Jeff Schmidt Live Solo Bass (piccolo fretless)

Live @ Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, CA - performance on piccolo fretless Pedulla pentabuzz bass.
this piece is an homage to my huge inspiration - michael manring who headlined the show that night.
CD on sale now -www.cdbaby.com/cd/jeffschmidt

[@AdamNeely]

No, it is. No question about it.

[@ghitaciprian]

Adam Neely, here You are, let's check wht Jeff isn't playing anymore.

[@Flaminglog]

What was this in response to? Truly a comment lost to the ages.

[@Flemmingdoerken]

@@Flaminglog Probably whether this is a bass or not :)

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

No, it’s obviously whether or not it is a left-handed instrument. It’s a left-handed instrument that was strung right.

[@Leelicious1312]

I remember this being one of the first videos I watched on KZbin. I was obsessed with this masterpiece. Glad to have found it again!

[@uncuttle]

I remember this from my early 20s when I had only been playing bass for a couple of years, now I'm 36 and I come back to this from time to time. What a natural talent.

[@declanhammond4298]

Just watched an Adam Neely vid where he talked about five string basses, reverse string order, and piccolo strings. The internet is a wild thing.

[@calebgonzalez5850]

Saw this in my first few months of playing bass in 2008. It inspired me so much! 13 years later I'm sitting here as a music professional and student still thoroughly inspired and impressed. Good will always be good. Kudos.

[@Flaminglog]

heard this the first time in 2007, still listening to this almost 12 years later... good music stays good forever.

[@u10ajf]

Only 4.9K likes, what's wrong with people.... this is one of the best performances I've seen on any stringed instrument. Mind blown.

[@jjjb9098]

His Pentabuzz strung picccolo style combined with his fingering and phrasing equal one of my favorite electric bass solo performances I've seen/heard-even after five years I will watch this vid. I had the pleasure of finally getting to play a Pedulla a cpl of months ago in Dallas TX. Wasn't a Buzz, was fretted-MVP and was a killer instrument. THANKS again for this post!

[@jeffschmidtsolo]

no need to call Michael - he played on this same show. We've played several shows together since. He's been very supportive.

[@BassandLongboardguy]

amazing how he integrates the harmonics so naturally

[@cocobass]

I love this! I can only imagine Jaco sitting in the audience- after the tune ends, he'd run up on stage and check to see if Schmidtt were actually human, then he'd grab a mic and say "Damn! I'm taking up the accordian!"

[@RonnieThrillsap]

Man he gets those harmonics to sound so perfectly even then really difficult ones.

[@stevai6732]

I come back to this every few months since late 2000s when I first saw it. This dude is incredible. Such a trippy beauty mixed with virtuosity, the melody is so sick

[@zanderzon]

what an incredible bassist! he makes me get up and practice! maybe you guys can take a second to check out another solo bass piece? tapping and harmonics solo bass - epic love the finished version has the lighter image...

[@BlaineFallis]

Are you related to Joseph Zon? I met him at a NAMM show once (early 80s) before his basses went national, and I bought a bass from him. It had been intended for some famous player originally I was told. It had 8 holes in the headstock but 4 were filled in, so it was a 4-stringer. Very heavy bass, but cool sounding. Actually I heard some of your videos. Good job, and playing Zon basses of course. :) I don't currently own one, but it's interesting that I saw them that early on.

[@dirac_dydx1830]

This is one of the most incredible pieces I've ever heard. I remember hearing this back in the 2010's; one of the first bass playing videos I saw. And I was almost moved to tears with how incredible this man's musicianship was honed.

[@diesel11679]

Mind blown...this is trippy and awesome!

[@OractheIII]

This video is a classic in the Bass world! I first saw this alongggg time ago and remember being completely blown away- still am! Also wow those Pedulla basses are icons- truly missed and legendary !

[@marcblum5348]

Each time I hear and look this vid, it completely blows me away.

[@jjjb9098]

Great to see Jeff has almost half million views-when i first saw this video he had around seven thousand.He definitley deserves a large audience. RIP JACO

[@4Thelowerbass]

After looking at a whole bunch of fretless solos, I end up back here 'cause this musician has such a fresh approach. A truly great sonic experience!

[@Marlowann]

I cannot even fathom how he constructs a masterpiece like this.

[@kolossol1]

Now... I wanna be a piccolo bass player...

[@naosejasingrato]

Refresh icon?

[@iliaperez7290]

Yo brother note piccooo bass is normal bass just different strings octave higher

[@denonhd8]

@@iliaperez7290 What strings do you recommend? I’ve tried a couple of brands, and wasn’t impressed. 😔

[@Jpb90k]

I can't stress how much I love Jeff Schmidt's solo bass stuff. He's so orginal.

