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Serge Gainsbourg - that Je t'aime bass sound (Again)

Hopper

Hopper

Sep 24, 2008
618
102
London
kevhopper.bandcamp.com
#1


I know there's been plenty of discussion about this fabulous bass sound, first of all it was thought to be Brian Odgers, then Herbie Flowers on a Jazz then finally Dave Richmond supposedly on a Burns Bison (although he can't seem to remember much about it and he's only really been confirmed as the player on the Melody Nelson sessions).

The thing is if I just use my ears I could swear this is a Rickenbacker being played. I've tried to get this tone on a Burns and it doesn't sound the same even with a variety of palm muting, pics and pickup selections. But I'm very familiar with the Rickenbacker sound and this sounds like one.. and I suppose it's possible it could have been borrowed or loaned for the session perhaps? I could be completely wrong. Anyway just thinking aloud and wondering what others opinions are?
 
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#2
Hopper said:


I know there's been plenty of discussion about this fabulous bass sound, first of all it was thought to be Brian Odgers, then Herbie Flowers on a Jazz then finally Dave Richmond supposedly on a Burns Bison (although he can't seem to remember much about it and he's only really been confirmed as the player on the Melody Nelson sessions).

The thing is if I just use my ears I could swear this is a Rickenbacker being played. I've tried to get this tone on a Burns and it doesn't sound the same even with a variety of palm muting, pics and pickup selections. But I'm very familiar with the Rickenbacker sound and this sounds like one.. and I suppose it's possible it could have been borrowed or loaned for the session perhaps? I could be completely wrong. Anyway just thinking aloud and wondering what others opinions are?
Click to expand...

I'm sure there are more basses than just one that can cop that sound.
 
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#4
Hopper said:


I know there's been plenty of discussion about this fabulous bass sound, first of all it was thought to be Brian Odgers, then Herbie Flowers on a Jazz then finally Dave Richmond supposedly on a Burns Bison (although he can't seem to remember much about it and he's only really been confirmed as the player on the Melody Nelson sessions).

The thing is if I just use my ears I could swear this is a Rickenbacker being played. I've tried to get this tone on a Burns and it doesn't sound the same even with a variety of palm muting, pics and pickup selections. But I'm very familiar with the Rickenbacker sound and this sounds like one.. and I suppose it's possible it could have been borrowed or loaned for the session perhaps? I could be completely wrong. Anyway just thinking aloud and wondering what others opinions are?
Click to expand...
 
#5
Just to confirm I have the evidence in my diaries and in fact my ears that it is me playing the Burns Black Bison on ‘Melody Nelson’, ‘Je’taime’ and Serge’s ‘Ano 69’ a lot of credit for the bass sound should go to Peter Olaf the sound engineer at Philips. Usually as soon as I arrived at the studio he would ask me to play so he could work on the bass sound. I sometimes used to think that it sounded a bit too ‘toppy’ but I just went along with it. A lot of people think it’s strange that I don’t remember all about the sessions I played on, but we were so busy in those days. I have my old diaries to prove that I was regularly playing on up to three 3 hour sessions a day for weeks on end. The volume of work was phenomenal! I believe one of the TV series I played on “Last of the Summer Wine” is shown in the USA. It might interest some people to know that I played a battered old converted fretless Fender precision bass on it for 30 years till the end of run. No fireworks, just very gentle background music!
 
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#7
raal said:
I think I read somewhere it is a Brit short scale like Burns or something
Click to expand...

It was a Burns Black Bison bass, which has a long scale neck. I used this bass on all my session work from about 1966 till about 1976 when I acquired a Fender Jazz bass and also an old Fender precision which had been converted to a fretless. The Burns was great for producing a good ‘click’ sound which was prevalent in the 60!s on pop records.
 
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#8
Dave Richmond said:
It was a Burns Black Bison bass, which has a long scale neck. I used this bass on all my session work from about 1966 till about 1976 when I acquired a Fender Jazz bass and also an old Fender precision which had been converted to a fretless. The Burns was great for producing a good ‘click’ sound which was prevalent in the 60!s on pop records.
Click to expand...

