Sweetest overdrive tone

Ryan Mohr · #1 12-09-2008, 06:22 PM

Allen Woody's cranked SVT live tone with Gov't Mule. It is so organic, fat and gritty at the same time. Here's a good example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3OwLV4s6PY&NR=1 . I get a tone close to it with my Danelectro Cool Cat Drive (http://coolcattone.com/drive.html), tone thickening and warm saturation describe it very well, as well as on the agressive side of vintage tone and touch-sensitive. I imagine the Blueberry could cop this tone very well. What do you guys use to get this kind of dirt?

Craig_S · #2 12-09-2008, 06:33 PM

Programmable SansAmp. Schweeeeet tone! Sounds like the speakers are ready to launch their cones at any second.

Mark Olson · #3 12-09-2008, 06:36 PM

I can get that Thorazine Shuffle sound with my SG Bass with flatwounds actually. Flatwound strings will instantly get you a fartier kind of tone, which can be really old school. I did a clip of Thorazine Shuffle somewhere with flats on my SG Bass trying to cop that basic sound with the Box of Rock. Worked pretty good actually.

Also, I think if you look closely I think he was using an Ashdown head in the Thorazine Shuffle clip. Good chance that overdrive tone is coming from that Ashdown head.

Other than that, I remember looking at the liner notes in my brother's Gov't Mule albums (he's a big fan, he has all their albums). Included in Allen's thank you section was a pedal manufacturer, just Boss, apparently he used Boss pedals. I swear with an SG Bass and an Ampeg head I could totally see him using a Boss ODB-3. I've had three of those things, I could get a kind of natural overdrive out of them with the gain set low enough. But really, Gibson Basses, possibly with flats or just really dead roundwounds, and any overdriveable head or pretty much any overdrive pedal and you can get pretty close I think.

Mark Olson · #4 12-09-2008, 06:42 PM

http://media.putfile.com/BoR12

I think that's the clip, but for some reason it doesn't seem to have recorded as well as I remember it sounding through my rig. Maybe I did eventually roll off the bridge pickup (I think Allen's SG bass in the video only has the neck pickup)...

Also, if you have the album Thorazine Shuffle was on, he used a little different tone in the studio, which like I learned from the liner notes was probably a Boss ODB-3, but it sounded really great.

vin*tone · #5 12-09-2008, 06:45 PM

My Ratacjzeck tube amp.

Craig_S · #6 12-09-2008, 07:10 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4s4hW-oGZ0

Not the same tone as Woody's but Man, I love that song.

Ryan Mohr · #7 12-09-2008, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

I can get that Thorazine Shuffle sound with my SG Bass with flatwounds actually. Flatwound strings will instantly get you a fartier kind of tone, which can be really old school. I did a clip of Thorazine Shuffle somewhere with flats on my SG Bass trying to cop that basic sound with the Box of Rock. Worked pretty good actually.

Also, I think if you look closely I think he was using an Ashdown head in the Thorazine Shuffle clip. Good chance that overdrive tone is coming from that Ashdown head.

Other than that, I remember looking at the liner notes in my brother's Gov't Mule albums (he's a big fan, he has all their albums). Included in Allen's thank you section was a pedal manufacturer, just Boss, apparently he used Boss pedals. I swear with an SG Bass and an Ampeg head I could totally see him using a Boss ODB-3. I've had three of those things, I could get a kind of natural overdrive out of them with the gain set low enough. But really, Gibson Basses, possibly with flats or just really dead roundwounds, and any overdriveable head or pretty much any overdrive pedal and you can get pretty close I think.

I agree about the flatwounds thing, because I can get that tone better with my P w/ flats. However, he uses GHS Bass Boomers if I remember correctly. They could be very dead in the live clip, but the album tone is brighter IMO(http://www.last.fm/music/Gov't+Mule/_/Thorazine+Shuffle). ODB-3? I guess the talkbass stereotype on that pedal has influenced me, I don't even consider it. You are probably right about the Ashdown, I just assumed he used SVTs.

Ryan Mohr · #8 12-09-2008, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

http://media.putfile.com/BoR12

I think that's the clip, but for some reason it doesn't seem to have recorded as well as I remember it sounding through my rig. Maybe I did eventually roll off the bridge pickup (I think Allen's SG bass in the video only has the neck pickup)...

Also, if you have the album Thorazine Shuffle was on, he used a little different tone in the studio, which like I learned from the liner notes was probably a Boss ODB-3, but it sounded really great.

Yeah you nailed the tone pretty well, just not as dynamic (not saying anything is bad with that). When I play it, I really hammer those chords so I get much more distortion that the single notes.

Ryan Mohr · #9 12-09-2008, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig_S

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4s4hW-oGZ0

Not the same tone as Woody's but Man, I love that song.

I agree, that riff is killer. I love Hess's tone too. It is so fat, round, warm, and "tubey" without overdriving. I think both Hess and Woody both have good tones for this kind of music, but they are very different. Woody's is more guitar-like, almost like a rhythm guitar, and he often plays walking basslines. Hess's is classic P w/ flats, laying down the bottom and grooving.

tomhanzo · #10 12-09-2008, 09:07 PM

my bad monkey does pretty good, but id look at the vt bass if i was you.

Craig_S · #11 12-09-2008, 09:24 PM

I went downstairs and fired up the rig, rolled back the highs on the P-Bass (with SS rounds) and played it, finger style, through the SansAmp with the drive at about 2:00, a bit of lows rolled off, presence at about 9:00, and a 50/50 mix of clean and gritty. I got pretty close. The chords distorted more than the single notes. It also helps to play the chords a bit harder. But who needs to "nail it"? Close enough is close enough, right?

Ryan Mohr · #12 12-10-2008, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig_S

I went downstairs and fired up the rig, rolled back the highs on the P-Bass (with SS rounds) and played it, finger style, through the SansAmp with the drive at about 2:00, a bit of lows rolled off, presence at about 9:00, and a 50/50 mix of clean and gritty. I got pretty close. The chords distorted more than the single notes. It also helps to play the chords a bit harder. But who needs to "nail it"? Close enough is close enough, right?

That's cool, but IMO you need a pick if you want to get close to that sound.