Tony James

I bought a Rickenbacker bass guitar, before I was in Generation X, my best friend at the time, Mick Jones, was forming the Clash. He had this bass player Paul Simonon that couldn’t play bass at all. So I gave Paul my original bass guitar. source - http://juicemagazine.com/home/tony-james/

The rhythms are all straight from the pads of two Simmons SDS7s, the sequences from the strings of James' Roland GR707 guitar synth. Yana takes care of the Roland Space Echo that's responsible for the more consequential vocal treatments, and a Portastudio for sound effects and excerpts from various movies.

Tony James is frequently seen with his Gibson Thunderbird IV bass, as captured in a photo by Syd Shelton during a 1978 Sham 69 performance in London. Notably, he customized his Thunderbird, similar to his Rickenbacker, with a distinctive stripe on the top corner of the body.

The man behind Burn Burn Satellite creation (the English translation of SSS), Tony James, has five channels of bass on stage Di'd for the FOH sound and played through a pair of Ampeg SVT stacks for stage monitoring: a Roland synth bass guitar with foot controller providing a balanced XLR stereo output, a Roland Super Jupiter (MKS-80) with another balanced XLR stereo output and a Yamaha DX-7.

The man behind Burn Burn Satellite creation (the English translation of SSS), Tony James, has five channels of bass on stage Di'd for the FOH sound and played through a pair of Ampeg SVT stacks for stage monitoring: a Roland synth bass guitar with foot controller providing a balanced XLR stereo output, a Roland Super Jupiter (MKS-80) with another balanced XLR stereo output and a Yamaha DX-7.

Sisters of Mercy gear list, circa 1991:

Tim Bricheno Squire Strat, 2x Squire Tele, Gibson 'Chet Atkins', 2xJC120, 2x4x12 Marshall cabs, 1x50w Marshall amp, Ibanez Tube Screamer, 2xBoss DD-3, Boss MZ-2

Andreas Bruhn 2xKramer Focus 1000 (with DiMarzio PAFs), Mesa Boogie Strategy 400, Mesa Boogie Quad pre-amp, 2xMarshall stero cabs, Quadraverb FX, Rat distortion, Morley wah-wah, Boss CS-3

Tony James WAL Custom bass, WAL MIDI Custom bass, 2xAMPEG SVT amps, 2xAMPEG 8x10 cabs, Korg A3FX

Sequencing Compac 386 portable PC, running Voyetra software, 2xAkai S1000, with external hard drives

Sisters of Mercy gear list, circa 1991:

Tim Bricheno Squire Strat, 2x Squire Tele, Gibson 'Chet Atkins', 2xJC120, 2x4x12 Marshall cabs, 1x50w Marshall amp, Ibanez Tube Screamer, 2xBoss DD-3, Boss MZ-2

Andreas Bruhn 2xKramer Focus 1000 (with DiMarzio PAFs), Mesa Boogie Strategy 400, Mesa Boogie Quad pre-amp, 2xMarshall stero cabs, Quadraverb FX, Rat distortion, Morley wah-wah, Boss CS-3

Tony James WAL Custom bass, WAL MIDI Custom bass, 2xAMPEG SVT amps, 2xAMPEG 8x10 cabs, Korg A3FX

Sequencing Compac 386 portable PC, running Voyetra software, 2xAkai S1000, with external hard drives

Sisters of Mercy gear list, circa 1991:

Tim Bricheno Squire Strat, 2x Squire Tele, Gibson 'Chet Atkins', 2xJC120, 2x4x12 Marshall cabs, 1x50w Marshall amp, Ibanez Tube Screamer, 2xBoss DD-3, Boss MZ-2

Andreas Bruhn 2xKramer Focus 1000 (with DiMarzio PAFs), Mesa Boogie Strategy 400, Mesa Boogie Quad pre-amp, 2xMarshall stero cabs, Quadraverb FX, Rat distortion, Morley wah-wah, Boss CS-3

Tony James WAL Custom bass, WAL MIDI Custom bass, 2xAMPEG SVT amps, 2xAMPEG 8x10 cabs, Korg A3FX

Sequencing Compac 386 portable PC, running Voyetra software, 2xAkai S1000, with external hard drives

At a Generation Sex concert at the Apollo in Manchester (July 23), Tony James' bass sound stood out. After messaging him on Twitter, he mentioned using a "Japanese bass that played really well." Through further research and discussions on Basschat, it was suggested that the bass was the Gear4Music Chicago Bass Guitar. A user-uploaded photo showed the bass with a distinctive Ronnie O'Sullivan headstock pic and a racing stripe, likely added to cover the Gear4Music logo. This bass is appreciated for its lightweight, easy playability, and remarkable sound, which may explain Tony's choice for live performances.

Suddenly, the big breakthrough in the sound came when two things happened. First, Tony forsake the bass for a Sequential Pro-One monosynth which gave a robotic, high-tech edge to the rockabilly flash. Then they recorded some stuff on to a Tascam 144 Portastudio and started mixing it with the aid of an old Roland Space Echo.