Flea Amp Settings

[bassrocker410]

Im trying to find the amp settings that flea uses. If you guys could help me out that would be great.

[popinfresh]

Erm, one thing i must ask. What era?

[bassrocker410]

the blood suger sex magic era has really good songs but i think i like the californication sound the best

[popinfresh]

I don't know about amp settings, but it's going to be hard to replicate the Californication sound straight up. He used his signature Modulus Flea bass through GK amps (800's) and Mesa Boogie Diesel 2x10+2x15 (x3) around that period of time (On tour at least).
So theres something to look at. It was a verry mid oriented punchy sound that he got that still had nice and deep low/low mids that growled.
So that might be something to start with...

[IvanMike]

well i think this might be better suited to bassists so ima gonna send it that way

just one thing to remember (and this is quite true of flea as i've read interviews with him), what he uses in the studio is a lot different than what he uses live. I recall an interview with him where he was using wal basses qnd a new alembic epic in the studio, with EB music man basses used on a couple of tracks, but mostly reserved for live use. (this was pre-flea bass era)

amps and settings could vary a good deal as well. the only thing i remember offf the top of my head from that era was that he used mesa cabs with the horns turned off. (and gk heads of course)

[steveksux]

For bass, room acoustics are a huge part of the sound.

Thats pretty much true of any instrument.

Flea himself can give him his amp and bass and he wont sound like Flea, even in the same room. He's not Flea, so it just wont happen. I used to want to emulate other bassists tone when I was younger too. I think we all probably did. The sooner people realize that they wont get that tone the better off they'll be. They won't get nearly as discouraged about the tone they already have. At least that was the case with me. Once I realized that I'll never sound like these guys, I became much more satisifed with my own tone and ultimately much happier with the gear I had.

[kilgoja]

yeah he's right ...you might get close but no one plays exactly the same....just develop your own sound...that's the way to go

[bassrocker410]

Thanks--- im experimenting with sounds right now-

[popinfresh]

Ivan - That's true. You can even see him using one in the suck my kiss video clip.

[Wayne 3-13]

Originally Posted by popinfresh

Erm, one thing i must ask. What era?

I'd like to know Flea's settings for Blood Sugar Sex Magik!!
That is one funny Record!!

[Davecg2]

id like to know roughly what settings to get his stadium arcadium tone. i know i cant replicate it exactly but roughly how much highs, mids, lows, compression, distortion etc.

[gonzorob]

Stolen from the RHCP forums: Note that this is as of the last tour.

So, I recently had the chance to speak with Flea's bass tech. I found out some nice tidbits of information that some people might find interesting. Pretty technical stuff really. All the tech people on the Chili Peppers tour are incredibly cool people.

Pickups -

Flea's basses all come with the Lane Poor pickups. Modulus keeps a stock on hand for Flea's new basses. They've tried out the SD Basslines pickups but they like the Lane Poors better. They like the Basslines but they seem to have a "heavier, fuller sound, not as subtle as the Lane Poors, especially when overdriving the amp".

Amps/Cabs -

They use three 8 ohm 410RBH's (when you order a 410RBH you can either buy it in the 4 or 8 ohm version) and three 115RBH's on stage. The 2001RB amp is set to "dual mono" mode and the cabs set to bi-amp mode. The horns are barely turned on, almost nothing.

Flea's EQ settings are not set in stone. The GK amps can vary greatly in range. The two main heads that they alternate with have radically different bass knob settings to achieve the same approximate amount of low end. One is set to about 11:00 and the other is set to about 7:00. The newer 2001RB's generally have more low end than the older ones. They also cut the low mids quite a bit. They try to keep the rest of the frequencies around 12:00.

Basses -

The string height is just over 3/64ths" for the bass side and just over 2/64ths" on the treble side at the twelfth fret.

He puts a straight edge across the length of the fret board and slide feeler gauges between the frets and the straight edge. He cranks the truss rod down until he gets about .005" of relief between the frets and the straight edge. Modulus basses come set up with about .012" to .015" of relief in the neck.

[KPAX]

It's true that Flea used different basses in the studio than live but that was only for 2 albums - BSSM (Wal) and OHM (Alembic). From Californication on he's used the same in the studio as live. I know on Californication they basically recorded it live (and almost mono) - I read an interview with their recoding engineer. They had their amps / drums set up in a large circle. Flea used his modulus / 800RB / Mesa cabs for that. I think his tone has suffered since he went with 2001RB, GK cabs and the Fender Jazz with FLATWOUNDS on the last album. He abandoned the Jazz/Flatwounds mid tour and went back to the Modulus/roundwounds. That was a failed experiment.

Originally Posted by IvanMike

well i think this might be better suited to bassists so ima gonna send it that way

just one thing to remember (and this is quite true of flea as i've read interviews with him), what he uses in the studio is a lot different than what he uses live. I recall an interview with him where he was using wal basses qnd a new alembic epic in the studio, with EB music man basses used on a couple of tracks, but mostly reserved for live use. (this was pre-flea bass era)

amps and settings could vary a good deal as well. the only thing i remember offf the top of my head from that era was that he used mesa cabs with the horns turned off. (and gk heads of course)

[Davecg2]

Originally Posted by gonzorob

Stolen from the RHCP forums: Note that this is as of the last tour.

forgot about this thread, long over due thanks gonzorob

[Bassgrinder77]

That's generally true but I read an interview with the recording engineer on Californication and he said it was basically recorded live with their full amps and some DI. He also said it's basically mono with separation only on some drums and vocals. I've never sat down with a separated stereo to verify that but it's interesting.
Anyways, according to that Flea used his full rig with Modulus Flea bass, GK 2001RB heads and Mesa 2x10 and 2x15 cabs.
I found the interview - here's a link:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec99/articles/jim.htm

Originally Posted by IvanMike

well i think this might be better suited to bassists so ima gonna send it that way

just one thing to remember (and this is quite true of flea as i've read interviews with him), what he uses in the studio is a lot different than what he uses live. I recall an interview with him where he was using wal basses qnd a new alembic epic in the studio, with EB music man basses used on a couple of tracks, but mostly reserved for live use. (this was pre-flea bass era)

amps and settings could vary a good deal as well. the only thing i remember offf the top of my head from that era was that he used mesa cabs with the horns turned off. (and gk heads of course)

[DanRJBrasil]

he recorded with a variety of amps and cabs see in the blood sugar he evens uses ampeg, he live rig in not the same thing that he uses to record

[Outlaw_son]

interesting

[the low one]

When Flea was playing his Fender Jazz did he play with both volumes wide open? It sounds like it.