| Author | Message | ||
| glocke
Senior Member Username: glocke Post Number: 690 Registered: 9-2002 |
Phil Chen is great. His playing on Jeff Beck's "Blow by Blow" is some of my favorite bass playing. You guys think the strings on his pbass could really be 45 years old????? http://www.bassplayer.com/article/phil-chen-masterclass/jul-09/97409 "Legendary producer George Martin achieved Chen’s sound simply with a DI and a miked Ampeg B-15. In perhaps the ultimate homage to the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Chen’s P-Bass has been his one and only main axe for as long as he’s been playing, and it’s had the same La Bella .052–.110 strings on it for—wait for it—45 years. “It’s still sounding amazing and still going strong,” he proclaims. " | ||
| 811952
Senior Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 1816 Registered: 10-2003 |
I have no problem believing that. I know a couple of people who've been playing longer than I, who have never changed their strings. I am more surprized at the telephone-pole gauges he's using, though I guess that was more normal back in the day.. John | ||
| 811952
Senior Member Username: 811952 Post Number: 1817 Registered: 10-2003 |
Oops. I guess one of those people died last year. I need to get out more. RIP TH. John | ||
| keith_h
Senior Member Username: keith_h Post Number: 1528 Registered: 2-2005 |
If I recall correctly James Jamerson was said to have never changed his strings either. Keith | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 663 Registered: 10-2006 |
I read an interview years (ok, decades) back where (IMS) Harvey Brooks averred that he only changed strings when one broke - and then he rubbed the new ones with BBQ sauce to get the right sound. Hey, it's all accordin' to whatever it takes to make your boat float. Peter | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 664 Registered: 10-2006 |
I read an interview years (ok, decades) back where Harvey Brooks (IMS - might have been Harvey Mandell) averred that he only changed strings when one broke - and then he rubbed the new ones with BBQ sauce to get the right sound. Hey, it's all accordin' to whatever it takes to make your boat float. Peter | ||
| dluxe
Member Username: dluxe Post Number: 72 Registered: 11-2009 |
Anthony Jackson did a great remembrance piece on the late Ronnie Baker (MFSB, Philly Soul Bassist) back around 1990 in Bass Player Magazine. He remarked that Baker would special order extra heavy gauge Fender Flatwounds and rub them with butter and let them sit for a year before putting them on his bass. Even then he said they were still a bit bright. I read years ago in Guitar Player that Joe Osborn would only change the La Bella's on his Jazz Bass when one broke. | ||
| hifiguy
Advanced Member Username: hifiguy Post Number: 208 Registered: 10-2006 |
Re: Phil Chen First, he's a monster player. Second, I heard, not read, him interviewed somewhere once (Standing in the Shadows of Motown, maybe) and the man has the weirdest, most interesting accent I'd ever heard. He sounded like a Jamaican guy with a Chinese accent. Given that he's of Chinese heritage and grew up in Jamaica, that shouldn't be surprising, but it's not something a midwestern boy had ever heard before.  |
