How to get a tone like Jack Bruce (Cream)

[Deluge Of Sound]

OK, so tell me on his Hartke rig where there are any tube amps.

But the reunion shows definitely didn't sound as good as their original live stuff, and I'd say the equipment used and the fact that these guys aren't young and fiery anymore accounted for that.

Clapton was playing a Strat at those shows, for example. So yes, it still sounds like Clapton, but not like Cream Clapton. Same dude playing the same notes, but something was definitely missing, and I think it has Gibson on the headstock...


EDIT:

To provide some evidence to my claim:
Cream in '68

 

[Lichtaffen]

Not to throw another wrench into it, but Clapton used to punch holes in his speakers to get them to break up more. What if Jack did that too? I would if Eric Clapton told me to. Hah.

 

[greenboy]

Not to throw another wrench into it, but Clapton used to punch holes in his speakers to get them to break up more. What if Jack did that too? I would if Eric Clapton told me to. Hah.

The bass rig gear of the day was largely guitar gear. You had more than enough breakup when driving it hard with a bass guitar. In interviews he's spoken with frustration perhaps about how often he had to replace drivers.

Here's a little bit right from Jack's website about amps:

"During the 1960s, Jack plugged his EB-3 into a stack of Marshall amps (Marshall 4x12s with Marshall 100 heads). His desire for greater volume induced him to crank up the volume control, unwittingly producing the heavy, distorted tone that became so popular in the ensuing years. Later, Jack had instrument technician Dan Armstrong install a diode into the EB-3's wiring to produce the same effect without overdriving his amplifiers.

Invalid Link Removed.

 

[marcau]

big jack Bruce fan here. If you have an extra 225 lying around, I highly recommend a Keeley java boost, or any treble booster for that matter. I prefer the Keeley because it is very smooth, and is almost a hybrid between a treble booster and an od. But more importantly there is the full range boost which boosts all freqs, the mid boost and classic treble boost. And it cleans up beautifully with the vol control. This is the best easiest solution I've found so far, see if it works for you

 

[bassbrad]

Like Jimmy said it's in his hands much more than any combination of gear that he uses. Jack started out playing cello and then string bass and his experience playing those acoustic instruments influences his tone and the way he plays and sounds on electric.

 

[Johnny Crab]

I play an active Ibanez 6-string with a 3 band EQ...when I want that oldschool 60's/70's vibe, I put my Ibby PD-7 overdrive pedal in the lowest OD setting possible, boost the mids slightly, then boost lows/cut highs until it fuzzes without sounding like distortion. The final product is a very Jack Bruce/John Paul Jones sound.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Clever.
John Paul sounded like a stadium full of Acoustic 360's on 13 in many tunes.
For Cream covers NOW, the Line 6 Bass POD XT Live has a patch called "SUNSHINE" that is a starting point. Tweak it similar to sound more like Jack with your rig.

 

[Matt Till]

OK, so tell me on his Hartke rig where there are any tube amps.

I do NOT think his reunion tour sound was anywhere near the sound he had back in the day. Sure, his modern tone is probably preferred by a lot of people (not myself), but it sounds nothing like vintage Cream.

 

[Matt Till]

To me:

This:


are two totally different bass tones, maybe I'm being nitpicky... but I don't think so.

 

[Matt Till]

But the reunion shows definitely didn't sound as good as their original live stuff, and I'd say the equipment used and the fact that these guys aren't young and fiery anymore accounted for that.

Clapton was playing a Strat at those shows, for example. So yes, it still sounds like Clapton, but not like Cream Clapton. Same dude playing the same notes, but something was definitely missing, and I think it has Gibson on the headstock...


EDIT:

To provide some evidence to my claim:
Cream in '68

HAHAHA, you beat me to it, I didn't even see this. Different songs, but I think the point is obvious.

 

[pedro]

He's a big fan of mids. Looking at his two Hartke rigs from the Royal Albert Hall Cream reunion gigs (one pair of amps was for the Gibson EB-1, the other for the Warwick fretless) he's got a distinct frown in the graphic EQ on those heads. That combined with a pretty hard attack at the bass will get you into that very very wide territory that is Jack Bruce's Cream sound. There isn't one, or even a small range or "Cream sounds" when you really look at it. There's the wonderfully blubbery bounce in the sound of stuff lke "Badge" and "I Feel Free", there's the grunty midrange of "White Room", there's the extreme speaker desctruction of the live recordings on "Goodbye" especially "Politician"....

