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Best Marcus Miller tone for under a grand?

D

dawalnutmaker

Jan 4, 2009
8
0
#1
I'm curious to hear some ideas on the best way to achieve that miller sizzle for under a thousand bucks. I want bass suggestions. Anything goes. New, used, who gives a crap. Throw any basses out there that you think give off the best ash/maple active goodness for under ten franklins. Shoot.
 
#2
Any Jazz type bass w/ a Sadowsky preamp. Cost of preamp is $299, I think..
That leaves you up to $700 for the bass! Buy a used American Jazz Bass and put the Sadowsky in it or buy the outboard version.
 
#9
If you happen to be Marcus Miller, having your hands is the best start, and quite frankly I am surprised you are asking this question.

On the off chance that you aren't Marcus Miller, seems a decent fender Jazz bass, and the sadowsky preamp will get you nice and close to the tone he is starting with.
 
#11
leigh22 said:
If you happen to be Marcus Miller, having your hands is the best start, and quite frankly I am surprised you are asking this question.

On the off chance that you aren't Marcus Miller, seems a decent fender Jazz bass, and the sadowsky preamp will get you nice and close to the tone he is starting with.
Click to expand...

I guess I'll be the old fuddy duddy that points that Marcus Miller has never had a Sadowsky preamp in any of his basses. That sad, a Sadowsky preamp will gget that aggressive tone.

As for the question, I think a KSD, Carvin, ESP, or any number of basses would work just fine, including the most obvious one, a Fender.
 
#12
Dr. Cheese said:
I guess I'll be the old fuddy duddy that points that Marcus Miller has never had a Sadowsky preamp in any of his basses. That sad, a Sadowsky preamp will gget that aggressive tone.
Click to expand...

2 questions,

1, Isn't the Sadowsky pre basically a clone of the old Stars pre that Roger installed in Miller's bass?

2, Didn't that pre break down(or something) and get replaced by a Sadowsky pre? I'm sure I read that on here.
 
#17
I actually like the playability and general tone of the MM model.
I just saw a used one for $799 @ GC

That pretty much nails it.

If you could get that bass without that 'pickgaurd' I would have probably had 2 already :hiding:
 
#19
You people are way off! :hiding:

Dimarzio UltraJazz or Sadowsky HC pickups NAIL the tone, out of the box.
Slap those in a J bass with a maple FB and you're almost there.
Add a 2 band, boost only preamp of your choice and you've got the essence...

The chops, though... that's going to take a LOT of practice.
 
#20
Darkstrike said:
2 questions,

1, Isn't the Sadowsky pre basically a clone of the old Stars pre that Roger installed in Miller's bass?

2, Didn't that pre break down(or something) and get replaced by a Sadowsky pre? I'm sure I read that on here.
Click to expand...

You probably did read it on here and it was incorrect.
:cool:

The Stars Guitars pre was replaced with a two band boost only Bartolini a long time ago, before Sadowsky Guitars made their own preamps.

Find a decent Ash bodied Jazz type bass preferably with a Maple board, pickups in the right position, a decent set of roundwounds and a decent amp and the rest will be up to the player. Can't blame the gear at that point.

There are other ways that this sound can be achieved but IME this is the easiest and most consistent. This could be a Fender or any number of clones or it could be a bass that follows the basic recipe (woods/electronics/layout) other than looking like a Jazz.

IOW an onboard preamp isn't needed to get that sound. If you're bent on having an onboard Bartolini, Sadowsky and Aguilar onboards have done the best job of doing what you could do at the amp without screwing up the inherent sound
of the bass IME. YMMV
 

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