The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: EvilLordJuju on January 30, 2008, 11:44:44 AM
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I'm pleased to announce the GibsonBass Ralphe Armstrong interview
http://www.gibsonbass.com/ralpheArmstrong.php (http://www.gibsonbass.com/ralpheArmstrong.php)
Its another by John (barklessdog) Fertig, and just like the last, he gets some great responses to some key questions.
Find out a little about Ralphes bands, approach to playing... and find out a lot more about the very many Gibson basses he used - including a fretless mahogany RD artist. How many people do you know who played one of those?
By John Fertig, June 2007 Ralphe Armstrong was born into a family of musicians, and with the help of classical training as a child, he was a professional musician before he had finished his teens. His talent caught the eye of Gibson; he was chosen to endorse their basses from the mid 1970s, and as an advisor, he had input on new products such as the Ripper, G-3, RD Artist and Victory.
His early career placed him with a wide range of musicians, most notably jazz fusion acts Mahavishnu Orchestra and Jean-Luc Ponty. Later, he took time out to raise his children, but soon returned, playing jazz, funk, and even hip-hop, with the likes of Eddie Harris, James Carter, Curtis Mayfield and D-12.
Ralphe talks about his playing, musical career, Gibson endorsement, and of course, his Gibson bass guitars.
Thanks Ralphe, and thanks John!
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As usual: Excellently and lovingly done.
Trust John to sneak something about Mahavishnu into any Gibson forum if you let him. Prog bog all around. ::) ;D ;D ;D
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Thats verboten against the bye laws here cast by Mr. W?
The name never to be uttered at the outpost.
I did the interview via phone and I have to tell you it was a humbling experience as he and his father are woven into the very fabric of music history. He is a very warm, humble and highly educated man. He has so many stories from Jaco, playing with Eminem, to Motown & Jamerson. Amazing guy.
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Good interview.
So John, have you tracked down Marion Hayden to buy that maho RD yet :P
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Jules tried but, I believe he recieved no replies.
She is still there teaching & playing I guess.
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Nice interview like always. Thanks!
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Great read.
And what a great bassplayer! (I had never heard of him... :-[ )
Al had this bass, he would let me use his equipment and I ended up using this bass. I wish I could find one today. It was a Gibson Studio Les Paul Bass [Les Paul Triumph bass]. It had in and out phase switches and was a light colored mahogany finish. That was a good sounding bass. I loved the sound of that. That was the first Gibson bass I ever played at a gig with a group.
Someone please tell him that Les Paul Basses / Triumphs regularly pop up on Ebay ;)
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Someone please tell him that Les Paul Basses / Triumphs regularly pop up on Ebay ;)
He doesn't really use the net - we're not sure he will even get to see the interview!
So John, have you tracked down Marion Hayden to buy that maho RD yet :P
Yeah, I tried to get some pics of it, or maybe a quote on how much she likes it... and yes I offered to buy it - her price paid.... no reply.
I guess it will appear on ebay within the next half century. Anyone planning on living that long?
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I hadn't heard of him either, no surprise considering my musical tastes. But well done, it's a very informative interview.
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Great interview! I had only seen him pictured with Fenders, never knew he was so closely associated with Gibson. It's so rare to see someone speak in such glowing terms about Gibson basses! I especially like his comments on the EB-2, and its "warm sound."
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Great reading!
I love gibsonbass site and the community of people that is now here re-united again on bassoutpost.
[I wanan take this occasion to say hello to everybody here and tell that I'm so glad that there is again a place like this, simple, nice and with the right light and friendly mood to talk and read gibson bass related stuff]
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Nice to see you found your way over here Ampang.
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Cool! I'll check it out ASAP!
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I hadn't heard of him either, no surprise considering my musical tastes. But well done, it's a very informative interview.
Since when do you have any? :-X
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He doesn't really use the net - we're not sure he will even get to see the interview!
Yeah, I tried to get some pics of it, or maybe a quote on how much she likes it... and yes I offered to buy it - her price paid.... no reply.
I guess it will appear on ebay within the next half century. Anyone planning on living that long?
Liebe Frau Hayden,
It has come to my my attention how a certain Herr Jules has been intruding your respected privacy to acquire/purloin a mahogany RD from your good hands. My altruistic self sees me honor-bound to tell you that this man is of notoriously ill repute - his grubby fish & chips drenched, B.C. Rich-owning hands will also do horrible things to your bass, trust me.
That said, I'll double his price to integrate your precious instrument in my humble collection whose proceeds unselfishly fund a Third World orphanage.
Yours most sincerely,
Uwe
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I've just ordered Jean-Luc Ponty - Live on the basis of John's interview with Ralphe. Always liked Ponty's work on - don't laugh now - Sir Elton's Honky Chateau.
