The Last Bass Outpost

Now I don't "hate the f***ing Eagles", but the guy (he's called Fil) in the vid builds an elaborate and compelling case that Henley's voice is canned (and if it wasn't, I doubt the vid would still be up without the mighty Eagles swooping down). I don't discount the possibility that Henley only uses it on some nights when he feels his voice isn't up to it and, yes, the Eagles have never been shy to doctor their Live albums in the studio for release, especially the vocals.

I like the way Fil avoids to scandalize the whole thing, it's almost like he regrets having found out, he's not an Eagles or Don Henley hater at all.

Ouch. The quest for perfection and how it leads men astray …

It might only be something as banal as changing the width or the length of the strap. And I dare not say it, but TBirds are not the most ergonomic creation on earth, tough it's difficult imagining you of all people playing anything else.

Do consider changing to ballerinas before giving up performing!

I was impressed with the shorter heels!

Tom, a man of great prudence, has decided to banish all undue excitement from his life. 

He only found his voice and place in the mix within DP with the Ric.

Curiously, when Glenn (a committed Fender player with Trapeze) recorded Burn at the recommendation of Ritchie (who liked Roger's Ric and played it frequently for fun) that didn't work at all. For lack of significant mids, Glenn's bass playing on Burn is sonically hard to catch (and no remix could correct that so far), it has sub-lows (more than Roger actually) and zingy presence, but no mids to speak of and less overdrive (though Glenn by nature digs in harder when playing than Roger and these days even prefers a very overdriven to already distorted sound). People always lament "Burn needs more bass in the mix!", but, no, it doesn't, it needs more mids in the bass signal.

It might have something to do with Glenn playing Hiwatts while Roger played Marshall guitar amps (and Martin Birch's engineering methods were to Glenn as new as Glenn's bass playing was to Martin, + the bass probably sounded great and mighty over the studio monitors of the Rolling Stones Mobile Unit too).The Ric didn't last long with Glenn, already halfway on the Burn tour he started playing Fender P again and both Stormbringer and Come Taste The Band are devoid of Rickenbacker playing. So is Made In Europe (the pics on the cover are from previous tours before he ditched the 4001).

For a while, Roger would dig out his 4001 in the Morse era of DP for encores or when playing "dun-dun-duuuhhhn", but he stopped doing that as well a while ago. He still has it though (after re-purchase).

Mark, you eternal Thünderqueen, long may you reign on stage - and if it is in flip-flops or Birkis (do they offer them in a reptile skin look?)!

I hear you, but the reality is that Roger never really wanted that sound, it was a product of circumstance and the absence of overdrive-free amplification, he always looked for something cleaner thinking that Blackmore’s and Lord’s respective signals were already distorted/overdriven enough. These days he’s simply a devout active bass player hence the Vigiers which he prefers in live settings. He also records with his Stingray and even Bob Ezrin’s sacred P-Bass which was already employed during the recording of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and reputedly hasn’t seen a string change since because Ezrin fears it might lose its trademark sound.

But that Ric sound Roger had on Machine Head, Made In Japan and Who Do We Think We Are was indeed great  and the reason why I prefer these albums sonically over In Rock (Fender P) and Fireball (Fender Mustang).