Talk:Billy Sheehan

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[edit] POV?

This article has a rather fawning tone to it - it almost sounds like it was lifted wholesale from a fansite or guitar magazine or something. I'll come back later and fix it up a bit if I have time and somebody else hasn't already done it... - Alex

I agree with you, Alex. There are quite some "fanboy"-like stuff here. I disagree with the part that says that "Perhaps his most innovative modification is multiple output jacks, which help him to separate the frequencies into separate amplifiers. This helps him achieve a distinctive and clear sound that few other bass players have been able to come close to". This is quite erroneous, since the company Rickenbacker made bass models like the 4001 and 4003, which had multiple output jacks for stereo signals, and bass players like Geddy Lee were already using that kind of set-ups in the 1970s... - Papo

Agreed that the article needs a NPOV re-write. I don't believe that I can contribute much to any re-write, so I'm just marking the article for now. Hopefully someone with more interest/knowlege can rewrite to be less "fanboy"ish. --Mcpusc 12:26, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

"razzle-dazzle", "bottom line", "...in addition to his usual bass acrobatics". Yuck yuck POVness. I remember seeing this article a few weeks or months back and it really wasn't as POV though Lambyuk 19:08, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

It's articles like these that discredit Wikipedia. I will try to research more into Billy Sheehan and take some appropriate corrections. The opening statement of 'is generally acknowledged as the greatest rock bass player of all time' without a proper citation to back it up is nothing but an outrageous claim. - Scott

I agree as well. I just read the article, and the first thing that caught my attention was the statement about him being the greatest bass player of all time. At the most, it should read, "one of the great bass players of our time".

Basically it looks like someone who's a huge fan of Billy Sheehan wrote the article and embellished the facts. Therea re lots of statements made with nothing to back them up. This article defintely needs a re-write by an objective factual minded person. -Kevin--64.42.192.130 16:50, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

It was written by a fan. And it was lifted from elsewhere. The original stub was expanded mostly with text from an article off musicianforums.com (with the author's permission). That's why there's still subjective phrasing throughout the article.

I changed the first sentence to something more fair in my opinion. I deleted another sentence about his awards. I want to put it back in an awards section, which just lists his awards, but I'm having trouble finding a credible list of awards - eg which ones are serious awards and which are not. -Scott

isn't he a scientologist? I seem to remember him appearing in scientology commercials in the 80s or early 90s. Jafafa Hots 23:56, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

In response to Papo above, about the input jacks on Billy's bass, sure Rickenbacker makes basses with multiple outputs for stereo signals, but those are not like Billy's. Each pickup of his bass is wired to a separate volume pot and output jack so that each can be processed independently and combined as needed at the bass itself.

[edit] sup

his first bass, according to his website, was not a fender precision but a hagstrom... something similar to a Kent PB24-BG but i'm not sure. his first bass-amp was a gretsch but i haven't got the faintest idea which model. try this link if you think you might tell: http://www.billysheehan.com/photos/photos_equipment07.html and yes, he is a scientologist. by the way, both the song and the album are called "high speed on ice"

I beg to differ, as I have 2 copies of the live Talas record---the text at the bottom of the front cover does say "High Speed On Ice", but the word "High" is crossed out and LIVE is written above it. The liner notes appear to be typewritten and there the title is listed as "Talas: Live Speed on Ice".

[edit] Bass strings

A while back (maybe 10 years or so) Sheehan collaborated on his own line of bass strings. I'm hesitant to add that to the article though, because I don't think the strings are still being made, and there's very little mention of them anywhere (best I could find was about a quarter down the page of this interview: http://www.vintageguitar.com/artists/details.asp?ID=212 and some small message board chat at http://www.talkbass.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-27940.html). Opinions? --Laura S 02:39, 8 May 2006 (UTC)