What basses are being used for modern blues?

[lowphatbass]

I'm very curious about Dingwalls, unfortunately, the nearest dealer is 2 hours away from me. Some day I'll get to hear what one sounds like, and I'm looking forward to it.

Two hours doesn't sound too bad, I guess that would depend on your schedule and transpo situation. If you put some feelers out over at the Dingwall Forum you may find someone in your area that would be willing to let you try their bass out.
If you want to hear some of my Dingwall soundclips don't hesitate to drop me a PM sometime.

 

[sometypeofplay]

You've brought up Joe Bonamassa several times now, and his current bassist is Carmine Rojas. I've seen him with Fender Jazz 5's, ESP 5's and I think that it's an Xotic XB series 5. Not sure about the Xotic.
I agree with you about the posting on these boards and have almost quit visiting here entirely. People don't read the posts. The typical response for almost everything is; "Fender 4 string is best", "play what you want", something regarding Sadowsky, or the members resort to sarcastic, useless, pointless meandering as opposed to offering thoughtful, informed suggestions. Don't get discouraged. Just try to weed through the garbage and pick out the useful information.

 

[Les Izmor]

You've brought up Joe Bonamassa several times now, and his current bassist is Carmine Rojas. I've seen him with Fender Jazz 5's, ESP 5's and I think that it's an Xotic XB series 5. Not sure about the Xotic.
I agree with you about the posting on these boards and have almost quit visiting here entirely. People don't read the posts. The typical response for almost everything is; "Fender 4 string is best", "play what you want", something regarding Sadowsky, or the members resort to sarcastic, useless, pointless meandering as opposed to offering thoughtful, informed suggestions. Don't get discouraged. Just try to weed through the garbage and pick out the useful information.

Thanks dude.

I made the original post because sometimes it is difficult to get good info on band members when they are part of a "backing band" for an artist. Though I searched on Joe's sight, frankly I was overwhelmed by the volume of content, and I couldn't get the simple info you just provided. Now I know the bassist's name, and some of the axes he prefers; which is exactly what I was asking about in my OP. I had a similar experience (though I got to the bottom of it with out help from TB) identifying Taras Prodaniuk as the bassist for Lucinda Williams on the track "World Without Tears" (which if you don't know it, has a very minimalist yet powerful groove). Although I now realize I should have done a better google search regarding Joe's band, I also wanted to find out about other bassists' choice of instruments, so I thought I might get better info posting here.

I also realize now that some may have been put off by my focus on the instrument rather than the player, and I admit that is a valid perspective. I didn't intend to diminish the impact the player has on getting a sound, however, since I fully and totally accept that as simple truth, I assume others do as well. I guess I shouldn't assume that.

I was struck by a tone I heard on the radio, it was consistent across a few bands, I was curious about the instruments being used by the players. Following this line of thinking, I didn't search for players' names. I probably should have started there in retrospect.

Anyway, thanks again to all who have provided helpful responses. I've now got some basses and players to look forward to experiencing

 

[Les Izmor]

Two hours doesn't sound too bad, I guess that would depend on your schedule and transpo situation. If you put some feelers out over at the Dingwall Forum you may find someone in your area that would be willing to let you try their bass out.
If you want to hear some of my Dingwall soundclips don't hesitate to drop me a PM sometime.

Yeah, I've been meaning to get down there, but I just haven't had the time. Something to look forward to....

 

[Les Izmor]

As to solid body basses I tend towards my P-bass or Roscoe Beck's but I like to use a hollow or semi-hollowbody bass to be a little different. They work swimmingly!!!!!

Man that thing is pretty! Also, I like your use of the word "swimmingly", especially considering your geographic location.

 

[MtManiac]

I played a lot of blues in the 80s with a 1968 4001.

http://www.3dentourage.com/425/4001blues.mp3

Like I said, I never would have thunk it. Sounded like it fit perfectly.

 

[IntrepidCellist]

Rics aren't all clank and grind. Hell, I play one with Elixirs ('piano tone' strings if ever there were any) and the neck pickup is fantastic for slow blues, whereas rolling some of the tone knob off on the bridge pickup gets a more middy driving sound.

 

[BioDriver]

FWIW I have a blues gig next Friday and I'll be using a Fender Am. Std. J strung with nickel strings.

 

[marchone]

I guess I did a poor job in my OP, because my question is exactly not like the one you propose.

