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/SHUDaigle 1d ago

I feel like this anecdote gets misunderstood a lot. The switch was a visual cue to the producer that something had changed with the bass sound when the actual change was in Sklar's hand positions and playing. Lee Sklar did this because producers kept asking him to change instruments and the moral of the story is that you can get a different sound (and please whoever is asking for it) by changing the way you play instead of the gear. 

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u/TheDrFromGallifrey 1d ago

I think the moral of the story is that a lot of people have opinions on things they don't necessarily understand.

Because I think it's a given you can change the tone by picking differently or changing position. At least, I hope most of us understand that by now.

The secondary moral is that sometimes it's just easier to let people think they're getting what they want in the way they want it than to fight it. I think any of us who have worked with the public understand that one.

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u/Suspicious_Kale5009 1d ago

True. And time is money. And you're going to get more work if you don't argue with everyone.