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04-07-2011, 06:30 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Bay Area, CA | | | Mike Gordon's percussive sound--any tips?
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Hey all,
If you're a fan of Phish at all, you know that Mike has a very percussive tone to his playing--It's sometimes been referred to his "hollow" sound on these boards. One example--not necessarily the best--is during the version of Slave linked below. At various points, but especially at the 4:30-4:34 mark he hits a number of very percussive notes. Has anyone successfully reproduced this sound? How so? YouTube - Phish: Slave To The Traffic Light [HD] 2010-10-29 - Atlantic City, NJ
Thanks for the thoughts! |
04-07-2011, 06:36 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Greenville, South Carolina | | | Those sound like pinched harmonics, but I could be wrong. Pick and maybe a foam piece under the strings at the bridge? |
04-07-2011, 06:46 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Westfield, MA, USA | | | Those notes at 4:30-4:34 sound like he is playing pretty hard with a pick way up the neck on the B or E string.
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04-07-2011, 06:46 PM
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04-07-2011, 06:49 PM
|  | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Denver, CO | | | not pinched harmonics... use a pick! very clean, sterile sound. mike also uses half-rounds, which will naturally take away some top end. |
04-19-2011, 12:20 PM
|  | Registered User | | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by thombo  not pinched harmonics... use a pick! very clean, sterile sound. mike also uses half-rounds, which will naturally take away some top end. | He sounds about as punchy as can be without overdoing it. I have actually raised my high-end just a touch to get a tiny bit of twang in the strings. It's not quite his tone, but it works for me and my setup.
Also, what are some good half-rounds? I'm using coated Elixers, but I've always been curious about trying a set of half's out. |
04-26-2011, 12:40 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Hollywood, Ca | | | Whoa, the pics show that the aural enhancer is maxed on his Eden amp. That's some pretty extreme EQing right there. |
04-26-2011, 04:51 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Denver, CO | | Quote:
Originally Posted by enjoi1018 He sounds about as punchy as can be without overdoing it. I have actually raised my high-end just a touch to get a tiny bit of twang in the strings. It's not quite his tone, but it works for me and my setup.
Also, what are some good half-rounds? I'm using coated Elixers, but I've always been curious about trying a set of half's out. | I don't know what's good, but MG uses Ken Smith half-rounds. |
04-26-2011, 05:09 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson,AZ | | | He plays a hollow-body bass (maybe semi-hollow) with a pick. He uses a lot of palm muting too.
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04-26-2011, 05:18 PM
|  | Banned
Endorsing Artist: HCAF | | Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: The Woodlands, TX | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by Basshappi He plays a hollow-body bass (maybe semi-hollow) with a pick. He uses a lot of palm muting too. | Neck-thru Modulus Q5s are hollowbody? |
04-26-2011, 05:45 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson,AZ | | I never felt that he had the same sound on the Modulus, percussive yes,his pick style assures that but the Q5s seem to me to have much more sustain and mid presence.
I didn't link to the Vid the OP posted, just assumed from his discription that he was hearing Mike's Languedoc basses. Guess I should "look before I leap" next time!  
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04-26-2011, 06:08 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Minneapolis | | Quote:
Originally Posted by Basshappi I didn't link to the Vid the OP posted, just assumed from his discription that he was hearing Mike's Languedoc basses. Guess I should "look before I leap" next time! | Basically once Mike found out about Modulus he hasn't played the Languedoc live.
He has become a Modulus hoarder tho...
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04-26-2011, 08:22 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Denver, CO | | | so for the record, MG's Q5's are a solid body. i have seen semi-hollows, like Oteil Burbridge's custom Modulus. i did see MG rock a Languedoc guitar during an '01 Vita Blue NYE show. |
04-26-2011, 08:58 PM
|  | Knob Wrangler | | Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Murfreesboro, TN | | | He has a custom neck through (TBX?) 26 fret Modulus that he has been playing recently. The strings are Ken Smith Slick Rounds, a heavy (perhaps an Adamas graphite 2mm) pick, and he picks in-between his pickups. Very very very fat and punchy. I've got some slick rounds on my carvin 5er and have gotten relatively close to his "general" sound. Definitely try picking in-between your pickups. | | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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