Uwe
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My father played violin in an local orchestra, so I always had a weak spot for violin. Jean Luc Ponty inspired me in so many ways, I saw him with Ralphe in 78 and Ralphe was a reason I ordered an RD. The pictures in the article were from the booklet I bought at the show back then. It had been stored away all these years.
I had been searching for Ralphe for a long time, he has no computer, E-mail or web page, Myspace - nothing! No management nothing.
The way I found him was search after search time I came up with a Detroit drummer who said on his Myspace page he sometimes [plays with Ralphe. I PM him, he said he knows Ralphe and gave me his Cell Number
First let me say that Ralphe is far more than just a Fusion Bass player (Although that is what he is known for)
He is really a classical bass violin player who found his niche the fretless bass, which he sees as an extension of the Upright. He is really intelligent & gifted musician who really plays all types of music from R&B, Blues, Jazz, Classical, Hip Hop and anything else.
To answer Robs question, yes, I did tell him about Ebay, but unfortunately he is so busy with his business ventures, recording, playing, teaching and everything in-between he just never got into computers. He said his son is trying to get some web pages together, but for him, I dont think he cares really, he's more concerned with living "real" life, playing etc, than learning how to use a computer.
I told him about Jules buying that Ralphe Armstrong fretless RD add on Ebay. He was just shocked, he could not understand that someone would sell a magazine add and that someone would be foolish enough to pay money for it. He was totally dumbfounded by it.
Every time I talk to him he keeps telling me he wants a new 5 string Tbird and also how he would love to get a triumph again.
Mike Watt, Justim Meldan Johnson & Ralphe all have something in common, they all really love "All" Gibson basses- They "get it" about them the way we all do. I find it reassuring that I am not imagining or am delusional about it and the more professional musicians that feel the same, validates my personal feelings.
Chris if you want I can call Ralphe if you want to interview him and set something up. I'm sure he would be thrilled to do it.
Once again thanks to Jules because I am meeting and talking with my personal bass idols under the guise of "interviews" . I feel like a little kid in High school, except now I would have something to say to them that's not totally stupid.
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Also I wanted to say that when Ralphe left Jean Luc Ponty, the young aspiring bass player who replaced him was American Idol Judge Randy Jackson- one hell of a bass player (saw him with Billy Cobhan)
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I've just ordered Jean-Luc Ponty - Live
I bought a few CDs in the process of doing this inteview, (some of which i'm still waiting for) - that is a great album. The first Mahavishnu Orchestra album with him on (apocalypse) features the London Symphony Orch, and is produced by George Martin - i'm curious about that - still waiting on amazon to get it to me...
Quite keen to know exactly what he recorded with Santna and Jeff Beck (two guitarists I prefer vastly to John McLaughlin)
I wish i'd had longer to check out the music - there is more i'd liked to have asked him. Still you never know, we could to a pt 2 one day....
Liebe Frau Hayden,
I'll double his price to integrate your precious instrument in my humble collection
she'll be wondering why she keeps getting random emails asking to buy her bass.... Unfortunately my buying power is unlikely to ever match yours Uwe (unless you decide to become a painter or something.... go on!) - still if theres one, I guess there could be a few more.... and to be honest I would prefer a fretted mahogany RD.
Why don't you email her and offer her stupid money. You never know what she would say to 5k..... 10k ... how much was your bonus this year? ;)
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I have the feeling if Ralphe were a true friend of hers, she likely would not to part with it, as I'm willing to bet Ralphe sold it to her for a realy low price way back when. For her to re-sell it at a large sum, would be kind of a bad thing to do, if Ralphe found out.
There are always estate sales to look for in the future for those of you in Michigan.
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I was joking - if you can get your hands on this bass, Jules, I'm happy for you to have it. I'd imagine it to sound like an Ovation Magnum II (I bet a fretless maho RD with the Artist electronics would sound great, better than any fretted maple RD ever would). A world in which all Gibson bass rarities would be gobbled up by me would be a very sad one indeed - no one to really talk to!
And when you finally turn to painting, I'll buy it off ya!!! In Euros, which will - after the umpteenth deferred referendum - then even have been introduced on your little island!!!
Uwe
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I have the feeling if Ralphe were a true friend of hers, she likely would not to part with it
Yes, I think you are right John, some things money can't buy. Although I offered to buy it from her, it was a flippant remark really - I was more interested in her thoughts on it (and a nice picture maybe) - as a side note to the interview.
It would be interesting, though, to check whether the electronics, and everthing else are identical to the production version, and even more interesting to get some sound clips. Maybe she'll find this thread one day and oblige....
