Bass Pedals in Prog

[jake]

Various members including Leslie Wilson and Ross Kennedy of the Tannahill Weavers have been playing bass pedals while playing guitar or bouzouki for the band for decades - they don't have a bass player in the group. Having said that, their music does not require a traditional bass player anyway - he mostly supports the bagpiper's drone or handles modulations which the pipes can't play - but the effect is to make them sound more "rocky" than most folk ensembles - anyone who has seen them live would certainly attest to their hefty sound. I first noticed Kennedy playing bass pedals at a gig at the old Bottom Line in New York about 25 years ago.

[Sean]

I think your angle is pretty darn cool, having your screen name based on bass pedals! Maybe 12 String Guitar will join next, MrMoog, etc.... Thanks for inspiring good conversation here!

[polmico]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]

Schizoid Man and One of These Days both have two basses.

Huh? There's two bass players on the song "21st Century Schizoid Man"?

There's the Crimson Double Trio.

In fairness, though, Gunn acted as a third guitarist most of the time. On the instrumentals Fripp brought to the album, he plays bass lines and, I think, he also plays some bass lines on "People." He got some particularly tasty leads when the band played "Talking Drum."

[A. Scherze]

Huh? There's two bass players on the song "21st Century Schizoid Man"?

No. Lake over-dubbed a second bass line.

In fairness, though, Gunn acted as a third guitarist most of the time.

Well, that's a complicated situation as Gunn and Levin played instruments that were basically bass and guitar in one.
In '80s KC, Levin as often was the third guitarist.

Gunn would be more of a tenor bass while Levin handled low bass, similar to using bass pedals to generate a low line,
while playing another line on the bass an octave or two higher.

[Nelson_Wells]

Phil Collins in "I Don't Care Anymore."

such a classic one that stuck out in my mind from my teenage years obsessing over (early) MTV. I never realized it wasn't Collins or Rutherford playing the bass pedals on this until i saw your mention and went and looked closely. I had never heard of Morris until this post. Thanks! even if it's 7 years later. Cheers, Nelson Wells

[PixelDelirium]

I have no idea what this 6+ year old thread is about but when I think about "bass pedals in prog" I'll always remember John Wetton and the "original Asia" concerts from 2006 on. I knew about bass pedals but I never really paid much attention to them until then. It definitely wasn't overdone but it certainly grabbed your attention from time to time. An absolutely great effect for a live concert setting.

[gearHed289]

Oh boy... bass pedals! I love bass pedals. I've been a fan since I discovered Rush in late '78. Then I realized Squire used them. Then I discovered what a master of the bass pedals/12 string guitar combo Mike Rutherford was. I got my first set - Crumar CPB-2 - around '83. Those things could actually nail that Tom Sawyer Oberheim sound. Then I got a Taurus II. Not the greatest, but OK. Finally, ten years ago I acquired a genuine, original Taurus. Great instrument! I think a lot of people don't realize all the different sounds you can get out of a Taurus. About a year before I got the Taurus, I bought a Roland PK-5 and a Juno-G keyboard. The PK-5 produces no sound of its own, but rather triggers other sound sources via MIDI. This is what I use live. And to be honest, in my case, it's more keyboard textures/layers than the classic low end stuff. Some really great possibilities with this rig, and I wring everything out of it that I can! Here's a pic from a one-off Rush tribute I did a few weeks ago -

Tom rig Reggies 8-8-19.jpg

A couple of people mentioned John Wetton, and yes, he used a Taurus from UK through the early days of Asia. I know on the Asia is Asia DVD he was using a PK-5.

Someone I didn't see mentioned who was a big influence on me is Cam Hawkins of FM (Canada). He was a real pioneer of bass pedals and sequencers in the mid-late 70s. Here he is from the mid-80s doing his thing (they had taken a heavy turn toward pop around this time, but this is a good song off City of Fear).

[arabicadabra]

Our bassist has been using his since Pinnacle began in 2002. On the newest record To Whoever You Are Now, they are used on the song "Words". When we had the honor of playing Nick D'Virgilio's backup band at the New Jersey Proghouse on his first solo tour, he heard them come in during "Ghosts Of Autumn" and was so surprised that he stopped singing, grinned from ear to ear and asked the audience if he could start the song again. One of my favorite musical memories.

[gearHed289]

But wait, there's more!

