Most of the guys you cited developed their sounds around a Rickenbacker bass, and thats been your instrument of choice over the years. While it might seem unusual that I like Mountain and Deep Purple, considering the music Im known for playing, Captain is into the really obscure progressive rock stuff and has that in his playing. I think it was made in February, which was just a month or two after they stopped doing the toaster pickups. Scott D. Smith/Retna ./Retna Ltd./Corbis. Captain Sensible and Paul Gray, quite sensibly, stick to their perferrred Gibson SG and Rickenbacker 4001 combination. He took up an interest in music early on thanks to some guidance from his older brother William Jay Matthews, who introduced him to bands like Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper and KISS. And thats what hes left behind for us, is absolute love.. Guitars When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. I imagine you must use Rotosound strings, based on your influences and the tones youve gone for over the years? Luckily it all seems to work most of the time anyway. Instead of sticking with the drop B tuning used on its other tracks, Paul used a drop A tuning with this thickest string another octave down - which he described as a super low, almost. But the novelty of freedom at such a young age soon wore off and he called his mum, now living in Des Moines, to see if he would able to sleep on her couch and start a new life in Iowa where, while playing in death metal bands Anal Blast and Body Pit, he would eventually meet the other original members of Slipknot. As his bandmates drift in and out, its really just #2 holding everything together from beginning to end. You must log in or register to reply here. Back in the late 1960s the bass player in my band (who was left-handed) purchased a Hofner. Yaamaha even produced a replica of Pauls guitar , the FJ681 "Paul Simon . Matrix VB800 Brenna called her the best gift anybody could have ever left me. What was your philosophy about shaping the tones for this album? Ive always used .009.042 gauge strings: Rotosounds if we can get hold of them. There's a heavy difference in style between the two basses, that's for sure. I used to use heavier strings, but a couple of years ago I injured my hand and I had to go down a gauge. When you play, do you prefer to play with a pick or your fingers? It allows you to throw things into the set on the flyjust call out a key and hell have a go at it. (Image credit: John McMurtrie) "Yesterday we lost our brother, and the world seems a little smaller because of it," began Corey Taylor. staff present the albums that shaped their individual 2022s! I was used to hearing the guitar in each song and the bass is there and you can hear it filling out the song, but I really had to listen to his parts. He wrote the kind of music with Joey that made me want to put my face through glass, he said. Warwick was an awesome company but they were a small company and it was more difficult to get stuff on the road if I needed it. Cliff Burton was awesome and since we were doing Metallica covers, I really had to sit down and learn Cliff's parts because he was all over the place. The bass fills he did, I really had to fucking rewind tapes and play them over and over to get it.". It features a pre-bend that has an almost rubbery, time-warp kind of feel and returns at the end of the track, switching to half-time while Corey continues roaring, Look me in my brand new eye! Its these extra touches and twists that gave an unmistakable feel and identity to the bands seemingly inexhaustible supply of sonic violence. Im curious where all of the blues and lead stuff comes from. In December 2010, they announced they would headline 2011s Sonisphere to honour the legacy of their fallen friend. Or why not treat yourself? That 77 has much more of a Lemmy-type sound than my 74. What Paul did with Slipknot was revolutionary. Actually I played guitar first - hang on, my sunglasses are totally fucking up here - I played guitar first and never picked up a bass, wasn't interested in it at all. With the emergence of Eddie Van Halen as a phenomenon in the late 1970s and 1980s . There was nothing funny going on with the studio desk: everything was flat. Everything he did, he did for everyone around him. Which isnt the end of the world, of course, but there seems to be no fix, according to chatter on gear forums anyway. I think they picked me because they collectively like various albums Ive made: especially the T. Rex and Bowie stuff. Gary Moore played Gibson Les Paul guitars. Why hide them, anyway? In the early days the Beatles would steal piano strings to put on the bass. Lurking in the back of the studio was this really, really old Ampeg, which the guy said was handwired. But life was still difficult, so he contacted his mum, who by this time had managed to secure a house in Iowa. And while his technical prowess has been overshadowed by his giant personality and tucked away within the confines of excellent songs, Evil Spirits puts his