markc
Dances With Posts
Posts: 82
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Post by markc on Mar 15, 2009 2:09:16 GMT -5
I remember reading once where he said he doesn't like a lot of sustain in his guitar sound (which is opposite from a lot of other rock guitarists). And he doesn't like "pointy" guitars. I've seen him play a lot of different Gibson electrics through the years - SGs, Les Pauls, Jrs. a Fender semi-hollow Telecaster, Taylor acoustics (more recently - they're expensive)
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Post by Kathy on Mar 15, 2009 16:06:12 GMT -5
thread title is easily misinterpretted. just sayin' ;D Every time I manage to get FotC's "Sugar Lumps" out of my head, something reminds me of it and it's back. Like this damn thread title! ("I see you girls lookin' at my junk then checkin' out my rump then back to my sugar lumps"). Argh..............
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Post by FreeRider on Mar 15, 2009 16:24:03 GMT -5
thread title is easily misinterpretted. just sayin' ;D Every time I manage to get FotC's "Sugar Lumps" out of my head, something reminds me of it and it's back. Like this damn thread title! ("I see you girls lookin' at my junk then checkin' out my rump then back to my sugar lumps"). Argh.............. Ha! I dig the FoTC but yeah, I was thinking about Jermaine doing that song too when reading the word "junk". Ugh.
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Post by dee on Mar 16, 2009 17:23:21 GMT -5
There was a guitar magazine some years back that had a poster of a guitar Paul decorated.Does this ring a bell to anyone?
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Post by mrblasty on Mar 16, 2009 18:11:06 GMT -5
There was a guitar magazine some years back that had a poster of a guitar Paul decorated.Does this ring a bell to anyone? There was an issue of Guitar World Magazine that featured a two page spread of one of his guitars. I haven't been able to find the photo, but here is the accompanying text: Paul Westerberg's 1962 Gibson Melody Maker by Alan Paul
Paul Westerberg may be known for his bittersweet lyrics and forlorn melodies, but his sentimentality certainly doesn't extend to his guitars. "I generally play Gibsons and really like SG's and Melody Makers but I don't get attached to particular instruments," says Westerberg, former singer/songwriter/guitarist for post-punk legends the Replacements. "Guitars are just tools. Sometimes I feel I'd be better off with a shovel or a rake strapped around my neck. I think of them like that; they're all tools to do what needs to be done, whether it's move earth, rake leaves or get a song across. "I got this one in Florida while touring with the Replacements. I smashed a Melody Maker I'd had for a really long time on stage and sent a roadie out to find me a new one because I hate music stores and try to never set foot in them. He came back with this. I used it on the last few Replacements tours and records [Don't Tell a Soul (Sire, 1989) and All Shook Down (Sire, 1990)] and on both of my solo albums [14 Songs (Sire, 1993) and Eventually (Reprise, 1996)]. "I decorated it one rainy afternoon when I was bored and there was nothing better to do with myself. I used paint and old gold fillings, a few pesos, whatever was laying around the house. Now it's perfect. It's light, it's versatile and it's a tough little piece of shit. It would, in fact, make a pretty good baseball bat in a pinch. A multi-purpose tool, if you will."
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Post by jimmyrock on Mar 19, 2009 20:00:35 GMT -5
I am sure he is a major guitar hound. You can hear an amp change somewhere after the first solo tour, must be when he moved from marshall over to the soldano. I dont recall ever seeing see him playing an SG though, despite that article. Did he have a Gibson endorsement with the 'mats? I thought I read somewhere that during the recording of DTAS he only had the Armstrong/Lucite guitar. Ah, well fun stuff.....
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Post by mrblasty on Mar 20, 2009 4:42:59 GMT -5
Check out the Mats videos on Youtube- there are a ton of them with him playing an SG. He seemed to favor Gibson products throughout his career with the Mats. I wouldn't be surprised if "Sorry Ma" and "Stink" were recorded on an SG Junior. That Fender Telecaster thinline showed up around the release of "Suicaine", and around "Mono/Stereo", he started using a Strat. Otherwise, he didn't seem to play many Fenders. I wouldn't be surprised if Gibson had approached him at some point with the idea of a signature guitar. I mean, if Kiefer Sutherland can have a sig Gibby, why not PW? Joan Jett and Billy Joe Armstrong have their own Sig Melody Makers and LP Juniors. I'd like to see a PW sig SG Junior. A sig ES- 335 would be nice, but I'm afraid that it would be out of many of his fans' price range.
