Welcome back to the final installation of the Duff Mckagan Bass rig series.
We start today where Guns N Roses left off in 1997 after disbanding.
Lets do this!
Duff contributed to a few projects after the break up
leading up to the early 2000's.
During this time his bass playing took a backseat
in favour of the guitar.
So, let's get that out the way and focus on the more interesting stuff.
He had writing contributions with Slash on "Slash's Snake Pit"
and then with Izzy Stradlin on his second solo album.
He played guitar in supergroup Neurotic Outsiders and 10 Minute Warning
then forming the band Loaded which we will touch on shortly.
Finishing his session work in 2002 he created the super group
Velvet Revolver
This included Slash and former Gun's N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum.
The VH1 documentary Inside Out: The Rise of Velvet Revolver
showed the trio in the studio finding a front man and writing material.
Its here we see Duff was seen using a Musicman Stingray
Right up until the band's first performance.
Where after completing the lineup and performing a showcase at the El Ray Theatre
for a select few in in LA. Duff was seen using his original Jazz Bass
Special and given up on the Stingray.
According to an article in Guitar World's Bass Guitar.
He stated on the topic of active basses ...
"I once had a bad experience with one. We were playing a live show and at the
beginning of our first song, "It's So Easy", I hit a note and nothing.
The battery was dead. I ... got my passive Fender Jazz Bass Special
and kept on playing.
His set up during Velvet Revolver consisted of two custom
white Jazz Bass Specials. These were reissue Fender custom shops.
replacing his older Jazz Bass Specials from the Guns N' Roses days.
One of these basses had the word "SOLGER" written in black marker across the top horn.
Duff showed his support to long time friend Paul Solger who suffered with cancer.
The second Jazz Bass Special has a sticker in the neck position with the words
"Be Mine" on it Above that is a heart with a sword through
it in the style of an old time sailor tattoo. On occasion this decal is seen in a similar
style but says "Mom" underneath.
His main tour bass at this time Was a reissue Jazz Bass Special in black
And finally, a custom Fender Jazz Aerodyne.
This Aerodyne is believed to have had the neck widened
to his usual preference of 1.6 inches.
Originally this bass has shorter typical jazz neck of 1.5 inches.
Lastly, and typically played on the song "The Last Ride" he used a semi acoustic Duesenberg
Starplayer.
After the fallout of Velvet Revolver, Duff was filmed for an interactive dvd named
"Behind the player".
On this DVD he stated Fender are releasing The Duff Mckagan Precision bass
due winter 2008.
The bass is still on sale today and is on the market for just over £1200.
It comes with all of Duff's custom features and aesthetics
the TBX tone control and Seymour Duncan pickup
which we mentioned in the previous video.
As well as the same neck width he prefers.
In the same DVD he has said that people ask if he recommends the basses.
To which he replies "Yeah! They're killer basses!".
"It's killer, to have a model of a guitar named after you."
Velvet Revolver officially went on hiatus in 2008 and
Duff again started bouncing form band to band.
Reloading Loaded, releasing an EP and touring
From 2008 to 2009.
Quickly followed by joining Jane's Addiction in
2010 for all of 6 months using his Velvet Revolver setup.
He appeared briefly with the 2010 iteration of Guns N' Roses for a few shows.
Using then current bass player Tommy Stinson's gear
A which by the way is a great looking PJ bass
by ESP.
Finally, he regrouped with Loaded again for a third time.
Releasing albums "Sick" and "The Taking" and touring up until 2012.
Duff is the frontman for Loaded and primarily plays electric guitar instead of bass.
Despite this, Yamaha gave Duff and resident bass player Jeff Rouse.
an endorsement for their new BB series.
Both played the BB1024X which is Yamaha's version of a "super Fender clone".
Designed with professional musicians in mind and comes with an expensive price point.
After the Loaded tour, he helped create the Rock N Roll all stars
which had a debut tour between 2012 and 2013,
This group is now renamed the Kings Of Chaos and is the supergroups of supergroups
touring with a random line up each time. Past members included Steven Tyler, Gene Simmons
and Joe Elliott
Duff's gear for this group was a Fender Custom shop.
Which some have coined by the Geddy Hamilton bass
Essentially, it takes the the body and hardware of a Reggie Hamilton signature
and combines it with a signature Geddy Lee.
It's fitted with a PJ configuration and most likely an 18 volt preamp
It was around 2013 Duff introduced a Fender Super Bassman amplifier into his rig
replacing his Gallien Krueger amplifiers.
We've discussed amplifiers in part 2 , if you'd like to know more about that.
The link is down below.
Following those tours Duff joined Walking Papers
where he had a second Custom Geddy Hamilton
in the same configuration but in White with a maple neck.
In February 2016 , he joined Alice Cooper's Hollywood Vampires at the Grammy's.
He is since then listed as the touring bassist.
He played with a custom PJ NASH which is painted with a nitrocellulose lacquer.
and a maple fingerboard.
NASH replicates the look and feel of vintage guitars
and updates them to appeal the modern player. It's a shame it comes with the same
price tag of a vintage piece as well.
That brings us back to present day where Duff now resides in Guns N Roses.
Which we've already covered in part 1. (its a circle!)
Links to everything we covered are down below as well as the videos to the previous 2 episodes.
If you liked the video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe, it really helps the channel
to grow and I would appreciate your support.
If there's a rig run down you want to see next. That you want to see next!
You tell me, you tell me in the comments who you'd like to see. We are now taking requests.
Thank you very much for watching and I'll see you in the next "Know Your Bass Player".