John Paul Jones Interview: Part 3 | ELIXIR Strings

first interest piano yeah and and then I took up bass and organ about the same time my father was a my my parents room variety of what you would call vaudeville and he was a great pianist and and an arranger my mum was a singer and of dance at least have like a musical comedy act but he was like his kind of intimidating as a pianist and so I I wanted to take up the organ it's just sooo not to be like dad you know but then I also I really wanted to play bass guitar and he said son don't take out the bass guitar it's a novelty instrument you'll never have two years time nobody will ever heard of one right so we don't know really well he said well clean up take out the saxophone you'll always work with the saxophone when I play the saxophone or playing the bass so I managed to convince him to guarantee clubs like fourteen be the guarantor for the what would he call it layaway yeah and then I paid for it by playing organ in church and which I got 50 bucks a year a year but they just covered the payments for the bass and um and and then of course he I'll be playing and then thought okay and so by then he was doing uh doing sort of small you know local gigs and stuff like that so he went hmm okay come with me so I used to go on gigs with him we had a trio or quartet whatever was was required and he just said okay watch my left hand and so I didn't I learn a huge amount from that that's great experience like very first base yeah it was a Dallas tuxedo it was the only bass made in England I think at that time I think by orbital or something like that and in fact I found another one on eBay last year I bought it that's if it is an extraordinary instrument the whole thing is made out of one piece of wood neck everything the whole thing's carved out of one block of wood it's astonishing thing it's got a big fat neck on it and it's it's got a single cutaway looks kind of guitar shape with a single cut away that thick weighs nothing well actually had not a bad sound and then I swapped that well what happens from the first base I put it down in part exchange for the next base which I put down in part exchange for the next base which was my Fender Jazz Bass which is a 1962 jazz bass and I know it's 1968 because that was the year I bought it do you still have it I still have it yeah I stole use it not on stage I recorded it so and that was it so I had one base for many years even with Zeppelin just the one who you loads of influences pretty much everything I listen to is an influence and I defy any musician to say that it's not like having anything you switch on the radio and there's also something you can you can take from every music every style even if it's the shallowest pop record to the you know the to the heaviest jazz whatever hang on god anything you can usually pick out you know you can learn something even if it's don't do that you know but I suppose when I was starting to play the bass well which I I had a couple of lessons with somebody but it was only just like hold your hand like that and try and extend and that's what stuff I had to three lessons maybe and but mainly I've learned it by listening and playing to records and on bass guitar my influences were probably duct done and then James Jamerson and him in the session world I was the if you wanted your record to sound American you would call me because I was the one who listened to all that stuff to Motown Stax and all that sort of stuff and so I could play it and the Rangers couldn't generally write those parts they were quite complicated so just used to write the chords up and going you know what to do so I think so okay great so I was I had the freedom of pretty much improvising through whole sessions which was which is great you know that's unusual and jazz probably you know well Charles Mingus Ray Brown then Scott the farro I mean all these people but I didn't only listen to bass players obviously I try to listen to absolutely everything and as I said there's always something you can learn but is it everything does yeah I mean even after the vulture started I took a couple of weeks off and went went to play with with the most cunning of Dance Company in New York in fact we're doing six shows in the Barbican in London so yeah everything feeds everything else basically you know my rock stuff feeds that and then that will feed something else and then you learn enough as bluegrass the process of music is from brain to somebody's ear basically under the less that gets in the way of that little journey the better know and this brain two fingers so you got fingers in good shape and responsive and then the strings are the link between you and the guitar or the instrument and if they're slowing you up or giving you too much friction or impeding you anyway that's something you got to like get over and what I first came to elixir strings from Christy Lee when I went to I did a mutual admiration society tour there was one number I did which I did a instrumental patient version of going to California with with Shawn Watkins just mandolin and guitar and so Chris said try these strings okay because I I figure okay that's a little side thing I use the pick he uses I use the strings uses right now it's not because I'm going to sound like him but I figure he's a mandolin player as well he does they I mean it's you know that's what he's done most of its not all he does his composure to me I thought he'd probably figured out the best strings and the best pick to use right I don't have to try every pick and all sets of strings to figure out I can ask him and it's probably damn good start you know he doesn't work for me then I can change it or refine it or whatever but I try the strings now ah this is great my things do not stick every now and again and I just get will go over something like and I don't have to change them all the time you know to keep keep them fresh they last forever but not forever but for a long time you know much longer than regular strings and so it was not to diminish them but there were oneness thing to think about and to get in the way you know and so I started I use the same gauge did we talked about gauge string gauges and he has he has ideas about string gauges and I kind of followed those ideas to thinking well he's probably figured it out he had and so for instance in cage and then Alexei send me some bass strings we will try the user oh okay and sure enough they do for me what the mandolin strings do you know I don't get in the way at all and they always sound fresh oh no Hugh loves them because he doesn't have to change him so many times and yeah they stand up to it but basically they just I just like that I can slick feeling about them like and I can move quickly again it's less friction so yes they just don't get in the way and they sound great so I have no problem with them at all you

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Keywords: John Paul Jones, bass guitar, mandolin, Them Crooked Vultures, why elixir, why elixir strings, Elixir Strings, John Paul Jones Guitar Strings, Guitar Strings, Best Guitar Stings

Id: u-pDYq2VpOQ

Length: 9min 10sec (550 seconds)

Published: Wed May 19 2010