Flea's tone on Otherside...

[LCMBassist]

Any ideas how to get that purring growl?

[Papersen]

Originally Posted by LCMBassist

Any ideas how to get that purring growl?

Well, I could say get a Modulus with GK head and cabs, but the guy obtains that growl with Rickenbackers, Modulus, Music Man, Wal, Fender, Alembic or Spector, depending on the album.

The key is his agressive right hand technique.

Same goes for Geddy Lee. He used a lot basses during the years and always get THAT tone.

[Baryonyx]

Get a Modulus Flea/Funk Unlimited bass, a GK rig and pluck hard over the bridge pickup, and scoop some mids out via the amp's EQ. Voila!

[LCMBassist]

Hmm, but it doesn't sound scooped as such. It sounds like a really fat low mid sound....kinda farty tho at the same time. Its hard to describe, and hard to obtain....

[KPAX]

I love the bridge of that song. It sounds like ... CREAM. When Flea plays that syncopated riff with that farty mid-heavy tone he sounds like Jack Bruce and Chad even rides his toms like Ginger Baker.
I used to have a Modulus Flea bass and that tone was easy to cop on that bass. Play hard back towards the bridge and dial in some mids and overdrive, ease off the highs and lows.
When did Flea play a Rick? That would be interesting.

Originally Posted by Papersen

Well, I could say get a Modulus with GK head and cabs, but the guy obtains that growl with Rickenbackers, Modulus, Music Man, Wal, Fender, Alembic or Spector, depending on the album.

The key is his agressive right hand technique.

Same goes for Geddy Lee. He used a lot basses during the years and always get THAT tone.

[phxlbrmpf]

I used to like this song a lot when it came out but was always a bit miffed about the bass tone, even though it sounded kind of hi fi-ish, some notes seemed to get buried, especially during the guitar/bass intro. I agree that the "farty" tone in the bridge is probably just him digging in quite a bit.

[Jake of Bass]

Not that I'm doubting his ability to pull off that tone with just bass, amps and technique, but there is also post production on the recording to take into consideration. If he pulls off the exact same tone live, look to that and study what you can.