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Bass Tone That First Blew You Away

#61
Never Can Say Goodbye by the Jackson 5
The Way of the World by EW&F
early fretless Pino (Paul Young, Pete Townsend, Oleta Adams....)
fretted Pino, (Erykah Badu Mamas Gun and D'Angelo...)
Meshell Ndegeocello Plantation Lullabyes (my fav)
George Porter Jr. (anything Meters or Dr. John etc...)
Paul Simonon (London Calling is littered with great different tones from the title track to the Guns of Brixton)
 
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#62
mudpup said:
Eddie Jackson from Queensryche on Operation Mindcrime (specifically I dont Believe in Love.......)
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Up the dose said:
Agree.
His tone on Mindcrime, Empire, Promised Land,and Hear in the Now Frontier is incredible.
I also really like his fretless tone and playing on Anybody Listening. A very underrated player who deserves a lot more recognition than he gets.
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Terry James Young's bass tone from Rail's (also from Seattle) "Arrival" album precedes this just a little for me, but Eddie took that tone to a more defined level. I worked it backwards from there and although I was aware of the bands, the bass tones of bands like Rush, Yes, and even Duran Duran began jumping out to me. I was convinced for years that I had to have a Ric to pull of that tone.

From a utilitarian standpoint, the single plucked piano string tone is still what I look for as a starting point in a bass tone. I can palm mute out sustain and eq out (read subtractive) various frequencies to achieve other tones, but nothing in the world will put it back if it ain't there.
 
#63
I'm not sure about "first," but some early standouts for me include:

Jack Bruce w/Cream, "Crossroads"

Jeff Berlin (solo version), "Joe Frazier"

John Entwhistle, "The Real Me"

Jaco, "Come On, Come Over"

Jaco w/Weather Report, "Havona" and "A Remark You Made"

I had come from an 80's hard rock background before that, where the bass was typically buried in the mix. Just to hear the bass so out front (as well as with sweet tones) as in the above tracks was exhilarating.
 
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#64
Chris Squire - Here's the song that got me addicted to his sound:





Geddy Lee - Here's the song that first got me addicted to his sound:



and the one that I'm still trying to emulate...




Gary Strater of Starcastle - Here's a sample of Gary Strater's sound. I know, the first thing that comes to mind is how much he sounds like Chris Squire, but he was great in his own right. Sadly, they're both gone now.

 
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#65
hobosong said:
Mine's kinda crazy
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Subconsciously, that may have been mine, too. I know every single word on that album. It helped shape my youth.., my whole life, actually. I still find myself in situations singing things like, "Who are you who, to criticize her..." Other great lines from there too. Definitely one of my top 5 albums of all time.
 
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#68
Rush's Exit Stage Left. At the time, I was just learning to play drums. Geddy's style and tone got me hooked. That's when I knew I wanted to play bass.
Doug Pinnick's (of King's X) tone on Dogman. Oh man, that fat bass tone leading into the guitar solo on Pretend...it's just the best thing ever. Possibly even better on Black the Sky.
 
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#71
For me, it was old-school thrash metal (but the newer albums) that first had "the tone". I loved Sabbath and old Metallica, but their bass wasn't always up in the mix. Hearing newer Exodus, Testament, Kreator, Tankard, Sodom, Overkill, etc. really made me chase that tone. My B3K solved that!

Now, he tones that I chase are stoner-doom stuff. Love my Swollen Pickle and Pharaoh Supreme on guitar, but S-D seems best to me so far with my Pork Loin.
 
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#73
The first ever tone I started picking up consciously was Flea's Modulus on the By The Way album (which I was listening on cassette in my parent's car in the early 2000's)

After I started playing bass and widened my musical styles I got to know the wonderful tone of Joe Lally from Fugazi.

- Stingray tone rules!

And after these two notable influences I might say Sly and The Family Stone

and Tim Commerford from RATM and so on.
 
#75
hobosong said:
Mine's kinda crazy
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Wow, now that you mention it I used to think the bass was incredible on that album. I remember going to Boston with the youth group from my Church to see that also. Very impressive. I've seen so many varient's of it now including a dinner theatre thing in Ft Myers many years ago. I was just getting into the bass when that came out. Another song I heard about a year ago that I hadn't heard for many years was Melanie's Lay down (candles in the rain). Don't remember where I was when I heard it, but I downloaded the next day because the bass was really impressive.
 
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#80
JLee said:
For me, it was by 4 bassists and I'll list the artist, albums.
Geddy Lee - A Farewell to Kings
Jaco Pastorius - Heavy Weather
Andy West - Dixie Dregs "Free Fall"
Stanley Clarke - RTF "Where Have I've Know You Before.
Being a teenager, it was the moment were I knew I wanted to be a bass player
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John Entwistle was my 11 year old self's idol.

I had just started to learn bass when i stumbled upon a Solo during The Who's "515".

I was floored!
 

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