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cford
Star Scout
Posts: 803
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Post by cford on Mar 20, 2009 11:32:51 GMT -5
Check out the Mats videos on Youtube- there are a ton of them with him playing an SG. He seemed to favor Gibson products throughout his career with the Mats. I wouldn't be surprised if "Sorry Ma" and "Stink" were recorded on an SG Junior. That Fender Telecaster thinline showed up around the release of "Suicaine", and around "Mono/Stereo", he started using a Strat. Otherwise, he didn't seem to play many Fenders. I wouldn't be surprised if Gibson had approached him at some point with the idea of a signature guitar. I mean, if Kiefer Sutherland can have a sig Gibby, why not PW? Joan Jett and Billy Joe Armstrong have their own Sig Melody Makers and LP Juniors. I'd like to see a PW sig SG Junior. A sig ES- 335 would be nice, but I'm afraid that it would be out of many of his fans' price range. I would guess Paul's deal with First Act would probably preclude him from also having a deal with Gibson. CF
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Post by jimmyrock on Mar 21, 2009 7:53:26 GMT -5
Check out the Mats videos on Youtube- there are a ton of them with him playing an SG. He seemed to favor Gibson products throughout his career with the Mats. I wouldn't be surprised if "Sorry Ma" and "Stink" were recorded on an SG Junior. That Fender Telecaster thinline showed up around the release of "Suicaine", and around "Mono/Stereo", he started using a Strat. Otherwise, he didn't seem to play many Fenders. I wouldn't be surprised if Gibson had approached him at some point with the idea of a signature guitar. I mean, if Kiefer Sutherland can have a sig Gibby, why not PW? Joan Jett and Billy Joe Armstrong have their own Sig Melody Makers and LP Juniors. I'd like to see a PW sig SG Junior. A sig ES- 335 would be nice, but I'm afraid that it would be out of many of his fans' price range. I've seen them that look like an SG but I thought that was a early Les Paul model, Special or something with a single P90, but theman said he likes SGs so there you go. . I wasnt talking about a signature guitar I thought he had a Gibson endorsement whe he was in the band and that might eb why he seemd to alway play a gibson (except for that lucite one).
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Post by jimmyrock on Mar 21, 2009 7:55:38 GMT -5
Check out the Mats videos on Youtube- there are a ton of them with him playing an SG. He seemed to favor Gibson products throughout his career with the Mats. I wouldn't be surprised if "Sorry Ma" and "Stink" were recorded on an SG Junior. That Fender Telecaster thinline showed up around the release of "Suicaine", and around "Mono/Stereo", he started using a Strat. Otherwise, he didn't seem to play many Fenders. I wouldn't be surprised if Gibson had approached him at some point with the idea of a signature guitar. I mean, if Kiefer Sutherland can have a sig Gibby, why not PW? Joan Jett and Billy Joe Armstrong have their own Sig Melody Makers and LP Juniors. I'd like to see a PW sig SG Junior. A sig ES- 335 would be nice, but I'm afraid that it would be out of many of his fans' price range. I've seen them that look like an SG but I thought that was a early Les Paul model, Special or something with a single P90, but theman said he likes SGs so there you go. . I wasnt talking about a signature guitar I thought he had a Gibson endorsement whe he was in the band and that might eb why he seemd to alway play a gibson (except for that lucite one). wikipedia to the rescue ...splitting hairs indeed ;D: The Gibson SG Junior was a guitar manufactured in the early 1960s to the late 60s. Like its earlier sister, the Gibson Les Paul Junior, it had been created for sale to anyone who wanted Gibson quality for a cheap price. It is known for its single P-90 treble pickup, and the wrap-around bridge instead of the two-bar tune-o-matic bridge. From 1961 to 1963, it was branded with the "Les Paul Junior" name. In 1963, "Les Paul" was removed from the peghead and officially called the SG Junior. From 1965 to 1971, it had a generic SG pickguard with a soapbar P90 rather than the original dog-ear. It was discontinued in 1971. The late 60s version has been re-issued by Gibson since 2003.
