Bass sound on Lowrider

[OriginalCrash]

Does anyone know what gear/equipment/technique was used to record the bass for Lowrider by War? I'm at work now with crappy computer speakers, so it doesn't sound as great to me... But listening to it the other day on the radio, I was really digging the fat, thick, even thumpy tone on the low notes and the warm, edgy, biting tone on the higher ones... Just curious, anyone know how to get that tone?

P.S. As a disclaimer, I'm not asking because I want that exact sound and am expecting your answer to point me in direction of the correct recipe. Like I said, it's more just out of curiosity.

[emblymouse]

That is a great one! My estimation is P bass+flats+pick. I could be wrong about the pick, I'll have to give that a close listen again. Add that recipie to an analog /tube pre straight in or mike your favorite tube amp (B 15).

There just weren't that many other choices back then. Flats and a pick can get pretty bright if you hit 'em right, for example, Graham Maby's early work with Joe Jackson.

[OriginalCrash]

Flats with a pick I could see... But if it were without a pick, I'd almost have to imagine it couldn't just be a P with flats. Maybe on the lower notes, but those higher notes just have too much bite. I love it, though... really great transition from thick and thumpy at the beginning of the bassline to warm and edgy by the end.

[OriginalCrash]

Actually, watching the video again, from :10 to :13 it looks like you can see the bassist up front... Can anyone tell what it is he's playing?

[nothumb]

you can see the bassist a couple times later on as well and to me it looks like a 70's j bass with block inlays. they never made a p bass with those inlays did they? kind of strange, but i could see coaxing that tone out of a j bass with flats, a pick and the right amp. of course, there's no guarantee what he's playing in the video is what appears on the record

[OriginalCrash]

Yeah, it's definitely a Fender-esque headstock, and it did look like two pickups. It's probably just the lighting, but it almost looks like a neck-thru (big stripe of contrast down the body... again, probably just the lighting in the vid).

[Caca de Kick]

He usually played either a mid 70s block-neck Jazz Bass, or a 60-61 stack knob Jazz bass. As thumpy as the sound is, I'd lean toward the old stack knob.