Music videos that feature EB0 to EB4 and SG variant basses...

[uwe]

2005 was a while back.  All I know is that there were a lot of rumors that Jack was playing Felix's bass.  But then I heard even more rumors that the bass was actually Jack's own EB-1.  But I don't know for sure what the accurate version of the story is.  Personally, I lean toward the version of it being Jack's bass.

The version I heard was that Jack wanted to return to his EB-3 for the reunion gigs, but it didn't do anything for him anymore. Decades of playing quality German instruments with a, uhum, slight Spector influence had spoiled him. THEN someone (I believe a bass tech) gave him an EB-1 "to try out" and he fell in love with it. I never heard anything about the origin of that particular EB-1. But Jack must have certainly known that it was a bass very much identified with Felix P.

I like to listen to him no matter what bass he plays. With that Warwick Thumb - butt-ugly as it was - he very much created his own sound as well and perhaps his bass playing was even more impressive on a fretless, (not so infrequent) bum notes and all. (Admittedly, there was a time when I did not much like it, but my tastes have changed.)

[westen44]

The version I heard was that Jack wanted to return to his EB-3 for the reunion gigs, but it didn't do anything for him anymore. Decades of playing quality German instruments with a, uhum, slight Spector influence had spoiled him. THEN someone (I believe a bass tech) gave him an EB-1 "to try out" and he fell in love with it. I never heard anything about the origin of that particular EB-1. But Jack must have certainly known that it was a bass very much identified with Felix P.

I like to listen to him no matter what bass he plays. With that Warwick Thumb - butt-ugly as it was - he very much created his own sound as well and perhaps his bass playing was even more impressive on a fretless, (not so infrequent) bum notes and all. (Admittedly, there was a time when I did not much like it, but my tastes have changed.)

That's also the version of the story I heard.  Some of the details are kind of vague to me now.  I do remember Jack saying in an interview that by 2005 the EB-3 felt like a toy to him, though. 

[Dave W]

Jack discussed his EB-1 in several interviews. He never mentioned or even suggested any connection to Felix. He only mentioned that it had been refretted.

[doombass]

Jack had that EB well before the reunion gigs (52:50 in):

He talks about the bass after the song.

[uwe]

It's amazing how the older Gary Moore would team up with Jack Bruce of all bassists - the same Gary Moore that had driven legions of bassists such as Glenn Hughes, Neil Murray, Craig Gruber and Bob Daisley mad by demanding they play nothing but the root note in eights on his mid-80ies albums. Better late than never, I guess. 

The "I didn't want to sound distorted, the equipment then gave me no choice"-comment I have heard in the exact same way from Roger Glover who has disowned his classic Ric sound on Machine Head, Made in Japan and Who Do We Think We Are as "way too distorted for my taste, I always wanted a clean sound like American bassists seemed to have, but with Deep Purple's stage volumes that just wasn't possible back then".

And Frank Zappa's penchant for the sound of a distorted short scale Gibson bass goes a long way in explaining why he also liked Jim Lea's playing and sound.

[westen44]

It's amazing how the older Gary Moore would team up with Jack Bruce of all bassists - the same Gary Moore that had driven legions of bassists such as Glenn Hughes, Neil Murray, Craig Gruber and Bob Daisley mad by demanding they play nothing but the root note in eights on his mid-80ies albums. Better late than never, I guess. 

The "I didn't want to sound distorted, the equipment then gave me no choice"-comment I have heard in the exact same way from Roger Glover who has disowned his classic Ric sound on Machine Head, Made in Japan and Who Do We Think We Are as "way too distorted for my taste, I always wanted a clean sound like American bassists seemed to have, but with Deep Purple's stage volumes that just wasn't possible back then".

And Frank Zappa's penchant for the sound of a distorted short scale Gibson bass goes a long way in explaining why he also liked Jim Lea's playing and sound.

But it could have been Jack Bruce who extended the invitation to play to Moore.  I posted something here some time ago referring to an interview in which Jack Bruce was asked which guitarist he preferred playing with.  He said Gary Moore.  His reason being that it was probably because he was Scottish and Moore Irish.  But I don't know the specific details of how they got together. 

[uwe]

I think Moore and Bruce first met when they both guested on Cozy Powell's debut solo album in 1979.




Stuff like this here (featuring Powell, Bruce, Moore and Airey):



That track always owed more than a bit to Cobham's Quadrant 4 (with Bolin, Hammer and Sklar) in my ears:



Airey and Moore had a mutual high octane jazz rock history from Colosseum II:



And Airey and Powell had played together in Cozy Powell's Hammer (and of course later on in Rainbow):



All four of them, while earning money with more accessible music, had therefore dabbled with jazz rock: Airey & Moore in Colosseum II, Powell with The Jeff Beck Group and Bruce on several of his more jazzy solo outings. For someone who had played with Ginger Baker, Bruce's fondness for Cozy Powell - a heavy-handed drummer - might seem strange, but he did hold him in high regard. I remember an interview where he lauded him for not joining Led Zep after he allegedly got the offer following Bonzo's death.

