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Mike Gordon tone

anastasio24

anastasio24

May 24, 2003
211
23
Minnesota
#1
I have read every article I have ever found about Mike Gordon and I have diagrams of his rig over the different years. I know what equipment he has and when I need to cop his sound I am able to do it, even on Down With Disease. However, the one tone of his I can't figure out is this really hollow sounding tone he gets. It is usually higher up the neck during chill parts where he kicks it on. It is almost as if he has a flanger barely on and is mixing it with his orginal signal. It sounds like the notes are inside a tube or something. It seems to only have started after he started using the Quantum 5 in 97.

Anyone have any idea what I am talking about or a suggestion on how he is getting that tone?
 
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#2
Ok, I found examples of this tone I am speaking of. On Slip Stitch and Pass he seems to switch to it (pretty subtle though) at around the 2:40 mark of Mike's Song. As the other instruments get louder it is harder to hear. Starting at 9:50 of Mike's Song you can hear it clearer. At 13:10 you can really here it clearly.Is that flanger? Or could it be a mix of his ADA MB-1 and a flanger?

It sounds like a more subtle version of the tone he uses for Weekapaug Groove. Is that just a flanger on Weekapaug?

Any help is appreciated.
 
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#5
its an envelope filter put before a flanger in down with the disease...i can't tell you exactly which one, but i know he's had the Lovetone Meatball, mutron and Electro-Harmonix Dr. Q for filters, and i think he is getting his flanger with his ADA MB-1 pre, although i don't know if it can flange :)
 
#6
anastasio24 said:
It sounds like a more subtle version of the tone he uses for Weekapaug Groove. Is that just a flanger on Weekapaug?
Click to expand...
I've been trying to figure out how he gets his tone on weekapaug forever. It sounds like some sort of "transparent flanger" (if that makes any sense). Does anyone know what kind of flanger he uses?
 
#7
i think the graphite neck and pick technique contribute most to his tone. i saw him play at moe.down two years ago with three different bands (leo kottke, benevento/russo duo, moe.). he had an SVT 8x10 rig and still had his sound. i'm not sure exactly what he used with phish, but i know it certainly wasn't an svt.
 
#8
First, he uses a Boss BF-2 Flanger (I have seen another diagram that lists a BF-3). He combines that with a Lovetone Meatball for Down with Disease. I can get that sound perfectly when using a pick with my Quantum 5.

I do agree that a lot of his tone has to do with the bass, the pick and his technique. It is just that one tone (described above) of his I can't replicate. I will mess with my ADA MB-1 this evening and see if I can get close but I haven't before.
 
#9
andrewd said:
i think the graphite neck and pick technique contribute most to his tone. i saw him play at moe.down two years ago with three different bands (leo kottke, benevento/russo duo, moe.). he had an SVT 8x10 rig and still had his sound. i'm not sure exactly what he used with phish, but i know it certainly wasn't an svt.
Click to expand...
He played and Eden 410 cab, among other things, with Phish. The graphite neck and graphite pick are certainly a big part of his sound, but he also slaps and plays fingerstyle sometimes, and still gets that "Mike Gordon tone."

This thread, however, is about the tone he gets from his effects, and not his natural tone.
 
#10
Spencer! said:
He played and Eden 410 cab, among other things, with Phish. The graphite neck and graphite pick are certainly a big part of his sound, but he also slaps and plays fingerstyle sometimes, and still gets that "Mike Gordon tone."

This thread, however, is about the tone he gets from his effects, and not his natural tone.
Click to expand...

ah, i gotcha. i love that "wet" sound that he gets. it sounds like an envelope filter of some sort
 
#12
Well they are a total pre-amp just like an Eden or Aguilar, etc. The manual calls it a MIDI programmable tube bass pre-amp. The cool part about them is you can switch between patches on the fly using a midi footswitch. It has two tubes in it and you can blend in solid state too.

More info is available at [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#14
Gotta love Mike, man. And he does get a pretty sweet tone, most of the time (gotta say though, in the first stages of Modulus use, with the SWR, sounded way too thin and tinny for my tastes). This just reminded me I gotta look into Flangers. I'll probably go the way of the Boss, just like Mike. I'm also going with some kind of EHX Filter. The Lovetone is schweet, but way out of my price range. What other effects does he use? Does he get most of it with the ADA?
 
