Michael Rutherford as a Rick player

blazer · Post by **blazer** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:41 am

Let's talk about Genesis Bass/Guitar player Mike Rutherford, who is one of those players that has an instantly recognisable sound and style. Playing fast pick driven runs with a very clear "Clank"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPgQxjiwhm8
"I know what I like" live Rutherford on his custom made double neck rick.

edski · Post by **edski** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 5:06 am

When he used a Rick there was a distinct clank. The Shergold he used had a more P bass sound IMO.

One of my favorite Rick sounds of his was near the end of "Battle of Epping Forest". Near the end of "Cinema Show" is some more good Rick clank - can hear it pretty good on the You-Tube clip, more so than the original recording.

The next album was Lamb - not sure if he was using a Rick then, but by then he changed his sound. Lots of distortion on that one...

bob_atherton · Post by **bob_atherton** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 5:09 am

Ed, I saw them do Lamb live and he had a Ric then, so I guess he used it for the album?

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 5:43 am

The Lamb lies down on Broadway has a nice Squire-like tone on the Ric bass ...

henry5 · Post by **henry5** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:30 am

I believe he used the Microfrets (?) for the Lamb, or so he says in an article I have somewhere (I'm going to have to catalogue all these magazines one day!).

I love Rutherford, whether he's playing a Ric, a Shergold, whatever. Definitely one of my favourite players.

edski · Post by **edski** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:40 am

Everytime I listen to Lamb I wonder what the bass is. Since it's so distorted through most of the album I'm never too confident. I'll have to put it on someday soon and listen closely - right now I'm not having a luck remembering too many other bass tones that weren't distorted, other than a section of "The Cage" that has some sort of chorus/phase effect that also hides the true nature of the bass tone.

Certainly Ricks distort well, but some of King Crimson's music (from Red in particular) have some nasty distortion on the bass, so all I can say is that the playing is fantastic, and the bass tones add to the tapestry of that fine work.

hieronymous · Post by **hieronymous** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:51 am

I think the sound that got me hooked was the bass riff in the live version of "Watcher of the Skies" from Genesis Live (the one with the creepy blue cover). I actually had a video tape with a few live songs from the Selling England by the Pound period, but it disappeared during college...

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:54 am

I love the sound John Wetton got with his P-bass while playing with King Crimson ... Red is one of those Albums that I rediscovered last year ...

admin · Post by **admin** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:00 am

Here is some information regarding Mike Rutherford's Doubleneck.

Also, there are additional comments to a question I asked Mike some time ago here.

jps · Post by **jps** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 9:48 am

"I think the sound that got me hooked was the bass riff in the live version of "Watcher of the Skies" from Genesis Live (the one with the creepy blue cover)."

The first time I saw Genesis, that is exactly what I saw and heard! Back in April '72 they were on their first US tour opening for It's A Beautiful Day. Genesis opened the show with WOTS.

pekka · Post by **pekka** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 11:30 am

"The Lamb" was definitely played on a Microfrets 6-string bass. A short scale bass tuned E-A-D-G-B-E which he then had combined with a 12-string Rick guitar for the tour. The same doubleneck was used also on the early parts of "A Trick Of The Tail" tour and it's perhaps on the album too.

One site claimed that Rutherford played an 8-string Hagström on "I Know What I Like" and it's true he used that bass for the song live during the late seventies (a live version on "Seconds Out" features the Hag) but the studio version doesn't sound like an 8-string neither does it sound like his Rick on the rest of the "Selling England By The Pound". Does anybody know what he used? I'm betting it was a Precision.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 11:59 am

But when they toured he played a Ric bass ... I saw them do Lamb in Chicago about 1974 ... and he had a Ric ...

pekka · Post by **pekka** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 1:56 pm

Every pic I've seen from "The Lamb" tour shows him with this doubleneck:
http://www.genesis-movement.co.uk/photos_memorabilia/berne75/berne3.jpg

Maybe it was broken or something during the gig you saw but the Microfrets/Rickenbacker doubleneck was his main axe during that tour.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:57 am

Whatever he had it sounded great on Lamb, (love that distorted sound) as did Wetton in King Crimson. I saw UK with Wetton and I think Bruford in 1977 in the Orpheum in Boston, he had a white P bass without a pickguard, what a band that was live, whew! Those guys could play, still have the LP.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 12:08 pm

maybe it was a different tour but he didn't have the ugly microfrets bass when I saw him ... it was a Rickenbacker ...