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John Deacon's amp rig? Do we know anything?


fretmeister
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Saw Queen many times from their first headline tour onwards.

First rig was 4 Acoustic 371 stacks with 2 Hiwatt heads and 2 Sound City 4x12 cabs loaded with Gauss drivers (1 of the Acoustic 301s was positioned over on Brian May's side of the stage).

He then changed the Sound City cabs for Peavey 4x12s.

Then moved onto the Sunn rig (a mixture of 4x12's and 15's I think) and finally the SWR.

Damned impressive rig that Acoustic/Hiwatt rig!!

Recording wise he DI'd but also mic'd the 301 and 4x12, the final sound being a mix of all 3.

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[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1340717768' post='1708493']
Never saw a Wembley show with anything other than P-Bass and SWR. He may have had a few other cabs up there,
[/quote]

Here ya goooo :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KFksPc83IU

2.03 > 2.05 for a quick glimpse of the Sunn 412L's. (interestingly, this was the first vid I had a look at and FF'd to around 1.30. So more luck than anything finding a quick shot of the cabs. Sorry, I didn't spend any time looking for amps!

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Isn't he quite well known for building his own 'Deacy' amps?

My love of Stingrays comes from JD rather than Flea as most people presume, he is mostly giving me gas these days for a fretless Ray! Most of my favourite Queen songs are either played on a fretless or his lovely tobacco burst pre EB Ray with the white pick guard.

Edited by stingrayPete1977
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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1340741286' post='1709071']
Most of my favourite Queen songs are either played on a fretless or his lovely tobacco burst pre EB Ray with the white pick guard.
[/quote]

Had no idea, which tracks are fretless Pete?

Loved the recent two-part documentary on BBC that - despite the best efforts of a certain drummer and certain guitarist - demonstrated just how much difference JD made to Queen's sound and success

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1340741286' post='1709071']
Isn't he quite well known for building his own 'Deacy' amps?

My love of Stingrays comes from JD rather than Flea as most people presume, he is mostly giving me gas these days for a fretless Ray! Most of my favourite Queen songs are either played on a fretless or his lovely tobacco burst pre EB Ray with the white pick guard.
[/quote]

He did build a little amp in to an old hifi speaker that Brian May used for the very distinctive 'nasal' solo sound on early albums. A one off. However about....ummm .. ten years ago? Vox recreated the amp as the 'Vox Deacy' amp. I have also seen that a company on the internet were as best as possible trying to recreate the actual hifi speaker cabinet and electronics as faithfully as possible. Never seen one 'in the wild' though!

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[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1340745856' post='1709167']
Had no idea, which tracks are fretless Pete?

[/quote]

I think he used the 'ray on Another One Bites The Dust, certainly on a few live gig DVDs I have, but I think if there was a medley (say with Under Pressure) he may have used it for those too?? The gorgeous fretless P bass with the maple neck was used for early live versions on '39.

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[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1340745856' post='1709167']
Had no idea, which tracks are fretless Pete?

Loved the recent two-part documentary on BBC that - despite the best efforts of a certain drummer and certain guitarist - demonstrated just how much difference JD made to Queen's sound and success
[/quote]

Spot on. JD really was an essential part of Queen, one of my main influences on bass.

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If you're old enough to have bought Live Killers from 1979 in Gatefold sleeve LP form at then there is a pic of JD using a maple fretless precision and the reason I've lusted after one for years.

But what I meant in my earlier post is that we're probably hearing the Precision through the DI into the desk, completely bypassing whatever amps were on stage unless one or some of the cabs were mic'd up

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Crazy little thing called love is fretless, always a fretless P I presume? Obviously another bites the dust is his most famous Ray track but there are others, good old fashioned lover boy I think is another. If you listen closely I'd say there are quite a few Rays recorded regardless of what he plays in the videos or live where he does seem to favour the P, I miss JD :)

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[quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1340779310' post='1709372']
I think he has the quintessential P-bass tone. Fat and mellow.
[/quote]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_g5SWui864"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_g5SWui864[/url]

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1340780175' post='1709375']
Crazy little thing called love is fretless, always a fretless P I presume? Obviously another bites the dust is his most famous Ray track but there are others, good old fashioned lover boy I think is another. If you listen closely I'd say there are quite a few Rays recorded regardless of what he plays in the videos or live where he does seem to favour the P, I miss JD :)
[/quote]

He uses a Ray on Tie Your Mother Down, or at least the video for it

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And whats that lurking in the shadows?....
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMnjF1O4eH0&feature=relmfu[/media]



And the obvious one, cant find any more can anyone else?
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY0WxgSXdEE&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL7FAA75D55D7D5207[/media]

Edited by stingrayPete1977
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