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. Tone tips: Grab a 12-string of your choice and dig in! What strings did Paul Gray use? When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Did McCartney use flatwound strings on his Hofner bass from the very begnning or did use round wound on it at some point? Peavey has been amazing to me and because they have worldwide distribution it makes it easier for me when touring. 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. From triumph to tragedy, here is his story. Rickenbacker 12-string (Atomic Studios), Amps The worlds biggest and best metal magazine, Every Slipknot album ranked from worst to best, Slipknots Mate. Although fans knew Paul as part of the nine, he had a low public profile, rarely speaking to the media. He played the ES-345 with the volume fully up on the bridge pickup. It required the heaviest gauge top string he could find in order to hold the notes well enough to record. Incredibly, he was welcomed into the band, Vexx. I used to use heavier strings, but a couple of years ago I injured my hand and I had to go down a gauge. That evening, the eight remaining members of the Knot, aided by early bandmember/stand-in bassist Donnie Steele, provided their own loud tribute. What gear are you using live?Sensible: We have built up a collection of Marshall EL84 20/20 20-watt stereo power amps, which might even have warmed up Mrs. Thatchers cold heart if someone had thought of it! Tony McPhees Groundhogs performance of Cherry Red on Top of the Pops departed radically from the shows usual fare, and that was the moment I decided to get a guitar and only a Gibson SG would do. The lead guitar breaks on Evil Spirits sound very in-the-moment, but also precisely mapped.Sensible: They are pretty much first takes. The innovator that pretty much started the trend of the classic shred metal guitar, Eddie Van Halen also often uses light strings. staff present the albums that shaped their individual 2022s! As the date drew near, it was clear Shawn was ready to go all out. Aqua Marine. Grays recorded output with the Damned includes two of the bands most revered and musically fibrous albums, Strawberries (1982) and The Black Album (1980). Gibson SG 60s Tribute models with EverTune bridges 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. During the press conference, percussionist Shawn Clown Crahan, who co-founded Slipknot with Paul, wanted the world to know how devastating his death was. It was the first time the whole band had been in my house together and it was a very surreal moment There was this wall of anguish and silence just sitting on top of us and it was fucking gnarly., The band knew their friend had been suffering. They also sound totally different. Paul Gilbert Guitars and Gear List (2023 Update) Christopher D. Schiebel June 24, 2022. Im a dreadful singer, but Ive got all of these melodies in my head and I kind of approach the bass as a tool for countermelody, and I weave between what the Captains playing and what Daves singing. Instead of sticking with the drop B tuning used on its other tracks, Paul used a drop A tuning with this thickest string another octave down which he described as a super low, almost sub-woofer kind of frequency. Of course, when younger I may have felt slightly different. Born in Los Angeles on April 8, 1972, Paul Dedrick Gray was in many ways the beating heart of Slipknot. Do you remember what your first bass guitar was? We had to kick everything up a notch, and that required the Captain playing a bunch of different guitars in the studio. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The top 3 are unusually light for a blues man. It features a pre-bend that has an almost rubbery, time-warp kind of feel and returns at the end of the track, switching to half-time while Corey continues roaring, Look me in my brand new eye! Its these extra touches and twists that gave an unmistakable feel and identity to the bands seemingly inexhaustible supply of sonic violence. No tricks, no pedals, no nothing. Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. 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. 