Adam Clayton from U2 Bass sound

[castleshade13]

I am really interested in his bass sound on the song Vertigo

i hadn't heard the song for ages and it was on the radio and i really liked the bass!

i think its a slightly distorted Darryl Jones Lakland (pardon any spelling errors)

Or a Jazz bass, but i'm not sure

Any one know for sure?

I've been a Rock/Metal sterotype bassist, been playing P-basses last few years, bought a Yamaha Attitude LTD II its great!

Played a Geddy Lee Jazz, Fell in love, gonna buy two jazz basses over the next 5 years i hope, Geddy Lee and American standard Jazz

I'm a fender style guy =D

And with my lust for Jazz basses a great tone which i could easily jimmy into my hard rock band (i'm the only bassist for about 300 miles ) is Adam Clayton Tone, on vertigo specifically and other similar U2 bass sounds

Any one know for sure?

[THand]

I know Adam had a thing for Jazz necks during Vertigo specifically Laklands. I saw him recently with a Buzzard bass like John Entwistle played.

He swaps gear every tour it seems, so unless you are filthy rich, good luck keeping up with him on that!!

Really there is no reason you couldn't get pretty close to anything he does with your P Bass. The key to AC is he has killer time and with the Edge's "air-y...landscape...mood" playing style(for lack of better description) he has lots of room to be heard.

I wish I would have had your gear at 13 years old!
Good luck!

[Kink Rimson]

Vertigo is the sound of a Jazz (or Jazz-style) bass through an Ashdown rig with plenty of Tube grind dialled in.

[A.CLAYTON]

Originally Posted by castleshade13

I am really interested in his bass sound on the song Vertigo

i hadn't heard the song for ages and it was on the radio and i really liked the bass!

i think its a slightly distorted Darryl Jones Lakland (pardon any spelling errors)

Or a Jazz bass, but i'm not sure

Any one know for sure?

I've been a Rock/Metal sterotype bassist, been playing P-basses last few years, bought a Yamaha Attitude LTD II its great!

Played a Geddy Lee Jazz, Fell in love, gonna buy two jazz basses over the next 5 years i hope, Geddy Lee and American standard Jazz

I'm a fender style guy =D

And with my lust for Jazz basses a great tone which i could easily jimmy into my hard rock band (i'm the only bassist for about 300 miles ) is Adam Clayton Tone, on vertigo specifically and other similar U2 bass sounds

Any one know for sure?

Are you talking about live or recorded tone?Also if you do a search for Adam Clayton iv'e supplied a heap of info on his live sound.

[TheFrogPrince]

Adam is among my favourite rock bass players. His tone isn't unusually hard to get. Any decent P-bass, P/J or Jazz bass (using the neck pick-up with some bridge on the P/J & Jazz) along with a slightly distorted amp will do.

He plays will a pick, especially for their older stuff and more driving tunes. He also uses a chorus on 'New Year's Day' on the recorded version. Besides that, he's pretty straight-ahead. Just get your time down and there you go.

[J. Crawford]

Tune your bass EAEA..

[thedude77md]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

Tune your bass EAEA..

Ha

At one time, when I was young and didn't know any better, I would have agreed with you. Now I am jealous of his near perfect timing and elegant simplicity.

[Hamrhed]

Adam primarily played an Ibanez bass early on w/ U2- then slowly began to use more vintage basses- like Fender Precision, Fender Jazz, and Gibson Thunderbirds (while still occasionally using his old Ibanez). He still switches basses often but also currently uses a variety of Lakland Basses also... He also used Ampeg SVT rigs and has since switched to Ashdown rigs. He also currently uses DR strings.

He is the low-end equivalent of his pal The Edge in the sense that he will switch gear and technique around at will to add variety as needed...

[J. Crawford]

Originally Posted by thedude77md

Ha

At one time, when I was young and didn't know any better, I would have agreed with you. Now I am jealous of his near perfect timing and elegant simplicity.

Oh, as am I. Watching Adam play just amazes me. My comment was more of a joking one, as I would never disrespect anyone from U2..

Plus, how many people can rock the grey hair look like Adam?

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by J. Crawford

Tune your bass EAEA..

What would he do with the A strings?

[Eublet]

Originally Posted by thedude77md

Ha

At one time, when I was young and didn't know any better, I would have agreed with you. Now I am jealous of his near perfect timing and elegant simplicity.

Ok, not to bash Adam, or you the poster, but jealous of this? There are a 1000+ guys in any major city who have the timing skills to play what Adam does. I admire him for not getting bored with what he plays and enjoying it. He also looks cool doing it, but nothing special about his "timing skills". Just an average bass player who has made it big with the right band like so many others. Kudos to him for it.

[newbold]

Adam's not an 'average' bass player. though 'average' bass players can play the same lines, they certainly aren't writing them.

