Rex Brown Tbird?

[ilan]

A short scale neck-thru? Gruesome.

[uwe]

But Stanley C. may do anything he wants! The 'manliest' jazz rock player there is, even with a short scale. He can do no wrong.

Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi!!!

[ilan]

I once shook his hand. He's a giant. He plays his upright bass like a ukulele.

Here he is with another shorter-than-34" neck-thru. Gruesome? I think not.

[uwe]

Let's see: Given the inherent limitations of that particular niche brand of undersized bass guitar, anybody getting a proper sound out of it truly deserves to be lauded.



PS: I find Stanley's bass playing extremely physical and muscular. I can marvel watching him while Jaco - no doubt a brilliant player - leaves me cold. Weather Report is nice to hear plus airy and all that, but Return to Forever is 'heavy jazz rock' that connects with me.

PPS: Together with the TBird, the Ric 4001/4003 is the artisiest, purest, most idiosyncratic & complete plus prettiest bass design ever. Nuff said.

[gearHed289]

Let's see: Given the inherent limitations of that particular niche brand of undersized bass guitar, anybody getting a proper sound out of it truly deserves to be lauded.

Well thank you Uwe!

PS: I find Stanley's bass playing extremely physical and muscular. I can marvel watching him while Jaco - no doubt a brilliant player - leaves me cold. Weather Report is nice to hear plus airy and all that, but Return to Forever is 'heavy jazz rock' that connects with me.

Likewise.

PPS: Together with the TBird, the Ric 4001/4003 is the artisiest, purest, most idiosyncratic & complete plus prettiest bass design ever. Nuff said.

No argument here!

[ilan]

Well that was a nice thread derailment.

[morrow]

I picked up a 4000 after using a 4001 for years and was quite surprised to find I did not miss the neck pickup and the extra knobs one bit .
In fact , the simplicity of just two knobs is nice .
Great sounding bass .

[uwe]

Well that was a nice thread derailment.

You have a habit of doing that, Ilan, really. It drives me nuts. 





... 

[morrow]

I once shook his hand. He's a giant. He plays his upright bass like a ukulele.

Here he is with another shorter-than-34" neck-thru. Gruesome? I think not.

That might well be a set neck .

[Alanko]

I've never heard a Stanley Clarke bass tone that has approached pleasing.

[amptech]

I've never heard a Stanley Clarke bass tone that has approached pleasing.

Didn't he use an EB-2 on the first RTF album?
I must admit though, the only RTF albums to get my attention was no mystery and hymn of the 7th galaxy.
I spent a few hours learning the title cut of the latter back in the day, so I guess he was some kind of early influence - but I admit that his tone was not really spongeworthy.

[ilan]

Didn't he use an EB-2 on the first RTF album?

From Vintage Guitar Magazine interview, January 2015 issue:

My first electric bass was a Kent. I think it cost $20 [...] After that, I got a Gibson EB-O with black strings on it, I don’t know what they were, but they sounded dull, man. I played it in early Return to Forever, too, until Rick Turner came to a gig in San Francisco and politely said, "You’re a really good player, but your sound sucks." Said it just like that! [...] and he went to his car and brought back one of the first Alembic basses. I played that thing, and it was like night and day. [...] On Return to Forever’s Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, I used a Gibson except on one tune, "Theme to the Mother Ship."

I think his early bass guitar tone stems from him being first an upright bass player.

If Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy was recorded with an EB-0, then it's the best use of an EB-0 I've heard. But on another interview he said, "Before the Alembic I was playing a Gibson EB-0, and it’s a nasty-sounding bass. It looked like a Chet Atkins guitar." Huh? Maybe he had an EB-2 or an EB-2D? I've never seen a picture of him with a Gibson (other than one with a black G3).

[godofthunder]

I picked up a 4000 after using a 4001 for years and was quite surprised to find I did not miss the neck pickup and the extra knobs one bit .
In fact , the simplicity of just two knobs is nice .
Great sounding bass .

   I had a 4000 in the early 80's,   est Ric I ever owned! I sold it to finance my move to Boston in '83 to become a Rockstar.

[amptech]

If Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy was recorded with an EB-0, then it's the best use of an EB-0 I've heard. But on another interview he said, "Before the Alembic I was playing a Gibson EB-0, and it’s a nasty-sounding bass. It looked like a Chet Atkins guitar." Huh? Maybe he had an EB-2 or an EB-2D? I've never seen a picture of him with a Gibson (other than one with a black G3).

This calls for investigation
I believe I read about the EB-2 in a Turner interview.
In a bass player column or something.
Maybe I have to dig out those RTF albums too!

[Alanko]

Didn't he use an EB-2 on the first RTF album?
I must admit though, the only RTF albums to get my attention was no mystery and hymn of the 7th galaxy.
I spent a few hours learning the title cut of the latter back in the day, so I guess he was some kind of early influence - but I admit that his tone was not really spongeworthy.

I can't fault his playing. The speed and technique he achieved on The Romantic Warrior is very impressive. It's the plastic-y ultra treble and low action scuzz that I don't really like in his tone.