Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
using a jazz bass for punk rock
- Thread starter Mantis Tobaggan
- Start date
When I saw Gang of Four a year or two ago, the bassist (who is not the original bassist) was playing a Jazz bass.
If I recall correctly that's the bass he records with then plays the shorties live.
The story that was from shows another long scale bass, which looks like some kind of custom
mike watt + the secondmen - the making of "the secondman's middle stand"
Googling some old minutemen pics, it looks like he played some sort of modded Fender (PJ with a tele headstock) and an ibanez in the minutemen
My band had the pleasure of opening for the Bad Brains in 83 or so. Their van broke down they were running late so Derryl used my Kustom rig he even made that box of rocks sound good.Mike Watt was using a fender of some sort I think A Jazz when we opened for them in 86 or 87 or so.The Minutemen were hands down the nicest guys you could meet.They all stood up front for our whole opening set and treated us like old friends the whole night.The Brains were great guys also.
love bad brians. i saw them in '87 or '88.
i played a 1986 mij squire jazz in punk and thrash metal bands back then. still have the bass!
i played a 1986 mij squire jazz in punk and thrash metal bands back then. still have the bass!
The watt question got me interested. This is the other bass he was recording wit, at least in the late 90s. It's a custom built by Tim Thelen, who, as it turns out, is one of the guys behind Bilt guitars out of Des Moines. They are super cool but alas, dont' seem to make basses any more
It's punk rock. Play what you want and care less what others play. Dude from Unsane plays a single coil Tele through a twin and was doing it well before Teles became cool, and when everyone was playing humbuckers through JCM800's.
Last edited:
Dude from Rancid played a Jazz IIRC.
That said, if I were doing a punk thing now, I'd probably put a fretted neck on my 78 P (currently Fretless) and play the snot out of it.
Or I'd use my Rick.
This coming from a devout Jazz Bass guy.
That said, if I were doing a punk thing now, I'd probably put a fretted neck on my 78 P (currently Fretless) and play the snot out of it.
Or I'd use my Rick.
This coming from a devout Jazz Bass guy.
Bah. Stop being hung up on type of bass and brand and all that nonesense. When I was in Strange Montgomery, I played my fretless Moses Vertical Jump Bass. One of the old ones when they were single piece of graphite. Punk isn't about the type of bass or the make; it's about the attitude and how you convey it through your bass.
I play the acoustic in my avatar in my all-male Slits cover band.
The best bass for punk is the bass that you have.
(Except for an Alembic.)
I remain,
Your Obedient Servant,
The Terror.
(Except for an Alembic.)
I remain,
Your Obedient Servant,
The Terror.
When I saw him with Iggy Pop a few years ago at the Riot Fest in Denver he was playing a Gibson SG bass.
Bad Brains are amazing! In my top 3 bands. Darryl is a great player. I’ve wondered this myself. I think the thump of the P just fits the genre better.
Here's a picture of me playing a five string ESP in a punk band. Anything works if you make it work.
