Larry Graham tone without replica gear (pow)

Ski3223 · #1 07-20-2010, 09:16 AM

So I've posted about this song before, and I've got the bassline DOWN finally, but now I need to get the tone (if I can).

I would like to get close to this guys tone. Help me figure out how he's doing it. He's the closest I've heard without a Jazz.

I'm using a Stingray with EB flats (not the best for slap, but they work surprisingly well) and a rumble 100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=9RgV...eature=related

Dr. Cheese · #2 07-20-2010, 09:36 AM

Take the flats off!

You can always turn down the treble or change your hand position for a darker tone. Take it from Will Lee, use roundwounds and then learn to work your tone on your bass.

A Stingray will not get you a Jazz sound, but it will give you a brilliant slap tone. IMO,.don't sweat the Graham tone, learn his lines, and just get funky!

Ski3223 · #3 07-20-2010, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

Take the flats off!

You can always turn down the treble or change your hand position for a darker tone. Take it from Will Lee, use roundwounds and then learn to work your tone on your bass.

A Stingray will not get you a Jazz sound, but it will give you a brilliant slap tone. IMO,.don't sweat the Graham tone, learn his lines, and just get funky!

Nah, definitely sticking with the flats lol. I love em, and the vintage tone with the stingray works pretty well! I still slap really well with em on, they are pretty bright for flats.

Dr. Cheese · #4 07-20-2010, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ski3223

Nah, definitely sticking with the flats lol. I love em, and the vintage tone with the stingray works pretty well! I still slap really well with em on, they are pretty bright for flats.

You can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want to approximate the Graham tone, especially circa POW, you need roundwounds. If you like flatwounds, cool, but don't complain about them not doing what they weren't meant to do.

JimmyM · #5 07-20-2010, 11:57 PM

i'm on the op's side. i love slapping with flats. i recently went back to rounds but i do like to use flats sometimes.

but dr cheese is sort of right. larry's tone at that time was using rounds. but he says he can use any kind of string to get his sound. it's all in the way he slaps. go watch his instructional video on youtube.

Andrew Jones · #6 07-21-2010, 12:10 AM

There is a Bobby Vega Video where he talks about Graham...

Said that He used a early 70's jazz with nylon TAPEwOUNDS.

He has a bass in the Vid set up that way and he Plays HAIR and it absolutely NAILS the album tone.

It's on the bass player web site,,,check it it's chock full of funky goodness

JimmyM · #7 07-21-2010, 12:19 AM

tapewounds sound more like rounds than people might think they do.

Andrew Jones · #8 07-21-2010, 12:33 AM

I looked and couldn't find it on the new revamped BP.TV.

Hopefully they will remedy that.

Dr. Cheese · #9 07-21-2010, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Jones

There is a Bobby Vega Video where he talks about Graham...

Said that He used a early 70's jazz with nylon TAPEwOUNDS.

He has a bass in the Vid set up that way and he Plays HAIR and it absolutely NAILS the album tone.

It's on the bass player web site,,,check it it's chock full of funky goodness

Graham's tone changed by the time he played POW. POW has a roundwound tone. Hair sounds like flats or tapewounds.

Jamie_Funk · #10 07-21-2010, 08:37 AM

To me, to NAIL Graham's tone, you need a Jazz bass more than you need a string change.

J

SMILEYSIXX · #11 07-21-2010, 08:46 AM

I really think more of his tone came from his bass than his strings, although I do have to agree, you will not get that tone you want from flats. You can be stubborn and say you're gonna use flats instead of rounds, but you won't get what you want. The fact that you're using a stingray is gonna impact your sound too.

Also I'd like to throw it out there that most of the sound comes from his style. You'll never 100% replicate his sound because you'll never nail his style completely.

chicago_mike · #12 07-23-2010, 08:02 PM

Big speakers and a bump around 200 250hz. THats the jaco tone as well. Acoustic amps used big speakers and had a bump in the tone around the 200 - 250hz range.

Oh, and if you also notice, his tone,is a 60's jazz not a 70's with the bridge pickup spacing. Even even live with jazzes with blocks binding, you can hear the 60's growl...not the 70's growl.

Funkinthetrunk · #13 07-23-2010, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

tapewounds sound more like rounds than people might think they do.

+1

My only set of "nylons" (can't remember the brand) was roundwound underneath the black tape.

Get a Jazz or something with 2 single coils in the approx locations of a Jazz....just get a Jazz.