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What songs did John Paul Jones play an 8 string on?

#2
Stingray89 said:
I've read places that John Paul Jones used to use a custom made 8 string, so I was wondering what songs he recorded with it, or did he just play it at live concerts? And does anyone know if it was an 8 sting bass like a 12 string guitar, or were there 8 strings that he played individually?
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Basically all of Presence. It was a four string with four octave strings, not a single course eight string.
 
#4
IIRC it was all later songs, mostly Presence.

He started with a Hagstrom in about '73, and then had Alembic make him one. Both were 4-string basses with octave strings paired on.

He used the Alembic live for (among other things) Nobody's Fault but Mine and Achilles' last Stand, though that was actually recorded with the Hagstrom.

Invalid Link Removed
Much useful info here.


He's playing lots of octaved instruments lately.... 8 strings, 10-strings, 12-strings (6x2), bass mandolins, you name it. He puts on an insanely good show.
 
#6
Oh yeah, the 8 is all over the disc he released with Diamanda Galas (highly recommended, btw) and his 2 solos discs after that.

+1 to being "all over Presence." Achilles Last Stand, Nobody's Fault But Mine, etc. are both classic 8 string bass songs. He even used it on a few songs he maybe shouldn't have.
 
#7
MarkTAW said:
Oh yeah, the 8 is all over the disc he released with Diamanda Galas (highly recommended, btw) and his 2 solos discs after that.

+1 to being "all over Presence." Achilles Last Stand, Nobody's Fault But Mine, etc. are both classic 8 string bass songs. He even used it on a few songs he maybe shouldn't have.
Click to expand...

Actually, now that I recall it, Zep only ever did those two songs off of Presence live........
 
#9
although often identified as an Alembic, there is some confusion/controversy over the actual make of JPJs 8-string. Bruce Becvar worked for Alembic between '72 and '77, and later opened his own shop and produced basses under his own name. I've seen at least one interview with JPJ where he claims the bass was built by Becvar post-Alembic.

/rick
 
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#10
RickC said:
although often identified as an Alembic, there is some confusion/controversy over the actual make of JPJs 8-string. Bruce Becvar worked for Alembic between '72 and '77, and later opened his own shop and produced basses under his own name. I've seen at least one interview with JPJ where he claims the bass was built by Becvar post-Alembic.

/rick
Click to expand...

Got a link? I'm interested. Here's the bass in question, by the way....

alembic8_1.gif
 
#11
RickC said:
although often identified as an Alembic, there is some confusion/controversy over the actual make of JPJs 8-string. Bruce Becvar worked for Alembic between '72 and '77, and later opened his own shop and produced basses under his own name. I've seen at least one interview with JPJ where he claims the bass was built by Becvar post-Alembic.
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+1
While it's indisputable that Becvar built JPJ's instrument, the nerdy question is indeed whether he did so while under Alembic's employ or when he was on his own.

I played a Bruce Becvar 4-string fretless bass that I found in the long-gone Petillo Frets custom guitar shop in Boston way back in 1978, and it was for all intents & purposes identical to JPJ's 8-string (except it also had a Star Wars X-Wing Fighter inlayed on the body in mother-of-pearl).

I also recall seeing a black&white ad for Becvar instruments in an old Guitar Player magazine, & it specifically mentioned (and portrayed) JPJ's 8-string.

Can anyone read the headstock on an old JPJ photo?
 
#13
JPJ had a 1978 Becvar that he bought in a shop in San Francisco where it was on consignment from Becvar. He bought it on a whim, but liked it enough to send it over to Alembic to have the circuit replaced with a Series Alembic circuit from the much more simple and basic Becvar circuit. It is conceivable that Becvar made the bass at Alembic in the evening, but by 1978 he had left Alembic and was building in his own shop in Sonoma. Because it did not have Series electronics to begin with, I doubt he made it while he was at Alembic, or at least finish it there.
 
#14
"Achilles Last Stand" absolutely, positively is the 8 string. But if you listen closely to the rest of Presence, it doesn't quite sound like the 8 string on all the tracks (correct me if I'm wrong). He may have used his Alembic 4 string alot on that record.
 
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