Mike Dirnt's new sound.
 

So, as many of you may know, Green Day just released three albums, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tré!.

Mike Dirnt's bass playing is better on these 3 records than it was on 21st Century Breakdown, and also American Idiot.

But what interests me is his tone. It's nothing like any of his previous tones.
Here are a few songs where his bass is prominent, I'll also mark the time period where the bass is most prominent. Any idea how he gets that tone?

1. Nuclear Family (Uno!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyNWkEhyRrs
Start from 1:34 to 1:42

2. Stray Heart (Dos!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN0b-adUt9I
The bass is there right at the start!

3. Makeout Party (Dos!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZbr2QvBOf8
Start at 2:05 to 2:44

4. Missing You (Tre!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGaO9a4JidM
Start at 2:20 to 2:50 (Other instruments come in later)

5. Dirty Rotten Bastards (Tre!)
This has got to be some of the best stuff he's ever written.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynDf20OkDqw
Start at 3:17 to 3:29

Your replies are appreciated!

The difference in tone is most likely due to him switching to the new fender Bassmans. Also, they seem to have tried to make these albums sound a bit more like some of their earlier work, in which the bass is very prominent.

Thems some mighty tasty bass licks on "Dirty Rotten Bastards" if I do say so myself!

Agreed on both points. These new Fender heads are the real deal. His new rig live (before Billie fell off the wagon) is basically P-bass into one head, driving a 6x10. He's got a bunch of extra heads/cabs for show, but the other heads are just slaved off the master. He's even using the DI off the amp. He can obviously buy whatever DI he'd like, so to use the built in DI is saying something.

In regards to the new albums, Uno was a bit weak I thought, however Dos and Tre are great, a real return to form after 21st Century. I'm 30 now, have been listening to Green Day since I was 12, and I had kind of lost hope for them, but these new albums have me exited again. Not sure what to make of Billie's rehab thing though.

+1. He has used a lot of different setups over the years, Gibson basses then switching to Fender basses, Ampeg SVT, Mesa/Boogie and now Fender cabs and heads. All those things you have to take into account. Also any possible effects, however I believe the new Bassman gear he is using is a current big impact on his tone because he has been playing P basses for a while now on a good majority of the records since Nimrod. Perhaps he has also been changing some settings on the amps as well and moving away from that "one signature sound."

I really dig that sound! I never really liked how Mike was mixed on previous records. He always had presence, but his tone always seemed to lack a certain low-mid grunt that would give his bass authority.

This is just more incentive to pick up one of those new Fender tube heads. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself. :D