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Post by Phillbis on Mar 23, 2009 12:40:01 GMT -5
Didn't Johnny Rzeznik buy him a Gibson ES- 335? I thought it was the red one he played on the Stereo/Mono solo tour.
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Post by adamapple on Mar 23, 2009 12:58:07 GMT -5
the guitar johnny goo goo bought him was never accepted, as westeberg tells it, i think that stuff freaks him out...
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Post by dee on Mar 24, 2009 23:54:43 GMT -5
Tommy Stinson is on the cover of BASS PLAYER magazine this month.He goes into detail about his gear/junk.Some nice pics & good interview.Not sure if it's online or not.
Some gear...
Fender Precision Bass Special Matchless 1x15 Bass Combo EMG P/J pickups DR Strings Hi Beams (.045-.105)
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Post by jimmyrock on Mar 25, 2009 20:41:36 GMT -5
Tommy Stinson is on the cover of BASS PLAYER magazine this month.He goes into detail about his gear/junk.Some nice pics & good interview.Not sure if it's online or not. Some gear... Fender Precision Bass Special Matchless 1x15 Bass Combo EMG P/J pickups DR Strings Hi Beams (.045-.105) GUNS N' ROSES Bassist Talks 'Chinese Democracy' - Mar. 20, 2009 According to ChineseDemocracy.co m, the April 2009 issue of Bass Player magazine features an extensive interview with GUNS N' ROSES bassist Tommy Stinson in which he discusses the songwriting and recording process for "Chinese Democracy", among other topics. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Bass Player: How did you get the gig with GUNS N' ROSES? Stinson: My friend Josh Freese was playing drums with the band. I ran into him in a Hollywood rehearsal hall, and he mentioned that Duff [McKagan] had quit, then he asked if I knew any bass players. We just kind or laughed about it, because it sounded like a funny thing for me to go audition for GUNS N' ROSES. GUNS N' ROSES were never my thing when the band first came out — they just weren't my style. I thought at least it would be fun to play with Josh. But I learned five or six songs for the audition. We basically just jammed, and it was pretty fun. They seriously needed a bass player, so they asked if I'd do it. Bass Player: Why do you think you were the right guy for this gig? Stinson: The only thing I could grasp at is that I have the kind of punk-rock attack that Duff did. He wasn't really a metal guy — he had punk roots. On the other hand. he's got sensibilities that are different from mine. I couldn't place exactly what they are — they're unique to each one of us. Bass Player: Do you and Duff know each other? Stinson: I met him a few years back, and he seemed like a really sweet guy. He didn't seem to have any issues with me — I don't think he wanted the gig anymore. Bass Player: Describe the writing process for "Chinese Democracy". Stinson: I came in around '98 when the band was still writing the record. It was Paul Tobias and Robin Finck on guitar, Dizzy Reed andChris Pitman on keys, Josh on drums and me. Everybody was just slowly starting to bring in ideas. We were set up at Rumbo Recorders, a big studio out in the middle of nowhere. A funny thing — Captain & Tennille own it. The whole thing looks like a boat. Anyway, we all just started hammering ideas out. Essentially it was eight guys collaborating. To be thrown into that kind of environment — eight guys from very different walks of life — was very crazy, I'd never worked in that way, but it was cool. There were guys who'd never ever made a record putting out their ideas. At first, those of us who'd actually made records thought their ideas sucked, but there were also some good ones. Bass Player: How did you work out your ideas in a civil way? Stinson: We each had to give reasons for liking or disliking something — you couldn't just be bull-headed. We had to function as a democracy or we'd end up hating each other. Collaborating was good for that. I think every one of us learned a lot from it. Bass Player: "Street of Dreams" stands out for having a lot of cool, counter melodic bass work. Stinson: That's definitely one of the places where I tried to play melodically. Axl (Rose) had the majority of that song written, and I brought in the bridge bass line and progression. Bass Player: It has a few licks that seem to reference Duff's playing. Was that intentional? Stinson: When I started hammering out those GUNS