Scott Thunes/Valley Girls: Super Hot P-Bass Tone

[Dr. Cheese]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnVE3UTIgEM

This is one of my all-time favorite rock basslines.

[bassteban]

Absolutely ripping bass there. Are we certain it's a P? NOT suggesting you're mistaken- my ears are not good enough to form a solid opinion here - just wondering aloud if this is a well-known fact..?

[Sherwood]

Super Hot? Sweet.

Valley girls? Sweet!

P-Bass tone? Ah, heh, well... SWEET!

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by bassteban

Absolutely ripping bass there. Are we certain it's a P? NOT suggesting you're mistaken- my ears are not good enough to form a solid opinion here - just wondering aloud if this is a well-known fact..?

I'm pretty certain that's a P-bass. The tone has that really midrangey growl that a cranked P-bass can deliver. I also know that Scott Thunes is (or maybe was) a P-bass player.

[5StringBlues]

Here is a quote from Scott Thunes on the subject:

"Frank had lost most of his high-end hearing way back in the old days, and that's what you're hearing on my earlier tracks, combined with the tone of four different brand strings on an '81 Carvin with active electronics (Valley Girl is a perfect example). Everything pre '84 was the Carvin. Post '84 is the '63 P-bass."

From this webpage: http://www.united-mutations.com/t/scott_thunes.htm Scroll about halfway down.

Scott has a pretty good website himself: http://www.geoscott.com/



I always thought it was the P bass myself.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by 5StringBlues

Here is a quote from Scott Thunes on the subject:

"Frank had lost most of his high-end hearing way back in the old days, and that's what you're hearing on my earlier tracks, combined with the tone of four different brand strings on an '81 Carvin with active electronics (Valley Girl is a perfect example). Everything pre '84 was the Carvin. Post '84 is the '63 P-bass."

From this webpage: http://www.united-mutations.com/t/scott_thunes.htm Scroll about halfway down.

Scott has a pretty good website himself: http://www.geoscott.com/



I always thought it was the P bass myself.

Thanks! The irony is that so many say that Carvins lack tone. I don't think they want to use "Valley Girls" as their example.

[5StringBlues]

You are very welcome Doc.

I think Zappa might have been able to get any tone he wanted out of anything.


Scott Thunes is a very interesting read.I found his site one night when looking for info about the disintegration of the '88 tour band.That band was amazing.

[PhR]

They used a Vox combo amp for the bass on that track. A solid state guitar amp if I recall correctly, it was in a Guitar Player interview.

[basswave]

Thanks for the memory blast...

[5StringBlues]

This thread got me wondering which model of Carvin bass it was.According to the Carvin website they only made one model in 1981.The LB 50.





Those big humbuckers would seem to explain the somewhat P'ish tone.

[PhR]

He had a white LB-50 but it seems he also played (or at least advertised) an LB-90:



Scott looks a bit like Fee Waybill in that photo.

[Thundar]

Originally Posted by 5StringBlues

This thread got me wondering which model of Carvin bass it was.According to the Carvin website they only made one model in 1981.The LB 50.





Those big humbuckers would seem to explain the somewhat P'ish tone.

I had one of these in the 90's that I found at a pawn shop....they were indeed mid-happy. The low end was kinda wimpy on mine but it did have a great growl to it, and the neck was sweeeeeeeeeeeeet.

[PhR]

I noticed that the LB-90 ad above is from 1987. Still he played the Precision on the last Zappa tour.

[5StringBlues]

Originally Posted by PhR

I noticed that the LB-90 ad above is from 1987. Still he played the Precision on the last Zappa tour.

Yeah,I think they just slapped a bass in his hands for that ad.Zappa was known for using a fair amount of Carvin gear IIRC.

[McHaven]

Oh man, I haven't heard this in a few years. I love Thune's work on this track. Its amazing playing.

[5StringBlues]