Aboutcarla smith Expertise I can answer almost any question on Def Leppard as a group and individual band members past and present and their music. I can answer some personal questions but I cannot answer personal questions that only a band memember, relative or close personal friend would know.
Experience I have listened to, followed and researched Def Leppard for 25 years. I have every cd, 3 dvd's and the biography book. I also have a myspace page dedicated to Def Leppard, it's myspace.com/luv4joe/luv4defleppard and I have spoken to Rick Allen and his wife Lauren via e-mail on several occasions.
Publications I have had poems and a short story published in literary magazines.
Expert: carla smith Date: 6/15/2008 Subject: ricks bass pick ups
Question in the song photograph, what type of pick ups are in his bass?
Answer This was the most information I could find about the equipment he used and now uses:
Rick Savage currently uses and endorses Washburn XB920 (4-string) and XB925 (5-string) bass guitars with Bartolini® Custom pickups & preamp. He formerly used Hamer 4 & 5-string, GHS strings, BGW amps Trace Ellioo pre-amps for over 17 years, starting with their Gibson Explorer-inspired "Blitz" model during the High 'n' Dry and Pyromania albums from 1982-1985 and Hamer's modernistic take on the shape, the "Scarab" model of which he mainly used a white model during the Hysteria recording sessions and tour (although Savage continued to use a black-colored "Blitz" downtuned DADG for the hit single "Pour Some Sugar On Me" (which can be seen on their In The Round, In Your Face live video and DVD) from 1985-1989. At the release of Adrenalize he used an array of Chaparral Max 5-string models in various colors including a black & white "Granite" finish, one with a variation of the Adrenalize album artwork custom painted on it, and a black-painted model from 1990-1999. Savage switched endorsements to Washburn basses in the middle of the promotion cycle for the Euphoria album in 1999, and a Natural Flame XB925 given to him by Washburn in 1999 has been his main instrument since then.[1] However the custom painted Union Jack XB925 is his most well known bass,[2] followed by the Saint George's Cross XB925.
* Note: When playing, Rick uses a pick and does not play with fingers. In an interview with Bass Guitar Magazine, he stated: "I'm a terrible player with my fingers and i always play with a pick. I love to have consistency within the sound no matter where you are on the fretboard. "I've found that when I play with fingers, notes jump out and others are too muted. It would be a nightmare for the sound engineer just trying to compress the thing to make sure there's an equal balance coming off the stage."
I hope this was helpful, thank you for your question!
