Calling All Guitarists- Bassists, Too!

[Shooshie]

My Yamaha WX-5 Wind Controller is my favorite guitar. Of course, I have to play VI guitars, but that's my main axe for MIDI. Sorry... I just couldn't resist joining the thread, and I don't play more than about 8 chords on the guitar!

Shooshie

[Kind Of Loud]

My Yamaha WX-5 Wind Controller is my favorite guitar. Of course, I have to play VI guitars, but that's my main axe for MIDI. Sorry... I just couldn't resist joining the thread, and I don't play more than about 8 chords on the guitar!

Shooshie

That's OK Shoosh....!!!!!
We're just gonna jam a riff in E...
You're good to go...!!!

[Matcher]

My Yamaha WX-5 Wind Controller is my favorite guitar. Of course, I have to play VI guitars, but that's my main axe for MIDI. Sorry... I just couldn't resist joining the thread, and I don't play more than about 8 chords on the guitar!

Shooshie

That's OK Shoosh....!!!!!
We're just gonna jam a riff in E...
You're good to go...!!!

You got me thinking of a UN- jam, an easy blues song in E that would have little solos played by 'cornies. I think we should use only DP VI's and make it a showcase for the VIs while were at it. It would be posted in the DP Showcase forum. The song could be called something like "OMF import blues" or "The tooltips blues" Maybe we should add vocals too and track suggestions for 5.2, and send it to MOTU

[chrispick]

My Yamaha WX-5 Wind Controller is my favorite guitar. Of course, I have to play VI guitars, but that's my main axe for MIDI. Sorry... I just couldn't resist joining the thread, and I don't play more than about 8 chords on the guitar!

Shooshie

That's OK Shoosh....!!!!!
We're just gonna jam a riff in E...
You're good to go...!!!

Just don't break out the key-tar, lest we throw a headset mic on you and call you "The Ghost of Namm, 1991."

[Kind Of Loud]

You got me thinking of a UN- jam, an easy blues song in E that would have little solos played by 'cornies. I think we should use only DP VI's and make it a showcase for the VIs while were at it. It would be posted in the DP Showcase forum. The song could be called something like "OMF import blues" or "The tooltips blues" Maybe we should add vocals too and track suggestions for 5.2, and send it to MOTU

We should get "monkey man" to write the lyrics..!!!
Tell me that wouldn't be good...!!!!

HEY JAMES...!!!!!
Wanna pull double duty and sing...???!!!

[Kind Of Loud]

Just don't break out the key-tar, lest we throw a headset mic on you and call you "The Ghost of Namm, 1991."

HA! HA!
Oh man...!!!!

[Jim]

5 (still living... so far):

John McLaughlin
Al DiMieola
Steve Howe
Steve Hackett
Allan Holdsworth
Mark Knopfler
Steve Stevens
Scott Henderson

Bassists (ditto):

Gary Willis
Percy Jones
Victor Wooten
Jonas Hellborg
Tony Levin

[mikebeckmotu]

1. Of the guitars you own, which one(s) are your favorite to play and why?
I probably play my Telecaster most often as its pretty versatile. I have a National Resophonic that makes me smile just by holding it. When the Tele or my old Strat aren't cutting it, I play a Gibson SG. I also have a Gretsch archtop acoustic from 1957 that is somewhat hard to play but usually rewards me with something. I also tend to collect really cheap, crappy guitars, because I have this guitar sickness I'm holding in denial.

2. Of the guitars you do not own, which one(s) do you covet and why?
Gretsch 6120 or similar. With FilterTron pickups, it just has "that" sound.
Rickenbacker 6-string for some jangle-a-thon.
Archtops, archtops and more archtops.

3. What are your preferred pre's, heads, cabinets and cables-- and style of music?
I like my Toneport for recording many things, but if I had a permanent place to record, I'd use my Fender Twin or Marshall with mics. Cables? I don't even know what brand I use. I don't really play any one style of music, so I like to have a lot of options.

4. Strings!! Gauge? Brand? Frequency you change them?
I had a case of Dean Markleys from the 80s (10 gauge) that ran out a few years ago. Those things lasted forever, which is probably why they quit selling that particular type. I'm just now trying a few different brands. I change them when they start to sound dull to me. Except on my G&L bass - those strings have been on there so long I forget what they are - I think they were Blue Steel cryogenic something or other. For acoustic, I use a heavier gauge.

