), he recorded a lot of parts with his upright (or electric upright, not sure), and then doubled them with his Steinberger. Fat bottom from the upright, precise attack from the Steinberger. Interesting idea...
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info on various Hamers used by the Police inc. the 8-string bass.
info on various Hamers used by the Police inc. the 8-string bass.
I bought the DVD, and I'm quite disappointed that, despite its title, picture and sound are not quite in sync, apart from the multi-angle tracks. I wonder if this is normal or if it's just my copy?! What's your one like, Mock?The Mock Turtle Regulator said:
PS: I wonder if the trampoline was Godley & Creme's idea, too!
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dougjwray said:
Search up a little something called "Tic-toc bass" and see that it wasn't really a new idea.
