Mike Kroeger's tone on Flat On The Floor

Nickthebassist · #1 03-30-2005, 04:36 PM

Ok, this track is heavy. The tone is snarly, gritty, grindy, agressive. I'm sure it's a Sansamp, you can hear the tone of it in there. If anyone has a clue how to set my Sansamp and EQ to get this tone, please help me.

oversoul · #2 03-30-2005, 07:15 PM

Good to see you working on adjectives dude.

But im pretty sure that if you can tell that theres a sansamp in the mix, you can make it sound like that...since you recognised the sound.

Brendan · #3 03-30-2005, 07:27 PM

So, it was Nickelback, then POD, and now Nickelback again?

Get your own sound, man. And I mean that not in my normal shmarmy manner, either. Instead of trying to get as close to humanly possible with gear that's not even remotely like theirs, just find a sound YOU like, regardless of whom you sound like, and let it be. Instead of continually asking how you can get that tone with an Ashdown and Sansamp, why don't you just turn off the bands, turn off the comparisons, and just doodle with the tone until you find YOURS.

And if it's with just one bass, so be it. Don't bother yourself if the Spector sounds nothing like the Warwick, or the Korean Spector, or the Fender. If the Warwick sounds the best, sell some gear, get another Warwick.

In short, quit trying to force a square peg into a round hole.

Nice try on the adjectives, by the way.

thisSNsucks · #4 03-30-2005, 07:30 PM

Looks like you admire alot of Warwick bass players there nick. I see from your other posts that your in search of that real growly tone but you have trouble with your settings. Well you probobly wont like my advice but I think that you should try and not be so concerned with all the knobs and stuff. try just pluggin into your amp and experiment with your playing technique, play towards the bridge, neck and everywhere in between. You'll be able to tell the difference in tone from where your playing. Once you got that then you should go fiddle around with all the knobs and preamps to attenuate the sound ur goin for. at least that works for me, i hate fiddling with knobs, i get to a real basic tone that Im happy with and then I just alter my style of playing to get other tones out of my basses. good luck

Nino Valenti · #5 03-30-2005, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickthebassist

Ok, this track is heavy. The tone is snarly, gritty, grindy, agressive. I'm sure it's a Sansamp, you can hear the tone of it in there. If anyone has a clue how to set my Sansamp and EQ to get this tone, please help me.

No, no. He uses a Valenti bass with an Aguilar rig.

Whafrodamus · #6 03-30-2005, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nino Valenti

No, no. He uses a Valenti bass with an Aguilar rig.

Wrong. I'm pretty sure he DI's straight into a toaster, the metallic coils help get the growl and snarl that a bass wouldn't normally get. The toaster is than split with a custom Y cable into an angry doberman, and an electrical socket (who says 1/4" cables don't fit in electrical sockets).

James Hart · #7 03-30-2005, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whafrodamus

The toaster is than split with a custom Y cable into an angry doberman

Dude, you are SOOOOO wrong

it's a George Foreman Grill split with the Y into a sac of Jack Russell Terriers

doesn't ANYONE read "Hit Pararde" and "Circus" anymore. They just went over this lastOct, Dec, Feb, March and they have the cover again for May.

James Hart · #8 03-30-2005, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickthebassist

I'm sure it's a Sansamp

I'm sure it's not. The money spent on them in the studio makes me think the Engineer wouldn't let that toy in. Most likely it's his full rig with a couple $1000 mics and a direct into a $5000 pre

**Bryan R. Tyler** · #9 03-30-2005, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James Hart

I'm sure it's not. The money spent on them in the studio makes me think the Engineer wouldn't let that toy in. Most likely it's his full rig with a couple $1000 mics and a direct into a $5000 pre

+1 I remember reading a Neil Stubenhaus interview in BP where he states that he leaves the EQ on his Tyler basses flat(which are very high-end, pricey basses), because he knows the EQ of the mixing board and preamps are much better than his onboard electronics.

If people could really get their records to sound like professional ones recorded at sound studios with just their normal relatively inexpensive gear, then every band out there would record their stuff themselves on a home computer.

Producers and engineers and their very expensive studio equipment have a big hand in the sound of most studio albums.

**Bryan R. Tyler** · #10 03-30-2005, 10:31 PM

Oh, and Brendan is right. Searching for somebody else's exact sound will only disappoint you when you can't get it, or even if you do, you'll just sound like someone who's trying to sound like someone else.

Nick man · #11 03-30-2005, 11:31 PM

STP has been known to use Sansamp gear in the studio before.

I believe the BDDI and PSA-1 were the exact models.