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 . Marc Bolan wouldve loved that! I made Paul punch in a lot, but a lot of it comes with modifying parts and changing things to be something a little different without changing their overall feel or what theyre trying to say as players. Captains songs are Gods gift because theyre so melodic. Theyve been far too busy touring to devote time to nostalgia. "It depends on what I'm doing. I was speechless watching him write this song. "I took a few bass lessons to learn slap and pop techniques, because once I really got into bass I started listening to everything - not just metal and rock. Did I ever really think a friend was going to die? Ive always used .009.042 gauge strings: Rotosounds if we can get hold of them. Or any money to buy one. This was noticeable with all of the guitar-centric genres, most notably with hard rock and heavy metal. TC Electronic Nova System Thats my go-to bass at the moment with the Damned, and thats the one I used on our tour. The legendary Dan Erlewine, luthier Gene Imbody and Berklees Tomo Fujita have shot a 6-point lesson video to help, Producer Mura Masa says that PinkPantheresss Boys A Liar was made in a couple of hours, and that he didnt know about the Ice Spice 'Pt 2' remix until he saw the video, A-ha interview: "We were convinced that the record company would drop us and everything was over before it began" the story of Take On Me and their debut album Hunting High And Low. Total Guitar has not edited this interview, deciding instead to leave as much of Paul's personality and character in as possible RIP Paul. Theyre just magnificent!Paul Gray, Clairvoyant Chemistry: The Damneds Captain Sensible and Paul Gray, A Guide to Essential Effects Plugins for Your Home Studio, ESP Announces LTD Kirk Hammett Signature Series KH-V, Epiphone Introduces the 1958 Korina Flying V and Explorer, Building a Pro-Level Home-Studio Mic Closet, DAngelico Guitars Introduces Deluxe Eric Krasno Brighton Signature Model. The best record they ever made! 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. "I have to find my place in Slipknot and stay away from just following the guitars, so I play along with what the drums are doing. Did you ever take lessons in bass guitar? Eventides Tony Agnello is a big fan of the Damned and brought some secret prototypes to Atomic Sound for the Captain to use, but Im sworn to absolute secrecy about what they are and do. People say they eat into frets, but Ive never found that to be the case, and I change them every night when Im on tour. Title Written by Originally by Original date Covered by ; Before I Forget . Unsurprisingly, Evil Spirits sounds very much like a continuation of the sonic tack the group were on at that point in their career. I didnt know any of the bass lines but I knew all the guitar parts, so I faked it. You must log in or register to reply here. But also, Ive never known trust like the nine.. How did you capture the albums live feel in the studio? He had something going on in his mind, and I was like, OK, I need to back off I cant touch this. And if you listen to that song, you can tell that theres heartfelt pain in that., Shawn had never intended to join a metal band, but got sucked into the promise of what he could create with someone as talented as Paul. But the first bass I used to try out for this band, because I didn't have a bass and I'm left-handed, was some no-name bass but kind of like a double cutaway so it kind of looked like an SG maybe? 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. I've heard this too. Feb 11, 2014 #3. We used that with an 8x10 and had everything up full blast and thats the sound on the record. 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. 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. After then he used steel strings. If you think it's fucked up and weird, then that's cool because it's your thing. 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. Works 23; All; Songs written by Paul Gray [US1] Original songs. Paul was there from the very, very beginning. What's Inside show As Paul got to know his new instrument, he developed a strong attachment. At one point, Paul drifted back to LA, but was persuaded back by Anders and Shawn. Its a drag to repeat yourself, and thats why no two Damned albums sound alike. . He wrote that whole song, and there was such an essence about it that was so odd; the way his eyes were looking at his guitar, and the way he was writing it when we were playing together, it was almost scary, he told Revolver in 2010. String gauge. Who wants to go onstage with an unblemished guitar slung round their neck? "After that the first real bass I bought was an Ibanez Soundgear and I still play Ibanez now. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). I like a bit of everything, drawing your attentionhopefully not unwiselyto the fact that I had the first rap hit by a white artist with 1981s Wot! Please dont forget the exclamation mark by the way. I will miss him with every fibre of my heart, as will everybody at this table and everyone who knew him he was the best of us.. I thought it was the coolest thing ever., By the age of 16, Paul was living in an apartment with his friends Frank and Chris, jamming Danzig songs in the living room under the moniker Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Works 23; All; Songs written by Paul Gray [US1] Original songs. Let's take a closer look at the strings Sir Paul used and continues to use, as well as how they helped to shape his tone. BA1 1UA. And that goes for the records, too! Someone else can probably add more, or demonstrate that my memory is faulty. I go to the same fucking bar and hang out with the same fucking people, so I really havent changed that much. Don't know if it's true though. Although the band parted ways with Joey in 2013, the remaining seven musicians immortalised their grief and memories on 2015s .5: The Gray Chapter. The first 5 strings often stayed the same string gauge throughout his career. How did the Australian singer die? Search Ray Brown for details. When asked about the song which best summarised Pauls contributions to Slipknot, its interesting that Corey and Clown have singled out Vermilion as his magnum opus both admitting they were moved by the chillingly real sense of pain and struggle on the bass players original demo. #22. John Paul Jones. 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. Does new pickguard & knobs = NGD? Recorded at Download 2009, Paul talked to TG about his solid playing style, his reason for being a bass player and his tips for making you play better. The Kerrang! You gotta find your pocket, he said. It was actually a badass guitar, it was a Gibson Flying V and it was left-handed, and it ruled. The great thing about those basses is that theyre so individual to how you want them to sound. Sensible: Tony and engineer Kevin Killen thought the material had a 60s garage vibe, so sought out less-saturated distortions, mainly from the studio Vox AC30 and an excellent Matrix VB800 amp that Id packed in my suitcase, which certainly packs a punch despite being on the dainty side. When it came to music, Paul was up there with some of the greats, remembered Corey, in a heartfelt tribute to his old bandmate. Aug 24, 2009. Luckily, it didnt choke at the Albert Hall during our 40th anniversary show. Captain, please tell us a bit about who influenced your guitar playing? So I switched the strings on it and it kind of looked OK, like a left-handed bass if they'd put the knobs on the top. By age 16 he was in his own apartment, and by 17 he was jamming Danzig covers in the living room with his band, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He had an ear for nuances that I dont think a lot of people understood. Today, we celebrate the songs which epitomised his pivotal role within The Nine. One has a very chunky neck, and thats a 74, and the 77 has a thinner neck than a Fender Jazz bass. But everything needs some editing, and to pare it down to what you finally hear, we had to make a lot of choices. 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. Its complexity is countered by the open-string drone that dramatically brings everything to a close the guitar and bass amps ringing out together in a hellish orchestra of earth-shaking noise. Even if you're playing metal bass, listen to jazz, country, punk rock or whatever because you can always pick up tips from other players. in July 2008. It was as simple as that. Kill. Proprietor Fifth Avenue Fret Shop. I've tried that set but I couldn't hang with the .038 low E. Too loose. Gray: I used the 1980 Ric that I used on TheBlack Album, but the one that ended up on most of the tracks was my very early 74. Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, 1960s Ampeg B-15 Portaflex, Strings and Picks The bass player always looked the coolest in the band! Slipknot have just released a brand-new song, Bone Church, which started life in a jam room on the .5: The Gray Chapter tour. A true athlete when it comes to traversing the fretboard of a Rickenbacker bass, Grays lead bass style and the way his playing seamlessly weaves with the Captains is a massive part of Evil Spirits musical bedrock. I think they picked me because they collectively like various albums Ive made: especially the T. Rex and Bowie stuff. We've got songs on the albums that are in our normal drop B tuning, and we do a drop A tuning, and I do another tuning where I'm actually in octaves - it's weird! They toured All Hope Is Gone across nine gruelling legs, starting in July 2008 in Washington, taking in Download in June 2009, and finishing in Las Vegas that October. As a comparison, I recenly picked up a Johnson Viola bass to donate to my daughter's school auction. He had a difficult and itinerant childhood, and his father died by suicide. It was hard to comprehend. When you play, do you prefer to play with a pick or your fingers? I helped start one of the biggest metal bands in the world and Im not necessarily a metalhead. Instead of sticking with the drop B tuning used on its other tracks, Paul used a drop A tuning with this thickest string another octave down - which he described as a super low, almost. Bath With Slipknot, my bass playing is a little more laidback and subdued. Although not as light as some other guys on this . 