I love the tone on the original track and the Sounds nice version:


I've never tried a Burns but do have a Bass VI which has 3 PU's in roughly the same positions (although short scale), which if played on the neck pickup with a little bit of palm muting nails a very similar tone.
Classic 60's tone!
 
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#9
It's all that - and more! :bassist:

upload_2021-2-7_11-24-29.jpeg


 
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#10
boristhespider7 said:
I love the tone on the original track and the Sounds nice version:


I've never tried a Burns but do have a Bass VI which has 3 PU's in roughly the same positions (although short scale), which if played on the neck pickup with a little bit of palm muting nails a very similar tone.
Classic 60's tone!
Click to expand...

Is that old recording or a new recording of older style music? If it is an old recording, the bass sounds incredibly clear!
 
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#12
Dave Richmond said:
It was a Burns Black Bison bass, which has a long scale neck. I used this bass on all my session work from about 1966 till about 1976 when I acquired a Fender Jazz bass and also an old Fender precision which had been converted to a fretless. The Burns was great for producing a good ‘click’ sound which was prevalent in the 60!s on pop records.
Click to expand...

Did not know about 34" scale. Guessing this is middle and neck pickups.
 
#15
raal said:
I think I read somewhere it is a Brit short scale like Burns or something
Click to expand...

For general information, Burns of London made the Vista Sonic (my red one above is a '63) which is a med scale bass [32"]. It morphed into the "Jazz Bass" which was mostly the same with a body redesign. Another UK company Watkins/Wem made a ss bass (Rapier/Sapphire) that was between med & short scale at 31" scale. Many similarities but not related.
 
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#16
Dr. Cheese said:
I’m impressed! That is a great bass tone and sound in relation to the rest of the recording.
Click to expand...

This is a big part of it - a lot of basses can sound good if recorded/mixed correctly. Some basses have become more what an engineer expects/wants to hear and some basses are not as easy to dial in. Time is money in a recording studio and the path of least resistance is the mantra.
 
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#17
Do we know who the bass player is on the Sounds Nice version? It sounds quite different to the SG version (the original). I had a scout online and came across both Herbie Flowers and Brian Odgers names.
I've heard others tracks from Flowers with a very similar tone, but don't know for definite if it was him?
 
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#18
Dave Richmond said:
Just to confirm I have the evidence in my diaries and in fact my ears that it is me playing the Burns Black Bison on ‘Melody Nelson’, ‘Je’taime’ and Serge’s ‘Ano 69’ a lot of credit for the bass sound should go to Peter Olaf the sound engineer at Philips. Usually as soon as I arrived at the studio he would ask me to play so he could work on the bass sound. I sometimes used to think that it sounded a bit too ‘toppy’ but I just went along with it. A lot of people think it’s strange that I don’t remember all about the sessions I played on, but we were so busy in those days. I have my old diaries to prove that I was regularly playing on up to three 3 hour sessions a day for weeks on end. The volume of work was phenomenal! I believe one of the TV series I played on “Last of the Summer Wine” is shown in the USA. It might interest some people to know that I played a battered old converted fretless Fender precision bass on it for 30 years till the end of run. No fireworks, just very gentle background music!
Click to expand...

Dave, does that mean you're the dude who lay down the bass line to this track? Absolutely killer sound and line :thumbsup::cool::cool::thumbsup:
 
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#19
Dave Richmond said:
Just to confirm I have the evidence in my diaries and in fact my ears that it is me playing the Burns Black Bison on ‘Melody Nelson’, ‘Je’taime’ and Serge’s ‘Ano 69’ a lot of credit for the bass sound should go to Peter Olaf the sound engineer at Philips. Usually as soon as I arrived at the studio he would ask me to play so he could work on the bass sound. I sometimes used to think that it sounded a bit too ‘toppy’ but I just went along with it. A lot of people think it’s strange that I don’t remember all about the sessions I played on, but we were so busy in those days. I have my old diaries to prove that I was regularly playing on up to three 3 hour sessions a day for weeks on end. The volume of work was phenomenal! I believe one of the TV series I played on “Last of the Summer Wine” is shown in the USA. It might interest some people to know that I played a battered old converted fretless Fender precision bass on it for 30 years till the end of run. No fireworks, just very gentle background music!
Click to expand...

Awesome - what a great contribution to recorded music! :thumbsup:
 
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