[Dave W]

Jack had that EB well before the reunion gigs (52:50 in):

He talks about the bass after the song.

Thanks, Daniel, I hadn't even heard of this video before, I'll have to go back and watch the whole thing.

IIRC he already had the EB-1 when he was playing with Ringo's All Star Band in '97. Who knows, he may have owned it for years before that.

[BTL]

I visit this forum several time per week, and mostly just soak up the anecdotes.

Lots of cool stuff here, and I will be watching that Jack Bruce video as well.

[westen44]

I think Moore and Bruce first met when they both guested on Cozy Powell's debut solo album in 1979.




Stuff like this here (featuring Powell, Bruce, Moore and Airey):



That track always owed more than a bit to Cobham's Quadrant 4 (with Bolin, Hammer and Sklar) in my ears:



Airey and Moore had a mutual high octane jazz rock history from Colosseum II:



And Airey and Powell had played together in Cozy Powell's Hammer (and of course later on in Rainbow):



All four of them, while earning money with more accessible music, had therefore dabbled with jazz rock: Airey & Moore in Colosseum II, Powell with The Jeff Beck Group and Bruce on several of his more jazzy solo outings. For someone who had played with Ginger Baker, Bruce's fondness for Cozy Powell - a heavy-handed drummer - might seem strange, but he did hold him in high regard. I remember an interview where he lauded him for not joining Led Zep after he allegedly got the offer following Bonzo's death.

I had posted some Cozy Powell stuff here a year or two ago.  But I had no idea that's where Jack and Gary met.  I really like "Killer." 

[Grog]

I've always liked BBM. It's rather hard to believe that Ginger Baker is the only survivor of that group. He was the oldest & lived a rough life...……..

[uwe]

"IIRC he already had the EB-1 when he was playing with Ringo's All Star Band in '97. Who knows, he may have owned it for years before that."



I now remember reading that Bruce actually got his EB-1 as a nod towards Macca when he joined Ringo's troop. Playing a real Höfner was out of the question for him, but the EB-1 suited the bill and was kind of a meeting of minds between the Jack- and Paul-instruments legacy worlds.



And outside of Gibson nerd forums such as the esteemed one here, that is what people actually think when they see an EB-1, "Oh, that's a Beatle bass!", I just had that happen again at our rehearsal on Tuesday, when our (comparatively new) drummer pointed at the EB-1 I was playing. I then always do my little speech about Felix Pappalardi and Mountain, but let me tell you: Macca is far more famous!

Re BBM: The critics never left them a chance, but I liked their solitary album though I'm not a great fan in general of either Gary Moore's voice or his (no doubt skillful and recognizable) ultra-intense guitar playing.

For those of you that actually like Gary's blues phase, there is a heartfelt and well-executed tribute album (and let's face it: most tribuite albums are dodgy) under the guidance of Bob Daisley which has really excellent  renditions which in many cases I even like better than Moore's originals:

[Dave W]

That explanation of why he got the EB-1 makes sense.

I noticed that someone in the comments below the video put the starting time for White Room (14:35) so I listened. He plays his Warwick Thumb on that. When you listen in the trio setting, Jack always sounds remarkably like Jack. There are little touches where you know the EB-1 can't go but few people would notice. Soloed, of course there's a big difference.

Incidentally, Cream was one of the answers in the Jeopardy Team Championship playoff match today.

[Dave W]

When that unfortunate gun accident happened, Felix had a couple of EBs, his "wife" (referring to the bass, not Gail), now gathering French fries grease in a Hard Rock Cafe (Toronto?), the one I have (his "second" or "spare") and at least one other - which might have been an RI.  They went on sale from his estate - with a lifelong Pappalardi/Mountain fan, who knew him personally, taking care of the sales. I didn't buy it at the time for the Pappalardi connection (I knew very little outside of Mississippi Queen at that time), but because it was affordable since it was a refin (allegedly done by Gibson), I think it cost me US-$ 5.000 or something. It either had no serial number to begin with or that was overpainted (as was the f hole), but it's a fifties model alright, banjo tuners ((which are a drag), single coil pup etc.

I never use that coil tap thingy, but, yeah, it might be one, doesn't cut power, but midrange frequencies, the sound becomes scooped. The only thing I have changed on it is replace the bar bridge against that Schaller monstrosity that Jack Bruce had on his RAH reunion shwos EB too.

This Vintage Guitar article from 2016 has a subsection on Kip Elder, who maintains guitars for the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando. One paragraph caught my eye:

Other cool instruments to which Elder has lent his expertise include Mountain bassist/producer Felix Pappalardi’s Gibson EB-1. “The headstock had been broken numerous times and repainted trying to hide the damage,” Elder said.

Could this be yours, or could it be the one in Toronto?

[uwe]

If mine has a headstock repair, then it is the best and most invisible headstock repair I've ever (not) seen.

For some reason, mine wasn't Felix' favourite, he didn't play it live much which might explain why it was in such excellent shape - it sure didn't look like a "gigging bass" at all.