Timothy B. Schmidt

[TuckLM]

I recently watched an Eagles concert video and I was amazed at Timothy's tone. He was playing Jazz Bass that looked pretty old, and looked like he was using a SWR.

So does anyone know any details about his set up or any other kind of secret sauce or magic fairy dust that gets him that killer tone?

 

[Mystic Michael]

Maybe he's just a really good player...

(Is there some reason why this post is in the "Basses" forum, rather than the "Bassists" forum?)

MM

 

[Execrate]

A few years back, Mr. Schmit had his own signature bass that was made by Carvin. It had only a single knob for volume.

 

[MuzikMan]

It doesn't sound like he uses any magic tricks. He's just a great player surrounded by equally great players and sound company.

 

[No Malarky]

He is really a great player. I have always admired that guy.

 

[Jason Brown]

There's no "D" in Schmit. I made the same mistake once.

 

[WoodyG3]

He has played a variety of basses and he sounds very good no matter what he plays. I appreciate the fact that he never over-plays, and I sure wish I could sing like him!

 

[old mark]

He has great tone in his fingers, and plays deceptively simply with a lot of technique. I saw him playing the Carvin on a TV special, and it seems to make little difference what instrument he is playing, his sound comes through. He has several solo albums out over the years, and he is quite a sougwriter and all around musician as well as a fantastic vocalist.


mark

 

[spufman]

Yeah, he really gets a consistent, full, round solid tone. He appears to have no interest in adding fiddly bits and consequently he sounds great all the time. Props to Randy Meisner as well, for crafting some very cool lines to work from.

 

[jbednarski]

On one of the Eagles fan sites there's some "fun facts" about each member and Tim says that he purchased his jazz bass (a 1964) new for $175.! I saw him with Poco several times back in the day and he was amazing live. Great timing/groove and awesome vocals.

 

[cm3ohana]

Timothy is one of my favorite bass players of all time and is the reason why I decided on buying a playing a Fender Jazz (a while ago). It's the only bass I never sell and I've bought and sold several over the years. He plays with great technique and plays effortlessly. As mentioned previously, he also plays Carvins. In a Bass Player magazine article (August 2010), it lists his gear as follows:
Fender Jazz (various vintage years namely '62 and '64)
Pedulla Buzz Fretless
Rob Allen MB-2 Fretless
1977 Ernie Ball Earthwood Bass
1960's Hofner "Beatle Bass"
SWR 750x bass amp
SWR Son of Bertha 1x15 cab
SWR Goliath III 4x10 cab
SWR Goliath Jr 2x10 (all tweeters turned off)
Boss BF-3 Flanger
Ernie Ball Roundwounds on Jazz Basses

It didn't mention the Carvin equipment but I have seen him play Carvins before (namely a fretless).

 

[king_biscuit]

I always found him a little annoying/pretentious for using his full name and middle initial. His head is too big for his body too

 

[Chris Breese]

Wow

 

[NKBassman]

When the Eagles were here last summer, it looked like he was playing a jazz bass for most of the concert, and a Pedulla fretless for a few songs. Can't remember much specifics about tone, but the show as a whole was fantastic.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

He's a fantastically underrated player. I remember The Eagles doing New York Minute from Henley's solo stuff and Schmit nailed every note just as good as Pino originally did. From the lives clips I've seen of him, he has a very charming humbleness about himself on stage.

I never really got the reasoning behind his signature Carvin other than an attempt to sell some basses off of his name. Don't get me wrong, I love Schmit and Carvin (I own four Carvin basses). But his signature model was just a stripped down LB20. If I wanted a stripped down LB20, I could have just ordered one. I don't think Carvin makes LB20s anymore, neither regular LB20s nor the signature model.

He's also been hired over the years for studio vocal work on a ton of albums, ranging from Toto to Poison.

 

[chadhargis]

There was a very good article about him in Bass Player a several months back.

I've always enjoyed players who have a seemingly simple, solid style. I can appreciate more colorful players such as Billy Sheehan, but I am more "old school". I like the "thud-thud-thud-thud" of a good simple bass line that gets your head bobbing and toes tapping.

 

[calshands]

My buddy used to work for the Eagles so I got to see them quite a few times, and had all-access passes for each. I got to watch the whole production from the stage being set up to load-out (and even helped push some cases around, etc.).

Bar none, Schmit was the nicest guy there. None of the rest were anything but cordial, but he took a second to stop an say hi (he initiated it... I just stood there with my mouth flapping like a fish!) and shake my hand.

Then he played his sound-check and my mouth hung wider yet!

Definitely an A+ human.

 

[JTE]

I was first attracted to his sound from the live Poco album "DeLIVErin'". Great sound all the way through. And he plays great lines, writes great songs (my favorite being "Restrain" from "Good Feelin' To Know") and seems like a really likeable guy too, based on the interviews I've read. Years ago in Guitar Player they had an interview with him and he said he really didn't know much about his gear. He had a couple of Fender basses, LaBella flats and the Fender 400 PS amp at the time.

BTW, another bit of Tim trivia- during The Eagles' hiatus he worked on the road with Jimmy Buffet and is credited with coming up with the phrase "parrot heads" for Buffet's fans.

John

 

[brocco]

JTE.
I agree 100%....Tim's bass work on the album"A good feeling to know" is superb.His lines are melodic,smooth and he never overplays.His old jazz basses sound great and superb vocals also.