Les Claypool

The Carl Thompson site features Les Claypool and his basses. The source image is linked directly from the Carl Thompson page.

The bass also gets brief mention from Claypool in his Vintage Guitar interview. This bass was used on "The Desaturating Seven".

I used my six-string fretless Carl Thompson I call “The Rainbow Bass” quite a bit, which I hadn’t done in a while. So, I think that was exciting for people who are fans of that thing. There was also my NS upright and my black Pachyderm bass.

Primus is listed on Shure's website as a user of this microphone at "What they use". Les Claypool uses this mic for "dirty" during songs like "Tommy the Cat", and "My Name is Mud" and this can be seen at live performances.

Les Claypool, vocalist and bass guitarist of bands such as Primus, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, and Duo de Twang is shown playing a live 2016 performance with a modified Regal RD-05 Resonator Bass Guitar. He has the 3 port holes covered with a pickup which does not come stock on these models. All of his performances with "The Claypool Lennon Delirium" so far have featured this model which he has been cited as naming, "The Dobro". Truly a wonder of nature this bass is, if there ever was.

Around my senior year, I bought an Ibanez Musician EQ bass. I had always wanted a Rickenbacker before, but then I decided the Rickenbacker was no longer the cool bass to have. I hung around Leo's [music store] in Oakland all the time; they had tons of new and used stuff. One day, I saw a Carl Thompson piccolo bass sitting there. I had stared at the photo in I Want to Play for Ya where Stanley had all his basses lined up, and a couple of them were Carl Thompsons. I always thought, "Man, that sure is an ugly bass". I picked up the one in the store, though, and I couldn't believe it--it was so easy to play. Suddenly there were a lot of things I could play that I couldn't play on my Ibanez. I used to test basses by trying to play "Roundabout," and it was pretty easy on the Carl Thompson. I went home, and I begged and pleaded my mom for the rest of the money I needed to buy that bass. She lent me some, and I went back and bought it. It's still my main 4-string.

Les Claypool uses the Korg ToneWorks AX300B for its envelope filter capabilities, as discussed on TalkBass.com.

On this vídeo there is a quick shot of Les Claypool's pedalboard from 0:27 to 0:34. It is possible to see clearly the Line 6 DL4 and DM4 and the Roland PK-5.

In this interview Les states that he used the Hot Tubes to "sweaten up" his tracks on the Brown Album.

Les Claypool used the MXR M80 Bass D.I.+, as discussed on TalkBass.com in the thread about his setup.

A red one can also be seen throughout the music video in "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver".

Les Claypool has been seen in live performances with this bass. He's seen in this performance with Gov't Mule performing with the red 4003.

In this picture from Summer 2018, Les is shown playing a Thunderbird model bass.

Designed by Les Claypool and made by Les’s longtime friend and luthier, Dan Maloney, the bass was made to be the most comfortable and easy to play four string basses to his standards. This was one of two original basses that Les performed with onstage with Primus and has a walnut top with a maple back and exotic wood pick guard. It is 32” scale with LED lights in the side of the fingerboard and has a Kahler brand tremolo bar. Keeping the electronics simple, it has one single custom split EMG pickup with a single control knob. This combination of woods and electronics gives this particular bass a warm but punchy attack with a medium finish. This bass was auctioned in 2013 to help pay for the medical treatment of Les' nephew, Baby Matthew.

Used in many live performances, such as on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and also seen and demonstrated briefly here in this interview with Boing Boing Video on the Oddity Faire Tour + "Fungi or Foe".

This is one of Les Claypool's main basses. It has a Kahler Tremelo equiped and one EMG 35. He uses this on songs such as "Those Damn Blue-Collared Tweakers" and various other songs.

Uses this for vocal effects

Photo of Les Claypool shows him holding his Maple 6 string Carl Thompson.

Les Claypool uses this pedal for the album "Animals should not try to act like people.

In this image we can see Les standing in front of his stage set up. The 400+ can be seen to the right of Les.

In this video, from the performance of Claypool Lennon Delirium at the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival 2016: for "Astronomy Domine" by Pink Floyd, Les Claypool briefly abandons his Pachyderm Bass to play an EKO 995 Violin Bass.

In this performance, you can see Les using a 70's Jazz Bass. FYI, both pickups seem to be on full.

Taken from the Carl Thompson official website, there's a section dedicated to the bass guitars that Les bought from him!

Les Claypool used one or two of these at a time placed horizontally and angled towards him for a period of time and can be seen with this setup live on several occasions.

Here it lists the bass distorion on Jim Dunlop website

In this YT video, Les uses this bass all the way through.

He uses this as a head for his Mesa Boogie Subway Cabs

On this vídeo there is a quick shot of Les Claypool's pedalboard from 0:27 to 0:34. It is possible to see clearly the Line 6 DL4 and DM4 and the Roland PK-5.

Les is shown in this image standing next to his live set up gear; including the Mesa Boogie 2x15 Diesel Cabinet.

In the early to mid-'90s, Les Claypool used a modified A/DA MP-1 MIDI Programmable Tube Preamp, running it through a Mesa 400+. Although definitive proof is scarce, he frequently appeared in A/DA advertisements in guitar magazines during that time, as noted in a discussion on Harmony Central.

In a May 2017 photo by Jay Blakesberg Photography, Les Claypool's pedalboard features the Fractal Audio Systems AX8 Amp Modeler/Multi-FX Processor.

According to Ampeg's site, it says that Les uses an SVT 3 Pro.