Okay okay, I'm kidding! Well, sorta. Of course I have been asking that question for over 20 years though, just as I'm sure a number of you have right along with me. Finally when I could afford one, I searched for and bought a Wal. Of course I realized that although I was closer to that heavenly sound, something still wasn't quite there. I still enjoyed the MkI that I picked up, but it irritated me that I didn't hear Flea's tone right out of the box when I plugged it in. The fanboy in me just couldn't let it go! I wanted my face melted dammit...
I had a free weekend to spare this weekend, so I decided to really sit down and give it a go and to try and cop that fantastic BSSM sound. I'm pretty happy with the result! I figured I would also share with you guys some of the steps I took to get there, so that it didn't seem so mysterious in the event that you wanted to try and get there yourself also. If anything, maybe this will be a 3 minute time burner at best. Either way, I had a lot of fun doing this, so I figured I would share it with the community
The soundcloud I am attaching is split up into 3 sections. They are as follows:
1. The first pass is a Wal MkI, run through a Darkglass B7K and connected directly to my ProTools interface via XLR. I know Flea didn't have the B7K, but I'm fairly certain that he was going through something that added some "hair". My guess is a B:Assmaster or another pedal similar, but I felt like the B7K added the right "something" to the tone overall. As you can tell, it definitely sounds like a Wal, but it doesn't really sound all that much like Flea's tone on BSSM.
2. The second pass is with the Audiffex GK Amp Sim plugin added. This amp sim doesn't get much love, but I really think it deserves a lot of praise. I think it nails the GK sound perfectly, and I use it for most of my bass tracks when I am recording at home. The presets absolutely suck though, so maybe that really turned people off. Personally I think this plugin makes the biggest difference to the overall tone, and gets you about 75% there. I truly believe it is the Wal / GK combo that creates such a special sound.
3. The last pass is after I added EQ. I killed the sub lows, and the highs above 12K, I also ducked some rumbling in the low end, and boosted the heck out of the upper mids (1.5k and 4k). Lastly, I notched a couple of frequencies that were driving me crazy. Mostly, it was also in the upper mids. This allowed me to crank the midrange without it sounding too annoying.
For anyone interested, here is the run down of what I used to do everything:
Drums: Steven Slate 4 - Chili Kit
Wal Mk1
Darkglass B7K
Audiffex GK Amplification v2.0
LA-2A compressor plugin
That's it! I know it's not absolutely dead on exact, but to my ears it is really close. Overall, I think it captures the right vibe in the midrange, and definitely makes me smile. Thanks for checking it out either way, I had a lot of fun tinkering with it!
I liked the first one, the second I liked a little less, then the third one sounded awesome, as if you let the first one breathe, really opened it up. Anyway, good job and congrats on you Wal! I'd love to own one.
I think the first was closest. You gotta also remember the production Rick Ruben would have done with the bass track. I always though it has a Sansamp for 'hair' in the original song. Very nice work though!
What kind of strings do you have on your Wal? I used stainless for over 20 years. But over the past year I've been installing more nickel sets on my Wals, and I discovered the string makes a difference in getting that snappy sound. BSSM was what got me hooked on these basses, but I never dwell on another players specific sound and ultimately would rather focus on my own sound.
first off, great job. it's very convincing and makes me really happy that I put my order in for a mark I. the tone from that album has stuck in my head since I first started playing bass back in the early 90's.
the first one sounds very good. the second, while it still sounds good is just a little too "amp simulatory" for me. the third one I think sounds really good. and IMO is the most convincing recreation.
great work!
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Thanks for listening everyone! There's definitely a chance that I could have just EQ'd the direct sound (take 1) and gotten pretty close, but I personally felt that the GK sim helped get me to the proper starting point a little easier. That's just what felt right to my ears, but I hear the other suggestions about the direct track having that seed of awesomeness as well.
To answer the question about strings, I currently have D'Addario nickels on it. I put steel strings on one of my basses for the first time only 2 months ago, and I really really like them! I may have to try steels on the Mk1 just to see how they sound, but I'm typically a nickel guy.
Personally, I think Brendan O'Brien is the bass tone KING. He was either the engineer or the producer on every single one of my favorite recorded rock tones. BSSM, Stone Temple Pilots "Core" (incredible as well), and also RATM Evil Empire. The guy is a monster!
Take 1, just compared them on some fairly accurate monitors and I think the others are too full/rich sounding, where as the 1st one is REALLY close to the sound of the original.
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Aria Pro II SB1000 - Fender American Standard Precision - GK MB112II - The Official Fender Precision Bass Club #570 - Gallien-Krueger Club #597
Endorsing Artist: Dingwall; Darkglass; Fractal Audio; Circle K
Join Date: Nov 2012
Something missing is the "halo" of live room ambience you can hear on the record. A touch of short, room reverb from a convolution reverb plugin would go a long way to bringing you closer to the original, and make it easier for you to achieve the bright snap without EQing too much edge into your direct tone.
Something missing is the "halo" of live room ambience you can hear on the record. A touch of short, room reverb from a convolution reverb plugin would go a long way to bringing you closer to the original, and make it easier for you to achieve the bright snap without EQing too much edge into your direct tone.
Absolutely agree here. I also agree that the low end in my attempt is a tad too pillowy and a little less focused. I think I have everything above 300 Hz pretty close though. Great suggestions everyone!
To answer the question about strings, I currently have D'Addario nickels on it. I put steel strings on one of my basses for the first time only 2 months ago, and I really really like them! I may have to try steels on the Mk1 just to see how they sound, but I'm typically a nickel guy.
Definitely stay with nickels for that sound. 'Power of Equality' is one where no matter how much I tried playing it with steels it was never there. Once I put nickels on, bam that was it!
