Is My Tone Close To Jamerson's Here?

[Beef of the Sea]

I've been on a quest for a while now to get a tone as close as possible to James Jamerson's for when I want that Motown sound (who hasn't?).

This is the closest I've gotten so far.



What do you guys think?

 

[markjazzbassist]

you're close mate but might want to try a tube preamp to give it more grit/girth/drive. the pbass and flats is spot on though. just need that other part of the signal chain.

 

[pickles]

I dunno that's pretty close to my ears. Its much louder in the mix than the original, if you dropped it back Im not sure theres much you could do to improve it.

 

[Kim Jong Funk]

Are your strings at least twenty years old? That's necessary.

 

[FirewalZ]

I've been on a quest for a while now to get a tone as close as possible to James Jamerson's for when I want that Motown sound (who hasn't?).

This is the closest I've gotten so far.



What do you guys think?

Sounds great to me...what the setup?

 

[Beef of the Sea]

Sounds great to me...what the setup?

Thank you!

Gear:

- Fender American P
- Fender green-label flatwounds (about 6 months old)
- foam mute
- tone control at 0%
- Aguilar TH500 (EQ controls at noon, drive and gain @ ~10:30)
- dbx 166XL compressor w/ modest settings

 

[FirewalZ]

What do you think of the TH, i was thinking about getting the pedal pre-amp version.

 

[cabcreaser]

Are your strings at least twenty years old? That's necessary.

I mean this in the least snarky way possible, but if Jamerson was playing an early 60s p during the 60s, those strings were not that old.

 

[Beef of the Sea]

Update:

Getting closer!

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Billyzoom]

Sounds just great! Great playing as well.

 

[nathanmiller]

Great attempt at getting James Jamerson's tone. You do sound very similar to him in those clips.

The one thing missing is the percussive "thump" when he hits a low note hard. You can hear it clearly on songs like "She's an Understanding Woman" by The Four Tops. I haven't yet heard any other bassist come close to emulating that element of his playing, it was a real signature sound.

 

[One Drop]

Sounds great!

I'm hearing a drop too much growl, LaBella DT flats will nail Jamerson's tone better, especially the big guage Old Originals. Otherwise with the grisly Frnder flats you might EQ out just a tiny bit of mids to get a smoother sound.

I'm also hearing too much sustain, which has nothing to do with tone, but with some or more foam muting the notes will thump harder and drop off earlier, giving each note that round sound that works so well in those Motown arrangements.

Nitpicking, but you asked!

 

[Beef of the Sea]

Sounds just great! Great playing as well.

Thanks for the kind words, my friend!

Great attempt at getting James Jamerson's tone. You do sound very similar to him in those clips.

The one thing missing is the percussive "thump" when he hits a low note hard. You can hear it clearly on songs like "She's an Understanding Woman" by The Four Tops. I haven't yet heard any other bassist come close to emulating that element of his playing, it was a real signature sound.

That is by far the hardest part. I'm getting a little closer every time I experiment, but man... I've figured out two key elements of achieving that thump: 1.) more foam muting than you think you need, and 2.) the older my strings get, the "heavier" the E-string thump gets.

Sounds great!

I'm hearing a drop too much growl, LaBella DT flats will nail Jamerson's tone better, especially the big guage Old Originals. Otherwise with the grisly Frnder flats you might EQ out just a tiny bit of mids to get a smoother sound.

I'm also hearing too much sustain, which has nothing to do with tone, but with some or more foam muting the notes will thump harder and drop off earlier, giving each note that round sound that works so well in those Motown arrangements.

Nitpicking, but you asked!

Thanks!

Actually, in that SoundCloud clip I was using the 760FS set of LaBella DTFs, although they were fairly new at the time.


Uploaded a quick cover clip of Marvin Gaye's live version of "What's Happening Brother", and I'm liking the tone more and more.

 

[One Drop]

I think that signature thump and hard attack to the notes were also a combination of tape saturation, the heavy guage LaBellas (all the lighter gauges have a bit less thump and more twang) and his hook finger, which must have been heavily calloused.

 

[Oddly]

Sounds pretty damn close to me.
For me, that's pretty much THE definitive bass tone.

 

[btmpancake]

I've been on a quest for a while now to get a tone as close as possible to James Jamerson's for when I want that Motown sound (who hasn't?).

This is the closest I've gotten so far.



What do you guys think?

You asked? Ok; Don't add too many notes in your triplets, its throwing off your timing trying to fit them in. Tone is excellent, your volume is for demo purposes of course, and you should sound awesome in the mix with those tone settings-GOOD JOB IMO.

 

[fason]

Those sound wonderful!

I'm actually replying to give my humble compliments. But let me say that if I was trying to get that sound, I would also consider incorporating the hook finger as @One Drop said or at least playing just a tad closer to the neck.

Again, great sound & playing