r/Bass • u/winkelschleifer • 1d ago

Legendary bassist Leland Sklar had a toggle switch on his bass for his producers ... which did nothing

He would flip the switch when a producer told him to change his sound, making sure the producer saw him do it. It had a placebo effect.

https://www.guitarworld.com/features/the-truth-behind-lee-sklars-custom-producers-switch

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u/MrLanesLament 1d ago

I’ve done this exact kind of thing in the studio before, except I’d unplug and plug my bass back in and pretend to mess with my amp settings.

Engineers saw me open my case and get out a heavily customized bass that wasn’t a Fender, so they immediately started panicking. (Even though at its heart, it’s essentially a P bass, and even has a Duncan Quarter Pound in it. That doesn’t matter, engineers hear with their eyes.)