Nickthebassist · #12 03-31-2005, 04:34 AM

So you won't help be because you think I'm a copy cat? I thought you were meant to be helpful? I know he uses a Sansamp, he's credited on their site as using one. I have my own tone, it's a fat punchy tone, but I like to be able to do other tones too. If you got a problem with that, don't respond.

dlloyd · #13 03-31-2005, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickthebassist

Ok, this track is heavy. The tone is snarly, gritty, grindy, agressive. I'm sure it's a Sansamp, you can hear the tone of it in there. If anyone has a clue how to set my Sansamp and EQ to get this tone, please help me.

First you've got to stand in the correct room. Any room in your house is not the correct room. If you've not been to a recording studio in the past, you will have seen photos of one. All those strange foam shapes on the wall are there for a reason.

Chances are he's using a large amp with a mic and a BDDI straight to the board. The sound he gets is a combination of the two, plus the contribution the producer makes with EQ at the board and by mixing them together.

Brendan · #14 03-31-2005, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickthebassist

So you won't help be because you think I'm a copy cat?

No, because every week you post a new thread about how much you hate the SansAmp, and then another thread about how you hate the Spector, and then another one complaining that the same settings work on on the Warwick, but not on the Spector, and then how, the next day, you realize what you were doing wrong and after about 50 pages of people telling you what's up, you admit to pilot error by way of saying "Oh, wait, I figured it out, it's XXXX" when XXXX is what people have all but branded in your forehead for 4-10 pages, and you pretend you came up with it on your own.

And if you DID, that means you're cabable of ignoring people on levels previously though unmeasurable.

You need your own sound because you're always upset with your tone. Find what works for you on one bass, and go from there.

Ray Salamon · #15 03-31-2005, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brendan

No, because every week you post a new thread about how much you hate the SansAmp, and then another thread about how you hate the Spector, and then another one complaining that the same settings work on on the Warwick, but not on the Spector, and then how, the next day, you realize what you were doing wrong and after about 50 pages of people telling you what's up, you admit to pilot error by way of saying "Oh, wait, I figured it out, it's XXXX" when XXXX is what people have all but branded in your forehead for 4-10 pages, and you pretend you came up with it on your own.

And if you DID, that means you're cabable of ignoring people on levels previously though unmeasurable.

You need your own sound because you're always upset with your tone. Find what works for you on one bass, and go from there.

Brendan, all I can say is thank you. Oh, and I guess +1.

Ray

Dan1099 · #16 03-31-2005, 08:41 AM

Newsflash, Nick. Just because Nickelback's website says he uses a Sansamp BDDI doesnt mean he used a Sansamo BDDI in the studio, on Flat on the Floor. Maybe he uses one live, maybe he only uses it as a DI, maybe he doesnt really use it save to boost his bass a little, who knows HOW he uses it? Who CARES how he uses it? He will sound like Mike Kroeger on any bass, any rig, anywhere. He has found his own sound. You need to do the same, and stop worrying about sounding like specific people, because, honestly, with their budget in the studio, they probably spent a whole day, and more money then you have ever had in your life, getting that bass tone.

Brendan · #17 03-31-2005, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan1099

Newsflash, Nick. Just because Nickelback's website says he uses a Sansamp BDDI doesnt mean he used a Sansamo BDDI in the studio, on Flat on the Floor.

Dan brings up a very good point. This is true of many endorsements. Maybe he uses it as a preamp at home while he's noodling. If he was, Tech21'd still have a coup of having Nickelback on their roster.

It's entirely possible he hates them, but they pay him money, you don't know what he uses.

And, y'know, having more money to spend in the studio than just about any other rock band on the planet.

Nickthebassist · #18 03-31-2005, 09:41 AM

True. But the thing is, he got it live too. I seen em twice(i made a bad error of standing near a speaker stack). Anyhow, he got that agressive tone live. I'm not wanting to get it absolutely, just close to it.

Brendan · #19 03-31-2005, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickthebassist

True. But the thing is, he got it live too. I seen em twice(i made a bad error of standing near a speaker stack). Anyhow, he got that agressive tone live. I'm not wanting to get it absolutely, just close to it.

Then get something close to it. For as much as you hate the Sansamp, you must have spend hours twiddling with it, figuring out you hated it. Use it, get some growl, go home.

Nino Valenti · #20 03-31-2005, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nickthebassist

True. But the thing is, he got it live too. I seen em twice(i made a bad error of standing near a speaker stack). Anyhow, he got that agressive tone live. I'm not wanting to get it absolutely, just close to it.

No, they don't HAVE to. They can have all the SansAmp stuff facing the audience plugged but behind the scenes, hemay be using whatever he wants to.