I don't think Fraser or Daisley sound at all like Bruce (or each other), and there are significant differences between Jack and Felix.
Is agree to disagree too trite a suggestion? Because I find it incredibly appropriate.
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How to get a tone like Jack Bruce (Cream)
- Thread starter Gearhead43
- Start date
I don't think Fraser or Daisley sound at all like Bruce (or each other), and there are significant differences between Jack and Felix.
Is agree to disagree too trite a suggestion? Because I find it incredibly appropriate.
OK then, I have a Jazz Bass and an SWR SM-900 hooked up to an SWR Triad cab right now. What techniques would I employ to get a sound like Jack Bruce's Cream era sound?
I'm impressed this thread is still going. You guys have a lot of time on your hands. Go out and enjoy the holidays.
Dunno if anyone's still reading on this thread after all that rediculious squabbling over various subject matter, about 80% of you are right in what you're talking about, but not many are really answering what the guy wants.
Anyway, to the original poster, i'm an avid jack bruce fan, and whereas you're only trying to cop his tone for a few tunes, it's what i bass (bass, base, lame puns) my playing style around. I started out on an Epi EB-0 like you, fell in love with it, played it through a peavey solid state head with a 2 10cab of guitar speakers. Now i've changed my cab to 2 10/1 18 and a 2 15 cab, with an epiphone EB-3 and a late 60's gibson EB-3
I get the feeling you're on a budget if you're only playing an epi EB-0 (not a bad model, but it IS the bottom line). For about 400bucks the EB-3 can be yours with a bridge pick-up to get closer to jack's punchy tone.
To get that fuzzy/ farty tone, i just plugged into my digitech jimi hendrix experience pedal. I know, it's voiced to create sounds off hendrix records, but it can give you a good marshall vibe. Nothing matches a good tube head, but we're not all made of money, otherwise we'd ALL have one
.
ANYWAY, the hendrix pedal is good for marshall drive sounds, but you lose bottom end, and the pedal is a bit expensive to use it for one thing (cost me 300 bucks, but i also play guitar)
Your best bet for a cheap simple way to get that fuzz tone is an electro-hamonix big muff for about 100 bucks. Easy to find, reliable, and good low end, but sometimes i feel it's almost TOO fuzzy for jack tone. If you play in a three-piece, this is a GREAT pedal to have, it's not too punchy or upfront but it fills up the sound like nothing else.
I'm personally going to look into getting an electro-harmonix english muff'n. Same tubes found in Marshall amps, so I'm guessing it might get me closer to tube drive without totally changing my rig.
If you're feeling like something is missing...
Lots of guys say tone is in the fingers, and anyone will tell you jack is a very agressive player. He was an upright player, and anyone who's had the misfortune to play a poorly-made one will tell you it take some serious strength to make those gut strings talk without an amp. Start plucking every note loud an proud, just like jack. I do it too, but remember, jack played through tube amps back then, and ANY tube lover will tell you the effect your fingers will have on the dynamics. Pluck harder and it distorts more.
Cream was famous for their jamming/improv skills, so you need to throw a little creativity into your playing here and there if you're covering Cream tunes. Jack has an amazing sense of time, and as a cellist so he understands melody and counter melody, so keep that in mind. When he played in the grahme
bond organization and Cream, he deliberately tried to play his bass like a guitar, challenging clapton and driving the band during their extnded jams.
People drawing comparisons between 60's cream and the reunion shows are missing the point that clapton hasn't played in a three piece band SINCE cream, (blind faith had 4 people, derek/dominos/solo career had 5+ musicians in his band).
Over the years Jack has returned to the fundimental role of BASS player, so he still adds in counter melodies, simply because that is just his style of playing, but he is definately more restrained.
And their gear rigs have been completely remodeled, jack through gibson/warwick and harkte, clapton through fender and fender, so their overall tone will be totally different.
This will definately give you a Jack VIBE, maybe not his exact tone, but personally I've been happy with it, so use this information as you will. If you're that serious about it you can try to copy his technique as i have, but overall, you'll have a jack vibe and sound, but you yourself will still shine through, which is what we all want, right?
Anyway, to the original poster, i'm an avid jack bruce fan, and whereas you're only trying to cop his tone for a few tunes, it's what i bass (bass, base, lame puns) my playing style around. I started out on an Epi EB-0 like you, fell in love with it, played it through a peavey solid state head with a 2 10cab of guitar speakers. Now i've changed my cab to 2 10/1 18 and a 2 15 cab, with an epiphone EB-3 and a late 60's gibson EB-3
I get the feeling you're on a budget if you're only playing an epi EB-0 (not a bad model, but it IS the bottom line). For about 400bucks the EB-3 can be yours with a bridge pick-up to get closer to jack's punchy tone.
