Except for that silly "playing" part which has absolutely no bearing on anything according to folks in this thread.
LOL!!
P.S. Now that I think of it, I can't ever recall Jack using a Fender amp.
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How to get a tone like Jack Bruce (Cream)
- Thread starter Gearhead43
- Start date
LOL!!
P.S. Now that I think of it, I can't ever recall Jack using a Fender amp.
Except for that silly "playing" part which has absolutely no bearing on anything according to folks in this thread.
I thought you were done in this thread?
Here's a question.
Say you have an experienced race car driver. He's on a stock 15 hp John Deere lawn tractor. With the mowing attachment on.
And then say you have an experienced car driver in... say a 1998 Trans Am- he's well familiar with the course he's driving and the capabilities of the vehicle he's driving. But he's not a race car driver.
So, on a fairly standard somewhat oval race track- who has the better chance of winning?
The race car driver, right? It's not about the equipment. The experience of the race car driver will make that John Deere tractor smoke the TA. Right? Speed is in the foot. Right? Physics and all that silly science stuff be damned...
It's a simple enough analogy.
Player=Driver
Gear=Car
Do the skillZ of the driver override what the car is capable of?
Another simple thing- listen to "Hey Now Princess" from the TWTD comp and then from Bruce's 1989 album A Question Of Time- the tone should be the same- same song, same player, same drummer, only 20 years seperating them- should be the same? No. Entirely different bass and rig.
Even in something as simple as the pickup placement is pretty much impossible to argue. Saying something like the bridge pickup in a Jazz sounds exactly like the neck pickup in a Jazz because the same player is playing it is ludicrous. Take into account that Bruce was playing a short scale mahogany bodied bass with the main pickup mounted right at the end of the fretboard- further forward than a J or a P. Entirely different sound.
Clapton's tone is different on the reunion shows- I don't think you can argue too much about that- he's running a Strat through those Cornford Twins. It doesn't sound like the SG or the 335 through 2 Marshall stacks. It just doesn't. Arguing that it's the same player doesn't make the tone the same.
I'll give you that if you have a similarly constructed instrument through a similar rig, the same player will sound about the same- however, whatever you change is going to make a difference in the sound you create- whether it's a small, imperceptible difference like fingerboard wood, or a large difference like pickup placement or available headroom on an amp. The player has a large factor, but the gear used has MORE of an effect overall. A fast car can go fast. A slow car cannot go fast. Regardless of the skill of the driver.
Player=Driver
Gear=Car
Do the skillZ of the driver override what the car is capable of?
Another simple thing- listen to "Hey Now Princess" from the TWTD comp and then from Bruce's 1989 album A Question Of Time- the tone should be the same- same song, same player, same drummer, only 20 years seperating them- should be the same? No. Entirely different bass and rig.
Even in something as simple as the pickup placement is pretty much impossible to argue. Saying something like the bridge pickup in a Jazz sounds exactly like the neck pickup in a Jazz because the same player is playing it is ludicrous. Take into account that Bruce was playing a short scale mahogany bodied bass with the main pickup mounted right at the end of the fretboard- further forward than a J or a P. Entirely different sound.
Clapton's tone is different on the reunion shows- I don't think you can argue too much about that- he's running a Strat through those Cornford Twins. It doesn't sound like the SG or the 335 through 2 Marshall stacks. It just doesn't. Arguing that it's the same player doesn't make the tone the same.
I'll give you that if you have a similarly constructed instrument through a similar rig, the same player will sound about the same- however, whatever you change is going to make a difference in the sound you create- whether it's a small, imperceptible difference like fingerboard wood, or a large difference like pickup placement or available headroom on an amp. The player has a large factor, but the gear used has MORE of an effect overall. A fast car can go fast. A slow car cannot go fast. Regardless of the skill of the driver.
No, Pedro's right about your analogy. Silly. You say "only" 20 years separate the versions of "Hey Now Princess". Only? That's a world of difference, and much changed about Jack Bruce besides his gear in that time.