[@aidanmcguire1369]

15 yrs later and I'm still watching this in amazement...just stunning playing..

[@LiehTzu]

Fucking amazing!!!!!!!!!!! This guy has everything, feeling (extremely important), dexterity, speed, harmonics, etc. What can I write????? Just Beautiful Music.

[@onebetter07]

I met him a few years back in atlanta georgia at a bass jam in a coffee shop, i had a cup with him and talked with him few about 35 minutes. hes a great guy.

[@SeowYiZhe]

Left hand bassist who composes such amazingly ponderous music, and executes it as if it's the simplest thing in the world. Excellent.

[@marcblum5348]

still opening up doors I thought they never existed.

[@gooseman7522]

“Life is full of doors Ed-boy

[@radiotrib]

Michael Manring must be so proud to have you dedicate this work to him. You are both new dimensions in the art of bass playing ... I'm a leftir so I have a bias .. but I'm so intrigued to watch someone play a guitar 'upside down' .. it makes for a totally different set of sonics and scale handling .. makes you more than special .. unique !!

[@trendgame]

as well as the cleanest harmonics the intonation is other-wordly. un-funking-believable

[@ds5621]

Came back to this beautiful piece after many years. Still sounds amazing. Thank you Jeff for your own special kind of musical magic.

[@Alembizoa]

Awesome!I love the stringed harmonics followed by the slide! Just terrific!

[@Camsauce87]

the visual distortion at 2:35 was so perfect to throw in at that part of the song, it was absolutely incredible

[@jwlash]

Many builders do inlaid lines on a fretless but I do believe the Pedulla Pentabuzz (and Buzz & Hexabuzz) all have painted fretlines with the whole fingerboard getting a polyester coating just like the body. It's a fantastic sounding instrument but it's Jeff's playing and feel that make it really sing here.

[@deimos2k6]

Still watching this in 2020.

[@BobCCock-ls3gk]

All these years I still come back to this video...I hope Jeff is alive, well, and making some music!

[@ivanmcnamara5289]

That bass sounds so sweet

[@scarter3689]

Coolest thing I have ever heard

[@Shelldamage]

Unbelievable, his cool playing is adorable and the sound of that bass is mindboggling..., what a sensation !

[@lileulileu]

Man, that's one of the most inspiring themes I've listened to... So real... so natural... There's a catch in it every next step... and so inspiring...greetings...!

[@rollzroyce518]

Prolly the sickest bass line of all time... Pure Bad-ass-ed-ness!!

[@LOliveiraBss]

Beautiful! Listening again after years.

[@YLFthereal]

The word AMAZING has been created to qualify this video. Not only a master performance, this partition can not be played with such intensity in a normal way and touch. This is and will stay UNIQUE. Thanks Jeff.

[@dirtierdog]

This is gotta be one of the hardest basses to ask for. A left handed, reversed 6 stringed piccolo bass.

[@romanroman1975]

Super awesome!!!!! WOW!!! Straight to my favorites!

[@Pudsy440]

That fuckin' dude rules the bass airwaves.... unreal!! Excellent!

[@Xakaryus]

This is possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. That tone is just wondrous. I now have to buy a fretless bass.

[@udawggy]

One of my all time favs right here.

[@jpbreeze]

I am constantly amazed by this performance. This guy is one of a kind~

[@darkgladiator27]

Just a few things blew my mind in my life and they're all awesome. This is one of those things.

[@slapit5]

I enjoy this piece greatly.

[@Galdasturis]

i still think this is one of the best bass solos i've heard.

[@corrda1993]

That was bout one of the coolest things Ive ever heard.

[@pbass6811]

It's a left-handed 5-string fretless bass with the lines & dots "painted" on. it's strung right-handed because that's probably how he learned how to play and it's got piccolo strings on it. Sweet sound and fantastic playing!

[@Crapzorsbutachin]

his tones always blow my mind

[@pavel933]

That's really something... I'm deeply impressed! Watching this video over and over again...

[@erickfogtman]

STOP STOP, this is too much music for my ears. Lots of groove! Amazing

[@Poonard]

Still my favorite bass performance in my lifetime.

[@jonjetnz]

This guy is unbelievable ! Never heard anything like this awesome

[@KingOfPain35]

I consider my self a pretty good bass player... until I see something like this! hahaha Man, the quest continues...

[@helloitsnicko]

I'm always coming back to this, I can't get enough of his tone.