Yeah, I know you were joking Uwe; I don't judge people by their nationality. I appreciate the fact that some Germans have a sense of humour ;D
And for the record, i'm in a rare minority, but i'd be more than happy to have the Euro over here. In fact I can't wait for the whole (outdated) notion of countries to be abolished. In the worlds of Ralphe Armstrong.. "are you ready to be a planetary citizen?"
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Since when do you have any? :-X
I'm a sensitive guy and I'm really hurt by that remark. :'( :P ;D
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I retract my statement. :-\ :-[ :'( And it is of course blatantly untrue as you own a Deep Purple 6 CD box which you avidly listen to. Especially Glenn Hughes' vocal and bass acrobatics on Getting Tighter if I recall correctly. :-*
Unless you've sold it?
Uwe
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Of course I still own it. I wouldn't quite say I avidly listen to it. ;) But I did try.
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More avoidly than avidly then? :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d11MN-oUgkY
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This is why rock bass solos should be banned from music
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Well done, as usual, and a good read. Never heard of him - I need to check out some of his stuff.
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Killer Avatar Uwe!
Very sophisticated, glad you did not use that silly purple clown bass!
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SPCB? Now you're starting to give me ideas ...
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Only if you wear harlequin tights or spandex with it (Then audition for Yes, although you will need to ad 20 years)
Actually I like the SPCB, it has a Southern California hot rod look, that's right up there with the Bongo as far as cool industrial designs go, but in it's pointyness actually anti Bongo.
They filmed the next Batman here in Chicago over last summer. Pitty that Heath could not use your bass in the movie. Poor Heath either way, his last role being the Joker?
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You mean Heath?
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I think he did!
I think he played brilliantly in Brokeback Mountain. RIP
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I never really heard of him, till he died, but remembered him in the wonderful Mel Gibson Hatchet movie
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I'm looking forward to seeing his Joker character in the new Batman movie. He's done some good work in other movies as well. He was great in 'Lords of Dogtown'.
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Ralphe Armstrong is in the new Batman movie? :o
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Moderator, don't give away the contents of the new Batman box office blockbuster just yet, ok?
Moving swiftly on to Jean-Luc Ponty: I am now equipped with a double CD Rhino compilation of his seventies and eighties work (with Ralphe on many tracks) and have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. Not so much jazzish than progish, some of it could be early Kansas backing tracks (or Kansas took influence from Jean-Luc ...). Very melodic songwriting, none of that "seventies-fusion-show-your-chops!" going on. And while the music is melodically and harmonically very accessible to someone with not much of a jazz-trained ear (like me), it never descends into Kenny G. elevator muzak.
Thanks for infecting me, John!
Uwe
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Your Welcome.
Jean Luc Ponty's music is in its own class, just great MUSIC.
I have not met many who have not liked Jean Luc Ponty. Even my father who was a classical violinist, liked his music.
His work with Zappa was pretty good too. My favorite Zappa band- Fowlers, George Duke , Ruth Underwood, & Ponty
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pXkkcr7ABjo
This was my favorite Ralphe clip, although his part is simple it just takes the whole song to another level. His fretless Victory sounds amazing thru the Maestro Bass Brassmaster at around 3:00. The bass almost takes on a Taurus pedal sound. Works great with the fretless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVLQ50A6KCY
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That clip also answers your question, John, whether Ralphe played a Victory Standard or an Artist fretless. Look at 6.40 of the clip - it's an Artist by the controls configuration, the double pups and the fin (sunburst, not available for the Standard). I saw an ebony fretless Victory Artist on ebay some years ago for around 600 or 700 bucks, should have snapped it up. :-\ I do have a fretless Standard:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v615/uwehornung/4a_31.jpg)
Uwe
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Here is a picture from a Gibson newsletter that in in rout to Jules , that I was the middleman for-
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/Fenderbird/Musicians/RALPHEVICTORY.jpg)
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Saw the Mahavishnu Apocalypse tour in a small theater in Cincinnati...Ralphe was playing a fretless precision through an SVT---amazing player....I was in about the 3rd or 4th row...they really toured with an orchestra...
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Here is a picture from a Gibson newsletter that in in rout to Jules , that I was the middleman for-
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v104/Fenderbird/Musicians/RALPHEVICTORY.jpg)
Not sure if it's the look on his face, or the way he's standing - but he certainly looks like he's getting down with that thing. Cookin' is the word all right
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Also I wanted to say that when Ralphe left Jean Luc Ponty, the young aspiring bass player who replaced him was American Idol Judge Randy Jackson- one hell of a bass player (saw him with Billy Cobhan)
I still think of Randy Jackson as "the guy that replaced Ralphe Armstrong". ;D
Great work on Mystical Adventures.
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The footage on youtube appears to have been moved, as has the original link, but the web-site photo clearly shows the head, and significantly, the "Artist" Phoenix like inlay...
... And anyone that says anything against fretless maple RD's will traumatise me... :sad: