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Blown away by the bass tone

#583
Basshappi said:
Peter "Mars" Cowling - The Pat Travers Band - Great player and great tone. From the first album through the "Radioactive" album IIRC. I think his best work is on the albums "Makin Magic", "Heat In The Street" and "Crash and Burn".
Their live album ""Go For What You Know" is one of the great sounding live albums of the era. Mars has a sound that not only fits the pocket but actually cuts through with good definition (very unusual for bass in live recordings back then).


I always saw him with a Fender Precision and his recorded tones do sound consistent with it. I'm not sure what amplification but probably Ampeg.
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I talked to a guy who said he once knew Mars, and he told me that he used a solid state Ampeg amp with a BlueTube pedal. I hear ya on the live PT album. Mars is crazy good all over that recording. The other guys aren't too shabby either.
 
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#584
Al Krow said:
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!
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I love a fat tone with plenty of highs - enjoy - & & just wait for the bass solo!
 
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#589
Al Krow said:
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!
Click to expand...
I have no idea about his rig, but his sound has been engraved in my brain since 1970.

 
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#592
RayWithFlats said:
Rick Danko "Across the Great Divide", great punchy attack but still fat and warm and round. About the closest to an 'all things to all men' tone as I've ever heard.

I know I'm bumping an old thread but I just got "The Band" on CD the other day and wow, I always thought of them as a live-focused act but that's a great sounding record. Kind of reminds me of the time a former boss was playing Ian Dury at work so I stopped off and bought the "Jukebox Dury" compilation on my way home. I said to my boss about Norman Watt-Roy the next day "I knew he was good but I didn't realise he was that f-ing good!"
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"The Band" Brown Album was really the first record I learned to play bass to. My teacher gave me a copy and said "learn it." So I grew up with Danko's tone, long before I ever really knew much about him. Once I learned he was singing and (often) playing fretless at the same time, my respect grew and grew. Thank you, Rick!
 
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#595
roccobass said:
Did a search here. Looks like this chestnut was overlooked. The bassist is Dan Birney. This song always got me going. I learned it just for grins! The tone is immaculate!
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I loved that song as a teenager - they always played it on Rock 105, the local (Jacksonville, FL) rock station. That bass tone is pretty much what I've always aspired to. On the 'solo' bit, it sounds almost piano-like. Kind of reminds me of the solo'd bass part on "I Melt With You" by Modern English. And Mike Mills's tone on the first REM album (Murmur).

Any ideas how to achieve that? I always seem to fall a *bit* short.
 
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#597
Polkatronixx said:
I loved that song as a teenager - they always played it on Rock 105, the local (Jacksonville, FL) rock station. That bass tone is pretty much what I've always aspired to. On the 'solo' bit, it sounds almost piano-like. Kind of reminds me of the solo'd bass part on "I Melt With You" by Modern English. And Mike Mills's tone on the first REM album (Murmur).

Any ideas how to achieve that? I always seem to fall a *bit* short.
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I don't rightly know myself. I always assumed it was a really trebly Ric, but so sure now. Dan Birney passed away in 2003 and I can't find any interviews or such. All I have is this speculative article in Harmony Central. If you find anything, please spread the word.
Invalid Link Removed
 
#599
roccobass said:
I don't rightly know myself. I always assumed it was a really trebly Ric, but so sure now. Dan Birney passed away in 2003 and I can't find any interviews or such. All I have is this speculative article in Harmony Central. If you find anything, please spread the word.
Invalid Link Removed
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Thanks for that link.
So, maybe a P-bass through one of those massive Acoustic amps? The P-bass part makes sense - probably the best-sounding bass ever made, IMO. Especially the early 70s models. I've not had the opportunity to play through one of those Acoustic amps, but they seem pretty highly rated.
 
#600
Guilty pleasure confession! Saw Mel C on Jools Holland (BBC) last night and thought I'd give her 2020 album, the creatively titled "Melanie C", a listen. It's pretty good!

In terms of bass tone - a couple of classic keyboard bass lines on:

"Blame it on Me" starting at 0.54 - wondering whether the Source Audio C4 can deliver something close?



"In and out of love" at 0.08 - P bass plus flats get close here?

 

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