How does Staind get that crazy fat kinda sound?

Uh, well, he uses alot of midrange, i think. he plays a soundgear 5 string, tunes to A. And uses DEAN MARKLY STRINGS! Well, thats what the new BP says anyway. i dont think he uses stock pick-ups, not the typical "soundgear" sound.

 

I find it hard to pick the bass out of their sound, with the exception of songs like "Mudhovel." Mike Mushok often uses a Baritone guitar (he may always use one for all I know). I think the combination of the Baritones and the fact that they detune like crazy people, should contribute to a "thicker" sound.

 

Yeah, its hard to hear him thru the mix, didnt know mike mushok used baritone guitars though. you can hear him pretty good live though. most of the time i just try to pick out the clacks and stuff to hear him, that being the only way to hear them because they tune real low.

 

I always thought he tuned to C#

because the low note in Fade is a C# and the low note in Mudshovel is C# and in the video the C# is when he's playing the open 1st string on his 5er...

So I always thought he tuned C# E A D G there must be a Staind fanatic around here somewhere to straighten this all out...

 

Actually that isnt a B flat, its a C sharp (also known as D flat). Basically you take a 5 string and tune the lowest note up a whole step to C#. Thats that low note he plays in the intro for Mudshovel. Trust me, I have a keyboard right next to the TV so I always mess around to find out what bands tune to. Staind tunes to C#. I guarantee it.

 

Might he have several basses along on stage with different tunings on the B? Listening to the intro line to 'Pressure', it sounds like the B is tuned down.

I haven't listened to the disc since it first came out, now I'm curious, I'll check that out.

 

I don't really think that dudes tone is anything unique at all.. I won't diss on the band b/c that wouldn't be cool... even though I am not fond of them... anyway.. yeah. it does sound like he uses alot of mids.. nothing spectacular... and it may be the amp he uses also..

 

you never know, man. he may, in fact, be the newest DADDY of BASS

 

My band plays this song in dropped D, flat. I play an A for one measure on the A string, a C for one measure on the A string and then D on the E string (which would now be your dropped D string) for two measures. For the pre-"Mudshovel" part, I play A into C and then D into C and for the "Mudshovel" part, I play it all on the dropped D string: 3rd fret, open, 6th fret, open, 1st fret, open, then repeat. The trickiest part of this song, is getting the rhythm and timing of the notes in the intro just right. I have never seen a cover band get it right (but I get the closest ).

I hope this is what you were looking for (I'll probably get flamed for not telling you to figure it out yourself)!

 

Hrmm... So he tunes his B string to C#??

Why not just play C# on the normally tuned B string? It is a little awkward to go G#-B-C# (is that right? I think it is...) on a normally tuned 5-string, but it's doable. I haven't seen them live, so I don't really know how he plays it.

I was looking everywhere on the net trying to find his setup a little while ago.

Anyone know what kind of amps/cabs he uses? The Ibanez site says he uses a Custom SR885, but gives no info other than that. None that I could find, at least.

I really like the tone on the intro to Mudshovel as well, and was curious as to how he did it.