Frank Zappa? Not quite, but I'll take that as a compliment whether intended or not! 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. Slipknot had always seemed combustible yet invincible nine individual, larger-than-life characters who came together as a unit onstage. Sprayed sparks all over the place. That changed my world, he recounted in Paul Gray: Behind The Player. 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. Doing that actually made me fall in love with bass guitar and that's why I became a bass player.". As a standing tribute to the late Paul Gray, TG presents this never-before published interview with the Slipknot bassist. I was going to donate my Epi Viola, but after putting LaBella flats on it, I liked it too much. A big chunk of foam being used on this tune (1:51.) Try this!. Perfection is overrated! All rights reserved. He had a difficult and itinerant childhood, and his father died by suicide. 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. Its a drag to repeat yourself, and thats why no two Damned albums sound alike. Hellfest reveal 2023s line-up with headliners Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Mtley Cre and KISS. Eric Clapton's Fender Rock and Roll Electric Guitar Strings It suits the Damned material better and cleans up nicer with the volume knob than a straight SG Standard, for some reason. And thats what hes left behind for us, is absolute love.. They were a menacing presence, ready to inflict pain on themselves in the name of catharsis. Listened to 4 Beatles LPs (yes; these black huge 33 1/3 things) the last days. Artist: Paul Gray [US1] | SecondHandSongs 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. Sadly, those close to Paul knew hed been battling demons for a while. Most of the guys you cited developed their sounds around a Rickenbacker bass, and thats been your instrument of choice over the years. As well as his work in Slipknot, he also filled in on bass for desert rockers Unida fronted by Kyuss singer John Garcia and other projects like Drop Dead, Gorgeous and Reggie And The Full Effect. Columbus Ohio. 10 timeless bass guitar tones and how to recreate them Does new pickguard & knobs = NGD? I'm able to leave gear at home, and that was the same with Ibanez. The 77 I have has the toaster pickup, and that one is much filthier sounding. On May 25, 2010, the members of Slipknot filed into a room to face the press, on one of the bleakest days of their lives. Who wants to go onstage with an unblemished guitar slung round their neck? With Slipknot, my bass playing is a little more laidback and subdued. Everything he did, he did for everyone around him. 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. Apart from a regular open-G blues tuning [Editors note: Check out Silly Kids Games on The Black Album for an example. Never having had a lesson, I play completely by ear and I often overstretch myself. . After the bassist's family attempted to stage another intervention over his drug use, Gray left home on May 22, 2010, and . I used to use those gray Hercos for years, even in Thin Lizzy. Aim for clarity and precision on the riffs. When he pulled on a guitar, a transformation kicked in. Alter Bridge, Halestorm, Neck Deep, Bob Vylan, Hot Milk, Palaye Royale, Jinjer and more join this years Download Festival. Pauls final album, 2008s All Hope Is Gone, shot to No.1 in eight countries. His playing was informed by his early devotion to thrash, and that conversion to the bass. Its a real players bass and has obviously been played and loved for over 40 years and it really feels like it! In sixth grade, aged 11, he got Suicidal Tendencies self-titled debut, which fuelled a desire to learn the guitar. Theyve been far too busy touring to devote time to nostalgia. However, it is generally believed that he typically uses roundwound strings on his bass, with a gauge somewhere in the range of 45-60. We had confidence in each other that it would work, and we hadnt played together [in the studio] for nearly 22 years! What gear was integral to creating the guitar tones on the album? 3: (The Subliminal Verses). Ive used them since I discovered them back in 1976, and Ive tried all the other makes and I always go back to Rotosound. Heavy gauge picks. Sensible: I didnt think there was any chance my colleagues would go for a 14-minute krautrock wig-out (Dark Asteroid) last time out, but I was wrong. Captain, please tell us a bit about who influenced your guitar playing? Rock n roll needs its rough edges. It was as simple as that. TC Electronic Nova System 1990s British-made handwired Vox AC30 reissue As the date drew near, it was clear Shawn was ready to go all out. When asked, three albums in, if this is what he imagined being a rock star would be like, he humbly replied, I dont really consider myself a rock star, but obviously I guess I am. We recorded at Atomic Sound in Brooklyn, which is a beautiful studio with a lovely, big wooden live room. 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. The bass player always looked the coolest in the band! The main guitar is a 1959 Les Paul Standard . What Strings Did Freddie King Use? 