Forgot to mention the greatness of John Paul Jones. He definitely kept his feet busy on the Fender bass pedals. Him and Bonzo used to do two-man band jams with Hammond, pedals, and drums.

Some of the earliest stand-alone bass pedals that I'm aware of were the Dewtron Mister Bassman. These were sold as a DIY kit and were used by Rutherford and Squire before the Taurus came out in '76.

[ryder]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAmMwIjsCLU

in this cover at 1:18 you can see the use of the bass pedal as Chris Squire probably used it

[GuitarGeek]

Banton plays a Fender bass on "Arrow" on the GODBLUFF DVD. Blink and you'll miss it, thanks to the dodgy camerawork...

Actually, it's not the camerawork, but rather the editing. Blame the director, not the cinematographer.

But I've never quite understood how the pedals made the journey from underneath the keyboards to infront of the bass guitarist.

I think it has to do with as bass players started treating the bass as a "lead instrument", in the mold of John Entwistle, let's say, and were playing "up here, rather than down there" (as Bill Bruford once described Squire's bass playing), you sometimes needed something to keep the bottom end going, so that "the ass didn't drop out of the song" (as Lemmy was explained his logic for playing chords on the bass).

The reason Mike Rutherford started playing bass pedals was because after Anthony Philips left Genesis, there was a short period where they went on as a quartet, with Mike playing guitar and bass pedals, but no bass guitar, and Tony Banks bluffing his way through the "guitar solos" on electric piano through a fuzztone.

[Gizmotron]

A great thread that deserves more posts!

I am absolutely a devoted fan and enjoy them in every genre and usage. I own a set of Taurus III's.

As others have discussed, they can be used to trigger all sorts of things, not just those staggeringly intense bass barrages.

[Rarebird]

I think I have a video of Spirit in Rockpalast where Randy California is playing basspedals.

[aldus]

I'd like to mention Ray Shulman's bass pedals in The Moon Is Down from Acquiring the Taste.

[aldus]

re Taurus bass pedals, Johan Brand (Änglagård) in Sorgmantel from Viljans Öga and Albert de Keijzer (Plackband) in After The Battle from After The Battle are coming to mind.

[Trane]

If I remember well, we can see in the Spectral Mornings DVD someone from Hackett's band (I think it's his brother John) playing the Taurus bass pedals with his fist, rather than his foot.

[miamiscot]

Greg Spawton from Big Big Train uses a lot of bass pedal action on Grand Tour. I might be wrong but it seems like they're all over the place on the new album (which won Prog Magazine's Album Of The Year prize last night.)

Congrats to Dave, Danny, David, Greg, Nick, Rachel and Rikard on a well-deserved victory.

[GuitarGeek]

If I remember well, we can see in the Spectral Mornings DVD someone from Hackett's band (I think it's his brother John) playing the Taurus bass pedals with his fist, rather than his foot.

Yep, John Hackett played bass pedals with his hands, same as Phil Collins on I Don't Care Anymore.

BTW, soemthing I've always wondered: is Rutherford playing bass pedals or bass guitar on the Father Tiresias section of The Cinema Show?! The way the track is mixed, it's hard to tell if it's bass guitar or bass pedals.

[Halmyre]

If I remember well, we can see in the Spectral Mornings DVD someone from Hackett's band (I think it's his brother John) playing the Taurus bass pedals with his fist, rather than his foot.

I remember seeing that when they did 'Clocks' on the Old Grey Whistle Test.

[TheH]

[Trane]

what are those two blonde bimbos doing on stage?

[Gizmotron]

Mr. Beggs was really getting into the pedals, wasn't he?
He is one of my favorite bassists nowadays (I saw him with Steven Wilson).

Who is the woman playing guitar and singing?

[TheH]

Mr. Beggs was really getting into the pedals, wasn't he?
He is one of my favorite bassists nowadays (I saw him with Steven Wilson).

Who is the woman playing guitar and singing?

Armanda Lehmann (Steve's wife Jo's little sister)

[Gizmotron]

Armanda Lehmann (Steve's wife Jo's little sister)

Ok...now I recall...she is on a number of Steve's records. But I didn't know she was Jo's sister!

I'll have to check her contribution to Squackett (I don't recall seeing her in the credits).

(And I didn't realize she was on the "Harmony for Elephants" project that Ant Phillips is on.)

Thank you!

[Garden Dreamer]

And then there's Geddy road-testing his Taurus pedals before they appeared on Farewell to Kings!