#15
I'm a long time Phish Head...And mike is deffinately my 2nd favorite bassist (behind victor wooten)

mike's rig is complex!!!

some of his most used effects are:

Eventide 4500 Harmonizer
Lovetone Meatball
Boss BF2
Ibanez Flanger
ADA preamp
Meyer Parametric EQ
Bradshaw Midi Switch

Amps:
Eden WT800 and a GK combo (which was generally faced Trey on stage)

cabs:
Eden 410's
Eden 115's
Meyer 2x18
and I think a meyer 1x15

here's a basic lay out of his rig (by mike)
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[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I hope that helps!!!

ps I always love some Phish talk :)
 
#16
SnakeAnthony said:
Gotta love Mike, man. And he does get a pretty sweet tone, most of the time (gotta say though, in the first stages of Modulus use, with the SWR, sounded way too thin and tinny for my tastes).
Click to expand...

i recently sold my swr sm400s that i was using with my modulus Q5 and got a stewart power amp to run my demeter vtbp-201s through. those modulus basses are so clean and clear that it is really a shame to run them through an swr or other amp that colors the sound. don't get me wrong, swr gives a killer tone...but my tastes have outgrown (or just simply grew tired of) that sound.

SnakeAnthony said:
...I'm also going with some kind of EHX Filter. The Lovetone is schweet, but way out of my price range.
Click to expand...

EHX makes great stuff, i tried both the miniQ and the Qtron but ended up going with an EBS in the end. if you go with EHX, the miniQ is your best bet imho. not only is it a better deal, but you can dial in the perfect sound and just kick it on and off. the regular Qtron has way more capabilities, but honestly, it is a HUGE box on the floor and you'll probably just pick one tone and never change it, so why do you need all those options?

learning_towalk said:
ps I always love some Phish talk
Click to expand...

who doesn't? :bassist:
also, thanks for the signal diagrams!!! great info!!!
 
#17
I am pretty close now. The key seems to be the Ken Smith Slick Wounds, a pick and the ADA. I found an article where he describes his settings on most the parameters for the ADA. He also mentioned which preset he started with. I am probably as close as I will get.

I don't have anywhere close to an exact copy as I just don't have the bread for that. I am thinking the Eventide Harmonizer may help but I am not going to drop the cash for that.

After spending some time in a recording studio and playing a lot of live shows with a few cool sound guys, I am starting to think it is not only Mike's technique but also the mixing of the dry signal from the bass and the ADA. That has to allow a lot of options.

When I saw Mike with the Duo last year his tone was still killer but not quite the same. I am guessing that has to do with no ADA in the path. He appeared to be going from the bass to the pedals to his Eden rig. I couldn't tell what was feeding the board but he was pretty loud on stage and if you got close you could hear the rig sound. I definitely got 99% of that sound when I had an Eden rig.

Another huge factor is that he uses EMG pickups. I use Barts so of course there is a difference. I just didn't like the EMG mids when I ordered my Q5. If I was playing in a Phish cover band it would have been great but I don't so it didn't work for me.

I think I am close enough at this point to be happy with the tone.

I will try to take some pictures of the rig this evening. It isn't anything spectacular though...



cosmicevan said:
cool info thanks! any closer to getting that sound with the ada?

so, do you have an exact copy of gordo's rig?

...got any pix of your rig? ;)
Click to expand...
 
#18
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of EMG's either. Maybe it was becasue my first real bass was an ibanez sr505 with emg selects that i played non-stop for over 7 years, but the tone of emg's sound too generic to me, even in claypools Carl Thompson basses. Now-a-days there are so many other tonal factors that pickups relevance to tone isn't as important (but it still does make a big difference).

But yes, Mike's tone DEFINITELY has a lot to do with how Paul works with sound behind the board. I've seen Trey play without Paul on the board and it still sounds like trey, but not Trey's signature tone. I still miss the tone he had before hiatus...why he changed it, I'll never understand.
 
#19
cosmicevan said:
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of EMG's either. Maybe it was becasue my first real bass was an ibanez sr505 with emg selects that i played non-stop for over 7 years, but the tone of emg's sound too generic to me, even in claypools Carl Thompson basses.
Click to expand...
from what i have picked up from my many years on TB is that there is a somewhat significant different between EMG and EMG select :)

Charlie
 

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