If'n I remember right, Bruce did the All Starr band in 98... which would make for 30 years between those shows and the Farewell concert. But he sounded just like he did 30 years ago, but won't when it was only 20 years ago? Or how about the reunion shows- that was almost 40 years, but he sounded the same then? But not 20 years ago?
Ya know, if I were Jack or Eric today, I might not go for the old gear either because that would invite even more direct comparison with 68 and the fact is that neither of them can do Cream now like they did it then. In some ways they've grown and evolved but certainly their chops aren't what they were then. That level, especially for Clapton, would be difficult to maintain and their heads aren't in the same place. So it makes sense to me that they would use much of the gear/instruments they use now for reasons of both modesty and pride. It's a tough thing because back then they just did it but now there's the question of how to approach it in light of what's been done. They don't want to be a tribute (that's not the Cream ethic). It's tough because achieving what they did back then can become a trap - that's been a factor for all of them since Cream hit it big, even while they were still together.
An of course those instruments/gear are what they're comfortable with now.
An of course those instruments/gear are what they're comfortable with now.
Well I think you're right on the money when you say that their heads aren't in the same place they were in 1968. But having been at the reunion show myself, and having seen them in 1968, I can tell you that there's nothing wrong with their chops.
As for the gear - I don't think anybody contends that it makes zero difference but I do believe that the majority of it comes from the musicians.
Not only that, but comparing the speed of a race car and a tractor vs. two different but capable bass rigs is not an analogy that I'm buying into. Music isn't a race and nobody's in competition. Very poor analogy. I gib U no bodadoes (sorry for the obscure Stern reference).
Horse hockey.
This sounds like this which sounds like this which sounds like this?
Not.
Jack Bruce has not had the "Jack Bruce from Cream" tone since he changed basses and rigs. He didn't have that sound 20 years ago, he didn't have that sound 10 years ago, and he didn't have that sound 3 years ago.
It doesn't matter. This whole tangent off target of the thread is purely ridiculous. The OP asked a simple question- paraphrased as "how can I get a Cream era Jack Bruce tone." The answer is not 'you can't because you're not Jack Bruce' or 'play a P Bass into a Markbass rig and turn into Jack Bruce.'
Even Jack Bruce would have to make changes to his bass and rig to sound like the Jack Bruce of 40 years ago.
Not even gonna touch this one...
To the OP, take your EB0, put it through a creamy (read: bassy/low mid-y, not mid scooped or extended high end) distortion (be sparing with it though) and into any amp with decent headroom and start practicing your pentatonic blues scales.
End of discussion.
To the OP, take your EB0, put it through a creamy (read: bassy/low mid-y, not mid scooped or extended high end) distortion (be sparing with it though) and into any amp with decent headroom and start practicing your pentatonic blues scales.
End of discussion.
The human factor.
Seriously.
You think any of us would sound like Jack Bruce if we got up on any of his rigs? You think any of the bassists who have worked with Clapton since Cream have been able to play those songs like Jack Bruce? Any bar band can play "Sunshine Of Your Love." Haven't heard a single one yet that sounded anything remotely like Cream. But those old guys with the wrong equipment on that Cream Reunion DVD sure sounded like Cream to me, or it sure sounded like what I thought Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker reuniting after 30 years would sound like. To put all the credit for the tones in the hands of the gear is a great disservice to what the individual brings to it.
Jack Bruce on a Precision into a Markbass would sound like Jack Bruce playing a Precision into a Markbass. You won't.
By now, this should be making all the sense in the world to you.
Well, yes. It can be done.
If one were good enough and into Jack Bruce enough to pick up his style and attack, with the right gear, yes.
Exhibit A: Andy Fraser with Free. All Right Now sounds very Jack Brucey - both in style and tone, and (not coincidentally) he played a 60's EB3 thru Marshalls.
There have been others also who have copped a Cream-period Jack Bruce style and tone.
If one were good enough and into Jack Bruce enough to pick up his style and attack, with the right gear, yes.
Exhibit A: Andy Fraser with Free. All Right Now sounds very Jack Brucey - both in style and tone, and (not coincidentally) he played a 60's EB3 thru Marshalls.
There have been others also who have copped a Cream-period Jack Bruce style and tone.