To get that fuzzy/ farty tone, i just plugged into my digitech jimi hendrix experience pedal. I know, it's voiced to create sounds off hendrix records, but it can give you a good marshall vibe. Nothing matches a good tube head, but we're not all made of money, otherwise we'd ALL have one
. ANYWAY, the hendrix pedal is good for marshall drive sounds, but you lose bottom end, and the pedal is a bit expensive to use it for one thing (cost me 300 bucks, but i also play guitar)
Your best bet for a cheap simple way to get that fuzz tone is an electro-hamonix big muff for about 100 bucks. Easy to find, reliable, and good low end, but sometimes i feel it's almost TOO fuzzy for jack tone. If you play in a three-piece, this is a GREAT pedal to have, it's not too punchy or upfront but it fills up the sound like nothing else.
I'm personally going to look into getting an electro-harmonix english muff'n. Same tubes found in Marshall amps, so I'm guessing it might get me closer to tube drive without totally changing my rig.
If you're feeling like something is missing...
Lots of guys say tone is in the fingers, and anyone will tell you jack is a very agressive player. He was an upright player, and anyone who's had the misfortune to play a poorly-made one will tell you it take some serious strength to make those gut strings talk without an amp. Start plucking every note loud an proud, just like jack. I do it too, but remember, jack played through tube amps back then, and ANY tube lover will tell you the effect your fingers will have on the dynamics. Pluck harder and it distorts more.
Cream was famous for their jamming/improv skills, so you need to throw a little creativity into your playing here and there if you're covering Cream tunes. Jack has an amazing sense of time, and as a cellist so he understands melody and counter melody, so keep that in mind. When he played in the grahme
bond organization and Cream, he deliberately tried to play his bass like a guitar, challenging clapton and driving the band during their extnded jams.
People drawing comparisons between 60's cream and the reunion shows are missing the point that clapton hasn't played in a three piece band SINCE cream, (blind faith had 4 people, derek/dominos/solo career had 5+ musicians in his band).
Over the years Jack has returned to the fundimental role of BASS player, so he still adds in counter melodies, simply because that is just his style of playing, but he is definately more restrained.
And their gear rigs have been completely remodeled, jack through gibson/warwick and harkte, clapton through fender and fender, so their overall tone will be totally different.
This will definately give you a Jack VIBE, maybe not his exact tone, but personally I've been happy with it, so use this information as you will. If you're that serious about it you can try to copy his technique as i have, but overall, you'll have a jack vibe and sound, but you yourself will still shine through, which is what we all want, right?
Dunno if anyone's still reading on this thread after all that rediculious squabbling over various subject matter, about 80% of you are right in what you're talking about, but not many are really answering what the guy wants.
Anyway, to the original poster, i'm an avid jack bruce fan, and whereas you're only trying to cop his tone for a few tunes, it's what i bass (bass, base, lame puns) my playing style around. I started out on an Epi EB-0 like you, fell in love with it, played it through a peavey solid state head with a 2 10cab of guitar speakers. Now i've changed my cab to 2 10/1 18 and a 2 15 cab, with an epiphone EB-3 and a late 60's gibson EB-3
I get the feeling you're on a budget if you're only playing an epi EB-0 (not a bad model, but it IS the bottom line). For about 400bucks the EB-3 can be yours with a bridge pick-up to get closer to jack's punchy tone.
To get that fuzzy/ farty tone, i just plugged into my digitech jimi hendrix experience pedal. I know, it's voiced to create sounds off hendrix records, but it can give you a good marshall vibe. Nothing matches a good tube head, but we're not all made of money, otherwise we'd ALL have one
ANYWAY, the hendrix pedal is good for marshall drive sounds, but you lose bottom end, and the pedal is a bit expensive to use it for one thing (cost me 300 bucks, but i also play guitar)
Your best bet for a cheap simple way to get that fuzz tone is an electro-hamonix big muff for about 100 bucks. Easy to find, reliable, and good low end, but sometimes i feel it's almost TOO fuzzy for jack tone. If you play in a three-piece, this is a GREAT pedal to have, it's not too punchy or upfront but it fills up the sound like nothing else.
I'm personally going to look into getting an electro-harmonix english muff'n. Same tubes found in Marshall amps, so I'm guessing it might get me closer to tube drive without totally changing my rig.
If you're feeling like something is missing...
Lots of guys say tone is in the fingers, and anyone will tell you jack is a very agressive player. He was an upright player, and anyone who's had the misfortune to play a poorly-made one will tell you it take some serious strength to make those gut strings talk without an amp. Start plucking every note loud an proud, just like jack. I do it too, but remember, jack played through tube amps back then, and ANY tube lover will tell you the effect your fingers will have on the dynamics. Pluck harder and it distorts more.
