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Flea Tone
- Thread starter thedoc0109
- Start date
Slap like a Mutha...no, seriously...are you aking for a particular tone, or just in general? Any Ash bodied, Maple necked bass will get you in the ball park and a fairly "scooped" EQ setting won't hurt, either.
Is there an album in specific where you like his tone? Because he has gone through a number of basses for recording: Stingray, Modulus, Wal, Alembic, Spector, Fender Jazz.
Personally, I love the guy's playing but I only really dug his tone on BSSM.
In a very general sense, I think a Stingray, GK amps (mids fairly scooped), a Boss ODB-3, Dunlop 105q, a Q-tron and an aggressive playing style would get you very close to covering most of what Flea has done.
- Dec 13, 2006
- 206
- 1
- Disclosures
- East Coast Sales Coordinator - Crafter Guitars
People generally don't like it when you ask (essentially) the same question twice on the same forum under different topic headings.
...and what isn't already said about Flea in this forum isn't worth knowing, so get searching, buddy!
My advice, save your cash and buy a decent bass. No amount of tweaking a BP 200 is gonna get you as close as just buying a Stingray.
...and what isn't already said about Flea in this forum isn't worth knowing, so get searching, buddy!
My advice, save your cash and buy a decent bass. No amount of tweaking a BP 200 is gonna get you as close as just buying a Stingray.
I think he's got a 1966 Fender Jazz Bass that he's been using almost full time for a number of years now (white one with the red tort p/g).
He hasn't been playing it all that long. For me, the stingray > GK was the classic Flea tone. BSSM tone was the greatest!
What price range?
Practice... new PUP's, strings, and a decent rack mount compressor. No single pedal will "get Flea's tone". Even with a inexpensive amp, you could get there.
He recorded BSSM with the Wal, and he recorded the album with Dave Navarro with an Alembic Epic.
Anyway, I'm shocked that nobody has given the obvious answer how to sound like Flea...PLAY LIKE FLEA!!!
Anyway, I'm shocked that nobody has given the obvious answer how to sound like Flea...PLAY LIKE FLEA!!!
Wal for a lot of it, 'Ray for the 5 string stuff and (I think) the down-tuned songs. But who really knows for sure?! Rick Rubin's probably the only one who'd remember something like that.
But, just goes to show you, the "Flea tone" has been linked with a half a dozen very different basses over the years, so there's something more than just equipment that goes into the mix, that's for sure.
Thanks ya specifically i was looking for how to get a tone fromm bssm specifically mellowship slinky, but i have a low budget at the moment so i was wondering how i could get the tone wihtout having to buy a new bass.
