There's a heavy difference in style between the two basses, that's for sure. I just pick out licks and phrases I heard my heroes play. To make it worth your while, you must consider how much sugar was added to their . They were a menacing presence, ready to inflict pain on themselves in the name of catharsis. BA1 1UA. Im having the time of my life.. A guitar most often associated with him is the 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard "Greeny".Now a famous guitar, once owned by Peter Green of the Fleetwood Mac, and now in the possession of Metallica's Kirk Hammett.Another one worth singling out is the Les Paul Standard nicknamed . It allows you to throw things into the set on the flyjust call out a key and hell have a go at it. It was the first time the whole band had been in my house together and it was a very surreal moment There was this wall of anguish and silence just sitting on top of us and it was fucking gnarly., The band knew their friend had been suffering. 1970s Ampeg SVT V9 Im an indie dude or an alternative dude, whatever the fuck that means. I use .009-.048 now and I was using .010-.052 before. Yaamaha even produced a replica of Pauls guitar , the FJ681 "Paul Simon . . Ampeg 8x10 cab Ernie Ball Power Slinky Bass Strings (55-110) Paul Gray was known to use the Ernie Ball Slinky Bass Strings. . Rock n roll needs its rough edges. Slipknot had arrived. Slipknot have just released a brand-new song, Bone Church, which started life in a jam room on the .5: The Gray Chapter tour. It really fascinates me how basses that are essentially the same can still be so different. 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. He was in a bad place, I can remember Jim and I coaching him through some stuff, and I didnt realise until years later, but it was over then. However, first-generation punks the Damned dont care much about any of that. Once you get up to .100 or a .105, it just sounds kind of dull to me. When his pregnant wife, Brenna, and their family had tried to stage an intervention to prevent Paul from harming himself, he checked into a hotel. 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. 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.. There was a band in our town that had a great bass player called Mark and he could play jazz and funk, so I sat down with him about five or six times and learned a lot of techniques. I helped start one of the biggest metal bands in the world and Im not necessarily a metalhead. Jun 1, 2002. Which is a hard thing to do with nine people in the band!". When I tried out I constantly turned myself down or turned the tone knob down by accident. I don't even know if you can actually hear it - it was more like a sub-woofer king of thing. Eddie Van Halen. 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. While Paul tragically left us too soon, his creative influence remains. That 77 has much more of a Lemmy-type sound than my 74. I'm . Theyre really consistent. Most of the guys you cited developed their sounds around a Rickenbacker bass, and thats been your instrument of choice over the years. 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. Its an attitude I share, and who cares if theres a few jazz notes in there. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Don't know if it's true though. Pauls final album, 2008s All Hope Is Gone, shot to No.1 in eight countries. "Actually it was some Sabbath and Metallica stuff. Seven months later, Paul was gone. Feed. As his bandmates drift in and out, its really just #2 holding everything together from beginning to end. I introduced him to the wonderful world of Eventide, and we used the H9 a lot. Aim for clarity and precision on the riffs. Being back in New York brought that whole Damned relationship back to all of us, honestly. It took me 15 years to figure out that all they were really playing was the pentatonic scale with some extra notes chucked in! Except for now I can afford drinks I can buy a few people drinks instead of having to bum money every day!, Corey vividly remembers getting the news of Pauls death. Paul Dedrick Gray Born April 8, 1972 Died May 24, 2010 Country United States IPI 00344172381 21 works Affiliation ASCAP Member of Slipknot Bass (1995-2010) Meta. Surfacing is a perfect example because its so unhinged, but after the crazy bridge section it breaks down so hardcore that it grooves! The guy I got it from says that it was a factory custom that had been requested to have the toaster pickup put on it. Its got a really nice punch. On Slipknots off-time, Paul and Joey would hunker down to write in Pauls basement. MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. You gotta find your pocket, he said. Feb 11, 2014 #3. There was one problem: hed never played bass. Hed listen to Cliff Burtons bass fills repeatedly, rewinding his tapes until he had figured them out. Genre politics and hyperbole aside, the Damned have always been the musicians band among the classic punks, and the group has always operated with a policy of lawlessness when it comes to the music they make. He wrote that whole song, and there was such an essence about it that was so odd; the way his eyes were looking at his guitar, and the way he was writing it when we were playing