cadre of guitar-borne personas on display as he chunks, clatters, burns, and jangles through the albums tracks. The two I mainly use are very different. I went into the local music store and heard some guys talking about needing a bass player for their band, they did covers of Slayer and Metallica songs, So, not knowing anybody and wanting to meet people, I told them I could play bass even though I had never played one in my life. Bath That evening, the eight remaining members of the Knot, aided by early bandmember/stand-in bassist Donnie Steele, provided their own loud tribute. The studio has an excellent Fender Stratocaster that Captain used on at least three songs, for arpeggio things or anything that we needed a clearer sound on beyond the overdriven Gibson sound hes known for. Like '1, 2, 3, 4' and '1, 3, 2, 4' to just try different finger patterns. They gave me a full deal and they treated me really good, which was great because we had no money at that time and I couldn't afford anything. The finish, too, being less thick, shows off the battle scars nicely. The Kerrang! It couldve also been our disgraceful behavior, but who really knows? Whats the writing process in the band today?Sensible: We write as individuals, then throw our stuff into the Damned pot and see what it sounds like. After the set, the band huddled around Pauls jumpsuit, mask and bass as Til We Die poured out of the PA. My friends are all hurting, came Jims line. As one of the three founding members of Slipknot, Paul Gray fast became one of their key songwriters his name more often than not found in the credits for the tracks that werent assigned to the group as a whole. Strings 2 : Electric Bass Nickel Plated Steel with NANOWEB Coating. Shawn speculated this had a detrimental effect on his mental wellbeing. Premier Guitar sought an audience with Sensible and Gray to discuss the making of the Damneds triumphant return to studio recording, their philosophies and roots as players, the symbiosis that exists within their playing relationship, and even a bit of gear geekery. There was, however, a lot more to the man than extreme noise Paul cited names like Flea and Bootsy Collins alongside more audible influences such as Cliff Burton and Steve Harris, describing the latter as an idol for his ability to play all over the bass and leave no fret untouched. Take the song 'Scissors', from the first album, where I'm tuned to an octave below A. For a taste of Th Nine at their absolute world-commanding heaviest, the opening 25 seconds of People = Shit will be hard to beat. It was as simple as that. Their string of hits included Stimulation and I Could Make You Love Me. Rotosound (.009.042) Lots of discussion about this all over this board. In 1975, Eventides Tony designed the first harmonizer, so it was nice to meet the bloke whose gear Id used so extensively over the years. Or Maiden's Steve Harris, who does all kinds of amazing stuff and who is completely different to Cliff. "It's a little bit of both, like on songs like 'Wait And Bleed' I'll use my fingers But then there's songs like 'Sulfur' or 'People = Shit' that have grind parts where you need the attack of a pick. Added by Bastien. Prior to joining Metal Hammer, El spent three years as Production Editor at Kerrang! As Slipknot put it in Skeptic, The world will never see another crazy motherfucker like you. Freddie used .010, .011, and .012 on his top strings and light to medium strings on the bass (wound) strings. Dunlop wah Im not a control freak and I want them to express themselves, and I wouldnt work with them if they werent great musiciansthats my criteria. And that goes for the records, too! Some of it I tap out, some of it is more simple, and some of it I have to follow the guitars and do runs and leads and stuff like that. "But then I ended up going to Ibanez on the last album because - I can't remember where we were - but I went to a pawn shop and picked up this Ibanez ATK that they've stopped making and I just loved the way it played and sounded, so I started playing it too and Ibanez approached me to offer me a deal. Gray: I wish I could analyze it, but its one of those musical relationships thats just worked from the get-go! I had to go back and listen to them. Tony McPhees Groundhogs performance of Cherry Red on Top of the Pops departed radically from the shows usual fare, and that was the moment I decided to get a guitar and only a Gibson SG would do. Later he sometimes used strings wrapped with black nylon to get more of a thumping sound. Paul Gray: The Man Behind the Mask. I was going to donate my Epi Viola, but after putting LaBella flats on it, I liked it too much. I thought it was the coolest thing ever., By the age of 16, Paul was living in an apartment with his friends Frank and Chris, jamming Danzig songs in the living room under the moniker Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The Damned opened for T. Rex back in the day, and I even asked Captain why we never did this before. However, it is generally believed that he typically uses roundwound strings on his bass, with a gauge somewhere in the range of 45-60. They werent making silly faces and all that like the other guys. I'm . He has been adding internal mikes for amplification. Its been 10 years since we lost Slipknot bassist Paul Gray. This was thanks in no small part to his abilities. To make it worth your while, you must consider how much sugar was added to their . 