HELO on FLEA

[harrylewinsky]

hi,

I'm an old horse in playing bass, using the same old stingray for more than 20 years with an ampeg SVT II top and the matching 4x10 half stack cabinet. no stompboxes or anything like it. this all works perfect for my rock cover band on music from the sixties up till todays rockradio.
but now there's a new deal.........playing in a CHILI PEPPERS tribute band.
what do I have to do to match FLEAs sound with my tools??? what additional little helpers would be right for a slapsound. what would be the best frequencies to tweak on the "never used before" onboard equalizer of my amp.........

thanks for any input, I guess that out of the words above you can invision that every idea, tip or comment would be more than useful.

thanks & keep on rockin'

HARRY

 

[Jared Lash]

Hey Harry,

As it happens, one of my two main gigs is also a RHCP cover band.

The biggest difficulty is going to be coaxing a Gallien Krueger like tone out of that SVT. I use a GK 1001RB-II through a Neo 212 (and occasionally a second 212) and it is a big part of the sound. If possible, I'd recommend a similar setup. That clean, dry sound of GK stuff is worlds from an SVT.

But without changing your rig, the easiest thing to do is make sure your action is set low and pluck fairly closely to the bridge with an aggressive attack. Also, while the Stingray will be perfect for early RHCP stuff (up through Uplift Mofo and parts of Blood Sugar where he was using the 5 string rather than the Wal) it won't be super close to the stuff after that. Considering the basses Flea has used in the last few albums (Wal, Alembic, Modulus, vintage Fender Jazz w/ flats) it is hard mimic them all. One possibility would be just to get the bass he generally uses live, the Modulus Flea. the other option (which I do) is to have a bass with very flexible electronics. I've got a Stambaugh custom with Nordstrad Fat Stacks and an Audere Pre. It is versatile enough to get me reasonably close.

As for effects, you'll need an envelope filter or two (Flea has used a number of different ones), an overdrive and a distortion or fuzz. If you want help with specific effects or which songs they are used on, let me know.

Hope that helps.

Still, technique will take you a long way.

 

[Pacman]

Duplicate thread closed.