Cliff's Bass

Godbody · #1 12-09-2008, 11:51 AM

Ok, so I just rewatched "Cliff 'Em All", and I didn't really pay attention to his gear the last time I watched. Wikipedia tells me he played a Ric 4001 (already knew that) and that the played an Aria pro II SB1000.

I don't know squat about Arias. Does anyone own one? What are they like? I'm just trying to get into the head of my hero, see what he liked and how he achieved his tone.

I also heard he was given an Alembic spoiler shortly before he died. Can someone tell me what those are like?

Thanks, gang, I know this is the only place on the net I can find what I'm looking for.

b4nny · #2 12-09-2008, 11:40 PM

I can't tell you much about the feel of an aria because I'm no where near owning one of those, or an alembic... or a rick... But these might be able to tell you what they sounded like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJJtkQjY1c8 Battery Bass Only
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5KpwrAoZk4 Ride The Lightning Bass Only

As you can hear, he never really used a clean tone outside of Kill 'Em All and the soft parts on MoP. His distortion was much fuzzier and bassier on MoP (I'm going to assume his tone was similar for the other tracks) and a grindier mid-type sound for RtL. I think he even used the same distorted chunky sound for the soft parts of Fade To Black if you listen to the remasters on Youtube, but just didn't dig in as hard (you can really hear he digs on Ride The Lightning, even on the fast parts, nice).

Maybe someone else can contribute to what the certain basses used for these tracks/records could be. I remember in an interview around the time of Master Of Puppets, Cliff said he was retiring the Rick because it "needed work" or something like that. I'm thinking he used the Rick for Kill 'Em All and Ride The Lightning, and Aria for the last album. The RtL bass sounds much like a bridge pickup solo'd and heavily dug in, does it not?

Bassmingo · #3 12-10-2008, 06:58 AM

as far as i can tell, the aria made its first appearance on MOP. i'm not sure if MOP was all aria or not, but its there in parts (orion, esp for the solo as it begins with a bend on the 23rd fret, and the rick aint got 24 frets!) the alembic was stolen not long after he got it, so dont know if it was ever recorded.

for a while aria made cliffs bass...although it was never marketed as a signiture bass the model number had "CB" on the end.

Funilly enough, as a major cliff fan, i never warmed to the aria myself. it looked cool, but i never played a nice one....maybe i was playing the wrong ones!

Qvist · #4 12-10-2008, 09:20 AM

As much as I love Cliff and he's my biggest idol, I do not like his sound on battery!! It's waaay to fuzzy. Ride the lightning however, nice crunch!

Godbody · #5 12-10-2008, 09:48 AM

Now that I've heard isolated parts, I agree, Battery is a little too fuzzed out; no wonder its so hard to pick out Cliff in the actual mix. Apparently I love the Ric's recorded sound (which does have to be just the bridge pup...I ONLY play out the bridge). But that Aria had an understated coolness when you see and hear it on "Cliff 'Em All". However, since its roughly the same price as a Ric, if I had a few grand laying around I guess I'd opt for a 4003 fireglo. Then I can pretend I'm Chris Squire too.

Audiophage · #6 12-10-2008, 10:04 AM

I have my doubts about those tracks actually being played by Cliff. They're way too sloppy to be real.

Bassmingo · #7 12-10-2008, 10:58 AM

I doubted them myself, but they're real. taken from rock band or guitar hero or whatever game had a "metallica pack" if you put the drum and bass tracks together they match perfectly.

cliff was only sloppy cos lars is! you could set your watch by hetfield though....

Qvist · #8 12-10-2008, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audiophage

I have my doubts about those tracks actually being played by Cliff. They're way too sloppy to be real.

It sounds sloppy when it's isolated, check out the blackened isolated track and compare it with the enhanced bass version, it fits.

mournblade · #9 12-11-2008, 07:08 PM

Hmm, I am not sure. Ride the lightning is being played with a pick (or at least it sure sounds like it). All the footage of Cliff I have ever seen shows him playing fingerstyle. KIller track though, love the crunch on RTL.

dean owens · #10 12-11-2008, 08:01 PM

i have an article from guitar player where they talking about the music from the game. at least the guitar parts were not the originals. they go into detail talking about how the guys highered to play the guitar parts had to do all sorts of research to find the right amps and guitars to nail the sounds of the various players they were copying. and then how they had to get their pick attack and such.

they only talked about the guitar parts (it was guitar player), but i assumed that all the parts for those songs were rerecorded. i don't know how they would be able to get the masters to each song they used to be able to pull out the guitar parts and rerecord them.