To say Billy is a highly accomplished bassist is the understatement of the century!!! It's unmistakable just how much practicing and experimentation Billy has done with the bass guitar. It shows through in every single note and performance. There's simply no substitute for tons of practice hours and everything he teaches is bass gospel in my opinion.
he said just the opposite. is ability comes from gigging. if you are just going to sit and practice for years you'll never be the player you want to be. it comes from playing with a band not practicing alone
Hi, Yes, Billy was one of the first to realize that scalloped frets above the 12th fret helped him control the string better. Hope that helps, Larry DiMarzio
His technique is world renowned,...his philosophy is the real deal,..what being a fine musician is all about!! Think of the aesthetics of playing!!... Bassists! & Guitarists!...emotion/expression/passion are paramount in your performances!..💓⚡️🎶 Heart-charged Music!...in all genres hits the mark every time folks!..trust it! Pick your techniques that appeal,..and apply them as you see fit in the music,.. to deliver the sound,..tone and emotions you experience as you play and you’ll come across!.. thus touching your audience!!...now ROCK!,..POP!,..REGGAE!,..FUNK!,..& JAZZ on children!! ☝🏾This advice is coming from a “Seasoned Veteran” Musician!...✨🎶🎸👍🏾👌🏾✌🏾 Bless Billy Sheehan!!...🎶🎸 ...for his talents and generosity!🙏🏾👏🏾
02:23 LIke sweep picking. It's sweep fingering "Billy Sheehan's Secret Tricks" 1) Make sure your instrument is resting on your abdomen when you wake up and when you go to sleep 2) Only unstrap your bass for showering 3) Inject anabolic substances directly into your fingers before you lift weights with your fingers
I don't know if it has been mentioned, but it should be: He plays with an extremely low action, but not only that, he has his frets filed to perfection so that there are no bad frets with his low action. His action is so low the E string buzzes against the frets _hard_ if you pull it and let go. It's what he likes. You should check out his bass setup video. Most bass players change the action of their basses.
Just try tapping 4 notes on 3 fingers with one occurring on a different finger. It drives me nuts. He's amazing & most of it goes over a listeners head importunately
Hi, There is a plastic cover on DiMarzio bass pickups and the coils are also potted so I doubt that finger oil and sweat will have any effect. Hope that helps, Larry DiMarzio
His "secret" of playing over the pick ups is well known. Many players install wood inserts (called a Ramp) at the same height as the pickups so they can pick at different spots for different tones and still have that consistent distance. Gary Willis, another excellent bassist, is a strong advocate of using a ramp under the strings.
Hello Mr @LarryDiMarzio, I'm thinking of buying some pickups in the near future and play the high gain shred stuff. But I am restricted to the pickups I can buy because there are only a limited amount of pickups available from the NZ Rockshop. The one I am looking at buying is the DP127 but they also stock the DP122, 126, 250 and 251. Thanks Larry!
This man can show every trick but can't impart the gift he inately was born with, he's one in a million.I'm not saying he didn't work hard,but the majority could practice forever and still not be half the player Mr.Sheehan is.One thing I have found is that one gig is equal to five practice sessions.IMO Billy probably gigged more than anyone ever.
I find the Will Power Middle to be an amazing pickup. I love its tone and though I'm not a Billy Sheehan style player, find that it suits me well. Good lows, highs and powerful mids. I really (really) wish you made a 5-string version as I'd modify my 5 string Jazz style pass to use one. The other feature that I really like is covered pole pieces. I don't have problems with clicking noises caused by my fingers hitting them.
@GiantPandas You might like a Model P, although I wouldn't describe it as vintage-sounding. I think most players would find it to have more of a rock sound.
Hi Larry I play on a Ibanez RG 350 DX which has ibanez pickups(Two humbuckers and a single coil). I'm thinking about changing those into dimarzio pickups instead, but the problem is that i am quite new to the whole area of pickups. The sound i'm aming for is in the area of heavy metall/shred.. Could you please recommend something?:) Thank you
this is ridiculous... does he have the high frets of the high strings scalloped? ... and that is the first time I've ever heard a pinch harmonic on a bass.. wow. Amazing.
@sirmoog You are correct but if you really listen to Rainey's playing most of it is anything but simple. It sounds simple on the surface but rhythmically it is heavily syncopated and complex and harmonically it is very interesting.
He's right about tech from music, not music from tech. For years, coming from a Steve Harris kinda way of playing I always kept to 2 fingers "Well harris only needed 2"...but Harris wasnt playing what I am. This is also before I got heavily into Sheehan, and in order to do rhythmic patterns I needed I addopted a 3-2-1-2 pattern, different from sheehans and over time it worked and now I can do what I need to! Ive since tried sheehans way...cant do it, makes me play triplets.
Well, he was just showing what he meant, he didn't know it's called a "double thumb" unless you mean the super percussive thing he did on the fret board with his thumb while playing. He does that to mimick a double kick pedal thump,Billy can (surprisingly enough to myself and I'm a big Sheehan fan!) slap and double thumb, though he doesn't do it often at all as it's not his style :)
@KongoXIIV I'm not sure, but I think Steve DiGiorgio uses that pattern - 3-2-1-2 [repeat]. To me, each player should develop the technique that suits them best. I can't, for all the money in the world, use that pattern. On the other hand, I spent months before I even bought my first bass (I'm a guitar player) practicing 3-2-1-3/2-1-3-2/1-3-2-1... not really thinking but letting it flow naturally, you just have to forget you are using 3 fingers... if it makes sense.
i find that my fretting hand (my left) can move like Billy's plucking hand but my right only likes two fingers. Am I left handed, are there exercises to train my plucking hand or what?
What are the odds that BOTH Billy Sheehan AND EVH got the tapping idea from Billy Gibbons?? Just came from a vid where a poster claimed EVH got the tapping idea from BG as well..The only question is, who took it further FIRST?? Billy or Eddie?? Not sure why I really care, but for some reason i do..lol
he is right about the technic thing, it folows u. i only played whit two fingerswhen i first started, then suddenlig my third finger was playing along.
i dnt care who says wut about billy..THE MUTHER FUCKER CAN JAM!!!!!!!! lol..hes 1 of my favs..i grew up in Buffalo . i remember watchin him in TALAS when i was a kid..luv him then..i been playin Bass for almost 28yrs now..its not wut i do its "who i am"Gezzer Butler is my biggest influence tho..thats where i got my stytle frm the most ya no..hes BADASS.. but i just love watchin Billy play the hell outta that Bass.. ROCK ON BILLY!!!! . THANKX 4 SHARIN UR GIFT
As often as the p'ups are mentioned, he is only using the P p'up in this video. You can tell cuz there is only one cable plugged into his bass. Billy's p'ups are wired separately, no blend pot. He runs two cables to two separate bass rigs. If he had the neck p'up on it would have prolly killed everyone in the room, it's for stadium use only. ;)
I've played bass with two fingers so long my ring finger feels paralyzed trying to pluck. But like platform playing with two fingers and my thumb it came with time. Slowly my ring finger is starting pluck the string , 3 finger plucking very slowly. One thing at a time then maybe pluck with my little finger , dont know yet its paralyzed too small
