“It was an insane, bare bones show”: Primus’s Les Claypool and Ler LaLonde were just forced to play a gig with brand new gear from Guitar Center – and yes, they still sounded exactly like Primus
Last weekend, Primus were left without their instruments after all their gear got delayed in transit due to storms. Fortunately, they were still able to play their set at the Sick New World Festival after a local Guitar Center kitted them with new gear.
In an Instagram post, Les Claypool explained how he and Larry “Ler” LaLonde ended up with two matching Fenders:
“Because of storms, our gear got stuck between Red Rocks and Vegas so Ler and I bought a pair of matching Fenders that day for the Primus Sick New World set. It was an insane, bare bones show and we will now be auctioning these instruments off and donating the proceeds to St. Judes Children’s Hospital. Stay tuned for details.”
Some of his fans couldn’t help but wonder why he opted for a P-Bass over a Jazz bass or his go-to Carl Thompson 4-string. Claypool settled the debate in the comments:
“Seen comments about Pbass over Jazz. Yes, I normally would play a Jazz but the only matching Jazz they had that day had a cracked neck. Ler and I wanted to match up (like ZZ Top!). My first bass was actually a Memphis Pbass copy. The bass turned out to be very nice and played like a dream.”
Despite the last-minute gear change, festival attendees confirmed that Primus still sounded like Primus. “Just further proof that the gear doesn’t matter when you have the skills to pay the bills,” commented one fan, while another added, “Les sounds like Les on any bass. Also, I love that he kept the tags on.”
In a recent interview with Guitar World, Claypool described his open-minded approach to instruments. “I don’t even think of it just as a bass guitar at this point. It all depends on the gig, you know? It’s like, ‘Okay, what crayon am I pulling out of the box for this one?’ And even if I’m drawing similar pictures with my crayons, the expression is different because the situation calls for that.”
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Primus are currently on the last few dates of Maynard James Keenan’s Sessanta tour alongside A Perfect Circle and Puscifer.
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