Welcome back this is the bass rig of Jason Newsted formerly of Metallica.
This episode we shine a light into his corner
of the bass world.
Jason joined Metallica in the midst of the Damage Inc. tour
after the unexpected death of Cliff Burton
He auditioned using a Warmorth DIY bass which he built himself
And had a BC Rich Eagle deluxe as a back up.
His first show with Metallica was on 8th of November 1986
using an ESP surveyor. Which is their take on a Fender Precision
Jazz.
the newly formed Metallica went into the studio
to record the Garage Days Re-Revisited EP.
The same bass is again seen on the album cover. This EP was recorded in anticipation of the
Monsters of Rock festival in August 1987.
Jason was seen on stage using an early ESP 5 string horizon
with a JJ configuration.
James and Kirk were endorsed by ESP and the offer presumably was extended to Jason too,
hence the use of the Horizon.
The following year in 1988 recording for And justice for all began
Recording engineer Flemming Rasmussen commented in an issue of Sound on Sound
That Jason used a 5 string Wal on the album. With that came Metallica's first video "One"
. Where we see the Wal in action.
Early in the Damaged Justice tour, Jason continued playing 4 and 5 string Wals
but towards the end of the tour he had moved onto Alembic basses.
This is evident in the Binge and Purge DVD on the Seattle show,
dated August 1989
Jason has a history with Alembic that gave way to a lot of experimenting.
He had basses made to address many issues he was experiencing whilst playing.
According to Alembic he had at least 13 basses constructed with custom options.
Ranging from different wood types, electronics or changing the contour of the body.
He used the following models to experiment with.
A 4 string Persuader, which was similar to Cliff Burton’s
and then he used a Spoiler --
Following that an Elan 5 string with a Jazz Precision Jazz configuration
and a Europa, which came in 4, 5 and 6 string versions.
These Alembic basses were played live between 1989 and 1992
which spans the length of the Black Albums' - Wherever we roam tour
which we'll touch on in a minute.
Jason's admiration of these basses was love at first sight.
Stating that
"I always thought [the Alembics] were incredible. As soon as I could afford one, I tried it--and
that was it."
He also stated how the factory was nearby so he could talk face to face with the luthiers
voicing his concerns.
A year later in October 1990. The band regrouped to start work on the Black
Album. Contrary to the previous tour, Jason primary
used a 1981 Spector NS-2 to record with.
There is documentation of Jason using a MusicMan Stingray, a Gibson Thunderbird
and up to 25 different basses in all.
used for specific parts.
It's uncertain if all of these sounds stayed for the final mix.
Back on the road,
he continued using the Alembics already mentioned
and also rare Stuart Spector Designed basses that introduced a signature JN model
The black album era had five tour legs.
Starting in 1992-1995 and ending with the recording of Load and Reload a year later
in 96 and 97 respectively .
In an interview with Bass Player Magazine 1996
Jason again stated he used the NS-2 and a few other instruments to record.
Another being his treasured 1958 Fender Precision bass.
The resulting Poor Touring Me Tour
then showed Jason back on stage with the new addition of Sadowsky basses.
In the final act of Jason Newsted and Metallica.
You will see countless Sadowsy basses of different colours and varieties.
By my count there are at least 20 and we’ve got a full list of those for you
linked down below.
Many are seen in the 1997 live show Cunning Stunts.
Whilst he has a rather large collection, the basses’ configuration typically boils down
to either a 4 or 5 string PJ or JJ pickup configuration.
Jason has stated in interviews that he liked these basses because they are a “Turbo Fender”
The tone sounds just like his 58 P bass but with a little more juice.
Not only this,
they are actually light basses and one of the reasons he bought so many.
Carrying heavy Alembic basses were taking a toll on his shoulder.
His original order back in 1996 consisted of
four 4- strings and three 5-strings.
An additional requirement of these basses were that they were completely water and sweat
proof.
The Sadowsky basses were used to record Garage Inc. and played on the Symphony and Metallica
show in 1999.
In May 2000, Metallica released the single “I Disappear”.
And that September Jason decided to leave Metallica after filming of Classic Albums:
The Black Album.
Jason has mostly used Ampeg heads and cabinets throughout Metallica.
But on the early tours he used an original 1974 SVT head.
This was plugged into a 1x15 Ampeg speaker and 4x12 Mesa Boogie cabinet.
In the later years, his amplifiers were stored away off stage in a flightcase.
There he has 2 rack mounted Ampeg SVT 2’s and one for backup.
These go on to power two Ampeg 8x10 cabinets.
His recording setup has had some subtle changes over the years
And included the use of a few other Ampeg head models.
Such as
A 1970’s VB4 And SVT AV’s
Jason has also expressed how he uses rooms of different sizes
and a mixture of Marshall amplifiers to change the depth of the recording.
A lot of effects have come and gone through Jason’s rig.
Mostly due to new upgrade being available at the time.
So here are the main ones you should know.
The first effect that should come to mind for any Cliff or Jason fan is the
Morley Power Wah Fuzz Pedal.
Which was used predominantly on “for whom the bell tolls” and bass solo segments
The fuzz is usually paired up with an overdrive or distortion typed sound
Which Jason used a Sans Tech 21 Bass DI. It gives his signal a boost and some grit.
This was later upgraded to the XXL which has been said to have even more drive.
When recording the Load Reload albums he used a mixture of the following ...
A Boss Flanger BF-2
Boss Chorus CE-1
MXR Phaser
And Big Muff Pi.
Jason’s strings have always been made by Labella.
Sometimes called Hard Rockin' Steels. But commonly known as Stainless Steel Round
Wound designed to be very flexible string and higher
tension than others.
Jason swapped the pickups in his original basses
the Warmoth and the BC Rich with an EMG set.
Citing EMG as a standard, fundamental for a metal sound
Jason also changed the stock pickups in some of his Sadowsky basses to the same EMG configuration.
Jason is an avid collector of basses so unfortunately we couldn’t cover everything he owns.
We can share with you a list of the majority of his gear
That we’ve seen through Metallica
and you can find that in our show notes linked below.
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I’ll see you on the next Know Your Bass Player where we conclude our first series.
After that we open the floor to viewer suggestions. So get yours in now as the list is starting to grow
Thanks very much for watching and I shall see you next time.