N' ROSES songs, I started to really dig into what Duff was doing — I really liked the stuff he played. I'd be lying if I said his playing didn't seep into my subconscious — like the way he uses grace notes. And I wouldn't be afraid to say I stole some of his stuff. Bass Player: Josh Freese left GUNS N' ROSES in 2000, and was replaced by Brain Mantia. What did that mean for the tracks you recorded with Josh? Stinson: I had to redo them. I probably ended up completely re-recording each part five or six times over the years. It was tough. What really happened was the record company stood back and left Axl to his own devices. Axl had all these ideas, and he needed somebody to help interpret what he wanted. He had to basically produce himself, and that's not what he went into this wanting to do. There are a lot of reasons the album took so long to make, but I think the record company really dropped the ball on this one. Bass Player: What do you see as the root cause for that? Stinson: I think everything changed when Geffen merged with Interscope. When that happened, Axl was told that [A&R executive] Jimmy Iovine would play more of a role in making the album happen. What Jimmy did instead was throw other people into the mix who weren't very capable. Bass Player: What happened when producer Roy Thomas Baker was brought in? Stinson: He wanted to re-record everything, because he felt he could get better tones. In my opinion, he wasted many years and many millions of dollars trying to get us better sounds that we could have addressed in the mixing stage. I'm not a proponent of his style of producing. I think Iovine put Roy Thomas Baker in the producer seat because he didn't think the raw sounds were good enough. Then Roy came in and would try every Marshall guitar amp in a five-state area to find just the right guitar tone. And he wanted to do that for every single part on the album. Source: www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=116555
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Post by jimmyrock on Mar 25, 2009 20:44:39 GMT -5
Another snippet:
Web extra: Tommy Stinson with Guns N' Roses
By Brian Fox
Pick up the April '09 issue of Bass Player for our exclusive interview with Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson. Here's more from that interview.
How did you come to play with Soul Asylum? We’re all old friends from high school. After [bassist] Karl Mueller passed away in 2005 from throat cancer, his widow Mary Beth asked if I’d fill in for gigs the band booked before he died. When the band went to finish the record they’d started, she asked me to do that, too. Apparently Karl had a list of people he wanted to take his place in the band, and I was on it. I like those guys a lot—fortunately I’ve been available to do shows with them the past couple years.
You just got back from playing a Soul Asylum gig in Lima, Peru. What was that like? There’s a lot of turmoil in the government. Around town, you can feel something’s not quite right. It’s chaotic and sketchy, but we met a lot of neat people. They don’t get to see a whole lot of live music. Soul Asylum did a big press conference—it was like the Beatles had come. [Laughs.]
Aside from Guns and Soul Asylum, what else are you up to? I have my own studio where I do my own music. I couple years ago I scored a movie for Sony Pictures called Catch and Release. That was really fun, and I’m trying to get more into that.
How did you get that gig? I played on a track of Paul Westerberg for Open Season. The woman who hired him asked to hear some of my music, and they loved it. They couldn’t just give me the contract, since I was a new composer—it was a $40 million movie—so they had to pair me up with someone. I teamed up with BT [film composer Brian Transeau] because he’s a friend of mine, and we’ve worked together before. It was a good fit. The producers gave us ideas like, “We want something that sounds like Los Lobos.” I love Los Lobos, but I would never try to cop them—they are so good! So we’d come up with our own thing. It was a blast, writing things unlike anything I’d done before.
How does film scoring work? Before filming starts, you sit down and draw up blueprints of where there are going to be musical moments. Then they film it, often with some sort of temporary music in place to help the producers visualize the finished product. It was a great experience … and it paid me a lot of money, which was great, too!
