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AC/DC news and discussions: Tony Platt talks details about BIB and that Steinberger bass

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  1.  
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: SHOO23L
    • Dec 10th 2021
     
    This hour-and-a-half Tony Platt interview about the recording of Back In Black has been floating around for a year or so, but I can't recall seeing it referenced on the forum.
    Regardless, a great interview where Tony goes into detail about the recording of the album, his techniques and philosophies, and what equipment was used during the recording and mixing of the album. And yes, the Steinberger bass.

  2.  
    Thanks, I'll save that and listen when I have the time!
    • AC/DC rock music: savsav
    • Dec 10th 2021
     
    Excellent listen . Going to give BIB a headphone spin . Thank you
  4.  
    Lol, what’s he say about that damn bass?
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: DustDevil
    • Dec 10th 2021
     
    Great interview. Gotta love the Plattmeister!

    I made him a cheese sandwich once. Long story haha!
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: SHOO23L
    • Dec 11th 2021
     
    Posted By: ForThoseAboutToPostLol, what’s he say about that damn bass?


    It's the bass Cliff played on the entire Back In Black album.
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: Rocco
    • Dec 11th 2021
     
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: ForThoseAboutToPostLol, what’s he say about that damn bass?


    It's the bass Cliff played on the entire Back In Black album.


    That ugly thing you used on the FOTS tour?
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: SHOO23L
    • Dec 12th 2021 edited
     
    Posted By: Rocco
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: ForThoseAboutToPostLol, what’s he say about that damn bass?


    It's the bass Cliff played on the entire Back In Black album.


    That ugly thing you used on the FOTS tour?


    Yup. They found that they were having problems getting even tonality from the different strings, so they tried the Steinberger, which has a much harder neck and a much more even tone up and down the neck. At least Mutt didn't make Cliff record his parts string-by-string. :)
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: Rocco
    • Dec 14th 2021 edited
     
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: Rocco
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: ForThoseAboutToPostLol, what’s he say about that damn bass?


    It's the bass Cliff played on the entire Back In Black album.


    That ugly thing you used on the FOTS tour?


    Yup. They found that they were having problems getting even tonality from the different strings, so they tried the Steinberger, which has a much harder neck and a much more even tone up and down the neck. At least Mutt didn't make Cliff record his parts string-by-string. :)


    Not that I was there but I think I once read that Cliff only got that bass in 1983. Maybe Platt mixes up the recording of BIB and FOTS which were both done at the same studio (Compass Point). Plus there is one pic of the recording of BIB floating around where Cliff is definitely not playing the Steinberger:

    • AC/DC rock music: FLACDC
    • Dec 15th 2021
     
    Interesting, but I don’t think Cliff was approached by Steinberger until after the success of BiB and FTATR. That said, who am I to question Tony?!
  11.  
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: Rocco
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: ForThoseAboutToPostLol, what’s he say about that damn bass?


    It's the bass Cliff played on the entire Back In Black album.


    That ugly thing you used on the FOTS tour?


    Yup. They found that they were having problems getting even tonality from the different strings, so they tried the Steinberger, which has a much harder neck and a much more even tone up and down the neck. At least Mutt didn't make Cliff record his parts string-by-string. :)


    Did Mutt actually make Mal and Ang do that for FTATR? I thought I was going crazy for knowing of that but having no clue where I heard it from.
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: Rocco
    • Dec 15th 2021
     
    Posted By: Spellbound
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: Rocco
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: ForThoseAboutToPostLol, what’s he say about that damn bass?


    It's the bass Cliff played on the entire Back In Black album.


    That ugly thing you used on the FOTS tour?


    Yup. They found that they were having problems getting even tonality from the different strings, so they tried the Steinberger, which has a much harder neck and a much more even tone up and down the neck. At least Mutt didn't make Cliff record his parts string-by-string. :)


    Did Mutt actually make Mal and Ang do that for FTATR? I thought I was going crazy for knowing of that but having no clue where I heard it from.


