"The result is a unique multi-dimensional look that reveals the beauty of the instrument’s finish while emphasizing historic Gibson style."
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/matchbox-twenty-bassist-427/"Brian Yale was 13 when he had his first bass lesson — on a one-pickup Gibson SG-shaped EB-0. Late last year the bassist for mega-pop heroes Matchbox Twenty had a happy reunion.
“When the band stays in L.A., we’re two blocks from the Gibson Showroom,” he says. “I was always walking by, and one day I decided to stop in and I saw all these beautiful guitars, and I started purchasing a bunch of them.”
He started with a Custom Shop SG Standard Reissue VOS (Vintage Original Spec) and went from there. “I have an extensive instrument collection,” the one-time high-school band trumpeter explains, “because I believe that anything that inspires you to get excited about picking it up and playing music is worthwhile.”
Although Yale’s known for using high-tech basses during Matchbox Twenty’s 14-year career, on hits like “Bent,” “If You’re Gone,” “Unwell” and “How Far We’ve Come,” it didn’t take long for the historic lure of the classic Gibson look and sound to hit home for him.
“I bought the reissue SG Standard Bass,” Yale said. “It brought things full circle for me.” Not only to the shape of the first bass he held, but to the sounds of the classic rock he grew up on as a kid listening to radio in Connecticut during the ’80s. “The Beatles, the Doors, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Yes … that was what I was hearing before I was playing in bands, and what got me interested in playing rock and roll,” Yale says.
One of his favorite bass sounds belongs to Jefferson Airplane’s Jack Casady. “I’ve aimed for that big, flat-wound, heavy thudding sound on bass for a lot of my career, but,” Yale relates, “I’ve never owned a semi-hollow body.”
That changed when he added Epiphone’s Jack Casady signature model to his arsenal. The instrument’s special JCB-1 low-impedance pickups zero right in on that warm, natural tone.
But Yale’s current pride and joy is his Gibson USA sunburst Thunderbird IV, which he’s given some extra love.
“I’ve made some modifications to that bass to really make it mine,” he relates, “and it plays great and look beautiful.
“When I got it in December, I took off the pickguard to get a look at the kind of cavity that was underneath. I was surprised how pretty the lower horn that it covers looked in the sunburst. I wanted to bring more of that out. Plus, I wanted to replace the white pick guard, because they can be too distracting. A white pickguard brings your eyes right to it. All of my instruments have black pickguards.”
Except, now, for that T-bird. Yale contacted Gibson to request a clutch of vintage style pickguards, in black with a gold Thunderbird logo etched into their surface. He and a friend cut out the logo using a contour similar to the shape of the full-sized pickguard, and then set the golden bird beneath a clear acrylic pickguard replacement for the instrument’s original white guard. The result is a unique multi-dimensional look that reveals the beauty of the instrument’s finish while emphasizing historic Gibson style.
Yale also replaced the tuning pegs on his Thunderbird and his SG model with Hipshot Ultralights, which required filling in the SG peg holes a bit. “That reduced the weight of the headstocks, which improved the overall balance of the basses for me,” he says. Both instruments also got GB-7 Bass Xtenders, so they can be put in dropped D tuning with the flip of a switch.
“I’ve used dropped D on every album we’ve recorded,” Yale says. “I will play five-string, but I’m a devoted four-string bass player, so that’s how I lower my bottom string. D is a popular key for our singer, so I’ve recorded many, many songs in dropped D.”
Yale has yet to take his Thunderbird, SG and Jack Casady Epiphone basses into the studio, but he’s putting them through their paces while Matchbox Twenty is on hiatus.
“My plan is to go old-school with these instruments on our next recordings,” he says.
As part of that effort, he’s also worked on his plectrum style. “I’ve never played with a pick on any of our albums, and I’m using a pick with the Thunderbird especially,” Yale says. “It’s giving me a tone I’ve never used. That sound is what enamored me recently about Kings of Leon. Jared Followill uses a pick with his Thunderbird bass.”
Yale’s discovered that while using a pick he can sing harmonies, which he’d never been able to do while finger-picking his bass. “I don’t know why, but it’s much easier,” he allows, “so now I can sing harmony when the band plays live.”
So what’s next on his Gibson wish list?
“I’ve got a Gibson A-9 mandolin coming in the mail,” he says excitedly. “I’ve been playing mandolin for the last six months. On the last album mandolin was featured more prominently, and it’s on a few singles. When I work on new instruments — I’ve also been playing lap steel and acoustic guitar lately — I learn parts from our songs so I can perform them with the band. So my goal is to learn those mandolin parts well enough to play them live.”