Get into the right territory with the hard attack and the boosted mids (the SWR head with it's characteristic mid cut may be an actual impediment- and I generally look to gear last when it comes to this stuff), the rest is the note choice, rhythms, and attitude.

jte

What was it you once said about Jack's two brains? My favorite example of his two brains is

 

[Sneckumhaw]

To me:

This:


are two totally different bass tones, maybe I'm being nitpicky... but I don't think so.

I don't think so either.

 

[JimmyM]

OK, so they're not identical. I guarantee you that if you played his 60's rig that you wouldn't sound like Jack Bruce unless you played like him. Meanwhile Jack still sounds like himself on any rig he plays. That was the point I was getting at.

 

[Deluge Of Sound]

Get Off My Lawn, JimmyM!

 

[Matt Till]

OK, so they're not identical. I guarantee you that if you played his 60's rig that you wouldn't sound like Jack Bruce unless you played like him. Meanwhile Jack still sounds like himself on any rig he plays. That was the point I was getting at.

The question was, "How do I get tone like Jack Bruce" not how do I play like Jack Bruce. I'm sorry, but the "tone is in your hands" motto this forum has is hilariously frustrating.

 

[JimmyM]

The question was, "How do I get tone like Jack Bruce" not how do I play like Jack Bruce. I'm sorry, but the "tone is in your hands" motto this forum has is hilariously frustrating.

And until you realize it's the truth, it will become even more frustrating and less hilarious. It is much easier to sound like somebody if you play like they do than if you buy all the "right" equipment.

 

[Deluge Of Sound]

But saying "play like Jack Bruce" isn't really that helpful when someone is looking for a specific sound best exemplified by the way the dude played back then in congruence with the gear he used back then.

Tone is in your hands, sure, but you're not going to turn your hands into a raging Marshall stack...

(if you know how to do that, hit me up with a PM)

 

[JimmyM]

But saying "play like Jack Bruce" isn't really that helpful when someone is looking for a specific sound best exemplified by the way the dude played back then in congruence with the gear he used back then.

Tone is in your hands, sure, but you're not going to turn your hands into a raging Marshall stack...

(if you know how to do that, hit me up with a PM)

HOW TO TURN YOUR HANDS INTO A RAGING MARSHALL STACK

1. Cut off your hands
2. Have them replaced with a raging Marshall stack

OK, you win. I won't keep debating this because neither of us will change the other's mind. In 10 years when you discover I was right, though, I hope you come back and apologize

 

[Matt Till]

And until you realize it's the truth, it will become even more frustrating and less hilarious. It is much easier to sound like somebody if you play like they do than if you buy all the "right" equipment.

Really? So, with a Squire bass and a solid state Crate rig, if I move my fingers just right it will sound like a Gibson through cranked tube amp. I'll have to try that sometime. It's honestly so strange to me that so many people on here believe that. Completely ****ing absurd.

 

[JimmyM]

Really? So, with a Squire bass and a solid state Crate rig, if I move my fingers just right it will sound like a Gibson through cranked tube amp. I'll have to try that sometime.

You should. You'd be surprised.

 

[Matt Till]

You should. You'd be surprised.

So, after a quick peak at your profile:

Current Setup:
Fender Precision Lyte with passive pickups, SX 57P, SX 62PJ, fretless Precision, parts-built PJ-copy, Jay Turser Beatle bass, Guitar Factory active 4 with whammy, Guitar Factory active 5, Dean Rhapsody 8-string, Upton Hawkes upright with Revolution Solo II pickup, EBS Microbass II, FMR RNC compressor, Tech 21 VT Bass, Zoom B2, ProCo Rat II modded by Robert Keeley, Markbass Mini CMD121P combo, Markbass Little Mark II amp, Tube Works 4x10" cab, 1964 Ampeg B-15N, Vintage Blue B-15N replica cab, Fliptops B-15N replica cab, 1977 Ampeg B-15N, 1969 Ampeg SVT with matching cab, X2 wirelesses
Previously owned gear:
1979 Fender Precision, 1998 MIA Fender Jazz
G.A.S. List:
I don't really have G.A.S. I buy what I need to work. Fortunately, I need a lot of stuff

I have to ask a pretty obvious question... are you serious? Why do you need so much stuff, all you need is one bass to sound like Geddy Lee/Victor Wooten/Mark King/Fieldy/Mark Hoppus/Jesus/Satan/