    No, that was with Def Leppard IIRC. Definitely not AC/DC. But I clearly remember an interview with one of the recording engineers of FTATR where the guy said, that Mutt made Phil re-record all drumfills separately for sonic reasons.
  13.  
    I think you're thinking of when Ang said George taught him how to use tape to mute the strings you're not using for certain licks like TS and FTATR.
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: Rocco
    • Dec 16th 2021
     
    Posted By: ToiletWallPoetI think you're thinking of when Ang said George taught him how to use tape to mute the strings you're not using for certain licks like TS and FTATR.


    No, that’s a whole other story. This is what he’s referring to:
    https://www.ultimate...
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: Thankass
    • Dec 16th 2021
     
    Not yet listened to it but i tend to go with Rocco here that Tony is mistaking FOTS and BIB with the use of the Steinberger.

    This is what Cliff had to say in Guitar World about the Steinberger:

    "Have you ever experimented with a different bass in AC/DC?

    I played a Fender Precision for a little while, when I originally joined the band. Then—what is that little headless graphite bass that looks like a toothpick? Steinberger. Those were the first active pickups I ever used, and I really liked the sound, but I hated the bass.

    I played it on the road for a while, but I just couldn’t stand the shape, so I pulled the guts out of it and dropped them into the P-Bass, which wasn’t bad."
  16.  
    I have serious doubts that Cliff Williams used his Miami Sound Machine bass on Back in Black.
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: Badlands66
    • Dec 16th 2021 edited
     
    .
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: SHOO23L
    • Dec 16th 2021 edited
     
    Posted By: Rocco
    Posted By: Spellbound
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: Rocco
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: ForThoseAboutToPostLol, what’s he say about that damn bass?


    It's the bass Cliff played on the entire Back In Black album.


    That ugly thing you used on the FOTS tour?


    Yup. They found that they were having problems getting even tonality from the different strings, so they tried the Steinberger, which has a much harder neck and a much more even tone up and down the neck. At least Mutt didn't make Cliff record his parts string-by-string. :)


    Did Mutt actually make Mal and Ang do that for FTATR? I thought I was going crazy for knowing of that but having no clue where I heard it from.


    No, that was with Def Leppard IIRC. Definitely not AC/DC. But I clearly remember an interview with one of the recording engineers of FTATR where the guy said, that Mutt made Phil re-record all drumfills separately for sonic reasons.


    If I remember correctly they did it for the cymbals, too. It was for a number of reasons. Because of a certain effect they were using on the snare (some sort of pitch-shifting) they didn't want the toms to bleed into the snare mics. Plus, it allowed the mix engineer to buss the drums down to 4 tracks (kick drum, snare, toms, cymbals) which made it easier to handle the mixing sessions, and allowed them to push all the toms up in the mix to highlight the drum fills without affecting the rest of the drum sound.
    •  
      AC/DC rock music: SHOO23L
    • Dec 16th 2021
     
    Posted By: Rocco
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: Rocco
    Posted By: SHOO23L
    Posted By: ForThoseAboutToPostLol, what’s he say about that damn bass?


    It's the bass Cliff played on the entire Back In Black album.


    That ugly thing you used on the FOTS tour?


    Yup. They found that they were having problems getting even tonality from the different strings, so they tried the Steinberger, which has a much harder neck and a much more even tone up and down the neck. At least Mutt didn't make Cliff record his parts string-by-string. :)


    Not that I was there but I think I once read that Cliff only got that bass in 1983. Maybe Platt mixes up the recording of BIB and FOTS which were both done at the same studio (Compass Point). Plus there is one pic of the recording of BIB floating around where Cliff is definitely not playing the Steinberger:



    That could very well be. Tony mentioned that Mutt had the bass amp placed in a vocal booth behind the drum kit to allow some of the ambient bass sound to bleed into the drum mics to artificially give the bass a bit of stereo spread, which is not the case in this photo, as the amp is clearly behind Cliff, and Phil isn't set up in front of a vocal booth. Plus, Cliff is playing his StingRay. That's not to say that they didn't change the setup during the recording, or perhaps this photo was from early on in the sessions before some changes were made.
    Someone needs to get a hold of Mutt to verify Tony's story! :)

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