"If Eyeballs were Ears" -
Erik Scott in His Own Words
as told to S.K. Wallace
Preface:
"Ring, RING! R-R-R-I-I-I-N-N-G!!!" (It's totally against the administration's rules for these high school students to have cell phones. Whose is that?! Oops, wait, this isn't a student's phone... it's mine... I generally try to lead by example, but, just this once, I'd forgotten to turn it off.) Yet, the kids are being so loud nobody actually notices. When no one's looking, I covertly glance at the phone number for the incoming call... It's bassist Erik "Eski" Scott. [Briefly, I envision a photo on his website of him when he was playing for Alice Cooper's "Special Forces" Tour in 1980 (http://www.erikscottbass.com/caption27b.html) and wonder what would happen if he could magically and suddenly appear in my classroom right now in that particular regalia. More tangibly, I toy with the thought of taking the call... and maybe even yelling, "Hey, kids!!! ERIK SCOTT is on the phone! GET QUIET!!! NOW!!! Miz W. has a rather urgent bass matter to deal with!!!" [Such is the hazard of living a double life as a classroom teacher and bass journalist.]
When I checked voicemail later (much later... after school, I promise!) I discovered Eski was trying to follow up on some exchanges we'd had over the past few days regarding all sorts of urgent bass matters. For instance, why on earth does he meticulously save and catalog all his old strings? Furthermore, what is he doing putting them back on his bass?! Additionally, he'd been telling me for the first time about a Lakland bass he owns that was featured in some of his work with Sonia Dada.
But I think I'll let Eski speak for himself. Let's go ahead and take that call.
-SKW
S.K.: What's going on with all this talk about string age and your deliberate use of old strings? I can understand why some people save old strings from the standpoint of emergency replacements if something breaks and you don't have a new set, but what are you doing intentionally re-stringing with old ones?
Eski: It was at the famous address of Chess Records, 2120 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago (as mentioned by the Rolling Stones in that 60s song... the title of which escapes me now) where I was making demos for my first album in 1968. Gold records by Chuck Berry (Johnny B. Goode), Muddy Waters, and Willie Dixon and photos of the Yardbirds and Stones looked down on me as this brand new bass player started recording, and here is where I first learned that the type and age of strings and the location of where the point of attack occurred in relation to the pickups had a whole lot to do with the sound that the pickups heard.
During a playback, I humbly observed that perhaps the bass, my bass, was a wee bit difficult to hear. I might have said something like "Where's the bass?" The engineer pointed to the VU meters and said, "There it is." Well, sure enough, that old needle was pumping far to the right on the meter, and, if eyeballs were ears, I would have been hearing lotsa bass. But, no, I was hearing zip, nada. Eventually I learned the radical differences among strings of different ages. A lot of the older, more experienced cats are probably all over this stuff, but I might be able to save some of the younger Turks a little valuable learning time.
New strings, particularly the round-wound or half-round variety, produce a sound that encompasses practically all of the harmonic octaves, from way low to way high, in more equal measures, a whole wall of frequencies that are somehow very transparent in a busy track. It's hard to get that operative bass frequency around 100 Hertz and boost it above the rest. You get this large, masking, often boomy, less-controllable sound that is hard to place in the track.
As the string ages, the harmonics settle until you're left with a string resonating predominately in that 100 Hertz area, the real operative frequency for bass guitar. The strings produce very few other frequencies, and the sound overlaps minimally with other instruments. This makes it much easier to mix in the track without masking other instruments.
Had I been using 'deader' strings on that song and the meter was showing that much signal, I would have been hearing the bass much better. This sound of the dead bass strings is favored by most of the old R&B players, and Joe Osborne kept the same set of strings on until one broke after some 16 years. Of course, some say it was because Richard Carpenter was superstitious and wouldn't let him change. Steve Stills is well known for wanting the old dead string sound... so much so that he keeps his own old Fender with old flat-wounds available for his bass player to use. Just ask the fella currently with CSNY [Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young].
I've been kinda tickled in the past few years reading about younger producers "discovering" and utilizing this "old-school" approach. These old dead strings have their place.
S.K.: This all makes a lot of sense... and I'm glad you back it up with the science. So far, you've discussed it primarily in the context of the studio. Does it apply to live performance as well?