5. Name your top five favorite guitarists or bassists of all time.
Marc Ribot, Django Reinhardt, Jeff Beck, Birelli Lagrene, oh heck, just see chrispick's list. I'll go on record to state that I happen to think Angus Young is underrated. I wouldn't know for sure who to list as a bassist, but I have the album "Wood" from Brian Bromberg that puts me in awe.

[blue]

I'm just gonna skip to my top 5 guitarists.

Jimi Hendrix
Frank Zappa
David Gilmore
Derek Trucks
Adrian Belew

[AlMacMeister]

1. Of the guitars you own, which one(s) are your favorite to play and why?

My circa 1978 (that I've had since around 1978) Yamaha classical; that's the one that "has all the songs in it". I do a lot of my writing on that one (even though I do prog rock, not classical though; I know, weird.)

As for basses, my Fender MB-5 Five string; why? cause' it's all I have as far as basses!

2. Of the guitars you do not own, which one(s) do you covet and why?

coveted guitars:

a lefty Gibson ES-335; cause I had a chance to buy one once when I had the money and didn't and now I'm kicking myself. Or either of my 2 lefty Gibson Les Paul studio's that I had to sell back in the '90s to pay some bills. The two that got away...sigh.

coveted bass:
Rickenbacker 4001; why? the buzz!!

3. What are your preferred pre's, heads, cabinets and cables-- and style of music?

Fender Twin probably the one I like playing through the best. Style of music; Prog rock

I absolutely looove running my bass through a SansAmp GT2; gives it a bit of that top end "growl" when attacked hard.

4. Strings!! Gauge? Brand? Frequency you change them?

D'addario exl110 10 46's for electrics, Martin Folk guitar strings (silk & steel) .0115-.047's for my acoustic guitars and D'addario Pro-Arte (normal tension) for the classicals. I always change 'em a couple of days before recording, or when one string breaks.

5. Name your top five favorite guitarists or bassists of all time.

guitar: Eric Johnson, Alex Lifeson, Herb Ellis, Jeff Healy, John Petrucci
bass: Geddy Lee, Chris Squire, Jim Creeggan, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool

Great thread Frodo!

[Frodo]

This is nothing short of awesome! Thanks again.. keep it coming.

And Shooshie- I'm glad you mentioned the WX. You have NO IDEA how helpful that tidbit is in the context of this thread.

As for the guitar and bass gear, well, I'm in the process of adding a considerable amount of additional "reality" to my "virtual reality".

Here's part of the reason for this thread:

1. My guitars: Gretsch Duo Jet with Bigsby, Epiphone Les Paul-style black beauty (cheap), Hofner Beatle Bass

2. Coveted guitars: EVERYTHING, but most notably: a genuine Les Paul, Epiphone Casino, Fender Strat, one of the Rickenbacker 300 series. Some sort of Gibson hollow body has always stayed high on my list of coveted items.

3. Pre's, cabs, heads, etc.: none. (I'm a keyboardist!) Actually, I had a Pod Pro and gave it away (couldn't stand the thing). Later, I bought one of the little Zoom boxes to practice with headphones, but other than that there have been one or two days of experimenation with UAD's Nigel. Yes, this section needs work-- hence the thread.

Favorite music? Classical will always be up there, but Enrico Pieranunzi and Oscar Peterson are my favorite jazz pianists. By now, most of you know that I'm a Beatles nut. But I wander between 50-60's rock to 50-90's R&B, with a side-chain appreciation for that Nirvana/Soundgarden sound.

4. Strings: Dean Markleys 10's (Ephiphone) and 11's (Gretcsh). Not sure what's on the Hofner-- still has on it whatever came with it-- don't play it much. I would like a really good five-string bass, though.

5. Favorites: Joe Pass, Jaco, Ray Brown, Nathan East, Marcel East (yes, relation), Marcus Miller, James Jamerson and James Jamerson Jr (I once hired JJ Jr for a tour that lasted a couple of years). This neither scratches the surface nor runs the gamut........

