Paul S. Denman

[Chris C]

Since I didn't have a gig last night (first weekend in a long while), I watched my Sade Live video. I was mesmerized the whole time and was instantly reminded why Paul Denman is one of my favorite bassists. His lines are timeless. He played his old two-band EQ Stingray on all but two of the songs in that concert (1994). His tone is perfect. His bass is always smooth sounding, yet it's always clear as to what he's playing. It's never muddy, yet always fills the bottom of the spectrum.

I realized that even though he's one of my favorite players, I know next to nothing about his gear, other than he played that 'Ray on almost all of the early Sade stuff. Anyone know what kind of amplification he used? What kind of strings? It almost sounds like it could be flatwounds at times, but at other times you hear just a bit of that zing that comes from rounds. Anyone?

 

[Randracula]

Since I didn't have a gig last night (first weekend in a long while), I watched my Sade Live video. I was mesmerized the whole time and was instantly reminded why Paul Denman is one of my favorite bassists. His lines are timeless. He played his old two-band EQ Stingray on all but two of the songs in that concert (92, I believe). His tone is perfect. His bass is always smooth sounding, yet it's always clear as to what he's playing. It's never muddy, yet always fills the bottom of the spectrum.

I realized that even though he's one of my favorite players, I know next to nothing about his gear, other than he played that 'Ray on almost all of the early Sade stuff. Anyone know what kind of amplification he used? What kind of strings? It almost sounds like it could be flatwounds at times, but at other times you hear just a bit of that zing that comes from rounds. Anyone?

I have no idea what amp/cab he used but i'm pretty sure he used flatwound strings .

 

[Moondog]

I think he uses mostly Rays & Trace gear

some info @ this link:
http://members.tripod.com/~j0hn_e/bp997.txt

 

[Caca de Kick]

Paul is one of my all-time favorite players too, incredible goovin bass lines.
He has always said since the very early 80's he uses Trace Elliot amps. I dont know what brand of strings he plays but they're rounds...it's the hands of a great player they can sound smooth, and you hear the zing occasionally especially when he pops. I also find 2-eq's better for that smoothness.

Lots of good watching on youtube too.

 

[Chris C]

Cool!

Thanks Moondog. I'd never seen that interview. Good info.

Here's my favorite quote from it:

I never want to play something and say, "Hey guys, this is the
s**t," because to me it's not. The "s**t" is playing the song and making
it solid and so groovy that everyone else feels really relaxed so they can
do their s**t.

If only more musicians would have that attitude (including me at times!).

Caca de Kick:
Yes, ...I thought I heard an occasional zing-of-roundwounds in there...

 

[Randracula]

I dont know what brand of strings he plays but they're rounds...it's the hands of a great player they can sound smooth, and you hear the zing occasionally especially when he pops.

Sorry if i'm wrong but I could have sworn i've heard before that he uses flats.Here's a great video of Sade live......[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvcNtoHwd6Y"]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/nomedia]..... that shows off Paul's amazing tone and playing

 

[Rano Bass]

He always used Trace Elliot amps, and Rotosound strings, Musicmans can be very smooth on the hands of the right player.
Paul Denman is one of my favorite players, and the main reason i love Stingrays.

 

[tommixx]

Paul is also at the top of my list and is THE reason I have to have an SR4 in my arsenal! I believe that he had one of the first 1,000 Watt Trace amps that was paired with the original 12 Band EQ Preamp and I know he used to use 2 410 Trace cabs...Great tone and a great human being!!!

Peace,

T

Thanks for the Link!!

For Clarity here it is from the man himself:

---What's the secret behind your deep tone?

To me, it's in the fingers and in the way you develop over the years.
The other thing, of course, is the instrument. I bought the Music Man
StingRay I'm using right now in 1978, and I've used it regularly ever since.
I've bought other basses, but I always go back to that one, because it's just,
you know... it's me. Everyone's got that certain bass or guitar; it becomes
part of you. When I strap on this bass, it feels as if it's part of me...

---What other basses do you own?

I have one that's pretty much the same as my '78 StingRay, but it's a
'79; those two have natural finishes. I also have a '78 sunburst-finish
StingRay. I have a '85 Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay 5-string, and '85
fretless StingRay, a Washburn AB40 acoustic bass guitar, and Azola Baby Bass,
a 3/4-size upright made by Emanuel Wilfer, a Gibson EB-3 from the '70's and
a really weird Premier short-scale bass from the '50's that has a glitter
finish.
I've got a ton of effect from the '70's, too. Not that I've ever
used any of 'em- I've just been buying them lately 'cause they look cool!
[Laughs.] I've never used effects with the band; I just buy them to have
fun and mess around.

--- Which instruments do you use on the road?

I use the StingRays most of the time. I've used the Wilfer acoustic
on every tour I've done since '86. And most of the songs on Love Deluxe were
played on the Washburn, so I use that.
I play through Trace Elliot amps, and I always have. I just really
like 'em. I'm using AH600SMX amp with a 4x10 and a 15- that's it. I got my
first Trace rig in '84 when we signed a deal and I got some money; before
that, I used anything I could.
In the studio, I just plug straight into the mixing board. The sound
you hear on our records is just me and the bass with maybe a little
compression.

 

[petch]

Paul knocks me out. He is the total package...tone, grooves, knows just when to step out, etc. etc. Awesome player and awesome sound.

 

[Chris C]

Musicmans can be very smooth on the hands of the right player.