[@dimdan7]

jeff is an excelent bass player..i love this song very very much...

[@floydturbo2]

Never heard a bass sound so melodic. AWESOME

[@jeffschmidtsolo]

it's piccolo tuned from low to high F,D#,F,D#,F word

[@LiehTzu]

Jeff Schmidt Which effects are you using?

[@mikeh66]

WOW!

[@EnterJustice]

@@LiehTzu None, maybe a little reverb.

[@obsidian66]

I’ve seen this so many years ago and I searched and searched and suddenly I found the video agIn. OMG Such a heavy riff and Awesome technique! Cheers brother

[@niftykeentypedog]

@@EnterJustice No way, it's *drenched* in a phasey-chorus from 2:35 - you can even see him switch it on. I suspect there's chorus, compression and EQ throughout. And it's glorious!

[@RedZenGaming]

This is pretty damn cool. He fills the sonic spectrum out better with his use of finger plucking rather than tapping like alot of guys on here. Kudos to this dude. But hey, we bassists shouldn't be fighting, guitarists and drummers do enough of that without us.

[@JamieT0]

Wow. This is just simply amazing. The fretless sound puts it all together nicely.

[@hudsbass]

Stunning...

[@nealharrison4703]

Just brilliant. Absolut original

[@igorovtube]

Jeff,U r truly an amazing player,and your music is the most beatiful music written on the bass! Thanks for playing man!

[@Hierakonpolis]

Jeff is nothing short of amazing.. Quite unique style, and it sounds awesome!

[@sgfdancecompany]

Fantastic Song, esthetic, sound and artistry!!!

[@Raijer]

Quite amazing and beautiful.

[@bartoszm1121]

still killer in 2023

[@biskwikman]

I can't believe I just found this guy. He's incredible fo real.

[@Beyondflix]

I liked how he included the harmonics. really cool.

[@craigbullcarroll]

This is a wild 3 minute Nantucket sleigh ride!!! Absolute brilliance in the tone coming off those four strings. Completely boss playing.

[@mikesorbassguitar]

How did I not find this sooner. This is ridiculously phenomenal.

[@macabre2007]

lyrical, atmospheric, and adventurous - sorry i can't think of much else to say, but for my impression that it's a wonder I haven't come across this bassist before, rare... unorthodox virtuoso - kudos

[@foofighter0724]

This guy is my hero.

[@rrdlr2]

God, every time I listen to this I question why I'm not practicing this very moment in hopes that one future day I will get to be half this good.

[@DevilsFourString]

Wow. Amazing use of harmonics. Amazing playing start to finish. Incredible.

[@BigBadBass1979]

I just became a fan of this guy. This was great! I`ve never seen a left hand five string fretless bass with an upside-down piccolo string setup before, and the way it is played is just brilliant! It seems that the upside-down stringing of the bass is no disadvantage at all, like some people claim. Great job!

[@leemarvin2991]

Thanks Jeff, such a distinct voice.

[@SpaceVulcan]

Definitely my favourite, way past 11!

[@kwancrete]

to play that good with the bass upside down is awsome

[@autobizbrokersinc.4728]

FANTASTIC PLAYING AND COMPOSITION JEFF!

[@jpearldrumw]

This song is just SICK. Talent like this is... so hard to come by in these days of canned music and unoriginal lyrics. I would LOOOOVE to hear this on one of your albums, Jeff. PLEASE!

[@quehannaband]

Thanks for sharing Jeff!

[@slapit5]

incredible composition

[@JOHNTAYLORARIA]

top video mate!!!! he's smashing on that bass! he's better than i'll be in a hundred lifetimes!

[@StaSioffizier]

Really great, Beautiful!

[@thecrooked6558]

man everything about his bass is shiney!

[@yveshamel]

beatyful y a pas d autres mots pour d ecrire ce solo

[@sebajo82]

beautiful piece...

[@prey225]

jesus christ...what playing...sheesshhh...truly kickass..

[@lathandien]

this guy is amazing

[@eholler1]

Having a piccolo bass in your arsenal makes guitarists climb up the wall!!! You won't get much off the deep-end, but once you work your way up the neck it drives them mad. With my bass, I prefer the "earth-mover" type of approach. Jazz-on!!!

[@slapmanba]

Incredible!!! Bass hero!!!

[@manthisprog]

Beast bass solo... awesome, sounds so dark.

[@Terrible_Peril]

piccolo bass is NOTHING like just playing guitar. also, playing fretless piccolo bass is nothing like playing a fretless guitar. jeff's a musician. and a great one. let's be happy about that.