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Death From Above 1979 toanz

lkngro

lkngro

Feb 4, 2010
388
3
Hockessin, Delaware, USA
#1
You may not have heard of them, since they're sort of an oddity in music, but I kind of like them. They basically took the drum & guitar combo and made it a drum & bass combo.

Anyway, I was sort of thinking of starting up a band like that, not only because it would make managing a band easier in every way, but because it could really make way for some creative and artistic music, and I was wondering if anyone knows how I could get Jesse Keeler's nasty fuzz tone. Particularly in this song
 
#2
This has actually been a pretty discussed topic. If I remember correctly, he basically gets his tone from maxing out his amp (forget what he uses. I want to say a Peavey).

So that said, there's probably an easier way to go, or if you want to be original, just go for a different sound.
 
#3
I believe it's a Peavey F-800B, and Acoustic 450, both into Traynor 8x10s (old ones) that have PA speakers in them (... which are basically bass speakers).

The sound comes from having two different distortions. JFK says pedals just don't sound as good as amps, so he just uses the amps. (There's no reason a pedal with the same circuit wouldn't sound exactly the same, BTW).

In the later live stuff, he had a Marshall stack, and the Acoustic with an Ampeg 8x10. Some of that might have been loner stuff, though.

The sound is probably easier to get with distortion pedals than fuzz. Like, literally take two different pedals, put them in parallel (use a blender) and crank them. There ya go.
 
#4
They're pretty badass. I've long been tinkering with the idea - my bass tone is about as fuzzed out and distorted as it gets which seems to be perfect for the drum and bass thing (Om, DFA1979, etc.). If I had any skill with programming drums, I'd do a one-man show. But...I'm too lazy for that.
 
#6
His studio sound always sounded to me like a pair of amps or a dual signal chain, one to get the low end voice and another to get that higher voice layered in with a slight stereo offset. It's also pretty gated in the studio albums which keep it tight, a lot of the live recordings the bass is a lot more sloppy sounding (sound, not playing) without all that tightness.
 
#10
gastric said:
His studio sound always sounded to me like a pair of amps or a dual signal chain, one to get the low end voice and another to get that higher voice layered in with a slight stereo offset. It's also pretty gated in the studio albums which keep it tight, a lot of the live recordings the bass is a lot more sloppy sounding (sound, not playing) without all that tightness.
Click to expand...

he started out using both a Bass amp and Guitar amp in tandem. now, i assume he uses whatever is the easiest, coolest, possibly cheapest way to get the sound he used in the studio.
and believe me, he overdubbed his bass once or twice, keeping three tracks of thunderous bass: one centered, one hard-panned left, one hard-panned right. so doubling/trippling his takes.

when i first heard these guys i thought, "wow, that guitarist and bassist... they're playing the same thing!" little did i know it was just a great bass sound!
 
#11
ZombiCrow said:
PS: He used a wah and a chorus in front of those amps, in series!
Click to expand...

I think the chorus pedal was just for splitting. The Wah was used in the song Romantic Rights, and probably some others. I'd have to go back and listen for it (I tend to not listen to music searching for effect use).

He's said he hates tube amps in early interviews, because they sounded "loose" and "muddy." He also said he used a bass instead of guitar because the guitar sounded mushy.

Most of the live stuff you'll find, he's using a Marshall stack for one of his amps, which might account for why his tone isn't as tight as the albums. There's also the issues of the rooms, mics, etc.

If you find a video of the song "Romantic Rights" on Conan, that tone is as tight as can be.

A lot of the studio stuff is also doubled by synth, which they obviously couldn't do live.
 
#16
bassman1185 said:
"Least resistance?" Can you clarify?
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Ehhh... i wish i could... it's just something i remember reading... i'll see if i can dig up an article...

I remember hearing something about having his bass re-wired so that it's basically Input -> Pickups and, like, bypassed tone/vol knobs...

Here's an interview from BP a few years ago: http://www.bassplayer.com/article/death-from-above/jul-05/10648

Instead of stimulating output with preamp gain or a pedal, I prefer to get maximum output from the instrument. I rewired the Rickenbacker so that nothing impedes the pickup’s signal. I only use solid-state amps because the attack is instant—it’s much quicker than a tube amp. I also put PA speakers in my cabinets because they have better top-end response than bass speakers.
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Here's a lil' snippet from UG... interesting to know the exact pedals he used:

Anyway, he gets his tone from really cranking his Acoustic brand solid state heads, so it's a naturally overdriven sound. Apparently his Ric is also heavily modified with a hot bridge p-up. An Ibanez stereo chorus pedal and a modified jim dunlop wah pedal are his only effects.
Click to expand...
 

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