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2000-04-17
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Edwin Hurwitz
Boulder CO
http://www.indra.com/~edwin
The short story is this: Phil started out on a Gibson EB0, then
moved to a Fender Jazz Bass which he used until '68. After that he
played a not very modified Guild Starfire (preamps and some magnet
changes in the pickups)through late '69 or so (Live Dead is a great
example of this sound). The next bass was a heavily modified Gibson EB3
(I think it was a long instrument) which had new hardware, preamps and
Guild single coil pickups installed by Alembic. This bass can be heard
on Skullfuck and other recordings of the time (DP from the Fillmore
'70 show is an excellent example of this instrument). This instrument
was stolen (anybody out there seen it?) and was followed by the
Starfire, but this time it had it's front removed and replaced with all
new pickups and electronics, including an Alembic superfilter and
quadraphonic pickup. The headstock was also replaced. It was called the
Godfather. This is the bass heard on Europe '72 and in a lot of ways
my favorite of Phil's various sounds. It can be seen at Alembic's
website. In '73 he received his first Alembic 4 string bass that was
also quite an instrument, it was also quad and is seen in the Grateful
Dead movie. It interfaced quite well with the Wall of Sound.This bass
was followed by a Doug Irwin and then a G&L as well as Flirtations with
an old Fender Jazz.
Finally, in the early 80s he got his first Modulus 6 string and that's
when my interest waned somewhat in his sound as I feel it lost a lot
of character, although it certainly gained in definition. As a bass
player, I feel that his most expressive sounds were between '69 and 74,
especially when the Godfather was used. I've used a Starfire that has
had it's electronics and hardware updated, and in many ways it is a
bass that deserves much more respect that it has gotten in the past.
As far as amplification goes, Phil used various amps in the
60s before settling on Fender Dual Showmen, which were probably
somewhat modified by Bear and Alembic. By mid 1972 he started using
these amps in conjunction with McIntosh 3500 tube amps (these can be
clearly seen in the Sunshine Daydream video from August of '72). Each
amp produced 350 watts from 8 6L6GC tubes, which, if you use 4 of
these, can create an awesome sound indeed. Shortly thereafter, Alembic
convinced him (I'm sure it was very easy) to use their F2B preamps
instead of the Fender front ends. These preamps are awesome and are
still made today. I use a pair of them and they deliver a versatile
clear warm and modern sound. He also switched to McIntosh 2300s, which,
as solid state amps, are much more efficient in terms of weight and
reliability. This was the electronic basis for his part of the Wall of
Sound and remained the center of his rig through to the late 70s with
various configurations of speakers (starting out with JBLs in the late
60s to Gauss by the late 70s). Eventually he switched to a Groove Tubes
preamp and Crest amps and developed a rig that was dominated by the
Meyer processors and speakers for a very hifi sound that was
essentially a miniature version of the PA system used throughout the
80s and 90s. As far as effects go, I'm not really up on that as my
interest in exploring his sound had died off by the early 80s when I
discovered Bootsy and others who I felt were taking bass sounds to a
more interesting place. Don't get me wrong, I have always been
entranced by Phil and indeed was originally inspired by him to take up
the bass in the 70s, but it seemed to me that the clearer the sound
became, the less interesting it was. Although never got to hear the
Wall in person, it seems (from recordings and reports) like that was a
pinnacle of sound and creativity. I hope this helps.
Update: Last year I built myself a bass with a Modulus Quantum 6 neck
and have developed a new appreciation for the more modern Phil Lesh
sound. Funny how that goes! The Starfire also has since been reissued
and seems to have gained a better reputation and a higher profile.