Bill's Work With YMO
Hi Everybody! First time poster here! I am a huge fan of Bill's work with Yellow Magic Orchestra and Yukihiro Takahashi. I was wondering if anyone knew what equipment he was using in the studio and on tour with them. I know in videos he's using his green SG2000 but I don't see or at least can't make out what amps and effects he's using. There's one sound in particular I would like to know how he created it. It has very "E-Bow" like and it has a great overdriven, wide/chorus sound to it. Big Muff? Dimension D? JC-120? Any thoughts? I know he's listed as "Guitar/E-Bow" on Takahashi's "What Me Worry".
Here are two great examples of the sound I'm talking about.
YMO - "Focus" https://youtu.be/KlShy_5srEQ
Yukihiro Takahashi - "Helpless" This is an amazing cover with great vocals from Bill. It sounds like he's using a vibrato bar here on some bends so maybe ES-345 or Strat?
Here's a live video from the 1983 tour Bill played on with Takahashi but I swear some of the audio is just the album recordings and not just backing tracks with live instruments on top.
This one seems more "live".
Anyway let me know if you have any insight! Also does anyone know how Bill and YMO met and started working together? A lot of their work together happened around 1982-1984. Was it through David Sylvian or Steve Nye?
For the record, I tried searching for this information in the forum but I couldn't seem to find what I was looking for.
Cheers and Thanks,
Spencer
I recall an Acquitted by Mirrors piece from around the Naughty Boys sessions (early 1983?) where Bill mentioned the experience of recording with YMO. I believe there was a remark along the lines of "I wish they'd taken a few more chances with the [final] mix" (referring specifically to Naughty Boys, presumably the vocal version). I'll try to track down that issue of the 'zine; it's buried in a box somewhere. Meanwhile, here's the full instrumental version of Naughty Boys.
https://youtu.be/q0yhb_0nXk4