Adam Clayton - 'Jazz' basses through Ashdown heads/stacks...or reasonable alternative.

[kingquasar]

I actually had the opurtunity to work on some of Adam's basses (when he first started playing the Laklands - around 2001) and I can attest that at that particular time, he wanted his basses as HEAVY as possible. To the point where we were drilling out cavities to put 1-2 lb metal slugs under the bridges. Other than that (if memory serves), the basses were pretty basically fender-ish. So go for some weight!

-kQ

[KPAX]

Since the Lakland is basically a Jazz copy, either will do.

Originally Posted by castleshade13

I am really interested in his bass sound on the song Vertigo

i hadn't heard the song for ages and it was on the radio and i really liked the bass!

i think its a slightly distorted Darryl Jones Lakland (pardon any spelling errors)

Or a Jazz bass, but i'm not sure

Any one know for sure?

I've been a Rock/Metal sterotype bassist, been playing P-basses last few years, bought a Yamaha Attitude LTD II its great!

Played a Geddy Lee Jazz, Fell in love, gonna buy two jazz basses over the next 5 years i hope, Geddy Lee and American standard Jazz

I'm a fender style guy =D

And with my lust for Jazz basses a great tone which i could easily jimmy into my hard rock band (i'm the only bassist for about 300 miles ) is Adam Clayton Tone, on vertigo specifically and other similar U2 bass sounds

Any one know for sure?

[Eublet]

Originally Posted by newbold

Adam's not an 'average' bass player. though 'average' bass players can play the same lines, they certainly aren't writing them.

I have to disagree with you. Of course any given player might play something differently when putting a bass line under some chord changes. Whether or not it would be better or worse than Adam's lines is pure speculation. But I just have to say I can think of so many players out there, famous or otherwise, who do the exact same "simple yet effective" type of playing that Adam does, and they certainly have that quarter note timing thing down.

I'm not bashing Adam. I like his approach and it fits well for U2. I really wan't commenting on his note choices when calling him "average, but rather on his "timing" skills which are nothing more than very average, or better said...typical of a good bass player. Good bass players are what I consider "average", so maybe we have a semantics issue here.

[Hamrhed]

Originally Posted by Eublet

I'm not bashing Adam. I like his approach and it fits well for U2. I really wan't commenting on his note choices when calling him "average, but rather on his "timing" skills which are nothing more than very average, or better said...typical of a good bass player. Good bass players are what I consider "average", so maybe we have a semantics issue here.

Actually, I would guess that Adam himself would be agreeable to your assessment. He is not so different now than he was during the early days of the band (despite the advances in gear and technology in general)- and I think the same can be said for the other members of U2 as well. Adam certainly doesnt appear to want any spotlight to himself- and God bless him for that!

There are more than enough Gunslingers in the world of bass guitarists- and Youtube has proof positive. Players like Adam play for the song and have more impact on those songs than most people realize, and thats what makes so called 'average' players stand out.

Oh and that thing called experience goes a long way too. There may be '1000+ players in any major city' that could play what he plays, but put them onstage at the US festival in front of hundreds of thousands of people and that list goes short in a hurry

[Eublet]

Originally Posted by Hamrhed

Actually, I would guess that Adam himself would be agreeable to your assessment. He is not so different now than he was during the early days of the band (despite the advances in gear and technology in general)- and I think the same can be said for the other members of U2 as well. Adam certainly doesnt appear to want any spotlight to himself- and God bless him for that!

There are more than enough Gunslingers in the world of bass guitarists- and Youtube has proof positive. Players like Adam play for the song and have more impact on those songs than most people realize, and thats what makes so called 'average' players stand out.

Oh and that thing called experience goes a long way too. There may be '1000+ players in any major city' that could play what he plays, but put them onstage at the US festival in front of hundreds of thousands of people and that list goes short in a hurry

Definitely! I'm a fan of AC! Didn't mean to stir up a hornets nest here. Hopefully I haven't. Like I said, I like what he does and he looks oh so cool and collected when he's doing it.

[J. Crawford]

Originally Posted by KPAX

Since the Lakland is basically a Jazz copy, either will do.

Im not sure I fully agree with this statemnent. They are two different beasts.

[DanGouge]

Adam was the first guy to manage the band and he was, according to the others, the first to see what would become U2 as something that could be more than just four guys playing in local pubs. Yeah he plays simple lines, but those and a can-do attitude seem to pay off more than being a bedroom hero on YouTube.

[fenwickbacker]

I freggin' love the guys lines! Huge influence from the aggressive, almost "lead" lines in many of their early albums (Boy thru War), to his almost hypnotic lines on more recent albums (especially Achtung Baby).

Let the virtuoso/32nd note crowd crack their jokes -but this guy is a true "bass player" and realizes his part in the overall song/composition.

"Two Hearts Beat As One" is one of my favorite basslines ever.