Carol Kaye is at It again

[HeyJude]

Not de-railing this thread too far, but as a 5-string player myself, it's not all about going down to the low B - playing runs further up the fingerboard is made easier and there are more options for finding the required notes.

To dismiss 5-string basses as tasteless is frankly untrue and insulting to players who use them and love them.

(By the way, I also love 4-string basses - I'm playing my 4-string fretless at a gig tonight !)

I think this is a good point. If the bass player is riding the absolute bottom end on the low string all the time, and the low string is a low B, then perhaps it would be overkill on certain types of music. But I don't recall a huge amount of "bong rattling" bass from him.  

I think Lizik is fine; I've very mildly complained (observed is probably a better word) that he is a bit too sterile sounding on the bass for my taste, and that may come from his perhaps having more of an R&B and/or jazz background. I actually thought Mike D'Amico sounded great playing bass on C50. But I also like his drumming a lot too; I somehow doubt he can do both at the same time on stage.

But my original point was simply that, if you pick the player, then I'm all about having the player play whatever allows them to do their thing. That was the point of the Cream analogy. They tried the late 60's gear for the "look" of it, and probably to some degree to try to make it sound more like the original recordings and old live gigs. But they found they were much more comfortable using the gear they liked in the then-modern era.

It was interesting to see on C50 that there appeared to be some sort of potential Gibson sponsorship in the offing, and Al and Dave both used new Gibson gear at the Grammies that year. But apparently at some point Al and Dave made a unified decision to throw out the endorsement deal and just use the gear they wanted.

[Robbie Mac]

I'm just glad Carol Kaye never played wearing a G-string

She wasn't just some bimbo, you know.

[KDS]

I'm just glad Carol Kaye never played wearing a G-string

You can show that, just make sure she's not wearing a fireman hat. 

[guitarfool2002]

The playing of authentic instruments can be as much a treat for the hardcore fans as it is an actual, practical choice. Imagine if Clapton had worked out a deal with Rundgren to borrow that psychedelic "The Fool"-painted SG for the Cream shows, and played it for a few tunes on stage for the reunions. That's the difference between guitarists and regular fans, we look for and at times go crazy over those little touches in a live show or TV special. It was in fact a pretty big deal for McCartney to bring the Hofner bass back on the road, I saw the tour where this happened and it was kind of neat. Now it's ubiquitous. The story I remember is that Elvis Costello and Paul had been collaborating on tunes like Veronica, and Elvis asked if Paul would play the ol' Hofner, and he did. Then Paul, again if I recall, was watching the rooftop film from Let It Be and saw how lightweight and how comfortable he was playing that bass, surely less of a strain than the 5-string Wal bass he had been playing prior to the latest tour. So he resurrected the Hofner, and fans dug it quite a bit. It's never left him on stage since that tour.

But ultimately it's the players choice, obviously, and as mentioned some of the modern instruments are just better players and more reliable than the ones fans associate with these artists from 40-50 years ago. I heard some funny stories about Tony Iommi and his choices of amps when Sabbath got back together a few years ago to record the album with Rick Rubin.

[KDS]

The playing of authentic instruments can be as much a treat for the hardcore fans as it is an actual, practical choice. Imagine if Clapton had worked out a deal with Rundgren to borrow that psychedelic "The Fool"-painted SG for the Cream shows, and played it for a few tunes on stage for the reunions. That's the difference between guitarists and regular fans, we look for and at times go crazy over those little touches in a live show or TV special. It was in fact a pretty big deal for McCartney to bring the Hofner bass back on the road, I saw the tour where this happened and it was kind of neat. Now it's ubiquitous. The story I remember is that Elvis Costello and Paul had been collaborating on tunes like Veronica, and Elvis asked if Paul would play the ol' Hofner, and he did. Then Paul, again if I recall, was watching the rooftop film from Let It Be and saw how lightweight and how comfortable he was playing that bass, surely less of a strain than the 5-string Wal bass he had been playing prior to the latest tour. So he resurrected the Hofner, and fans dug it quite a bit. It's never left him on stage since that tour.

But ultimately it's the players choice, obviously, and as mentioned some of the modern instruments are just better players and more reliable than the ones fans associate with these artists from 40-50 years ago. I heard some funny stories about Tony Iommi and his choices of amps when Sabbath got back together a few years ago to record the album with Rick Rubin.

I can see that.

The first time I saw Van Halen in 2004, it was really cool to see Eddie Van Halen play the red and white "Frankenstein" guitar for a few songs, and Michael Anthony play his Jack Daniel's bass for a few songs. 

[guitarfool2002]

Eddie has in recent years become as much a salesman for his own lines of equipment as the guitarist giving the fans a treat!    I know they did a limited run of "Frankenstein" exact copies a few years ago, accurate to the exact date of the quarter he used to stabilize the Floyd Rose bridge and the cigarette burns on the headstock, if I remember they retailed somewhere upwards of 25 grand. So that's over the top, but if I were paying good cash to see VH play I'd almost be disappointed if "Frankenstein" didn't show up on stage for a few tunes versus whatever brand Eddie is promoting at the time (EVH, Music Man, even Peavey had him for a time...). It's an icon among guitarists.

Another example is Brian May - There have been numerous copies, clones, tribute models, etc but seeing him without that original red guitar he built with his dad and used on most of the recordings would almost be a letdown!

There are also stories about Cheap Trick working on some sessions with John Lennon for what would become Double Fantasy, some of the actual takes came out in the deluxe editions not long ago. Cheap Trick were Beatles fanatics, Rick Neilsen a known guitar freak and avid collector/geek. When they showed up for the sessions, Lennon at that time was playing a variety of guitars like an Ovation, some custom futuristic creation that I can't even remember the name of the maker...hardly "Beatle" guitars. I think it was Neilsen who actually may have gotten up the nerve to ask John "so...what about that Rickenbacker?" or something to that effect.    Even in that setting, I think a guy like Rick Neilsen associated Lennon and the music with those iconic guitars that everyone saw in the 60's, while Lennon himself didn't seem to give that aspect of it a second thought. He was playing an Ovation Balladeer or whatever it was at that time, and it suited him just fine. Not really a concern for what the fans might have expected or wanted him to play.

[KDS]

Eddie has in recent years become as much a salesman for his own lines of equipment as the guitarist giving the fans a treat!    I know they did a limited run of "Frankenstein" exact copies a few years ago, accurate to the exact date of the quarter he used to stabilize the Floyd Rose bridge and the cigarette burns on the headstock, if I remember they retailed somewhere upwards of 25 grand. So that's over the top, but if I were paying good cash to see VH play I'd almost be disappointed if "Frankenstein" didn't show up on stage for a few tunes versus whatever brand Eddie is promoting at the time (EVH, Music Man, even Peavey had him for a time...). It's an icon among guitarists.

Another example is Brian May - There have been numerous copies, clones, tribute models, etc but seeing him without that original red guitar he built with his dad and used on most of the recordings would almost be a letdown!

I thought I was going to witness the last show for Brian May's Red Special. 

In March 2006, I saw Queen + Paul Rodgers in DC.  When the lights went down before the band played "Bad Company," Brian fell into the pit from which Paul Rodgers's grand piano was to ascend.  The way Brian looked at the guitar after two stagehands pulled him out had me worried that the legendary guitar was damaged, but the show went on, and the guitar was fine. 

[Gerry]

Yeah, thank God the guitar was ok.

[harrisonjon]

"It's Oh, Kaye!"