Cocteau Twins / The Cure synthy effects help?

[bovine mind]

A few questions:

I'm stumped on what combination of amps/effects/tricks Cocteau Twins used to recreate the huge bottomless, atmospheric almost sub bass sounds on some of their songs, especially Love's Easy Tears:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMZosa_QayQ

There is clearly some kind of very low sustained sound riding underneath Simon Raymonde's bass lines. Sounds very much like a synth but every interview I've found they claim no synths were used on their recordings or live. I know they used a Tascam tape recorded to play back their drum tracks but I'm not sure about the bass sounds I'm hearing. Even if they did playback this sound live on backed tape I still want to know how to mimic it live. Any ideas?

Similarly, I've always really dug the massive ominous synth bass sound on Plainsong by The Cure. I imagine that's a synth producing that sound but I imagine I could get close. So far I haven't had much luck. I'm still trying to find a similar setting on my Novation Bass Station. What synth sound is this? strings pad?

Lastly, any pointers on nailing this [somewhat] clean tone? EQ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggP5YDziMSY

Here is the gear I have available, bass is a Gibson Ripper tuned CADG, not pictured is a Sunn 215BH extension cabinet, Roland Jazz Chorus and Roland KC 500 that i route the synth sounds to via Akai Headrush:

[BassmanAd]

Mot sure about the Cocteau Twins but Simon Gallup has spent most of his career using more or less the same equipment as Peter Hook. I know around the Disintegration period he was using a Stingray and that's what it sounds like to me on the record, going through a chorus of some sort.

The bass synth stuff on Plainsong sounds to me like some sort of analogue string pad, probably played on bass pedals.

[blipndub]

Just from listening to CT for many many years I would venture to say that to get to that sound go back to what was available at the time. I think I hear a chorus and maybe an octaver in a lot of his stuff. You might need less gear not more to get that kind of sound!

[blipndub]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8Hx2...eature=related

I think this is a classic Simon Raymond tone.

[gastric]

Always sounded like a wide chorus and some verb/echo to me.

[BassBrass]

Originally Posted by gastric

Always sounded like a wide chorus and some verb/echo to me.

Yes, and make that 80s era rackmount delay/chorus and a reverb. I know the guitars were sometimes recorded using a BUNCH of little amps, maybe 4 or 6, each with it''s own pedal chorus (of any brand), kind of random speeds and depths.