together, it was almost scary, he told Revolver in 2010. Based on that statement, it is likely that these strings were used even prior to that, were his main choice before he started playing Stratocasters (at which point he began using Ernie Ball strings) However, it is generally believed that he typically uses roundwound strings on his bass, with a gauge somewhere in the range of 45-60. Feb 21, 2015. He is honoured, but can never be replaced. Just seeing them up there with the red lights and smoke it was all evil. Frank Zappa? Not quite, but I'll take that as a compliment whether intended or not! Aug 24, 2009. Its complexity is countered by the open-string drone that dramatically brings everything to a close the guitar and bass amps ringing out together in a hellish orchestra of earth-shaking noise. We really textured it very heavily. If I have a lack of inspiration, theres a few tunings I like, which have come up with some good results. The innovator that pretty much started the trend of the classic shred metal guitar, Eddie Van Halen also often uses light strings. Call us at 800-449-9128. Corey called him their secret weapon. I had to get a real guitar and do it. 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. 1990s Vox 4x10 cab Electric Guitar String Set Gauges What is B standard tuning? It's weird but I love the bassline in Van Halen's 'Running With The Devil' in open fucking E. Now, I appreciate any player who can lay down a solid bass groove, like Cliff Williams from AC/DC. 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. We had no rehearsals for the recording sessions, as we all live in different places now, and I had only heard the songs three days before, so we were in the deep end. Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! The fact that Ament was using an 12-string bass helps to explain the instrument's presence on the track, although you won't hear the extra strings ringing out individually - they simply add to the overall tone. 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. By age 16 he was in his own apartment, and by 17 he was jamming Danzig covers in the living room with his band, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. With Slipknot, my bass playing is a little more laidback and subdued. He brought the knowledge and the enthusiasm, and he was the most social of all the people on the metal scene. It broke in a roaring cheer. There was just something huge coming through him.. So all those prominent bass players really caught my ear and I thought it was so great, because it was such an important part of the song. Rickenbacker 12-string (Atomic Studios), Amps I went down and played with them. The 1980s were yet another decade that brought massive changes in music. Its not that he didnt like them of course he did, he went and saw Stone Sour, Murderdolls but when Paul would come home he would get really sad because all hed want to do was Slipknot. Its a real players bass and has obviously been played and loved for over 40 years and it really feels like it! "I started with Ampeg but now I'm with Peavey. I dont know much about scales, but I like the choice of notes in some Indian music and some of that creeps in occasionally with the McPhee, Berry, Hendrix knock-offs. Together with Joey, and guitarists/previous collaborators Donnie Steele and Josh Brainard, they founded a heavily percussive band that debuted as Meld in late 1995, before changing its name to Slipknot. By their own admission, it was a chaotic time for The Nine Clown once described the sessions as hell and this track in particular as their way of saying, "Fuck off and leave us alone.". You can coax many different sounds out of a Rickenbacker depending on your fingering technique, what gauge pick you use, what year it is. Eventides Tony Agnello is a big fan of the Damned and brought some secret prototypes to Atomic Sound for the Captain to use, but Im sworn to absolute secrecy about what they are and do. The previous day hed passed away from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, at just 38 years old. Paul Dedrick Gray was born in LA on April 8, 1972. I have to put on the heaviest string I can find to actually do it. And what about tunings, do you experiment when you're writing? An autopsy revealed he had. Who cares if theres a few jazz notes in there. This is all from memory. Given an exclusive listen to the second full-length in the months ahead of release, Kerrang! Bath Captain Sensible: In the late 60s, this amazing bunch of blues guitarists appeared on the U.K. scene at the same time I started going to gigs: Paul Kossoff, Tony Iommi, Ritchie Blackmore, Mick Abrahams, Peter Green, Jimmy Page. What was the first bassline you ever tried to play? "I think I started playing bass in 1990, which is what? Fans held t-shirts aloft, while Shawn and Corey stood at the back of the stage, arms around each others shoulders, faces crumpled with emotion. For nylon strings Chet and I both used D'Addario Pro-Art, although both of us at times have used LaBella 500p Professional concert & recording strings. ], my chum [singer-songwriter] Martin Newell showed me a couple of his own tunings that, although a bit off the wall, have an infectious jangle thats particularly inspiring