Claypool's tone from Sailing Seas days

[FreaqyFrequency]

First off, I don't have a fretless so it's impossible to completely get his tone for me at the moment, but I am at a loss trying to find a tone suitable for playing Tommy the Cat, for instance.

Does anyone know how to EQ, and/or what effects to use?

Also, if anyone happens to know offhand what his setup was back in those days, that would be wonderful.

Thanks alot.

[Matt Till]

Unfortunately, EQing and effects aren't the way to get someones tone. You can't use a rogue bass and a crate amp and eq it to sound like claypool. It's all about the bass/amp really.

I know his basses are/were Carl Thompson basses: Amps, not sure.

I also heard that he did (does?) string his bass with Two "A" strings and Two "G" strings. Tuned EADG, but with the smaller strings, it's easier to do the double stops he often does. I think that's partially responsible for this "rubbery" type of sound.

[FreaqyFrequency]

Ok, thanks, but I don't precisely have a Rogue, it is a Schecter Stiletto (which is quite a fine instrument), and you'd be surprised at my Crate. Am I saying it's the best amp in the world, or anything even close? No. But it does the job for my purposes.

I think he uses some sort of overdrive for Tommy the Cat, just a little bit of dirt is clearly present in his tone. The double A/G strings sounds right. He probably uses an E string and tunes it to B, and then uses a standard C string for his C (anything bigger would snap)

It sounds like he cuts some lows and maybe bumps the mids up a little bit, and I think the highs are flat. I'll try it out.

[projectMalamute]

Around this time he was endorsing the ADA preamp, grit could be from that.

[onlyclave]

Back in the day Les Claypool was using ADA Preamps and cabinets with 12" speakers. I don't remember his power amp setup.

All of his basses that he used back then were Carl Thompsons. His 4-string was strung with 2 A's and 2 G's because he liked the sound that Tony Levin got out of his Stick. His 6-String was strung normally.

Just so you know, if you want to sound like Les Claypool you need to BE Les Claypool. While he uses a certain kind of bass, preamp, EQ, speaker, string, etc. Les sounds like Les because he is Les. As Jaco used to say, "The sound is in my hands".

[chris.gotfunk]

Hey all. For Seas of Cheese-Les used his Main Carl Thompson (CT) 4 string and his 6 string fretless CT. For Tommy the Cat, Fish On, Jerry Was a Racecar Driver he used the fretless. The bass had an EMG 35DC pickup with I believe the BQC preamp. At that time, he was also using ADA pre-amps and Mesa Boogie cabs...I think. For the songs listed above, his tone is achieved by many factors. Most importantly, his technique and his own hands. Next, the pickup placement on his CT fretless also lends to that tone.
Here is a link that shows a guy who had a bass built for him that was a copy of Les' and he almost nails the tone.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt3WKOQpxBM

Anyway. Yes, I am pretty into Les. He was the reason I started playing bass 17 years ago and I used to study his playing and tone. I am actually having a bass built for me that is a copy of his main 4 string. Here is a link to the build.

4-String scroll CM#1 for Chris.gotfunk

Peace,
Chris

[out of tune]

Chris.gotfunk awsome bass man!!!! I love those CT basses, it must have took a while to get it, but definetly worth the wait!
Anyway I could have sworn Les used the Mesa 400+ back then, but I could be wrong.

[chris.gotfunk]

Thank you. The bass is not done yet. It will take about 4 more months to be done. I cannot wait to get it!!!! I am really really stoked.
There was a point in the late 90's to early 2000's that he switched to the Mesa stuff. Now as you probably know, he has switched to Ampeg. I have also thought about asking him to build a six fretless like Claypool's, but I just cannot bring myself to have two basses like Les'. I will ask him to build me something else (after this is done), but more of a design I came up with.
Good luck on your search for his tone. I spent years studying guys like Les, Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller and Flea's tone. Now, I have melded those tones as well as other into my own thing. I am not sure how old you are, but make sure you make a path for yourself. That is how people like Les Claypool came to be who and what they are.
Peace
Chris

[chris.gotfunk]

Now, who would not want one of these lying around the house?

[The Lurker]

he ran the ADA as a preamp before the Mesa.

from a 1992 Claypool interview....

http://www.ram.org/music/primus/articles/bp1.html

Onstage, Claypool uses a wireless. "I don't know which one it is," he remarks. "All wireless systems sound like **** to me." On his 4-string electrics, Les uses Dean Markley nickel roundwounds--but here's the secret: his set consists of two A strings (.080) and two G strings (.040). "I've always loved the sound Tony Levin gets on the [Chapman] Stick with light-gauge strings. I wanted to get that same punch, so I started to use a lighter E string, and then I switched to two G's to make my chords sound better." He strings his Carl Thompson 6-string with a standard light-gauge set.

Les uses an ADA MP-1 guitar preamp that was modified by ADA's Tod Langer. "He did something to the EQ circuitry so the lows pass through better, and he also did something to the compressor to give me more bottom end. I use only about nine sounds on it, just to cut treble, cut bass, or add a little crunch." One set of programs for each instrument is held in the MP-1's memory, with different level settings to compensate for the basses' different outputs; an identical MP-1 sits in his rack as a spare. Programs are selected with a MIDI Ground Control footpedal made by Digital Music.

The MP-1 feeds into a MESA/Boogie Bass 400 Plus head, which drives two MESA/Boogie 2x15 cabinets. "I used SWR 4x10s for a while, but they didn't do it for me. My sound has all this weird **** in the high end; you can hear it through 10s but not 15s."

[Baryonyx]

Obviously Calypool's tone is pretty unique and so it's not going to be easy (at all) to replicate. If you're looking for a suitable tone for playing Tommy the Cat, maybe bump the mids a tad and leave the bass and treble flat. Infact, maybe cut a bit of treble to get that "rubbery" sound. I should not, however, that mere EQ'ing is never enough to replicate a tone, I don't think.

[karl e. hungus]

heres another idea...

i am also a huge fan of claypool. so ive been wondering the same as you. ive been able to get close to his sound but still seem like an ocean of cheese away.

so for about a 2 months straight i did nothing but spend time every day learning primus tracks, and playing along with the albums the whole way through the track. i also searched youtube for primus vids as well as "how-to's" and vids of other people playing his stuff so i knew exactly how claypool himself was playing. as you can imagine my chops basically exploded. and i noticed that as my hands got stronger and stronger my sound started to get closer and closer to his. at that point i had a revelation... les claypool probably has some of the maddest slap chops on the planet, hence, his sound is a product of the fact that he can really rail on a bass.

it worked for me. i dont use the double a+g and i can get my chords sounding pretty good(when my chops are in an upswing). and it took me a while to play tommy the cat, but in order for it to sound good i have to have been playing alot in the weeks prior so i have the muscle built up in my hands to really pound out each and every double thump and pop.

ps... example of what i mean about railing the hell out of a bass.... get to about 1:20

http://youtube.com/watch?v=w_8NtbKsYuA

[BuffaloBass]

I've never heard Les, but I dug what I saw in that clip. Hard to really see all his chops at that bpm. But he can rail inflippin' deed.

[makaky]

During the Frizzle Fry promo tour, he had a Redhead and a 2x15 Goliath. That was when Primus was playing smaller venues. One year after he was on the cover of Bassplayer and opening for Rush. I think he got endorsed by ADA during that time

[TaySte_2000]

Didn't he work for ADA for a while testing things before he became famous hence his kinda hate for gear now spending all day with menu's and programs etc

[chris.gotfunk]

I think you are right about that. I vaguely remember reading about him working for ADA at the time. Good call.
Peace,
Chris