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How to get this slightly distorted sound on Roy Ayers "Searching"
- Thread starter patshep
- Start date
I’ve always loved this version, by Erykah Badu:
Hubert Eaves IV, on bass.
Hubert Eaves IV, on bass.
D
I'm afraid so. But this being Talkbass I'm sure you will get 5 pages of recommendations for boutique dirt pedals and digital simulations of vintage gear. None of which will create the tone you're looking for of course. The tone in that clips is just about as basic as it gets. Just with a little bit of added "grind" from the strings clanking into the frets.
It should be possible to set up your current bass to only produce this grinding/buzzing sound when you're digging in really hard, and behave "normally" when you play "normally".
"Everybody Loves the Sunshine" is the quintessential Roy Ayers track. Of course, "Searching" is also great.
I always wondered what bass was used on those recordings. I was thinking an Alembic, but the Gibson makes sense, too. Does not sound anything like a Jazz bass.
I always wondered what bass was used on those recordings. I was thinking an Alembic, but the Gibson makes sense, too. Does not sound anything like a Jazz bass.
Love Roy Ayers. Great bass playing on his stuff (the "Red Black and Green" album has outstanding bass playing on it).
This just sounds like a DI'd Jazz-ish bass hitting a nice mic pre. Then some EQ to bring out that upper grind, some compression.
Sounds pretty straight-ahead clean, but you can try some dirt from a plug in--amp sim, distortion--as a send and add a little in.
I wasn't familiar with the track, so I just gave it a listen. I agree with others that say "sounds like a Jazz bass favoring the bridge pickup, but not quite." There's a tremendous amount of low passing on the bass as the content above 3.5khz drops like a rock. This could have been a passive control on the bass itself, or a low pass somewhere in the studio chain. My guess is a tone control which is a resonant filter, thus the presence in the upper midrange before the frequency response falls off.
There's a lot of saturation on the track, but I doubt it was a deliberate and bass-specific implementation. Likely just preamp transformers and some 2buss compression hitting the tape machine hard giving the entire arrangement some degree of non-linearity that's audible throughout the mix. I suspect this was recorded direct to the console, so a B15 emulation, as others have mentioned, would not be my first stop. That said, a B15 emulation would also provide the low passing and light saturation, so even though it likely wasn't what was used on the session it might be a means to a similar end.
Regarding comments on low action: I agree that there's a good degree of fret noise happening here, but it doesn't feel overwhelming. I would caution against playing super hard to get this tone, but you can't get this without playing with at least a moderately aggressive attack and action that's not super high.
There's a lot of saturation on the track, but I doubt it was a deliberate and bass-specific implementation. Likely just preamp transformers and some 2buss compression hitting the tape machine hard giving the entire arrangement some degree of non-linearity that's audible throughout the mix. I suspect this was recorded direct to the console, so a B15 emulation, as others have mentioned, would not be my first stop. That said, a B15 emulation would also provide the low passing and light saturation, so even though it likely wasn't what was used on the session it might be a means to a similar end.
Regarding comments on low action: I agree that there's a good degree of fret noise happening here, but it doesn't feel overwhelming. I would caution against playing super hard to get this tone, but you can't get this without playing with at least a moderately aggressive attack and action that's not super high.
I isolated the bass, just for grins 
. Great tone, IMHO:
. Great tone, IMHO:
I concur. I use medium action (for me at least, high by some TB standards
) and I can get that kinda sound with a DI'd Jazz bass with just technique and EQ. It's a cool tone but certainly nothing unusual.Maybe I need to see this technique or my action may be too damn high. I don’t get this kind of tone digging in. Hmmm
I’ve played basses with low action and it’s always like that which drives me nuts. I just like the way it cuts. Oh well. Like I said. I’m mostly a guitarist and usually I play with lots of lows
I’ve played basses with low action and it’s always like that which drives me nuts. I just like the way it cuts. Oh well. Like I said. I’m mostly a guitarist and usually I play with lots of lows
D
I doesn't really sound like he's digging in extremely hard anyway. It sounds like perfectly normal playing on what I would call a very poorly set up bass. But some people like that tone.
If don't want to mess up your action you could try lighter gauge strings. If your bass is set up with normal action you should be able to get more or less exactly that kind of fret buzz with very light strings. With a normal setup you would probably have to go as light as .035-.095. If THAT doesn't buzz like crazy you're either playing VERY softly or your action is sky high.
I’ve been digging into the Roy Ayers catalog recently, too. To me, it sounds like an active bass with the treble control cranked up. There’s an aspect of technique and the setup of the bass in there as well. If somebody told me it was an early Alembic, I’d have no trouble believing it. If it ends up having been a Jazz Bass, that would surprise me. In any event, it’s a great groove. Hubert Eaves also kills on the EB version.
D
I isolated the bass, just for grins
Nice job! However, if any of my basses sounded like that I would have given in a better setup. I know some people like that kinda tone but to me that nasty fretbuzz/stringnoise totally ruins an otherwise nice, but not in any way exceptional tone. The PLAYING is superb though!
haha. You know you could probably get really close with a BDDIv2 with the Presence control up.
My fender Elie jazz gets that sound with round wound string, the bridge pickup soloed and the right EQ. I would think any jazz bass with the bridge pickup soloed and the correct upper mids boosted would get you there. I would try boosting 800-1k for a start.
The way it's cutting in and out sounds like it might have some kind of gate on it... maybe side chained with something that dips its treble... the old boss noise suppressor comes to mind... lol! I know I'm so wrong...
