David Ellefson bass sound

Not sure of what exact gear he may have used during recording, (which I know doesn't answer the heart of the question) but he has been a long time user of Jackson and Hartke. Recording is a different world altogether from playing live, but I would start there.

 

I don't think he had switched over to Modulus at that point so I believe he was still using his Jackson concert basses and Ampeg amps.

From various interviews I've seen Ellefson do he gives some good insight into how he gets his tone. First is that he EQ's in a way most bassists dont and it's actually where I learned this from. A lot of bassists scoop out the mids where he actually bumps them. Basically instead of a smile the parametric eq is more of a frown.

The other thing I've seen is that he picks very close to the bridge for a crisp attack and while the basses I have seen him use have pickups at the bridge and neck he has said that he uses only the neck pickup.

Hope that helps and definitely take a look on youtube. Ellefson gives a lot of interviews and does a lot of clinics where he talks about his tone.

 

Was gonna mention the pick usage. Key to his tone, if you ask me.

 

It's a combo of mid/mid highs being bumped and I believe usually P/J pickups, both pickups on full.

 

It's possible that he's altered things over the years but according to this clip (go to 1:38) he says the neck pickup is gerenally where he plays most of the time.

 

Hmmm, I may have been wrong about the EQing. I think Alex Webster was the one who I heard talking about boosting mids.

Ellefson talks about scooping mids and sometimes even leaving things flat in this clip:

 

Opposite to crack a smile eq'n....I crack a frown where bass is flat...bump up mids and lower highs a bit. Granted im a fingerstyle player buts gets me a good semi growl tone picking by the bridge pickup. This as his tone is more aggressive. U liie this tone...forget the smile n go for the frown.

 

not s'possed to smile in metal anyways

 

As you know, what you say you're using and what you're actually using are 2 different things (especially when recording)...but quoting from the album's sleeve: "Megadeth play & endorse the following: Jackson Guitars, D'Addario strings [...] Gallien Krueger Amplifiers, Samson/Hartke [...]". IIRC he said the tone from those years was due to using Jackson basses and Hartke cabs.

Apart from the EQ, pick playing is key (valid for almost any other thrash metal band); playing towards the bridge will indeed give you a more mid-rangy-metallic tone. Use flexible picks and pay attention to the material they're made of - believe it or not, it's critical.

 

Countdown was the album that came out before Youthanasia. They filmed the recording of Youthanasia, and in there he shows off the basses he uses for recording. He had a Jazz, a Pedulla, a BC Rich Eagle, and a Steinberger Q4 (wood body). He's mostly seen playing a Jackson, though.

 

According to this interview (http://hardrockhaven.net/online/2012/11/david-ellefson-of-megadeth-interview/) he uses one of the most widely used picks, the Dunlop .88 tortex. I use these as well when picking and I love them.

 

Also note that Dave is now playing SIT strings....

 

During a clinic in the Netherlands I asked David about the Steinberger (I'm a huge fan of these basses).
He didn't even remembered it . He told me they hired a lot of of basses and amps during the recording of Countdown. Just to check out, to see what worked the best within the songs.

 

Does anybody check out the bass tone of Annihilator, i think that band has the best bass tone in Thrash Metal along with Rex Brown from Pantera.

 

Rust in Piece and Countdown he used GK 800RBs, Hartke 115XL, Hartke 410XL, Hartke 210XL Ive seen him use this rig live, If its all actually plugged in I would guess Hes running the 15 and the 410 off the low amp and the 210 off the high amp.

Jackson basses with passive electronics, Rotosound strings and records with bolt on neck basses. He plays on the neck pickup. No effects. He says he scoops his mids because the guitars are mid heavy.

One thing to remember is just because he scoops mids live doesnt mean that how it was mixed and the mid range on a guitar amp and the mid range on a bass amp are necessarily the same frequency. If you listing to the isolated bass tracks on Rust in Piece it sounds heavily compressed. He also uses a lot of palm muting.

Definitely the tone Ive been trying to get lately.

 

I know that in the Rust and Countdown days, he used Rotosound strings, too. Then, from Youthanasia on, he switched to D'Addario strings, and went with the Prisms (discontinued), and now has been using the Pro Steels.

He does have one of the best metal tones ever, but these take the cake, imo:

 

He has a SIT string signature set now.