when it comes to 60s Beatles/Monkees kind of tunes. TDPRI, short for Telecaster Discussion Page Reissue, is the leading online community and marketplace for Telecaster guitars. I use real thin gauges: .040.090. thats corey's stone sour. Brenna called her the best gift anybody could have ever left me. Theyre just magnificent! Alter Bridge, Halestorm, Neck Deep, Bob Vylan, Hot Milk, Palaye Royale, Jinjer and more join this years Download Festival. It may not display this or other websites correctly. The finish, too, being less thick, shows off the battle scars nicely. two very different bands. On Octobers behalf, the Gray family sued pain relief specialist Dr. Daniel Baldi and his former employers, alleging Paul hadnt been properly monitored during his drug addiction treatment. verdict on the 50 albums that shaped 2022. Search Ray Brown for details. Weve a few of these units and they all seem to have an unfortunate tendencyonce or twice a tour, perhapsto freeze mid-song. "He had the biggest heart of anyone I've ever known, and he had the greatest soul I've ever . and four years as Production Editor and Deputy Editor at Bizarre. Marshall EL84 20/20 stereo power amps, Effects Then, of course, there are the two tracks he performed on as part of the Roadrunner United project, enlisting the crme de la crme from the legendary labels roster to collaborate for its 25th anniversary. I've no idea if he used foam with the Hofner (hollowbodies don't have much sustain in the first place) but I would definitely assume that was going on with the Rickenbacker stuff. For a taste of Th Nine at their absolute world-commanding heaviest, the opening 25 seconds of People = Shit will be hard to beat. Tragically after writing, recording and touring four albums in the greatest metal band of a generation Paul passed away on May 24, 2010. The bass fills he did, I really had to fucking rewind tapes and play them over and over to get it.". How did the Australian singer die? Its a drag to repeat yourself, and thats why no two Damned albums sound alike. I've heard this too. Try this!. Apart from a regular open-G blues tuning [Editors note: Check out Silly Kids Games on The Black Album for an example. Take the song 'Scissors', from the first album, where I'm tuned to an octave below A. "I always experiment and go with whatever the song requires. Although the band parted ways with Joey in 2013, the remaining seven musicians immortalised their grief and memories on 2015s .5: The Gray Chapter. 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. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases. It would prove to be a life-changing decision, as was his switch from guitar to bass, Theres a funny story about how I got playing bass, he explained in his Behind The Player instructional DVD. Summary is that he used Guts until around '59. The top 3 are unusually light for a blues man. She has also written for the likes of Classic Rock, Prog, Rock Sound and Visit London amongst others, and was a regular presenter on the Metal Hammer Podcast. You have to use D'Addario short scale bass strings, 080 for the 5th and 0.100 for the 6th It's not easy to do this because you have to have a bridge that you can hook the bass string to as they are a lot larger than a guitar string. 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. Even if you're playing metal bass, listen to jazz, country, punk rock or whatever because you can always pick up tips from other players. But my favorite was Tony McPhee of the Groundhogs. The Damned play their unofficial anthem, Smash It Up, from 1979s Machine Gun Etiquette, at BBC Radio 6s annual Christmas Punk Party. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. He played bass and guitar left-handed, and there was something about his muting, a weird sort of backwards quality. Repeat: the secret debut album that launched the legend, The definitive history of every Slipknot mask, The 10 best new metal songs you need to hear this week, Watch this metal frontman teach terrified daytime TV hosts black metal growls on live TV, James Hetfield has been cast in a 'dark western' film with Juliette Lewis and Game Of Thrones' Peter Dinklage, Watch grannies rip through some gnarly death metal and shoot fireworks from their backsides in this hilarious advert for Liquid Death iced tea, Watch Mike Shinoda & Ice Nine Kills' Spencer Charnas star in Demi Lovato's new Scream-inspired video, Every issue delivered direct to your door. They werent making silly faces and all that like the other guys. Produced by the venerable Tony Visconti (best known as the helmsman of classic David Bowie and T. Rex albums), Evil Spirits sees the return of the Captains favored bass guitar sparring partner, Paul Gray, to the Damned for the first time in nearly a decade. PAUL GRAY, who was the lead singer of the 1980s pop band Wa Wa Nee, has died aged 54. Tony Visconti is mates with Eventide designer Tony Agnello, who brought some interesting toys to Atomic to play with, and which got a lot of usethe H9 in particular. To the outside world, everything was fine. Paul Gilbert Guitars and Gear List (2023 Update) Christopher D. Schiebel June 24, 2022. "After that the first real bass I bought was an Ibanez Soundgear and I still play Ibanez now. Paul Gray: The Man Behind the Mask. Do you remember what your first bass guitar was? The Johnson Viola is from the same plant as the Epi, even having the same control plate and pups. [Editors note: Thats Andrew Pinching, the Damneds drummer.] 