Eski: Well, you'll find yourself playing a lot of venues that have been acoustically designed for cheeseburgers. So, yes, I've found this can apply to live concerts as well, where getting a good solid, articulate, non-boomy bass sound is one of the more difficult aspects of front-of-house mixing.
Having said all that about dead strings, it must be said that the "live" string sound has its place and is in some musical formats the preferred way to go. This is especially true where the bass is the main melodic voice. In my own recent recordings where I am giving the bass the melody as well as rhythm and ambient effects, I am changing to fresh strings often. As I mentioned earlier, the increased harmonic frequencies, especially the high end, have that glassy "glistening" sound and also catch and trigger any effects I might be using. Since these are instrumentals, I can mix the bass higher than might be true in vocal music.
There is a big difference between old and new strings, and if you're having difficulty achieving the desired sound, you might consider the potentially related effects of string age. I keep a catalogue of strings, old (with dates recorded) and new. Guitar players, for whom dead strings have less than no value, upon seeing some of my used strings (with dates noted) are mystified and perhaps a bit concerned.
[Author's note: After the fact, I learned that, within the Texas Old-Time Fiddling tradition, there actually IS a cadre of respected guitarists (including some who've accompanied me) who are indeed true believers, adamant users, and extremely vocal proponents of OLD, DEAD STRINGS! Note that this particular application is for unamplified, acoustic rhythm guitars accompanying solo fiddle. So, it's the same principle Eski described: focusing and emphasizing the lower end while getting out of the way of the high frequencies of the lead instrument. Chances are your diverse musical paths will never cross, but know that you have some unexpected guitarist string age allies, Eski!]
S.K.: Let's talk about your Lakland bass. What motivated you to acquire that particular instrument, and how did you go about developing it to your specifications?
Eski: Lakland makes a varied lineup of quality basses and remains committed to discovery.
Here's the thing: I wasn't just looking for a great bass sound. I figured I had a couple with
my customized Fender and Pedulla fretless. I was looking for something a bit different from what I had... something with a separate personality, and I couldn't really define it. I think I vocalized it as something with a growl. I know much of that can be chased after with various amplifiers... speaker and/or tube distortion of the favorable variety, or effects.
After a discussion with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter back in the early seventies about studio recording, I became a great believer in having a great bass sound. I wanted to get as much as possible just from the bass itself, so you could just plug it in direct in the studio, and, as they say, "badda bing! Bob's your uncle..." great bass sound. I had spent enough sessions fighting with a questionable bass and a questionable bass amp, and two wrongs don't make a... well, you know. Get a bass sound that is very difficult to mess up. Now, I believe I have two of those great sounding basses, fretted and unfretted, and I wanted one a bit different.
So the patient folks at Lakland let me experiment with lots of pickups with different placing. I remember one [bass] that was great... had a tasty growl when you used a light touch with newer strings (go figure) especially in the low registers. It was a Lakland Joe Osborne model with Bartolinis.
S.K.: You stated that your Lakland has "the best neck" you have ever played. What specifically makes it so special?
Eski: The thing that makes the Lakland neck stand out for me is the remarkable intonation.
Even up to the very top ranges, the 20th fret, the intonation is flawless. From a feel standpoint, I grew up playing the Fender Jazz neck, which is thinner both in height and width, and when I asked Carl Pedigo, the luthier at Lakland, to make me a neck like that, he came up with a beautifully crafted model that plays like silk and with impeccable intonation.
S.K.: Where can we hear you play this instrument?
Eski: I used it on "Lester's Methadone Clinic" on the live Sonia Dada recording, "Lay Down & Love It Live," and on some of "Test Pattern," also with Sonia Dada.
S.K.: What's next for you?
Eski: Now Dan Lakin tells me they have a new pickup, and I'm going down there next week
to play it.
To learn more about Erik "Eski" Scott, visit his website: www.ErikScottBass.com, and see his previous in-depth interview at http://www.basssessions.com/feb06/interview.html.
Erik "Eski" Scott
About the author:
S.K. Wallace is a bassist, high school chemistry teacher, and in-demand guitar instructor. Her writing has appeared in Mel Bay's Bass SessionsTM since 2004. She may be reached at SKWBassist@aol.com.
