Want Steve Harris/Geddy Lee Clank--Squier Vintage Modified?
 

I want that clanky Steve Harris of Iron Maiden or Geddy Lee of Rush sound. Specifically, the guy has that sound here, the finger-pickin' pling in this vid from 3:00 or so on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5gpe4xlKDI

But so few Fender vids (moreso J's than P's) have that amazing sound....

More rare Fender clang here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsV2KWwtO50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2CrFWsIHts

Can anyone verified the Squier VM's get that sound direct? THX! Addition:

My Peavey USA mil and my friend's MIA P can't get it--even with a pick--it's either dull or tinny with little in between.

At 1:47 notice the difference not only in brightness but actual "clank" between the P then the J, same finger force:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsV2KWwtO50

Any bass can do it, it's a matter of having the strings low enough and playing with a bit of downward force so the strings hit the frets as you play.

My Peavey USA mil and my friend's MIA P can't get it--even with a pick--it's either dull or tinny with little in between.

At 1:47 notice the difference not only in brightness but actual "clank" between the P then the J:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsV2KWwtO50

You should be able to get it with the Fender and the Peavey. You need an arrow-straight neck and low action. What is weird is that Steve Harris has a light touch and uses flatwounds, and Geddy has a hammer touch and uses Roundwounds.

Listen to some isolated bass tracks on Youtube, there is one for 2112, to hear Geddy's tone. It is really tinny! You need a whole band playing around you to soak up that tone.

I have a Squier VM5. Other than the weight, I like better than my stock MIA deluxe basses. I dropped in an Aguilar OBP3 preamp, adjusted the neck, and lowered the action. I use Fender 8250-M strings. This thing is incredible, it gets that Geddy growl, and that Steve Harris clank! It's all in your 'attack', and also the preamp settings help to really zero in on the sound you want.

I usually find Meddle points to be very interesting and focused
 

Yet this time I think I don't get these;)

Steve Harris has a hammerlike touch and, even with a high overall action, he hits strings, frets, pickup and everything inbetween with that characteristic approach (his gallopping style is one of the heaviest fingerstyle executions out there) and Trace Elliot heads (from mid '90s onward) have a great part in his sound

Geddy Lee reaches a somewhat similar clank with rounds and an almost guitarlike kinda action, but then he owes lots to his Taurus pedal as well

They're two peculiar bass guitar gods in our world, but soundwise hands, setup and gear play influential parts as well:)

Cheers,
Wallace

You gotta use lots of mids.

He has a light touch and a low action. Not sure where you read otherwise but I've heard that anybody else who plays his basses ends up sounding terrible because the action is so low and the neck is so straight that you need to be delicate.

If he was playing two hour sets with a heavy action he would be having problems with his hands by now.

This.. There's portions of the recently (re)released Maiden England - 88 that show his right hand style, and I swear he looks like he has his hand floating above the strings, just lightly waving at them.

I noticed that as well. Some great camera angles in that vid. It was directed by Harris and he wanted to give more of a fan's eye view of things as opposed to LOOK AT US PLAYING ON A BIG STAGE that manager Rod Smallwood went for with "Live After Death".

I think so, though EQ is a big part of that sound, along with strings, action and the way you play. Here's what my Squier VM Precision sounds like (from 3:20 on is the fun part):

http://soundcloud.com/wrathskellar666/on-these-seas

(Yes, that's a pretty blatant rip-off, err, respectful tribute to Maiden :p I'm only a miniscule fraction of Steve Harris though)

I did make one major mod to my Squier when I replaced the stock neck with a maple boarded neck from a Squier VM '77 Jazz bass. I don't think that made much of a difference in clankability, only in playability. I prefer a thinner neck is all.

Recording was with stock electronics, nickel round wound strings, medium action and a heavy hand, Hartke Bass Attack with just a little dirt, one clean track from DI, and one mic'ed track with the light OD.

Steve Harris used ambient microphones in front of his bass in the studio to pick up extra clank and would have it mixed in with his sound. As he and Geddy Lee are probably my biggest influences, I've never had any problem duplicating what they do simply by setting my action as low as possible without buzzing and turning the tone all the way up. On my current Precision style bass, I can achieve it without the tone all the way up, even with flat-wound strings.

Forget EQ; you should be able to do it unplugged. That clank is a right-hand technique. Set your action lower to make it easier, since all it really is is the sound of string smacking fret.