Blown away by the bass tone

[Lowbudgettone]

Thundercat- them changes. To this day idk what he used to record, what pedal he used, or anything like that. I assume he used his custom 6 Ibanez artcore semihollow with a piezo. He had a amazing tone and perfectly dialed in pedal to make his chord progression sound like a single string. It sounded like a wah effect but he commonly uses a phaser pedal in his live performances. Had a nice rounded deep sound like you would get from a 15in cab. Absolute bliss of a bassline, still trying to imitate the tone.

 

[bleedingfingers]

The bass player who is seen frequently playing along with Guthrie Trapp always has killer tone. I think he's endorsed by Ashdown.

Here's just one example. It starts to get really interesting around 2:17....

Mike Rhodes plays with everybody who is anybody that tone is in his hands .

 

[Cool Flow Bolo]

Jimmy Johnson...James Taylor Live..."Traffic Jam"
Superb Alembic tone with help, of course, from FOH and final mix producer

 

[rushfanforlife]

Bruce Hall of REO sounds pretty sweet here:

 

[Loring]

and i guess a combination of martin birch and harris

Martin Birch - awesome producer! Quite a few of my fav albums have his name on it!

 

[HumanLarvae]

Geezer Butler on Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" and "Mob Rules" albums, and Geddy Lee's tone on "Tom Sawyer", are two particular tones that led me into playing bass.

Rob Grange's phaser on "Stranglehold" and Peter Hook's jangly chorus on "True Faith" really widened my perspective on what bass can sound like.

Les Claypool's tone and restrained playing on his cover of "N.I.B." with Ozzy is a moment of greatness.

James Jamerson's tone on "You Can't Hurry Love" is classic, as is Paul McCartney's palm-muted pick on "Junior's Farm".

Finally a Claypool mention. His sound got me into playing bass. Also weird is up to this point not a single Cliff Burton mention. Guess people trying not to be obvious. How about P-Nut from 311? That guy always had a killer tone.

 

[Hort Elvison]

We TB'ers spend a lot of time pursuing that elusive tone quest.

What song tracks have you come across on your travels, either studio recorded or particularly live, where you were blown away by the bass tone?

If you have audio or video clips then please feel free to share and if you know the details of the rig, even better!

this is a great thread. I'd post links but I'm not at my computer right now but this is easy for me.

Paul McCartney's bass on Silly Love Songs, which takes me back before I played any type of guitar. Still a sound I love and a bass line I love and the song has a really nice nostalgic feel to it for me.

JPJ - Black Dog

Jaco - First on Black Market with Weather Report. Some of that is shared with Alphonso J too who also blows me away. Heavy Weather obviously and Teen Town in particular. This began my love with jazz basses.

Chic. Geez. Anyone old enough can't dismiss Bernard Edwards. Good Times was my introduction to him.

Chuck Rainey on Steely Dan's Josie.

Then I discovered new wave and became obsessed with Sting, Adam Clayton, Peter Hook, Mick Beggs and ESPECIALLY Tony Levin on Peter Gabriel's older stuff. From that I discovered Mike Ruthaford but that's more bass lines and less about tone.

I am a mess when it comes to tone influences. We probably all are.

 

[s_wood]

This thread is AMAZING because it really shows the depth and breadth of the Talkbass community. The styles, genres, decades of music represented in this thread are all over the map, and so are the tones that we love. I've heard a bunch of new stuff and tones that I love! So cool that we can be all over the map with this stuff and still (mostly) get along.

 

[NOLAbass1960]

The three most recognizable bass tones IMHO
1. James Jameson
2. Jaco Pastorius
3. Chris Squire
Anyone else's tone is a variation of these three. Many have tried to duplicate their tones, no one has or come close.

 

[funkmaster p]

Rick Anderson on the Tubes Outside Inside and Completion Backward Principle.