I fully understand people can be creative in an infinite variety of ways utilizing infinite modes of expression. I recently heard some wonderful music composed strictly using a bicycle and strategically placed microphones (turns out bowing the spokes of a wheel sounds great!).

I am not asking what is the "best" bass for modern blues. I am not drawing the conclusion that a "best" bass exists. Unfortunately, many are misreading my question (or maybe they aren't reading it?). I am simply asking what basses are being used in current blues bands, specifically ones that are getting a DEEP yet toothy low mid tone.

We are in a forum for talking about basses, I'm asking about basses. I'm really baffled by the number of negative comments.

I have been playing bass with love and devotion since 1985. I'm not on some kind of blind search to get something out of my gear that my technique can't produce.

I worded my response poorly. My apologies. You were abundantly clear in what you were asking. You even described "old school tone" vs "modern aggressive".

I was responding to the dominant position that "old school tone" is the preferred style of what are apparently most blues player's preferences.

My comment meant to state that I'm in the "anything goes" camp.

When my old band used to rework old Yardbird's material we all thought a trebly bass sound brought a new edge to them. It made it ours. And maybe that's modern blues.

 

[Les Izmor]

I worded my response poorly. My apologies. You were abundantly clear in what you were asking. You even described "old school tone" vs "modern aggressive".

I was responding to the dominant position that "old school tone" is the preferred style of what are apparently most blues player's preferences.

My comment meant to state that I'm in the "anything goes" camp.

When my old band used to rework old Yardbird's material we all thought a trebly bass sound brought a new edge to them. It made it ours. And maybe that's modern blues.

Apology accepted.

Making things your own is the best part... My band does "Train Kept a Rollin'" the Yardbirds tune that was featured in the Mod movie classic "Blowup". I like to think that my interpretation of the wild chuggin' freight train groove is uniquely my own. We often end our set with it, and one time the guitarist (who is over 60) took off his Les Paul and started grinding it against his little fender tube amp coaxing all kinds of wild feedback out of it.... we took it as far as we could that night. Super fun.

 

[sometypeofplay]

You're welcome!

I'm a fan of Taras' tone too. He played with Dwight Yoakam throughout much of the 90's before joining Lucinda Williams band. He's on his live album. Very groovin' tasteful player. I don't think I've ever heard him play a fill!

You might want to try an outboard pre-amp with your set-up too. I run a couple in my board at all times for tone switching on the fly. They're great for giving passive basses a little extra "oomph", and certain brands have a mid-control that will help get you closer to that tone you're looking for. Roscoe Beck uses them to great effect with both vintage and modern basses. You can check out his stuff with Robben Ford and Eric Johnson.

 

[rexthegorman]

I use a pedulla RB5 sometimes when playing blues. Definitely not a traditional fender, but it growls like you wouldn't believe. Good for that Joe bonamossa/ late Johnny Lang stuff.

I must admit though, alot of times I'll just grab one of my fenders.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Another vote for anything goes. Sure, a Modulus Quantum run flat through a modern rig might not fill the bill sonically, and will frighten many traditionalists by looks alone. But I used my Q5 for any style of music. I got a warm/fat sound out of it via tube emulation and the onboard EQ.

That said, the Fender Roscoe Beck is a fantastic choice for blues: super-easy to dial in trad and modern tones, and has the Fender look so as not to scare the purists.

 

[ThatGermanDude]

Not exactly modern, but FWIW BB Kings bassist used a 6-String Yamaha TRB when I saw him. I was very surprised, but he absolutely killed.

 

[MNAirHead]

Best sound I've heard in the last year was a Steinberger through a GK.. go figure.

 

[Pilgrim]

Put flats on it and play it. As long as it doesn't look like a scorpion, an axe, an object of devil worship or some star Trek thingie, you're ready to play blues.

 

[edmidlifecrisis]

Not exactly modern, but FWIW BB Kings bassist used a 6-String Yamaha TRB when I saw him. I was very surprised, but he absolutely killed.

I think I saw that too last year when I saw BB. You're right, he was really hot!

 

[ransombass]

I use my 2008 American Standard Jazz Bass V for just about everything. I bring along my 1997 American P-Bass with flats and use it when I'm feeling especially blue and funky.

 

[marchone]

My band does "Train Kept a Rollin'" the Yardbirds tune that was featured in the Mod movie classic "Blowup".

That was a variant they did for the film. It was called Stroll On. Jeff Beck smashed a cheap acoustic guitar during their bit at Antonioni's request. He originally wanted The Who but Townshend declined.