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. He has been adding internal mikes for amplification. As Paul got to know his new instrument, he developed a strong attachment. And seeing as Eventide HQ was just across the Hudson, Tony V. invited Tony Agnello to the studio, where, despite working against the clock, everything stopped while we played around with some guitar effects or talent boosters according to Pinch. #22. Although fans knew Paul as part of the nine, he had a low public profile, rarely speaking to the media. The worlds biggest and best metal magazine, Every Slipknot album ranked from worst to best, Slipknots Mate. 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. Gray: Yeah! The main guitar is a 1959 Les Paul Standard . The Ibanez PGB1 electric bass guitar is the choice of Slipknot's Paul Gray. When Macca's Rickie was sent for an overhaul to Rickenbacker, they found that the bridge pickup was dead and had been dead for a long time, turns out that when Macca stripped his Rickie, he tried to get rid of the cover for the bridge pickup, so he sawed it open, which in a horse shoe is a big mistake, since that cover he wanted to get rid of is part of the pickup. Despite being less overtly punk than the typical Damned record, I managed to squeeze the odd solo in here and there. But life was still difficult, so he contacted his mum, who by this time had managed to secure a house in Iowa. 1990s British-made handwired Vox AC30 reissue Which is a hard thing to do with nine people in the band!, He was also a skilled composer who could pervert the markers of extreme metal. When he pulled on a guitar, a transformation kicked in. According to his own words, these strings were used on his Les Paul during the recording of Wheels of Fire (1968). Ross Robinson, producer of the first two records, told NME: As a musician, he brought absolute integrity. It's been 10 years since we lost Slipknot bassist Paul Gray. Perfection is overrated! ran an early assessment of the new tracks, describing Left Behind as "considerably more melodic than the rest of the album, providing a brief moment of respite from the outright nastiness elsewhere". Apart from the TC Nova System, for its analog distortions, and a Dunlop wah, the only other pedal used was the H9 Harmonizer. At one point, Paul drifted back to LA, but was persuaded back by Anders and Shawn. It was as simple as that. The bass player always looked the coolest in the band! scullyfan. It was weird because when I started practising these songs on bass, I didnt know any of them, he said. Everything he did, he did for everyone around him. Gray: I used the 1980 Ric that I used on TheBlack Album, but the one that ended up on most of the tracks was my very early 74. Lots of discussion about this all over this board. Paul had previously dabbled in a band in Minneapolis called F.O.R., toured with Kyuss offshoot Unida, recorded with rockers Reggie And The Full Effect, and was poised to go out with metal super- group Hail!. Louder is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. It suits the Damned material better and cleans up nicer with the volume knob than a straight SG Standard, for some reason. No tricks, no pedals, no nothing. Everyone in Thin Lizzy used those picks, even Phil Lynott. Bands rose and fall, members came and went. So many things set him apart from the rest: his attention to detail; his ear for hooks; his approach to a riff; his ability to hear several variations on a riff so it never felt repetitive; his vision for songs or passages; his single-mindedness when it came to fighting for what was best in a song I could go on and on here.. The legendary Dan Erlewine, luthier Gene Imbody and Berklees Tomo Fujita have shot a 6-point lesson video to help, Producer Mura Masa says that PinkPantheresss Boys A Liar was made in a couple of hours, and that he didnt know about the Ice Spice 'Pt 2' remix until he saw the video, A-ha interview: "We were convinced that the record company would drop us and everything was over before it began" the story of Take On Me and their debut album Hunting High And Low. They put together the spine-tingling Vermillion (for Vol. We both also share a love of melody and those three chords at the start of Louie Louie and all of the American garage-rock from the 60s. Paul is survived by his wife Brenna and their daughter October, who was born three months after his death. It was hard to comprehend. Ive always used .009.042 gauge strings: Rotosounds if we can get hold of them. He was everything that was wonderful about this band and about this group of people. Mar 3, 2003 #9. But the time was right. On July 10, at 2pm, thousands of Sonisphere-goers joined together in a two-minute silence for #2. He had an ear for nuances that I dont think a lot of people understood. Forever #2 of 9. Growing up with little money, his family were living in shitty roach- infested apartments, and by age 14 Paul was out on his own, struggling with homelessness, bouncing between friends and locations.