Help me get this tone (Joe Principe)

[uncle woody]

Hi,

I am forever mistified to the sound of Joe Principe's bass on his early records.

On Revolutions Per Minutes his tone punches through walls of guitars. It is hard to describe. It has this very present "click" throughout the record, yet fills the bottom end just fine.

Point is... I have no clue how to make a bass sound like that. I am specifically looking for the way he gets that hi-mid click.

Joe mentioned he blends a slightly overdriven signal with a low level full gain distortion.

Here is what I used on my recording:
Fender P bass -> Sansamp BD (Overdrive) -> BB preamp (distortion) -> Boss LS2 (mixer)
Picture: 96669688-252368699210264-7869831669253931008-n

Joe uses on these recordings:
Bass: G&L 2000 active bass
Amp:???
Cab: Ampeg 810e
Distortion/OD: ????

Here is me trying to dial in his tone: Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

At this point I am dialing in ungodly amounts of treble to achieve the "click", but in the process the low "beef" is totally removed. And it still sound like... well... a normal bass through some pedals... No uniqueness...

Here is a live sample: Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

Here is another live sample: Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

How does he do this? Does anyone recognise this OD?

Thanks

 

[bobyoung53]

Hi,

I am forever mistified to the sound of Joe Principe's bass on his early records.

On Revolutions Per Minutes his tone punches through walls of guitars. It is hard to describe. It has this very present "click" throughout the record, yet fills the bottom end just fine.

Point is... I have no clue how to make a bass sound like that. I am specifically looking for the way he gets that hi-mid click.

Joe mentioned he blends a slightly overdriven signal with a low level full gain distortion.

Here is what I used on my recording:
Fender P bass -> Sansamp BD (Overdrive) -> BB preamp (distortion) -> Boss LS2 (mixer)
Picture: 96669688-252368699210264-7869831669253931008-n

Joe uses on these recordings:
Bass: G&L 2000 active bass
Amp:???
Cab: Ampeg 810e
Distortion/OD: ????

Here is me trying to dial in his tone: Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

At this point I am dialing in ungodly amounts of treble to achieve the "click", but in the process the low "beef" is totally removed. And it still sound like... well... a normal bass through some pedals... No uniqueness...

Here is a live sample: Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

Here is another live sample: Vocaroo | Online voice recorder

How does he do this? Does anyone recognise this OD?

Thanks

How about a video or two of him?

 

[uncle woody]

Unfortunately, not many clips exist with clear audio in the "Revolutions Per Minute" years. Most have clipping audio.

Here you get a clear view of the rig though, unfortunately the amp is racked and I can't make out what it is.


Here is the album, along with demo versions.


Thanks

 

[Stabstabstab]

I know its been about a year, but any luck? Im starting down this rabbit hole (have also always absolutely loved the tone on this record). I recently picked up Amplitude 5 and purchased the Ampeg SVX tone pack and having been trying through a DI into my computer, but am still just getting the same "bass through pedals" feel.

 

[slcbass]

Very old post but one of my employees is friends with the bass tech. It’s a Fender Bassman 100T ran through a rackmount sansamp and a variety of Fender bass guitars. Very simple but sounds incredible live.