Cream was famous for their jamming/improv skills, so you need to throw a little creativity into your playing here and there if you're covering Cream tunes. Jack has an amazing sense of time, and as a cellist so he understands melody and counter melody, so keep that in mind. When he played in the grahme
bond organization and Cream, he deliberately tried to play his bass like a guitar, challenging clapton and driving the band during their extnded jams.
People drawing comparisons between 60's cream and the reunion shows are missing the point that clapton hasn't played in a three piece band SINCE cream, (blind faith had 4 people, derek/dominos/solo career had 5+ musicians in his band).
Over the years Jack has returned to the fundimental role of BASS player, so he still adds in counter melodies, simply because that is just his style of playing, but he is definately more restrained.
And their gear rigs have been completely remodeled, jack through gibson/warwick and harkte, clapton through fender and fender, so their overall tone will be totally different.
This will definately give you a Jack VIBE, maybe not his exact tone, but personally I've been happy with it, so use this information as you will. If you're that serious about it you can try to copy his technique as i have, but overall, you'll have a jack vibe and sound, but you yourself will still shine through, which is what we all want, right?
Excellent, thoughtful post. Thank you.
BTW: I once saw a comment by John McLaughlin about Jack Bruce, when both were playing with the Graham Bond Organisation. He said that Jack played the upright so hard that "pieces of his fingers were coming off", or words to that effect. (Imagine trying to make an upright audible, with no amp, standing next to Ginger Baker, who was also in the band!)
You know, when i heard he played hard and saw those three videos from paris or whatever (spoonful, sushine, tales) he pays a lot with one finger so i tried to do it too. I painted my EB-0 red, but damaged the P/U, so i tried to play along with spoonful from wheels of fire (stereo at top volume, bass unplugged) and basically ripped the callous off. Painful stuff, i don't really advise it
I beg to differ.
I make no claims of being a "pro" but I have a particular sound, as we all do.
I recall a specific incident: Jamming with an old band of mine - SX P/J, SWR 350X, and an SWR Big Ben.
When I played the sound was well rounded, slightly scooped, with a bottom end but not much mud.
My keyboard player picked up my bass, and as it soon as he played it (without touching a single knob), the sound
-increased in volume about 20%
-lost a large amount of treble
-gained a muddy deep bottom end to the extent that it farted out the speaker.
So, IMHO, you are dead wrong that you playing a pro's rig will have the same tone.
Remember that the entire sound is ultimately generated at the bass, and the way you physically play that bass will effect every part of sound.
Dude, again, we're talking about TONE. Sure, you're right that people get their sound that way (do you play near the bridge? does your keyboard player pluck near the neck?) Yeah, it all adds up but we're talking about JACK BRUCE. His tone is almost as simple as getting jimi hendrix or Angus young's tone. Strat/SG + Marshall. Jack Bruce = Gibson + Marshall. Just turn it the **** up and it'll distort no matter HOW you play yor bass.
Err... I beg to differ about Jimi Hendrix. Nobody's *ever* sounded like him, although Robin Trower and Stevie Ray Vaughan have each come closest to imitating two particular sounds of his. (IMO)
Sort of like this bewildered smileyNobody cares about robin trower. And of course SRV doesn't sound exactly like jimi, he plays through FENDER amps. Something tells me soldano amps too but i'm not sure.
Listen to the guitar solo in "Alive" by pearl jam. Not the way he's playing but the sound he gets. It's pretty close, even if it totally relies on the univibe.
Also, go test drive the digitech jimi hendrix experience pedal. So what if you're a analog snob, i would be if tube stuff wasn't so expensive. Go try the pedal. You might be impressed.
There"s only one way to get the "jack bruce" sound> Number 1 - get a real gibson EB3. Number 2 - install the diode Jack had in his EB3. Number 3 - play on the number 2 position, and use the pendullum technique Jack uses and play near the trable pick up. Use a good amp that you can tuen up a little. That's it! Let me know how it works!!!
I played in a band that opened for the Cream back in 1969 (okay - I'm old). Jack Bruce used a Gibson EB-3 played through two stacks of Marshall 100s (they had 4 x 12s in each cabinet just like the guitar amps do). The Marshall bass amps overloaded at a relatively low level - especially with the bass-heavy Gibson. That's how Jack got his sound.
Isn't that the bridge pu-only setting? Are you saying that he summoned all of that thunder and reshaped the course of music history just using the mini hb? Was there no mudbucker in his sound at all?
The point and only point of the OP was how to get near the sound...the sound...not the style of 68 cream
strange how everytime there is an argument on here you are always in the thick of it.