 

[Basshappi]

Two bassists, same band - Incubus

Alex Katunich (A.K.A. - Dirk Lance) - 1991 - 2003
Quintessential Warwick tone. Stylistically a chameleon able to combine Funk, Hip Hop, Punk, Electo and Dub elements into Rock. I liked his slap tone. S.C.I.E.N.C.E. is a great album for showcasing his different styles into his own thing.


Ben Kenny - Replaced Katunich in 2003. Prior to that he was the guitarist in the Hip Hop band The Roots as well as his solo projects and studio work for other artists. A multi instrumentalist and songwriter in his own right he had quite an influence on the bands material beginning with the album "A Crow Left Of a Murder".
Kenny used primarily Lakland basses and Mesa Amps. He has a knack for getting great tones that sit well in the generally dense mix of the band.
The Live DVD "Live at Red Rocks" is a great sounding live recording of this fantastic band.

 

[Al Krow]

The three most recognizable bass tones IMHO
1. James Jameson
2. Jaco Pastorius
3. Chris Squire
Anyone else's tone is a variation of these three. Many have tried to duplicate their tones, no one has or come close.

Controversial!

And whilst these are three amazing bassists, no question, I can't agree that they have provided the "seminal tone" for all other bass players! Spending even a bit of time listening to some of the clips from our fellow TB'ers on this thread would surely confirm this?

 

[Mark Stelmaszek]

We TB'ers spend a lot of time pursuing that elusive tone quest.

What song tracks have you come across on your travels, either studio recorded or particularly live, where you were blown away by the bass tone?

If you have audio or video clips then please feel free to share and if you know the details of the rig, even better!

 

[Mark Stelmaszek]

We TB'ers spend a lot of time pursuing that elusive tone quest.

What song tracks have you come across on your travels, either studio recorded or particularly live, where you were blown away by the bass tone?

If you have audio or video clips then please feel free to share and if you know the details of the rig, even better!

Scott Devine, Josh Smith & Gary Novack, Pusher Give this a listen

 

[amper]

Simon Raymonde, Cocteau Twins, Milk & Kisses (1996), "Violaine".

 

[madmikebass]

I found this guy's video on YouTube when looking into getting my Markbass Compressore. Probably not the best for fitting into a mix, but it's my type of tone.

I have that exact bass. Mike Kroeger signature Spector. I realize that most here believe Nickleback to be worthy of derision. But, i have never heard bass sound as good as it did when I saw them in concert. Immediately started trying to learn how he got "that sound". Ordered his signature bass ASAP. Did I get the tone?Of course not. Still love the bass and the tone is a monster. So.... happy!

 

[jumpinin]

She's Already Made Up Her Mind. Lyle Lovett with Lee Sklar on bass. So simple and pure. Like buttah

 

[DeePeeJay]

We TB'ers spend a lot of time pursuing that elusive tone quest.

What song tracks have you come across on your travels, either studio recorded or particularly live, where you were blown away by the bass tone?

If you have audio or video clips then please feel free to share and if you know the details of the rig, even better!

I've always loved "Something" by the Beatles. It's a great representation of Paul's bass writing skills, but also the tone of his bass is magical. I built my own Hoftner copy bass from a kit and then spent a while getting the tone right through my BOSS GT-1B pedal - just preamp and comp with a little bit of OD. Here is a video. Note: I recorded the bass line in Cubase and then re-enacted for the video, so you CAN see my fingers are not 100% true. I got the stems for the cover off JamKazam for $2.99.

 

[Lagado]

"Matthew has always played a black Fender Jazz bass as his first choice instrument. In addition he has used an Ibanez with a C-ducer contact mic built into the back of the neck, close to the neck/body junction, for his fretless work primarily with Thomas Dolby..."

Matthew Seligman - Wikipedia

I think that's the C-ducer at 3.07 then a mix of both at 3.16. If that is the contact mic, it does quite a good job of imitating a double bass.

 

[Jason Harris]

Geddy Lee's Rickenbacker rock tone on Exit Stage Left. One of my favourite Rick rock tones ever recorded. I'm not sure what the backline was, maybe Ampeg.

Anyone wondering about Geddy, check this out
This guy does plenty of other great bassists to!