Getting that sound: Television Marquee Moon

[Hindu Garry]

Hi guys I'm wondering how to get this bass sound, it really cuts through the mix and holds everything together so well IMO... any tips would be massively appreciated!

 

[Hindu Garry]

This is pretty much in relation to my post yesterday.


TONAL ADVICE

 

[Bob_Ross]

There's nothing about Fred Smith's tone on that first Television album that makes me think it involved anything more exotic than a bog-stock Fender Precision Bass into a generic DI and split into an Ampeg B15 fliptop or Fender Bassman 50 amp, probably mic'd with an Electro-Voice RE20 or Sennheiser MD421 ...iow, practically a clichéd recipe for rock'n'roll bass tone in the 1970s

...not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[farace]

Can't say for sure what he used for that track, but he was known for playing an Ampeg SSB shortscale. When I saw them in '93 he was playing a G&L, I think an L2000.

 

[Michedelic]

Can't say for sure what he used for that track, but he was known for playing an Ampeg SSB shortscale. When I saw them in '93 he was playing a G&L, I think an L2000.

Most likely it was that Ampeg SSB, and most likely a Fender Bassman, as seen in that photo on the inner sleeve of the first album, but he’s been seen with a Danelectro Longhorn in that time period as well I saw them in early ‘77, as support on Peter Gabriel’s tour of his first solo album, and they had a weird assortment of gear; Smith was playing a Fender Mustang, Verlaine an Ampeg/Armstrong plexi(like Keef), and Lloyd a Travis Bean, through Music Man combos(Fred had an SVT). At a Television show two years ago(with Jimmy Ripp)Fred had the SSB/SVT set. In the 80’s, he played with a honky tonk/rockabilly singer, Kristy Rose, and I saw them/him with a Precision. Also in the late 80’s he was in a band called Peregrins, which I sorta remember was in the vicinity of 10,000 Maniacs stylistically, had a couple of albums. Don’t know what he used then.