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Tim Foreman

snakesandarrows

snakesandarrows

Oct 12, 2009
134
0
#1
Any Switchfoot fans out there on TB? thought i'd start a discussion about Mr. Tim Foreman... I won't say his bass lines are great, but he's got some killer tones! To name a few:

- Amateur Lovers Distortion (sends chills down my back)
- Hello Hurricane (title track off the new album, listen to the beginning)
- 4:12 (really basic, yet wet and modern sound, and awesome)

I'd love to get that thick Amateur Lovers Distortion... does anyone know what effects or pedals he uses. I couldn't find anything except his amps and basses.

- Gallien Krueger Amps and Cabs
- Lakland 4-94
- Lakland Decade
- Fender Precision Bass

The list goes on on basses, but I think those are his mains...
 
#5
Nighthawk551 said:
I think his basslines -are- great. The earlier Switchfoot stuff was really bass-centric. Great listening. After "The Beautiful Letdown" he kind of took a backseat, but there are still plenty of goodies to be found.
Click to expand...

1+ Tim is an amazing bassist his playing on "Gone" is mind-blowingly funky, considering live he is singing Harmony vocals at the same time that is even more intimidating. I also agree with you about him not being as prominent any more, which a shame. The closest to his old playing is on "Dirty Second Hands" and there is some crazy legato stuff going on in "Oh Gravity".

Furthermore, he is the only bass player I can think of who has made a Musicman Stingray sound warm !
 
#6
I just listen to "Oh Gravity" again and Holy **** his playing is smoking on that album, he plays way more interesting stuff than on "Hello Hurricane".

I have a sneaking suspicion that I am the only one who is going to contribute to this thread, but I don't care I will shout Tim Foreman's name from the roof tops.
 
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#12
Or are the guitars following him?

I would have to say he's a massive influence on me too. I love the photo in the beautiful letdown album cover (i think thats the album) where hes jumping with his legs up with a stingray up in the air. Just real tasteful playing allround, and his tones are my "head-tones" if you know what I mean. I've only just got hello hurricane but I agree oh gravity is awesome, nice and rough. Im keen to get their older stuff after reading this thread.
 
#13
Spotted him playing through what appeared to be a new Line 6 rack mount head on top of his GK 8x10 cab on a late night talk show with Switchfoot, a month or so ago. TV shot was brief on his rig, so I could be mistaken.

Anyway, a big SF fan here. "The Beautiful Letdown" is a masterpiece, IMO.
 
#18
I love the Switchfoot stuff. In my ProTools certification training a few years back one of the demo sessions we messed with was "Meant to Live" from Beautiful Letdown. I was cool to see how the session was put together. There were tons of guitar layers. There were two bass tracks, a DI line and a miced cab. Both had FX if I remember correctly. It was nice to get to solo instruments and see how they actually sound. You can't always hear that on the final mix.

I saw them live back probably 12 years ago and he was using Musicman basses and an SVT, I believe.
 
#19
HUGE Switchfoot fan here. I had heard them a bit on the radio, and liked what I heard, but when I saw them live at Rock the Desert in Midland TX last August the lights really came on! Musically, lyrically, personally, they are a fantastic group of guys.

Tim has influenced my style a bit (though I'm still such a newbie, I'm not sure I have a "style" yet), but he's definitely influenced my attitude. I had heard all the stuff about "bass isn't meant to be heard", and it always made me wonder if that's the case, then why am I up here? I listened to some of Switchfoot's music and decided that bass darn sure is meant to be heard, not overwhelming, but definitely heard and noticed.

I agree with "Oh! Gravity", it's a great line. And I'd agree as well with the notion that on "Hello Hurricane" the guitars may well be following him instead of the other way 'round. I also love Tim's playing on "Needle and Haystack Life".
 
#20
I'm a really big fan too. Just a little update on his gear: He ditched the Bass POD and the GK 2001-RB .

He now uses a Line6 Lowdown HD750. Along with the FBV shortboard and a Line6 M9. He's still running the same Neo 412 cabs though. I can never tell if he has one or two of them though because he's always draping banners and blankets over his cabs lol.

They we recently featured on Mixonline: Invalid Link Removed

Pretty cool gallery of their gear.
 

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