Billy Sheehan

William "Billy' Sheehan" (born on March 19, 1953, in Buffalo, New York) is an American bassist known for his work with Talas, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, and Niacin. Sheehan has won the "Best Rock Bass Player" readers' poll from Guitar Player Magazine five times for his "lead bass" playing style.[1] Sheehan's repertoire includes the use of chording, two-handed tapping, right hand "three finger picking" technique and controlled feedback. However, Sheehan is also noted as a steady "true" bassist, fulfilling the traditional supportive role of the electric bass in the rock rhythm section. He has been a member of the Church of Scientology since 1971[2] and appeared on the street offering to defend it during Project Chanology.[3]

Early years

Billy Sheehan's first electric bass was a Hagström FB, which was soon sistered by a Precision bass similar to Tim Bogert's. After acquiring the Precision bass, he removed the frets from the Hagström. Over the years, he heavily modified the Precision bass as well, adding a neck pickup and additional support for the bolt-on neck, which Sheehan considers its greatest weakness. The neck pickup was added for what Sheehan referred to as "super deep low end" modelled after Paul Samwell-Smith of the Yardbirds. The Gibson EB-0 type pickup in the neck and the original split Precision bass pickup each have their own separate output jacks on the bass itself, allowing for control of the tone via the bass. Sheehan also uses two amps to achieve his signature tone (as do Chris Squire of Yes and Dug Pinnick of King's X), one with full distortion and notch filtering to sound more guitar-like for solos, and one super-clean for the low end of the neck pickup. This bass has been retired, but he affectionately refers to it as "The Wife".[4] Sheehan's signature yamaha bass is based on this guitar.
[edit] 2000-present

In January 2009 Billy Sheehan reunited with his old Mr Big band members: Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert and Pat Torpey for a reunion tour in Japan. In April 2009 Sheehan's third solo album, Holy Cow!, produced by Simone Sello, was released by Mascot Records. The album features guest appearances from Paul Gilbert, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and King's X bassist Doug Pinnick. Gilbert has stated in an interview that his amicable collaboration with Billy on Holy Cow!, recorded prior to January, was likely a factor in the decision to reunite Mr Big.[5] As of September 2010, Mr. Big is still together and they are currently recording a new album with producer Kevin Shirley.[6]

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