You know, as a side note, that's one of the things I like most about Stingrays (out of the many, many things I like about them)--they are super smooth and punchy when playing them with a laid-back attack (with the EQ set properly for it). But if you dig in or start slapping on them, they bite back and become nasty right along with you. Especially Stingrays--I didn't notice that quality so much with my Sterlings; they are a bit more "in your face" at all times (it seems to me--don't get me wrong, I love Sterlings too--just a slightly different sounding instrument).

Yeah... here I am gushing on about EB Basses. But if I'm going to gush on about them, isn't this forum a perfect place to do it??? Hey, I love my 30th so much I could have it bronzed and erect a monument in my front yard. But... then I couldn't play it anymore.

 

[Mr Light]

He always used Trace Elliot amps, and Rotosound strings, Musicmans can be very smooth on the hands of the right player.
Paul Denman is one of my favorite players, and the main reason i love Stingrays.

Rano,

I'll have to second with you on the strings. According to my research, he lives here in LA. In fact, the guitar tech I started to go to in Hollywood says he actually worked on his MusicMan, and says that he uses really light gauge Rotosounds. Also, I believe I actually ran into him coming out of the GC in Hollywood, but I wasn't quite sure so I didn't want to embarass myself.

I've been trying to see if I can find out what he's up to (I'd love to me him). Word on the internet says that he has a son with a punk band called ORANGE (I don't know). Paul using Trace Elliot is new info to me and I'll add that as a piece to his sound puzzle.

 

[Caca de Kick]

Mr Light,

I have a Bass Player mag around here somewhere form 97/98 that back then even says about the Trace Elliot usage. In fact the BP mag interview (back when he even had hair) is word for word from the link above....so I think it's the same Bill Leigh interview.

-Mike

 

[Mr Light]

Mr Light,

I have a Bass Player mag around here somewhere form 97/98 that back then even says about the Trace Elliot usage. In fact the BP mag interview (back when he even had hair) is word for word from the link above....so I think it's the same Bill Leigh interview.

-Mike

Right on...

So in today's way of putting it: A MusicMan, Natural with 2EQ, maple neck (of course), light-gauge Rotosound strings and Ashdown amplification would get his sound. I say Ashdown since the former engineers, et al. from Trace Elliot created Ashdown after TE's demise. Unless the new Trace Elliot sounds like the old (I don't know).

 

[Rano Bass]

Right on...

So in today's way of putting it: A MusicMan, Natural with 2EQ, maple neck (of course), light-gauge Rotosound strings and Ashdown amplification would get his sound. I say Ashdown since the former engineers, et al. from Trace Elliot created Ashdown after TE's demise. Unless the new Trace Elliot sounds like the old (I don't know).

Well... now we only need the most important part of the recipe... Paul Denman himself
I think the amp is not that relevant, since the way he records is just straight from the bass to the board, and i love his studio sound.

 

[Mr Light]

Well... now we only need the most important part of the recipe... Paul Denman himself
I think the amp is not that relevant, since the way he records is just straight from the bass to the board, and i love his studio sound.

Yes, you are right!!! The sound of my bass itself is one of the main reasons why I love MusicMan so much. Fender P just can't do it direct like a Stingray!

I was not fully convinced of my decision to become a MusicMan convert until I had the opportunity to record in a studio with it. Boy, there was no turning back after that!~

 

[baske]

---What's the secret behind your deep tone?

To me, it's in the fingers and in the way you develop over the years.
The other thing, of course, is the instrument. I bought the Music Man
StingRay I'm using right now in 1978, and I've used it regularly ever since.
I've bought other basses, but I always go back to that one, because it's just,
you know... it's me. Everyone's got that certain bass or guitar; it becomes
part of you. When I strap on this bass, it feels as if it's part of me...

Would this be a SR4 with the Alnico PU?

 

[drTStingray]

Right on...

So in today's way of putting it: A MusicMan, Natural with 2EQ, maple neck (of course), light-gauge Rotosound strings and Ashdown amplification would get his sound. I say Ashdown since the former engineers, et al. from Trace Elliot created Ashdown after TE's demise. Unless the new Trace Elliot sounds like the old (I don't know).

According to Mark Gooday of Ashdown (and ex Trace Elliot) the Mark King signature (MK500) is the closest to an old Trace Elliott (straight input and output with 12 band graphic - basic clean sound) - there's a interview in the August Bass Guitar magazine with him.

Notable that Paul Denman uses light guage strings. So does Mark King (same edition of Bass Guitar magazine - an extended article) - perhaps an 80s thing.

Pino Palladino also used to use a Trace Elliot with his 2 band fretless SR4 - this can be seen/heard on the Live Aid video of him playing with Paul Young - another great classic Musicman sound IMO. On the same video you can catch M Miller playing with Roxymusic/Bryan Ferry getting a not so good tone (IMO) with what looks like a newly tweaked J bass!

Denman is great, one of my favourites also - but I'm sure he used an effect on the bass break in Sade's single Smooth Operator?

 

[five7]

Killer musician, thanks for posting!

 

[drTStingray]

I didn't realise til after I'd posted that this was a resurrected 4 year old thread

The person resurrecting the post asked about Alnico PUs - which these basses were.

 

[baske]

I didn't realise til after I'd posted that this was a resurrected 4 year old thread

The person resurrecting the post asked about Alnico PUs - which these basses were.