How cliché is it to have Flea as one of your bass role models? Probably very. Nonetheless, I will still ignore that. Anyways, I love the tone he's gotten in the last two albums he's done with RHCP (Stadium Arcadim & I'm with You) and in an interview I read, he said that he recorded both of those with a '61 Fender Jazz bass. Well, whenever I pick up a jazz bass... I suck. I can never figure out the controls, so I was just wondering if someone could kinda give me a run-through of the ins and outs of a jazz bass; note: were I to get one, it would probably be a squier cv jazz, though maybe a vm one; thanks!
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Flea tone
- Thread starter SMaubass
- Start date
I have no problem nailing a Flea tone with a Jazz or a Stingray. For the slap stuff he does, I tend to use a Jazz with the neck PU on full and I cut the bridge pickup to half or less. I also have the tone on 6-7.
Ampeg or even GK amps worked the best IME but I am now using an old Vox or a TC RH450 and I can get pretty close to his tone still.
P.S. Flea is a great player. If you were a huge Pete Wentz fan and he was your bass god, I would be worried.... But Loving Flea is nothing to be embarrassed by IMO. Innovative and now Berkley trained. He is no slouch on bass!
Ampeg or even GK amps worked the best IME but I am now using an old Vox or a TC RH450 and I can get pretty close to his tone still.
P.S. Flea is a great player. If you were a huge Pete Wentz fan and he was your bass god, I would be worried.... But Loving Flea is nothing to be embarrassed by IMO. Innovative and now Berkley trained. He is no slouch on bass!
Not so, I put this thread up because Flea gets an awesome tone with his jazz, but I can't seem out how to get the jazz to work, so I was looking for help controlling the jazz and then figuring out how to get tones like Flea has in his recent stuff
I love Flea's tone he got with his Wal bass, it was a beautiful thing, and it was special.
Don't care for his Jazz bass tone, it sounds just like everybody else and does not stand out.
Don't care for his Jazz bass tone, it sounds just like everybody else and does not stand out.
I think most of his tone comes from his right hand!
He really digs in hard...
PS: i think the wal was used on blood sugar sex magic! i think you can see it used on the documentary they did of the recording, its on youtube and is called 'sexy monks' i think! (actually it could be Funky monks!)
He really digs in hard...
PS: i think the wal was used on blood sugar sex magic! i think you can see it used on the documentary they did of the recording, its on youtube and is called 'sexy monks' i think! (actually it could be Funky monks!)
He used a Wal back in the early 90's. Check out the video for Suck My Kiss.
I love Flea by the way.
I love Flea by the way.
I remember reading one of his cover BP articles where he stated that he used a Wal, an Alembic of some sort and maybe some others but the thing was- he said, in effect, that he wanted the best bass he could get for recording and this was slightly perplexing to himself. Perhaps someone else read that article? 1961 or whatever year Jazz Basses (and other basses of a particular model) can vary so much in their response. Pretty amazingly so actually!
SMaubass said:Not so, I put this thread up because Flea gets an awesome tone with his jazz, but I can't seem out how to get the jazz to work, so I was looking for help controlling the jazz and then figuring out how to get tones like Flea has in his recent stuff
Lower the action and intonate properly. Get a GK amp. Done. Next?
Just happens to be my three most favorite basses.
Really, the 80's skate/surf-punk socal thing, Flea was probably my biggest influence then. Loved all the tones he used.
Flea is the reason I got into bass in the first place (well, actually I played upright in orchestra starting in 5th grade, but then I moved to electric in high school and was much happier...). I don't think it's cliche to like his tone or look to him as a musical role model. As far as his tone recently, I think he has moved to Acoustic amps (according to Link Removed). I think most of it is technique. He's really aggressive, but doesn't get all honky like some people, tone-wise.
He also used a Spector extensively. And 'One Hot Minute' was recorded with an Alembic Epic (except Aeroplane).
And his current line of Fleabasses.
how bssm was recorded seems as important as what basses were used. the stingray 5 sounds fantastic on that record too. his attack and that grit thats present on all the tracks makes that record something else!
fleabass never went out of business. i was looking around their website the other day. i love how it says "you can play the same bass as flea"...... well, no i cant, because he plays a 5-6 grand modulus, not a £200 piece of dung.