Do you have plans to do more of that? I do, but it’s a hard racket to get into. And right now is a really hard time for movies. A great way to get back into it is to hit the independent film circuit, but since so many hedge funds have gone bankrupt, there aren’t many indy movies going into production right now. I’ve had to put it on the back burner, but my studio is up and ready for when I do get the call. I like the idea of having my own studio to score movies, but I can’t really count on those jobs coming in. And I’m going to be pretty busy with Guns for the next year and a half, so I might rent it out or put it in storage. I’d like to say that I’d use it to produce bands, but there’s hardly enough time to do my own music.
What was your involvement in the new Replacements re-releases? Peter Jesperson and Phil Broussard, Paul’s manager and I did a lot of stuff. In my studio, Phil and I mixed a lot of the extra tracks that weren’t originally mixed. Years ago the analog tapes were dumped to digital files, and we worked with those. The tapes are old, and I didn’t want to be the one responsible for messing up our first record. [Laughs.]
In 2004, you released your own record, Village Gorrilla Head. Do you have plans to do another album? There are a bunch of songs I’ve been working on for the last few years. I might just put them up as a free download—it’d definitely simpler that way. I can’t be bothered going the record label route; that’s a big pain in the ass, and they don’t seem to know what they’re doing right now anyway.
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Post by billwikstrom65 on Apr 3, 2009 2:44:41 GMT -5
I wonder when Paul is going to just drop the mask already. It's beyond old. We get it Paul, you simply do not care. You're a wild man. It gets more pronounced all the time.
Seriously though, I like Paul's sound some of the time but something tells me he's not so fussy about his sound (and I'm not just saying that to support his needlessly aloof stance on tech talk). I love Eventually but there are some pretty dull sounds on there. I personally find his tone to be dry, dull and unimaginative (and very ill-suited to his playing too). He wasn't afraid of having a warm sound on Tim or PTMM. I just think he cares far less now which is unfortunate.
Don't quote me on this but I'm almost positive Paul smashed his plexiglass Dan Armstrong guitar in a drunk display of showmanship during the PTMM sessions (or one of the Don't Tell A Soul sessions). Which is pretty unfortunate. I bet Keith Richards still has his.
He played a lot of Gibsons (his "Firewood" guitar was a Gibson) I love the black one he played around '89. He played a few Strats (a very nice black one circa 83/84) which may have been Bob's. Through Marshalls (prob. JCM-800s/900s). He played a Les Paul and an SG on his great 14 Songs tour (and his great Les Paul Jr. which he also used on the All Shook Down Tour). I remember he used a Rickenbacker for a few songs on the Eventually Tour. I was too far back at the 2005 show to see what he was playing.
Bob also played a black Strat (circa 83) and a black Tele (circa 80/81). Also through Marshalls.
Now what pedals did they use? That's the question.
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cford
Star Scout
Posts: 803
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Post by cford on Apr 3, 2009 9:41:18 GMT -5
Don't quote me on this but I'm almost positive Paul smashed his plexiglass Dan Armstrong guitar in a drunk display of showmanship during the PTMM sessions (or one of the Don't Tell A Soul sessions). Which is pretty unfortunate. I bet Keith Richards still has his. If this occurred then he bought another one... I saw him with a plexiglass Dan Armstrong on the '89 Petty tour. CF
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cford
Star Scout
Posts: 803
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Post by cford on Apr 3, 2009 9:54:57 GMT -5
Another snippet: Web extra: Tommy Stinson with Guns N' Roses By Brian Fox Pick up the April '09 issue of Bass Player for our exclusive interview with Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson. Here's more from that interview. Where is this "web extra?" I do not find it on www.bassplayer.com and this particular text does not appear in the printed edition. CF
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Jer
Beagle Scout
Posts: 1,182
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Post by Jer on Apr 3, 2009 13:08:53 GMT -5
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Smorgasberg
Star Scout
It has to be the shoes, money!
Posts: 527
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Post by Smorgasberg on Apr 3, 2009 13:37:16 GMT -5
I wonder if Paul, who's known to get around on a bicycle from time to time, is just as ambivalent about what kind of bike he rides. I was thinking about getting a road bike recently and looking at buyer's guides in complete bewilderment. The only thing I decided for sure is that way too many of them have paint schemes that make them look like they belong in a Nascar garage (the clothes, too).
I want a bike like Paul rides! (guess I'll head to Sears).
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