1974 Rickenbacker 4001, Amps With Mountain, Flowers of Evil has a live side, and the bass and guitar interplay on that album is just magnificent, and I love that really filthy sound Felix P. had: electric farts, we call it in the Damned. It was weird because when I started practising these songs on bass, I didnt know any of them, he said. I became slightly obsessed with the solos on Strange Town and the way the excitement builds in them, carrying the listener away on a tidal wave of excitement. Pure Ric-into-Ampeg glory. Added by Bastien. They thought it was cool thats how I got playing bass.. Feb 21, 2015. 1977 Rickenbacker 4001 Inkcarceration announces headliners Slipknot and Limp Bizkit alongside Megadeth, Lamb Of God, In This Moment and more. Columbus Ohio. At one point, Paul drifted back to LA, but was persuaded back by Anders and Shawn. But in the beginning, after we got our record deal, I went to Warwick actually. He turned up to rehearsal with a right-handed bass borrowed from his brothers friend, Frankensteind into a left-handed one, and played the regular guitar parts on it. Rock n roll needs its rough edges. Forever #2 of 9. What was the first bassline you ever tried to play? Pauls final album, 2008s All Hope Is Gone, shot to No.1 in eight countries. I listened to Chili Peppers, lots of funk and jazz players Lots of Bootsy Collins stuff, so I tried to learn as much as I could. They toured All Hope Is Gone across nine gruelling legs, starting in July 2008 in Washington, taking in Download in June 2009, and finishing in Las Vegas that October. There's a heavy difference in style between the two basses, that's for sure. I introduced him to the wonderful world of Eventide, and we used the H9 a lot. Aqua Marine. My mates at school and I would swap records and I got into Hawkwind with Lemmy and Machine Head by Deep Purple, and the bass was really prominent in both of those groups. He had something going on in his mind, and I was like, OK, I need to back off I cant touch this. And if you listen to that song, you can tell that theres heartfelt pain in that., Shawn had never intended to join a metal band, but got sucked into the promise of what he could create with someone as talented as Paul. What gear are you using live?Sensible: We have built up a collection of Marshall EL84 20/20 20-watt stereo power amps, which might even have warmed up Mrs. Thatchers cold heart if someone had thought of it! Marshall EL84 20/20 stereo power amps, Effects Rotosound (.049.090) "I was listening in on their conversation, eavesdropping, they were talking about doing covers of Slayer and Metallica - all these songs that I knew how to play on guitar. Ernie Ball Power Slinky Bass Strings (55-110) Paul Gray was known to use the Ernie Ball Slinky Bass Strings. He never returned home. When he pulled on a guitar, a transformation kicked in. Technical Editor Bass Gear Magazine. Thats my go-to bass at the moment with the Damned, and thats the one I used on our tour. The Damneds dynamic duo, Captain Sensible and Paul Gray, played together in the studio for the first time in 22 years while recording the bands new album. But also, Ive never known trust like the nine.. How would you describe your playing style? Works 23; All; Songs written by Paul Gray [US1] Original songs. verdict on the 50 albums that shaped 2022. PAUL GRAY, who was the lead singer of the 1980s pop band Wa Wa Nee, has died aged 54. Everyone in Thin Lizzy used those picks, even Phil Lynott. Who cares if theres a few jazz notes in there. Stevie Ray Vaughan String Gauge Table. While testifying in court against her late husband's physician, Brenna Gray revealed that Paul actually suffered a relapse around 2008 and later spent the last weeks of his life fighting a losing battle against his demons. Does new pickguard & knobs = NGD? Early producer Ross Robinson, who worked on the groups self-titled debut and its Iowa follow-up, went as far as labelling him the bands secret weapon, blessed with absolute integrity and a talent for coming out with the most unbelievable ideas. Do you remember what your first bass guitar was? Try not to get stuck playing the same thing and if you feel yourself wanting to play something a certain way all the time, change it up by using different fingers. Im not just playing for Clown; Im playing for him, for his wife and daughter, his legacy, his love for the band, his love for music.. Gauges . On July 10, at 2pm, thousands of Sonisphere-goers joined together in a two-minute silence for #2. Not I; thats for sure. I knew the guitar lines and could have jammed those, but the bass parts were totally different and I was like, 'Fuck!'