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. Sensible: Unlike some punk bassists who could only play by numbers, with the potential song disintegration if they lost their way, Paul can really busk it up! Title Written by Originally by Original date Covered by ; Before I Forget . We really textured it very heavily. Prior to joining Metal Hammer, El spent three years as Production Editor at Kerrang! The only tweaking was in the mix with a bit of reamping. There had been a headline-generating arrest for drugs and drink-driving in 2003, sobriety, relapses and recent treatment for addiction. Technical Editor Bass Gear Magazine. It may not display this or other websites correctly. Punk rock has morphed, been bastardized, revitalized, and analyzed infinitely since becoming a defined movement in the late 70s. Tragically after writing, recording and touring four albums in the greatest metal band of a generation Paul passed away on May 24, 2010. You are using an out of date browser. HiddenCharms said: I don't know if this is true, but I remember reading that Duane Allman and Jimi Hendrix used Fender Rock'n'Roll Strings guaged 10-38. A fan of British blues-rock players like the Groundhogs Tony McPhee and Frees Paul Kossoff, and of Summer of Love psych-rock and the pomp of 60s orchestral pop music, the Captain has never relied merely on power chords and beeralthough those have often been a part of his recipe. Stevie Ray Vaughan String Gauge Table. Although not as light as some other guys on this . TDPRI, short for Telecaster Discussion Page Reissue, is the leading online community and marketplace for Telecaster guitars. Has there ever been something that was just too far out for the Damned? Did you ever take lessons in bass guitar? Taking his place in a finalised line-up of vocalist Corey Taylor, percussionists Shawn Crahan and Chris Fehn, drummer Joey Jordison, guitarists Jim Root and Mick Thomson, sampler Craig Jones and turntablist Sid Wilson, they exploded on the brink of a new millennium, in a mass of masks and coveralls, attracting growing crowds of writhing, devoted maggots. Ive always used .009.042 gauge strings: Rotosounds if we can get hold of them. Famous Bassist Strings and their gauges - Ultimate Guitar That evening, the eight remaining members of the Knot, aided by early bandmember/stand-in bassist Donnie Steele, provided their own loud tribute. Ernie Ball Power Slinky Bass Strings (55-110) Paul Gray was known to use the Ernie Ball Slinky Bass Strings. 1977 Rickenbacker 4001 Eventually, he managed to procure a replacement. Barely a year before, they had played their career-best show as first-time headliners at Download. And none of us would be on the path that were on right now in life, or have the sorts of lives that we have, without him.. Yaamaha even produced a replica of Pauls guitar , the FJ681 "Paul Simon . It couldve also been our disgraceful behavior, but who really knows? Proprietor Fifth Avenue Fret Shop. Gray has been in and out of the bandmostly outsince 1984.Photo by Tony Woolliscroft. Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. So I went over and said, 'Dude, I play bass' even though I didn't have a bass guitar and never picked one up. This prompted Jim to write the opening line of Til We Die: My friends are all hurting., There was a real fear that he wasnt doing well, said Shawn. I was lucky enough to see them all play club venues, where you could really watch what their fingers were doing. 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. Everyone in Thin Lizzy used those picks, even Phil Lynott. After the third or fourth show I met somebody from Warwick and they sent me out a Corvette or some model and it was awesome. Ive been there from the beginning, when Paul recognised my ability as an artist and said, Just do it, man! If you think it's fucked up and weird, then that's cool because it's your thing. scullyfan. Seven years ago today, extreme metal music lost one of its most radiant beacons - Paul Gray of Slipknot. 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. We had to kick everything up a notch, and that required the Captain playing a bunch of different guitars in the studio. Based on the Ibanez ATK series, it features a massive 5-piece maple/walnut neck, light ash body and an ultra-powerful tripl Show More. It was weird because when I started practising these songs on bass, I didnt know any of them, he said. 2,977 1,264. Today, we celebrate the songs which epitomised his pivotal role within The Nine. Lots of discussion about this all over this board. 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. For a taste of Th Nine at their absolute world-commanding heaviest, the opening 25 seconds of People = Shit will be hard to beat. I try to avoid soloing for its own sake and you have to judge when its run its course and its best to get out for something else to take over, or risk boring the listener for ones own ego gratification. It's been 10 years since we lost Slipknot bassist Paul Gray. Incredibly, he was welcomed into the band, Vexx. Scott D. Smith/Retna ./Retna Ltd./Corbis. Or Maiden's Steve Harris, who does all kinds of amazing stuff and who is completely different to Cliff. From triumph to tragedy, here is his story, Yesterday we lost our brother, and the world seems a little smaller because of it, began Corey Taylor. I knew the guitar lines and could have jammed those, but the bass parts were totally different and I was like, Fuck! I had to go back and listen to them. The blueprint Paul helped draw up for Slipknot shines through its bludgeoning riffs, and even through the energy of latest album We Are Not Your Kind. 