Tony Levin. Bass sound. Double Fantasy

Harmony Head · Post by **Harmony Head** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 2:27 pm

I was listening to the hits off John Lennon's Double Fantasy, and was struck by how unique a bass sound this is on this record. Any clues on what he was using? I would have thought it was a Musicman because i was pretty sure that's what he used for a while there (though i'm not familiar with Levin's specific instruments), but it sounds more like a Gibson ripper, or an SG Bass (EB1?). It's definitely a unique tone.

Anyone have any ideas?

HH

Roman Sokal · Post by **Roman Sokal** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:08 am

i asked tony- he replied:
"The guy has good ears. It was indeed a straight ahead 4 string Musicman StingRay (sometimes with the dampers on) except for a bit of fretless Steinberger bass."

Harmony Head · Post by **Harmony Head** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 11:06 am

Roman Sokal wrote:i asked tony- he replied:
"The guy has good ears. It was indeed a straight ahead 4 string Musicman StingRay (sometimes with the dampers on) except for a bit of fretless Steinberger bass."

Wow.. that is fantastic. Thank you for that.

Just goes to show that it is all in the fingers. I can't get my Musicman to sound like that..

HH

Roman Sokal · Post by **Roman Sokal** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 11:22 am

i've always said its 90% in the fingers, 10% gear!

Winstontaneous · Post by **Winstontaneous** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:07 pm

As a bass player, I am continually inspired by the artistry of Tony Levin. One of my earliest musical memories includes my mom playing a Judy Collins record--the purple one with her beautiful face on it--that featured Tony's playing.

I normally associate the StingRay with cutting, twangy, harsh tones but Tony manages to get a big furry earthy gelatinous sound out of them. I'm not sure of his signal chain on this album but I do know that many of his recorded tones are heavily compressed, sometimes with stompboxes. Anybody interested in finding out more about Tony should read his book, "Beyond the Bass Clef."

Roman Sokal · Post by **Roman Sokal** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 3:04 pm

you'll be able to catch tony live when he tours for his upcoming album, 'resonator', due out in april...these shows give a good opportunity to view his gear up close, including that big custom stompbox board of his!

rolandk · Post by **rolandk** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 7:39 pm

I read he has a Stingray bass with interchangeable fretboards- fretted and fretless- that stay in place with magnets. He also uses JDI di boxes.

the brill bedroom · Post by **the brill bedroom** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:39 pm

One of my most inspirational and yet disheartening moments in life was stalking Tony outside a Peter Gabriel show when i was 16 and struggling to become a bass player. i was convinced that he had some magic piece of gear that made his notes sound so full and was very sad when he told me that there was nothing i could buy, that it all had to come from my fingers and that only years of devoting myself to it would help me. That was not the answer I was hoping for. I was really hoping that it was some gadget that i oculd save up for.

Roman Sokal · Post by **Roman Sokal** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 7:33 pm

p.s. have a look at http://www.patmastelotto.com
the jan 18th news posting has a link to very recent session pics at a kentucky studio with tony and the great ronan chris murphy! (who posts here once in a while!)

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Tony Levin. Bass sound. Double Fantasy

Tony Levin. Bass sound. Double Fantasy

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