Roy Babbington

From Soft Machine- At first I wondered where was the bass player, then it dawned on me he was playing a Fender VI six string bass with a whammy bar, which he puts to nice effect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gpaMTgBCx0

Is that a baritone guitar or standard guitar? I'm kinda drunk right now I can't tell

It's neither really. The Fender Bass VI was the first 6 string bass. it was tuned E-E, had a trem, and closely resembled the Jazzmaster. There's a page about it here under Other Brands in the Trem section

Hard to hear the bass (to me), but that's still awesome! One day I want to try one of those things.

I thought at first there was no bass or the keyboard player was covering it. But later in he song he uses the trem on longer notes quite a bit to good effect.

It sounded like a guitar to me, pretty tight though.

Wow! I really dig old prog fusion!

I read the notes about the video, and I didn't realize that Allan Holdsworth had been in Soft Machine!

Glad you asked. he looks pretty young here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIC-nJRcgeU

I read an interview with him, he talks about that white SG & how it was the best guitar he ever owned. It got stolen at a gig and broke his heart to this day he said.

Roy babbington 6 string bass solo- he gets an almost upright sound from it. At 1;46 he kicks in a distortion pedal, cry baby etc. Kind of a lame solo compared to today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njVcutKBPTo&feature=related

Wow! Great videos!

Allan looks so young! He truly is an incredible player, and that's putting it mildly. Eddie Van Halen considers Allan Holdsworth to be one of the greatest guitarists ever, and I fully agree. I have the mini-album Road Games on tape with Allan Holdsworth on guitar, Jeff Berlin on bass, and Chad Wackerman on drums. It is some of the most mind-blowing guitar playing I have ever heard! One of the really amazing things about Allan Holdsworth is his use of guitar synths. The tape actually has a dislaimer on it saying "there are no keyboards on this recording". And when you hear the textural landscapes that Allan is capable of producing, you can see why. The album literally sounds awash in keyboards/synths, but it's all Allan Holdsworth.

And I also really dig the Roy Babbington video, and I don't find it lame at all. In fact, it is very consistent with jazz solos parts that you hear so often in standard and prog jazz arraignments. He creates some amazingly, cohesive landscapes on his bass, and I think it's awesome! I also think I hear some sort of octave device in his tone, and my guess is something along the lines of a Foxx Tone Machine, although his cleaner portion during the end also seems to have some sort of doubled tone going.

Man...this makes me want to get my hands on a Fender VI!