Joey DeMaio of Manowar

Very interseting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSYrTKXLYH0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fbassoutpost%2Ecom%2Findex%2Ephp%3Ftopic%3D2193%2E0&feature=player_embedded

Man I love Manowar....

That's so insane...knocks me out every time...

I've got this Hell On Erath Part III DVD... It's really awsome...

So does he use regular bass strings spaced really close?

Also is that his main bass that he uses?

I think he always use custom basses with thin string spaces. Thes strings are looking very thin so I think it is guitar string. On some songs, he uses an 8 string bass with doubled bass strings.

This is a very strange and specific configuration

Dos wrote:

I think he always use custom basses with thin string spaces. Thes strings are looking very thin so I think it is guitar string. On some songs, he uses an 8 string bass with doubled bass strings.

This is a very strange and specific configuration

No, for songs he uses pretty regular basses, but for solos he used picallo tuned basses with super tight string spacing and trems.

I think Gloves of Metal is an awesome song

Just throwin' that out there haha

From what I understand, Joey does play this solo on the studio album using a regularly-tuned bass. He pulls out the piccolo-strung custom job you see in the video for his live solo. Clearly, the neck is longer than a guitar, but the strings are both guitar-gauge, and are spaced accordingly. Ok, the guy can solo his arse off, and there's no doubt he can move around the neck. But I, too, have a problem with certain aspects of this.

You mean that you don't dig the solo or you are also such a neck-mover, Eric?

Yup, I've heard it clean on a regular bass.


I don't understand why people have so many problems with it though.

Geez, its just for fun, and plenty of bassists play picallo strings all the time and don't get moaned about, heck, if they didn't picallo strings wouldn't exist.

Totally, man. I always loved that video. Still makes me jump up and down and scream a little

I guess my issue is that this is tagged as a bass solo, but in my view, technically it isn't. He's using a pick on strings that are gauged and spaced as a guitar would be (albeit, a lot longer in scale). So while it is a cool solo from a bassist, it isn't really bass in nature. It's more like a really great bassist doing a solo on a guitar. For example, I would be sorely disappointed if I went to see Billy Sheehan live, and he ended up doing his solo on a guitar. I don't think what Joey is doing is too far from this.

And no, I don't have issues with his speed, because I do enough of that myself. The guy can play, and he obviously knows his way around the neck extremely well.

I'm not being critical of the guy, because if I did, it would be a horrible case of hypocrisy. As you guys all know, I am all about doing something different, and this is different. I'm just not sure if I would consider this a bass solo. But then again, I have caught flack doing what I do, so I suppose I really can't nit-pick here. It's just my two-cents.

Now, I have heard him do this routine on a regular bass, and I suppose I would rather hear him repeat that live.

Thing is, I believe he *does not* call it a bass solo, as much as just calling it a solo.

Its not ment to be a technical masterpice of our instrument, or the guitar, for that fact, all it is, is a piece of flash and fun, for both him and the fans.

What about Jeff Schmidt? Thats all picallo, using guitar strings, never heard him called anything but a bassist.

Michael Manring, a lot of his work is picallo, as is quite a few solo bassists.

Very valid points all the way around, Bill.

I just ran with the title of the video, as it says "Joey DeMaio bass solo". Maybe Joey himself does not refer to it as such, but the guy who posted the video did. That caught my eye, I saw the video, and something inside my tiny brain said "...uh...wait a minute here..."

I'll go one step further, and tell you that I have had a similar problem with Stanley Clarke lately. Stanley Clarke, you say? How dare you!!! Well....he has done a lot of performing on his piccolo bass with a regular bassist backing him up. The problem I have with this is that I clearly remember when he was the only bass player performing on a regular bass. The dispute in my head isn't how awesome the playing is, but rather, that the instrument in question isn't a true bass. While it may be true that piccolo basses are considered part of the bass family, you wouldn't be able to hold down the normal bottom-end with one. That being said, there is no arguing that Stanley Clarke is one of the greatest bassists of all time. And as a solo instrument, I think piccolo basses are fine.

Lemmy from Motorhead is yet another example. Do I love his music and playing? Absolutely! But the fact is that he runs his tone with almost no bottom end in it whatsoever. Now, it is true that this is part of what makes the Motorhead sound, and even more to that end, playing Motorhead tunes with a full low-end bass tone ends up sounding funny (to my ears, anyways). But even he admits that he plays it more like a thick guitar.

So it isn't that the solo Joey performs isn't good. It comes from me being crossed-up in the definitions of what he is doing exactly.

And PLEASE people, I am not debating over whether or not Joey can play bass well. I have heard enough Man-O-War to know just how truly proficient he is on bass. And I'm not about to say how he should play this-or-that. All I am saying is that there is something in the presentation that strikes me oddly. It's my hang-up, folks. Go easy on me.

I understand what you mean, man and I would agree with you wholeheartedly if, as Bill says, it weren't Manowar. I mean....body oil and tight pants and they never run out of ways to write about how kickass metal is. If it were anyone else, I would share your sentiments, Eric!

Oh, hey! I'm all about the Metal image they portray! I am certainly not knocking them for that at all!

Sorry, man. That post came a little late...hahaha I had a cat in my face and I wasn't able to see what you had last written

Its cool Eric, just throwing my point of view out there, really don't want to start trouble, if I wanna fight, I could just post anything, about anything, on Youtube......

Honestly, I won't deny its got almost nothing to do with bass.

I want to see Manowar some day

So do I, it would be one hell of a show, and you know, Joey check every seat in each arena, himself, believes his fans deserve the best, and aims to give it to them.

The band I want to see most, and am pissed that I missed the last time they were here, is Blind Guardian.

Do you mean that he walks through during sound check or something?

And oh yeah--Blind Guardian would be SO sweet to see...Battalions of Fear is one of my favorite albums ever!

Yup, while setup is going on, he walks the arena and checks them all.


Nightfall In Middle Earth is my fave, but love 'em all!

Wow...that's dedication

Still don't have that album...and I don't know why

Get it, seriously, its worth it for Nightfall alone......