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. Its an attitude I share, and who cares if theres a few jazz notes in there. Freddie used .010, .011, and .012 on his top strings and light to medium strings on the bass (wound) strings. Those were round wound. I wish I had known that back then! There were three mics on it: one on the speakers, one three feet back, and one six feet back, and a little bit of DI. Its in the title. Its not that he didnt like them of course he did, he went and saw Stone Sour, Murderdolls but when Paul would come home he would get really sad because all hed want to do was Slipknot. 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. Has there ever been something that was just too far out for the Damned? We chart much-missed bassist Paul Gray's 10 greatest tracks for the Knot, The only way I can sum up Paul Gray is love, said Corey Taylor in a tearful emergency conference held the day after his bandmate has passed. With Mountain, Flowers of Evil has a live side, and the bass and guitar interplay on that album is just magnificent, and I love that really filthy sound Felix P. had: electric farts, we call it in the Damned. The Damneds dynamic duo, Captain Sensible and Paul Gray, played together in the studio for the first time in 22 years while recording the bands new album. You gotta find your pocket. The Nova is great, combining analog distortions with digital delays and reverbsand despite being a bit long in the tooth these days, theres not a lot of similar alternatives. Frank Zappa? Not quite, but I'll take that as a compliment whether intended or not! So my second string was in A but I was actually an octave below the low A, so I was super low. 2,977 1,264. 1970s Ampeg SVT V9 Gauges : Medium 46-63-80-102. I figured that it couldn't be that different to playing guitar, but later on I found out it's a totally different thing. By their own admission, it was a chaotic time for The Nine Clown once described the sessions as hell and this track in particular as their way of saying, "Fuck off and leave us alone.". I was cutting myself with a razor, bleeding all over the place. For me, it was an extremely emotional experience., When Paul was interviewed during the Vol. I don't even know if you can actually hear it - it was more like a sub-woofer king of thing. 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. Mar 3, 2003 #9. They thought it was cool thats how I got playing bass.. Ernie Ball Power Slinky Bass Strings (55-110) Paul Gray was known to use the Ernie Ball Slinky Bass Strings. 3: (The Subliminal Verses), 2004), Vermilion (Vol. We both also share a love of melody and those three chords at the start of Louie Louie and all of the American garage-rock from the 60s. The 15-minute epic that closes the Knots second album showcased a very different side to Pauls playing, more '90s rock than extreme metal in feel sharing similarities with the kind of lines heard in bands like Tool and Pearl Jam. Feed. Corey called him their secret weapon. So I begged my mum for a guitar, and she finally got me one. Not being able to predict what kind of music wed deliver mustve pissed off the record labels, because things never lasted long before us being shown the door. Doing that actually made me fall in love with bass guitar and thats why I became a bass player., Paul was my biggest influence when he came into the band, recalled Anders Colsefni, Vexxs drummer. I try not to step on anybody's toes but try not to get lost either. I loved guys like Jim Lea from Slade, who was doing more like lead bass and drove all those fantastic Slade songs. In tribute to Paul's indelible legacy and legend, we're going to look at a side of the man that was rarely seen, let alone written about. Some of Pauls favourite stuff was the crazy shit, yknow? Corey told us in 2014. ", Don't miss the latest deals, news, reviews, features and tutorials. Tragically after writing, recording and touring four albums in the greatest metal band of a generation Paul passed away on May 24, 2010. I introduced him to the wonderful world of Eventide, and we used the H9 a lot. The only way I can sum up Paul Gray is love. It allows you to throw things into the set on the flyjust call out a key and hell have a go at it. He spent the several decades with Spirocore Mittels. 9. 1990s Vox 4x10 cab Its safe to say that when Slipknot takes time off, Paul was the one person worst affected by the other side-bands. 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. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) landed a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance.
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