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. JavaScript is disabled. I used to use heavier strings, but a couple of years ago I injured my hand and I had to go down a gauge. As Slipknot were an anomaly with nine members, dominated by three drummers, he had to work out how to cut through and complement the ferocious noise. Aug 24, 2009. Yet again, he moved. 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. Gauges . "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. 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. What Guitar And Bass Strings Does Paul McCartney Use? String gauge. 1980 Rickenbacker 4001 What was the first bassline you ever tried to play? Previously-unpublished Paul Gray (Slipknot) interview 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. I'm . The bass player often partnered with ex-drummer Joey Jordison, fleshing out early anthems such as Surfacing and Spit It Out, the former including riffs hed written back in his Body Pit years. Also my fingers aren't that fast, I can get to a decent speed but I'm not freaking Billy Sheehan.". I really like the growl Tonys got on it and it really suits the songs perfectly. 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. Unmasked, heads bowed and choked with emotion, they paid tribute to their friend and bandmate, Paul Gray. On Slipknots off-time, Paul and Joey would hunker down to write in Pauls basement. 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. 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. It looked pretty violent. The great thing about those basses is that theyre so individual to how you want them to sound. thats corey's stone sour. His eyebrows would go down, his brain would switch off, and the music sang through him. Then I moved to Iowa and I didn't have any friends there, I didn't know anybody, and I was in this music store and I overheard this dude talking about needing a bass player. 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. Here we go again motherfucker, indeed. A Les Paul is easier to play than a Strat because a Les Paul has a far lower string tension compared to a Strat with the same gauge strings. How did you and Tony Visconti record the bass tones for the album? I wish I had known that back then! Marc Bolan wouldve loved that! There is no definitive answer to this question as Paul McCartney has been known to use a variety of different strings on his Hofner bass over the years. The track also been a source of inspiration for Pauls successor, Alessandro Venturella, who told this writer about filling a great mans shoes and doing him justice for a 2019 Bass magazine cover story around the release of We Are Not Your Kind. There's a heavy difference in style between the two basses, that's for sure. As far as opening gambits go, the first musical track on Slipknots debut is as good as it gets. Total Guitar has not edited this interview, deciding instead to leave as . The deep, menacing notes heard during the intro and verses build an almost horror movie kind of suspense in between the grinding guitars and its hair-raising You all stare but youll never see theres something inside me chorus. [Editors note: Thats Andrew Pinching, the Damneds drummer.] 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. Did he have any interesting methods for capturing the powerful guitar sound on Evil Spirits? Any doubts over Slipknot sustaining the brain-melting brutality of their debut were answered in a vicious storm of blastbeats and tremolo-picked guitars that felt even angrier and more possessed than before. Slipknot is more dangerous now than ever and I have the fuel known as Paul Dedrick Gray in my blood, he said, even more fired up than usual. Shawn speculated this had a detrimental effect on his mental wellbeing. He had an ear for nuances that I dont think a lot of people understood. Or any money to buy one. 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. Top 13 Guitarists Known for Using Light Gauge Strings Add Paul Gray (2)'s Strings Ernie Ball Power Slinky Bass Strings (55-110) Paul Gray was known to use the Ernie Ball Slinky Bass Strings. What strings did ray brown use? | TalkBass.com What Strings Did Stevie Ray Vaughan Use? [String Guide] You can coax many different sounds out of a Rickenbacker depending on your fingering technique, what gauge pick you use, what year it is. Although the low E changed every now and then especially in the late 80's. He would typically use the .058 string gauge but has intermittently used .060's and even .074's. The first five strings are relatively light . Strings 2 : Electric Bass Nickel Plated Steel with NANOWEB Coating. 