I'll get to that a little later, but let me tell you a very true story that is as vivid and unforgettable right now as it was when it all happened:

Quite a number of years ago, I was bopping into various clubs to hear bands. Happened into a little place in the Los Angeles area (San Fernando Valley) called Le Cafe-- now closed. Five people might have been in there listening. The group was pretty darn good, but the bass player blew me away- young Italian guy in his 20's playing upright. After the gig was up, I had to compliment him on his playing-- really tasty stuff, always interesting, always creative. He said is name was John Patitucci.

Cool. Never heard of him before. That gig might have paid him $20-30. He said he had a kid on the way and was just gigging to bring down all the spare cash he could. Humble guy, genuine, etc. I told him that someone important was going to snatch him up. He doubted it, but was quite gracious about it.

Two years later, having moved to the Midwest, I find a CD simply called The Elektrik Band. Guess who's playing bass? I thought-- "mm-hmm!"

Some time later I was on tour with a "major artist" in Manila. Guess who's playing across town the same week? The Akoustik Band. Discovered that we were all staying in the same hotel. Somehow, there were two nights during our multi-night series of concerts where they came to ours and we went to theirs. It was nice just to hang out because most everyone was quite nervous about wandering around Manila at the time.

So, about six months later, having moved back to LA, I was with family at a restaurant. Totally impulsive choice of places to eat, and just as impulsive a gathering anyway. While waiting for a table, I see this 'person' sitting alone at a table. I mention to my sister that he looked familar and forgot about it.

20 minutes later, he walks up and says to me "hey-- I usually don't do this, but you look familiar". Of course, it was JP. He was between recording sessions and didn't want to deal with rush hour traffic and risk being late for his evening session. We invited him to join us and it was one of the most comfortable and down-to-earth hangs I can recall. Totally unexpected and totally unpretentious.

Overall, it was like having a peek into a very special career at different intervals of its development, and quite an unforgettable honor. Needless to say, dinner was on me!!

[Shooshie]

Well, I can't list my top 5 guitarists, because there are like 20 of them. Maybe more. Not as many bass players, but still a lot. I think I've heard of John Patitucci, but I don't remember where.

My favorite guitarist is probably Julian Bream, performing the Villa-Lobos etudes and preludes. He made music out of them. Next to him, I just can't break it down. Too many great players. I can't even start a list, out of respect to the rest.



Shooshie

[James Steele]

My favorite guitarist is probably Julian Bream, performing the Villa-Lobos etudes and preludes. He made music out of them. Next to him, I just can't break it down. Too many great players. I can't even start a list, out of respect to the rest.

So true. I tried to limit myself to five and no sooner had I posted I thought of many others. And chrispick nailed on of the biggies for me too... David Gilmour. How I blanked on him... sheesh. Just too many to try to name.

[Frodo]

You know, we can continue this thread talking about gear and favorite players. Some players deserve an entire post, I would think.

What's most interesting is to get a sense of what sparks people's ears, what inspires them, what they listen to. We spend more time dealing with troubleshooting, so it's pretty darn cool to toss around some intriguing personal perspectives on favorite musicians and non DAW gear.

[monkey man]

Some sort of Gibson hollow body has always stayed high on my list of coveted items.

Same here. Something like a '55 Cherry SG.
A super-hot vintage Tele and Strat would likely live in my bed too.
As I've never owned a "name-brand" guitar, I'll have to skip naming favourites.

Guitar Faves: Joe Pass (I have none of his stuff though!), Herb Ellis, Wes Montgomery (of course!), John Mclaughlin, George Benson, Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather, Scott Henderson, Holdsworth, Van Halen, Stevens, Satriani, Vai (although he's a kind of over-the-top freak), Malmsteen (I know, I oughta grow up, and he really only shone on "Rising Force")

Bass Faves: Jaco, Ray Brown (he always pitched better than Ron Carter), Marcus Miller, Anthony Jackson, Nathan East, Louis Johnson, Gary Willis, Abe Laboriel etc.

I haven't listened to music in 20 years, so although I know I love(d) these players, their output remains a distant "vibe" for me.
This is great I think, as I won't then be able to rip 'em off!

PS: Did y'all know that Marcus Miller was only 17 when recruited to play live with Miles on the "We Want Miles" album/tour?
I very much liked Mike Stern's guitar work thereon.