Double Bass How to get Smoothie Song tone?

[Jared Houseman]

I think the tone in Smoothie Song is the best example of an effected upright sound.

I used to think it was an envelope filter but the sweep at the end of the intro is making me think it's a wah.

Does anyone have insight on how they got this tone or have gotten close to replicating it? There was probably plenty of studio processing going on but you must be able to get close with pedals.

Im guessing the bassist was Byron House but it could have been Edgar Meyer

 

[loukash]

The bass effect sounds like a plain wah-wah to me. It's likely mixed with the direct signal, as it sounds relatively gentle.

And what a great song! It's got some Slavic vibe in it, as it reminds me of some 1970s songs by my favorite Czech band "Etc…", the backing band of singer Vladimír Mišík, who had the virtuoso violinist Jan Hrubý in their lineup, also several virtuoso bass guitarists like Jiří Veselý or Vladimír Kulhánek, albeit no upright bassist.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

Sounds like a wah to me. I'd guess Byron House, though the little arco break sounds very Edgar Meyer-ish.

I think it's pretty cool that they had Rob Trujillo be the random bassist in the video. He's obviously not playing the recorded bass, but the vast majority of people commenting on the video over the past 15 years are utterly clueless about that. Funny, but sad. And not unexpected.

 

[tone]

Sounds like a wah to me. I'd guess Byron House, though the little arco break sounds very Edgar Meyer-ish.

I think it's pretty cool that they had Rob Trujillo be the random bassist in the video. He's obviously not playing the recorded bass, but the vast majority of people commenting on the video over the past 15 years are utterly clueless about that. Funny, but sad. And not unexpected.

The effect is an MXR Envelope Filter tracked discretely and mixed in with the un-effected sound of my upright bass, most noticably in the intro & in the bouzouki solo. The arco break in the middle is Edgar. Honored to be playing on this track with him. Wow. Pretty crazy that Robert Trujillo ended up in the video — love it! Peace, y’all! Byron

 

[lowfreqgeek]

The effect is an MXR Envelope Filter tracked discretely and mixed in with the un-effected sound of my upright bass, most noticably in the intro & in the bouzouki solo. The arco break in the middle is Edgar. Honored to be playing on this track with him. Wow. Pretty crazy that Robert Trujillo ended up in the video — love it! Peace, y’all! Byron

Thanks for the reply and confirmation, Byron! I kept thinking the main bass part was very "Byron House", while the arco break was very "Edgar Meyer". I was both right!

 

[Jared Houseman]

The effect is an MXR Envelope Filter tracked discretely and mixed in with the un-effected sound of my upright bass, most noticably in the intro & in the bouzouki solo. The arco break in the middle is Edgar. Honored to be playing on this track with him. Wow. Pretty crazy that Robert Trujillo ended up in the video — love it! Peace, y’all! Byron

Thanks so much Byron! I didn't know you were on here.

You're one of my biggest influences as a bassisst. It was good to get it confirmed straight from the source.

 

[Jeffon]

Edgar, Byron, and Rob Trujillo all linked together on one song! Amazing world we live in.

 

[koricancowboy]

I think the tone in Smoothie Song is the best example of an effected upright sound.

I used to think it was an envelope filter but the sweep at the end of the intro is making me think it's a wah.

Does anyone have insight on how they got this tone or have gotten close to replicating it? There was probably plenty of studio processing going on but you must be able to get close with pedals.

Im guessing the bassist was Byron House but it could have been Edgar Meyer

That looks like Rob Trujillo from Metallica. No?

 

[koricancowboy]

That looks like Rob Trujillo from Metallica. No?

 

[lowfreqgeek]

That looks like Rob Trujillo from Metallica. No?

Please read the thread.

 

[koricancowboy]

Please read the thread.

Nah. Sorry