that good sabbath sound

dave_clark69 · #1 01-17-2003, 04:55 PM

can someone help me getting the sound like the black sabbath bass guitar player or led zeppelins johin paul jones
is it the amp or a pedal?

JazZ-A-LoT · #2 01-17-2003, 10:35 PM

Think... Vintage recording equipment, amps, pedals...

Kid Charlemagne · #3 01-19-2003, 12:33 PM

As much as anything else, it has to do with touch. I.e. how you use your fingers to play the notes.

Also, a bass with good passive pickups and a no-frills valve amp should help.
But, as said, it is mostly about touch. Listen to the songs and try to cop the feel. Use your ears and fingers - the most crucial tone generators you are in command of.

Nick man · #4 01-19-2003, 01:48 PM

For Black Sabbath stuff, I find that a good Passive P bass played agressively can give you the right sound.

For Led Zeppelin stuff I find a good passive jazz bass run into an amp set completly flat, or with a bit of bass boost works well.

Peace
Nick

BassWizard55 · #5 01-19-2003, 04:07 PM

Do a search on Geezer Butler ok man.

LowEndRider · #6 01-19-2003, 06:37 PM

To get that N.I.B. sound pluck the strings over the 21/22nd fret with a 3khz boost - I think Geezer used to play there because he found the String tension near the pickups too tight for anything but root stuff.

-cheers

slam · #7 01-20-2003, 09:44 AM

I think those guys used flatwound strings and that is a big part of their sound.

Wounded Paw · #8 01-20-2003, 10:02 AM

I find the biggest part of the sound on their earliest recordings is not only the great old tube amps but the fact that they're just blowing the sound through the mic pre's and the board to the point of overloading. Ends up being the same effect as overdrive on a tube amp but for everything, vocals, drums etc. We've got some real vintage gear in our studio like a pair of Ampex tube mic pre's that I use as a sort of outboard 'fireplace' for warming up anything we already have on tape by pushing them hard. You can tell they were pushing that old gear near it's limits and I don't think they were in the most expensive of studios either (Sabbath I mean. There's some strange editing and mixing that may or may not have been mistakes).

Matt Till · #9 01-20-2003, 11:11 PM

Some guy at a music store came up to me because they thought I worked there and asked me pretty much the same question. I told em I didn't, but I told him to search around for the bass that suited HIM best. So he asked a real guy and gave him a hollow body bass and a rat distortion pedal and the guy was stoked at how much he sounded like geezer

Geezer didn't use too much distortion, this guy was practically fuzzed. Whatever as long as he was happy.

Nick man · #10 01-21-2003, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by StupidMatt
Some guy at a music store came up to me because they thought I worked there and asked me pretty much the same question. I told em I didn't, but I told him to search around for the bass that suited HIM best. So he asked a real guy and gave him a hollow body bass and a rat distortion pedal and the guy was stoked at how much he sounded like geezer Geezer didn't use too much distortion, this guy was practically fuzzed. Whatever as long as he was happy.

He played hollow body basses?

I never thought it sounded like it but oh well.

Peace
Nick

Matt Till · #11 01-21-2003, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Nick man

He played hollow body basses?

That's just it... Geezer didn't even play hollow body basses, he also didn't fuzz the hell out of his bass. But this guy's eyes lit up the second he kicked on that Rat. I'm sure this made Mr. Salesman very happy as well.

Nick man · #12 01-22-2003, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by StupidMatt

That's just it... Geezer didn't even play hollow body basses, he also didn't fuzz the hell out of his bass. But this guy's eyes lit up the second he kicked on that Rat. I'm sure this made Mr. Salesman very happy as well.

Ok, just checking. Its just a bit amazing that he would still get so excited about a sound that is pretty far from what Id imagine was Geezer's.

Peace
Nick

Wounded Paw · #13 01-22-2003, 01:56 AM

I would think it's pretty easy to fool someone who walks into a guitar store and says give me a Geezer Butler sound. Just fuzz it out a bit and the kid will be convinced it's the genuine thing. Kinda why I'm not a big fan of salesmen.

Nick man · #14 01-22-2003, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wounded Paw
I would think it's pretty easy to fool someone who walks into a guitar store and says give me a Geezer Butler sound. Just fuzz it out a bit and the kid will be convinced it's the genuine thing. Kinda why I'm not a big fan of salesmen.

Yesterday I was at GC withmy guitarist because the guitar they sold him was having some problems.

It was a Gibson Les Paul Studio.

The pickups were microphonic, and there was a little bit of hum. The tunners wouldnt hold tunning either, and the action was bad.

Salesman says thats all normal.

I believe they are called humbuckers for a reason, and as far as Ive been told, Gibson pickups are dipped in wax to make them less microphonic. The tunners were just crap, which is not what you should get for a +$1000 guitar, and the sales man said that they wouldnt do a setup on a new guitar for free since they are set up at the factory. I tried to reason with him bringing in the great difference in temperature and humidity between the factory and Miami, but he said that temperature and humidity wouldnt cause the neck to move.

What a bunch of crock.

We're going somewhere else to talk to some honest, or at least knowledgeable, salesmen.

Peace
Nick