The Real James Jamerson Amp

[Jerry Ziarko]

Originally Posted by BogeyBass

Yes! I have attached a very detailed Schematic. It will reproduce his tone spot on perfect. The Original bass found in this schematic is still available. Other parts may be difficult to source.

You missed the most important one, the one over his heart!

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by Jerry Ziarko

You missed the most important one, the one over his heart!

And an effects loop to patch in the whiskey and weed.

[Jim C]

Originally Posted by Spencer!

They all have bleed.

Not sure what you mean.
The track to track bleed from the tape decks is minimal and completely insignificant compared to the bleed from open mics in the room. Looks like there were no iso booths and they used standard (for the time) gobos in a small room.
I agree that the bleed from open mics contributed to an "open" sound allowing instruments to have a less defined almost live feel.

Those old decks were not all that bad in terms of frequency repsonse although as pointed out the edge tracks were less stable.

Beans - thanks for the monitor info.

[Spencer!]

Originally Posted by Jim C

Not sure what you mean.
The track to track bleed from the tape decks is minimal and completely insignificant compared to the bleed from open mics in the room. Looks like there were no iso booths and they used standard (for the time) gobos in a small room.
I agree that the bleed from open mics contributed to an "open" sound allowing instruments to have a less defined almost live feel.

Those old decks were not all that bad in terms of frequency repsonse although as pointed out the edge tracks were less stable.

Beans - thanks for the monitor info.

I've listened to some of that old Motown stuff off the reels - the tape bleed can be pretty significant. It's one of the reasons why tape just seems to glue a mix together.

[shwashwa]

this thread has had me jonesing for some jamerson, so i broke out the sight reading books last night and recorded one of my passes (definately not the first pass!) its a jazz bass with 5 year old nickel roundwounds with the bridge pickup off. the rest of my rig will remain a mystery for now, but dig that tube breakup (oops, ive said too much!) especially during the bass breaks.

my homage to the master

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by shwashwa

this thread has had me jonesing for some jamerson, so i broke out the sight reading books last night and recorded one of my passes (definately not the first pass!) its a jazz bass with 5 year old nickel roundwounds with the bridge pickup off. the rest of my rig will remain a mystery for now, but dig that tube breakup (oops, ive said too much!) especially during the bass breaks.

my homage to the master

Link?

[shwashwa]

Originally Posted by One Drop

Link?

there seems to be a link in my post. can you not see it?

[One Drop]

I can't see it on my iPhone, sorry.

[Jim C]

Originally Posted by Spencer!

I've listened to some of that old Motown stuff off the reels - the tape bleed can be pretty significant. It's one of the reasons why tape just seems to glue a mix together.

I don't know what you were listening to but I used Scully 1" 8-tracks as well as 2 and 4 tracks and 3M - M56 16 track machines in the 70's.
They might not have been the best at holding a steady bias current but the track to track bleed was minimal.
Even the crap Teac stuff wasn't nearly as bad as a vocal mike in a room with a drum set.

I also doubt the mic-pres had much bleed.

[MAMMOTHvolume]

Originally Posted by Matthijs

So in this system all the "guitars" were playing with a partially rolled down volume on the instrument?

That would result in definite coloration. It obviously worked out fine for that Motown sound (insert understatement smiley here), but isn't it a strange choice to make for an engineer? Were studio grade gain pot's that noisy back then for them to prefer the volume control on the instrument?

Inputs were probably a bit different to a normal guitar amp, most have a 56k on the input and which is fine if you don't roll your volume down but if you get past half way if starts to make for a pretty low low pass. If you go for something like a 22k or lower you don't have this problem but it makes for overloading the first stage alot easier

[Ben Clarke]

track to track bleed has a very minor effect compared to the acoustic phenomena in a room like that tracking room.

Compare the sound of Dylan's "Time Out of Mind" to "Love and Theft". The former was produced by Daniel Lanois, largely done live with Dylan in the corner of the room into a U47. Bleed all over the place, but it sounds fantastic & real. Then there's the other record that sounds like a senior in college tracked it as a Pro Tools assignment.

[fatlad1]

james jamerson bass information http://itsabass.com/jamesjamerson.html

[jnewmark]

Originally Posted by fatlad1

james jamerson bass information http://itsabass.com/jamesjamerson.html

Don't think Jamerson ever used two 410 cabs, as shown in that picture. He also used a Kustom 215 alot. I got to see him in one of the Motown reviews that came through town back in the '60's, and that Kustom sounded killer. I liked the sound so much that I went out and bought one.

[will33]

What 410's were there then outside of guitar amps? Not saying there weren't any, but they weren't common at all.


And thanks for bumping this thread. Way cool read, photos, little transcripts from interviews, etc. about one of the greatest that ever lived.

[inthevelvet]

Coolest TB thread in awhile, Thanks man.

[jnewmark]

Originally Posted by will33

What 410's were there then outside of guitar amps? Not saying there weren't any, but they weren't common at all.


And thanks for bumping this thread. Way cool read, photos, little transcripts from interviews, etc. about one of the greatest that ever lived.

The original Fender 410 was a bass cab, IIRC. A really BAD bass cab ( open back ! ). I remember guitar players loved them !

[will33]

Originally Posted by jnewmark

The original Fender 410 was a bass cab, IIRC. A really BAD bass cab ( open back ! ). I remember guitar players loved them !

That's the only one I fould think of, though I wasn't born until '72, I'm still into stuff older than me.

[jnewmark]

Originally Posted by will33

That's the only one I fould think of, though I wasn't born until '72, I'm still into stuff older than me.

I saw a clip of Chet Atkins playing somewhere, and his bass player was playing through one. He does a little solo. Not too bad, but I imagine it was at ultra low volume. One of the first bands I was ever in, the guitar player had one, and it sounded killer, but, also at low volume.

[RedMoses]

AWesome, thanks for sharing.

[Nurb]

Thanks for the info. I must add however that I find it funny that some people are obsessing over that tone (not saying it's your case), which I find quite uninspiring. The magic is in the playing.