MEGADETH's DAVID ELLEFSON Discusses His History WIth EMG Pickups (Video)

July 7, 2020

MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson is featured in the latest episode of EMGtv's EMGtv Remote. In the three-minute clip below, Ellefson talks about his history with EMG pickups.

For MEGADETH's "Rust In Peace" tour in 1990, Ellefson and Jackson collaborated to craft the brand's first ever five-string bass model that would hold up to the thrash bassist's crushing tone. This original five-string custom Jackson bass quickly became Ellefson's go-to for the next three years of worldwide touring, and eventually served as the foundation for his signature Jackson Concert Bass lineup.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary, Jackson has revisited this original design.

Earlier this year, Ellefson told Guitar World about his all-new X Series Signature David Ellefson Concert Bass CBXM IV and V models: "My goal has always been to invent and develop very high-octane, cutting-edge instruments. I prefer basses that look like they move fast and move forward. With that said, while trying to bring the brand ahead, there's something to be said for going back to the classics.

"As with MEGADETH, and indeed with the entire concert business, sometimes the best way forward is to go back in time, and to create a classic, traditional instrument that still has all the usual Jackson-isms.”

He added: "This is a bass that you can play at a MEGADETH show, or in a country band, or in church, and maybe even in a jazz band: somehow it works in all those environments. As you go down the neck there’s a brightness and an attack from the maple fingerboard that comes across, and I went back in time with the P/J setup.

"The very first Jackson basses that I got from Grover Jackson back in the day had that configuration, because I noticed that if you flipped the P pickup to the reverse position, with the lower magnet towards the neck than towards the bridge, it got rid of an annoying low-mid frequency that just doesn't work in a metal setting, because it gets the bass right down inside the kick drum."

Find more on Megadeth
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).