1960s Ampeg B-15 Portaflex, Strings and Picks And yes, listen to any isolated Beatles-era bass track and it's pretty obvious that flat wounds are part of the equation. Paul Gray: The Man Behind the Mask - inSync They started sending me Soundgears but I didn't want to play them and I said, 'If you start making these ATK's again like this one, I'll switch companies'. If I have a lack of inspiration, theres a few tunings I like, which have come up with some good results. I like to pick a patch out from the library and then heavily modify it for the song, and I really get in there and tweak them. "After that the first real bass I bought was an Ibanez Soundgear and I still play Ibanez now. But his music lives on, much like the band he was fundamental in creating. 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. Rotosound (.009.042) Which isnt the end of the world, of course, but there seems to be no fix, according to chatter on gear forums anyway. I recall Visconti lounging in his producer's chair dialing up sounds on his iPhone. I went down and played with them. 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. So my second string was in A but I was actually an octave below the low A, so I was super low. It isn't THAT different, I listened to the rest of the album with the exception of Bother it sounded like Slipknot with the proper amount of band members. But my favorite was Tony McPhee of the Groundhogs. 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. Aqua Marine. He played the ES-345 with the volume fully up on the bridge pickup. Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! What Guitar Does Freddie King Use? - Guvna Guitars 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. 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. Slipknot had arrived. Do you remember what your first bass guitar was? Things like that made a big difference, and on some tracks, youre hearing five to six guitar takes all at once. He played bass and guitar left-handed, and there was something about his muting, a weird sort of backwards quality. I'd just say, for people who are learning, try to keep changing things up and stay open minded to everything. Marshall EL84 20/20 stereo power amps, Effects MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. These guitars come to Paul with pickups and volume and tone controls already installed. Whats your dual playing relationship like? We came in through the front and walked through the crowd, just dead-cold staring at people like we didnt know they were there, says Anders, who left the band later when Corey Taylor was recruited. Lurking in the back of the studio was this really, really old Ampeg, which the guy said was handwired. Basses 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!. It took me 15 years to figure out that all they were really playing was the pentatonic scale with some extra notes chucked in! Hed listen to Cliff Burtons bass fills repeatedly, rewinding his tapes until he had figured them out. Blending subtle humor and loud guitar has been his forte since he switched to the bands lead musical role in 1977. Gary Moore preferred Dean Markley Electric Guitar strings he used .010 set (2504B) or a .009 set (2508). Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, As Paul got to know his new instrument, he developed a strong attachment. Not I; thats for sure. However, first-generation punks the Damned dont care much about any of that. He doesnt use conventional tunings a lot of the time, and a lot of the strings sort of ring on in an open tuning, and it gives the bass so much more room to trade off and prompts more ideas in my playing. Don't know if it's true though. Or why not treat yourself? Bassist Paul, aka The Pig, aka #2, appeared in a black uniform, steadily headbanging and riffing while chaos erupted around him. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), 2004), Vermilion (Vol. One of my brothers friends had a weird right-handed bass, which I strung left-handed, and a practice amp. Later he sometimes used strings wrapped with black nylon to get more of a thumping sound. McCartney strings | TalkBass.com When I moved to Iowa, I didnt have any friends or know anybody. He is honoured, but can never be replaced. Those Rickenbackers actually had built-in string mutes, as did Paul's later Fender Jazz. An autopsy revealed he had. Back in the late 1960s the bass player in my band (who was left-handed) purchased a Hofner. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Mar 3, 2003 #9. It really fascinates me how basses that are essentially the same can still be so different. We unselfishly say, Lets play Paul Gray riffs, or do it the way Paul would want it., Paul lives on through his family, music, and the army of maggots who hold him close. 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. (Image credit: John McMurtrie) "Yesterday we lost our brother, and the world seems a little smaller because of it," began Corey Taylor. Feed. 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. Just seeing them up there with the red lights and smoke it was all evil. "I started with Ampeg but now I'm with Peavey. I looked at the sheet Id been working on and at the bottom was the chorus for Psychosocial already This song was meant to be. The breakdown after the guitar solo remains a highlight of any Slipknot live set, its members falling into a Meshuggah-esque groove as Corey screams of, The limits of the dead! Using a mixture of palm-muting, chromatics and pauses to twist and stretch the listeners ear in new and unexpected ways, it would be one of Pauls final contributions to the Knot.