| Author | Message | ||
| hifiguy
Intermediate Member Username: hifiguy Post Number: 146 Registered: 10-2006 |
Sounds to me like either a well recorded Aria or a not quite so well recorded Alembic SI. I wasn't a huge DD fan, but the combination of John Barry's slithery minor key modulations, Nick Rhodes' fab keys, JT's thundering bass and Simon's wildly over the top vocal (which works in the context of a Bond theme) made that one special to me. Please enlighten if you can. | ||
| white_cloud
Senior Member Username: white_cloud Post Number: 411 Registered: 11-2007 |
As far as I can remember JT was also using Kubicki basses at thiat time - could be one of those! John | ||
| terryc
Senior Member Username: terryc Post Number: 532 Registered: 11-2004 |
He did use Aria at the time too(as mentioned) A lot of bands used Aria basses in the 80's, from a distance they did look like Alembics and Aria did install MXY/AXY pu's in some models too. I am not a fan of DD but The Wedding Album is supposed to be there best ever. | ||
| briant
Advanced Member Username: briant Post Number: 209 Registered: 12-2004 |
I don't know. But I did want to point out that John Taylor is a very good bass player. Pay attention to what he's playing on "Rio". Awesome bassline. "Girls On Film" also has a fantastic bass part. | ||
| tomhug
Junior Username: tomhug Post Number: 12 Registered: 7-2008 |
I agree about John Taylor's bass playing, although I am loathe to admit listening to DD in a public forum. But hey, I came of age in the 80's and my girlfriend loved them . . . From WikiPedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Taylor_(bass_guitarist)) "The bass guitar most commonly associated with John Taylor is the Japanese Aria Pro II, which he used during the height of Duran Duran's fame; he also promoted the instrument in a series of magazine advertisements. In the mid-1980s, John tried other basses such as Steinberger and Wal (interestingly, although the Wal is considered by many to be one of the world's finest basses, Taylor was unimpressed with his). Taylor eventually settled on Phillip Kubicki's Factor bass with a unique drop-D latch on the head. Taylor also inherited the Music Man StingRay belonging to his idol Bernard Edwards. As of 2007, Taylor still plays the Aria and the Stingray, but has also been seen playing a 1962 reissue Fender Precision Bass, a Gibson Les Paul bass, a Warwick Thumb 5 and a Peavey Cirrus 5 and 4 string. Noting Taylor's loyalty to the same Peavey bass guitar onstage with Duran Duran for several years, in early 2006, Peavey Guitars asked Taylor to create a signature 4-string bass guitar. With his design partner Patty Palazzo, and designer Ted McCann, Taylor created the limited-edition "Peavey Liberator J84", which featured a detachable amplifier built into a custom-built case. The amp could be expanded into an external speaker or amplifier to increase volume and flexibility. Taylor went on to design a six-string guitar, the "Peavey Liberator A435" (named after the main road that led from his childhood home into the city of Birmingham, England), as well. Only 100 each of the numbered-and-signed basses and guitars were made available to the public, in October 2006." Bass Player Article : (http://www.bassplayer.com/article/duran-durans-john/dec-07/32777) "Current Basses Peavey Cirrus 4MFB 4-string & 5MFB 5-string; Bernard Edwards’s ’77 Music Man StingRay and B.C. Rich; Bass Centre Elites Stainless Steel Stadium Series strings (.045–.130) ’80s & ’90s Basses Aria Pro II SB600, Aria Pro II SB1000; Kubicki Factor; Yamaha and Washburn acoustic bass guitars; Steinberger XM-4; Warwick Thumb 5-string; Carruthers electric upright bass; Gibson Les Paul Basses" More here: http://www.coreoneproduct.com/pages/featured/WeShare/C1CBlogSpot/JohnTaylor.html | ||
| hifiguy
Intermediate Member Username: hifiguy Post Number: 147 Registered: 10-2006 |
Thanks, all. I'm gonna make the Aria my most likely suspect on this tune. Totally agree that JT is a massively underrated bassist. see he is now a long time Peavey Cirrus endorser. Played a Cirrus 5 once and it's the only 5 I've ever played that didn't make me think constantly about which string my hands were on and get all confused. Needless to say I've never played an Alembic 5, but I am thinking a Cirrus might be a good place for me to take an initial whack at the extended range. I always liked Kubickis, too. |
