Geezer's Tone

Matt Till · #1 09-14-2005, 11:17 AM

How does he make his bass "wub."

Yeah... wub the only term I can think of. If you don't know what I mean by that, listen to any sabbath song with bass playing some sort of lead thing, and sing one of the basslines... you wub... but why? How... how does his bass wub without being overly distorted or anything. WUB DAMN YOU WUB!!!

Matt Till · #2 09-14-2005, 11:18 AM

Now that I'm in a Stoner Rock band... I figure it's time to start ripping off Geezer's tone.

chips · #3 09-14-2005, 11:39 AM

geezer is the shizz...
anyway... The way he got that sound was from playing through a Laney GUITAR head, and his cab only had 3 speakers and one of them was stuffed to add that grittty sound. He also played with dead stirngs pretty much. I read that he said he didnt really like his tone that much but couldnt afford better gear to get a propper bass tone. And he said that dead strings are a part of his sound. Now days he just cranks the amps for the gritty overdrive sort of sound, and you'll notice that wub is gone. i think the most prolific example of that killer wub tone is the intro solo on NIB. freakin cool

All of this means its pretty hard to get his tone i guess. go and find a cheap cab and guitar head from a hock shop and maybe ull find it

Peace
Chips

Matt Till · #4 09-14-2005, 04:06 PM

Sweet. Thanks for the advice. I did notice on the Reunion disc... I hated Geezer's tone.

I think I'm starting to love vintage gear.... ever since I played through a friends Sunn setup... everything sounded so good back then... now a days, bassists are seeking the most transparent/jazzy tone... I'm starting to go backwards. Between John Wetton and Geezer... I think that's the ideal bass tone in a rock setting (and in some cases funk).

I remeber hearing he played through some guitar gear, thanks for backing it up. Maybe I should try to seek out the bassist from Catherdal (Leo Smee?)'s setup. He's got Geezer's tone in a little bit more of a modern sense.

BuffaloBass · #5 09-15-2005, 05:21 AM

I read that interview with Geezer in BP last year ( the year before?), and yeah, he was playing through an Orange or some such thing.

Geez was my first influence at 10yrs old! Aint kidding. Could get some thing close to that fuzz when I cranked up my el cheapo no-name Canadian bass combo with my "Mole" effect pedal on.

NIB was the first bass solo I learned. And played it over, and over, and over....cool stuff for a10-11yr old kid!

( and a 44 yr old man!

)

chips · #6 09-15-2005, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Sweet. Thanks for the advice. I did notice on the Reunion disc... I hated Geezer's tone.

I think I'm starting to love vintage gear.... ever since I played through a friends Sunn setup... everything sounded so good back then... now a days, bassists are seeking the most transparent/jazzy tone... I'm starting to go backwards. Between John Wetton and Geezer... I think that's the ideal bass tone in a rock setting (and in some cases funk).

I remeber hearing he played through some guitar gear, thanks for backing it up. Maybe I should try to seek out the bassist from Catherdal (Leo Smee?)'s setup. He's got Geezer's tone in a little bit more of a modern sense.

no worries. Yeh i'm all for the going backwards thing. I love gritty old school kinda tones. They do work best for heavy stuff and rock. I had an idea last night.... Maybe.... get a russian big muff, set the sustain and tone all the way to the left, crank the volume, to get a mild fuzzy overdriven sound, then run through and envelope filter like a DOD fx25b... i guess u would kinda get the WUB from that if you could find a decent setting so that it makes that effect on each note. hrmm... i think i must try it, but i need another cable to set my effects up

If it works ill let u know.

Peace,
Chips

MaskedJackal · #7 09-17-2005, 04:42 PM

Mr. Till, sir....I've found I can get a good stoner-rock tone with an old used Cryababy GUITAR wah- just rotate it and keep playing til you find the tone you like- Geezer actually did mean for his wah pedal to be on when Sabbath recorded NIB, but it was and he went with it. If you want to imitate his tone, I suggest using a Sansmp BDDI. If you have a two-pickup bass, switch one the neck one.

Sayin.

Sturge · #8 09-17-2005, 05:12 PM

Geezer had a lot of mids in his sound - if you drop everything except the very mids on your amp (around 1k), I reckon you get a sound a lot like the NIB solo.

screamingdaisy · #9 09-17-2005, 05:42 PM

NIB was done using a Tycobrahe Parapedal (wah). It doesn't filter like a typical wah, and gets very ring mod-ish towards the heel down position.

Tony used the same wah.....and on certian albums it was always cocked and left on. I'm not sure how much Geezer used his.

Original Parapedals cost big $$$$, but Chicago Iron makes a more affordabe (relatively speaking

) clone.

Pantsman · #10 09-17-2005, 05:59 PM

You can get very close to that NIB sound by just playing right ut next to the neck, at least on my crappy Yamaha bass you can. i rest my thumb on the position markers for the 24th fret and pluck, WUB away.

Matt Till · #11 09-18-2005, 12:14 AM

I've noticed this, when most people think of Geezer's tone... they think of NIB... NIB is slightly bothersome for me. I prefer his tone on everything else (no wah) Though I do wah sometimes, my wah inspiration comes from Al Cinceros from Sleep. I just like his "clean" tone, even though it was always slightly overdriven, sorta.

I actually want to sound like him on his ballady parts. The song Solitude off Masters of Reality is perfect.

**Adam Barkley** · #12 09-18-2005, 01:01 AM

I seriously dislike the Bassically solo. His tone is nasty. In a nasty, unlistenable way.

My favorite tones of his are either Hand of Doom or Under the Sun.

Matt Till · #13 09-18-2005, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abark000

I seriously dislike the Bassically solo. His tone is nasty. In a nasty, unlistenable way.

My favorite tones of his are either Hand of Doom or Under the Sun.

Exactly what I'm talking about.

Furthermore: The song "A National Acrobat" is the definition of perfect song, IMO. Perfect riff, perfect tone all around, perfect lyrics (It freaks people out to know that song is about a sperm), perfect feel, perfect song.

Kink Rimson · #14 09-18-2005, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

I actually want to sound like him on his ballady parts. The song Solitude off Masters of Reality is perfect.

Play right over the end of the fretboard for that 'wub'. And play quite aggressively. Not surprisingly, sounds best on a precision.

Matt Till · #15 09-18-2005, 01:25 PM

I did notice seeing some old vids of Geez, he was playing right over the fretboard and really banging it. I do that from time to time and now that you mention it, that does help.