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Is this tone attainable on a typical jazz?

B

b4nny

Aug 24, 2008
246
3
31
Bellevue, WA, USA
#1


If you don't fancy the song, fast forward to 1:50 to hear this amazing tone. Clearly he is using an American Jazz, but do you think it must have been modded (pickups specifically) to get this tone? I own a VM Jazz and it doesn't get too awfully close. The bass I own is made of maple and, being a budget bass, doesn't have the best quality pickups. If I could hypothetically change just one thing, would the body wood or pickups (or other, currently using relatively young Roto flats) make the biggest difference toward this?
 
#5
I actually looked into his recorded tone once and a lot of that grind in the tone comes from the Mesa 400 Tube head he uses as well as a pro co rat pedal not necessarily the bass itself.
If you get yourself an overdrive pedal to play around with that might be a good place to start.
 
#6
I am well aware of his recorded tone on this song - crazy stuff. But I am sure that I would need a pick, fresh rounds, and a big tube overdrive, none of which I have right now. The live tone is great as well, and he used his fingers. (Even though he always played fingerstyle live, and was known to play flats, I'm positive he used a pick very often in the studio, some of his tones on that album are just impossible with fingers.)
 
#7
In addition to what's already been said, he detunes to a low B, but as I recall from seeing them live around that time, they were tuning between songs, so I'd guess that's a low B, but with an E string, so it'd be really floppy - that'd have to contribute too...
 
#12
Don't forget, of course, that he is doubling a guitar part most of the time-this fattens up everything, a lot.
But anyway yeah, sounds like a Jazz bass to me. Through a loud amp, sure, the Mesa named above. A great sound, in a great band. Unmistakable Jazz tone, though. Doable by mortals, I think.
 
#14
b4nny said:
Clearly he is using an American Jazz, but do you think it must have been modded (pickups specifically) to get this tone? I own a VM Jazz and it doesn't get too awfully close.
Click to expand...

You're correct. I can't go into the bedroom and get the issue as the Better Half is asleep (and would kill me if I awoke her :help: ) but I found a similar question about Ben from a thread in 2005 and will repost my answer from that here:

I know this is pretty early in his career playing in Soundgarden, but in the "Maxxed Out!" March '93 issue of Bass Player his only effect is a ProCo Rat dictortion pedal, which he used on "Searching (With My Good Eye Closed"). He's quoted as saying, "I pluck the strings on the headstock to make it sound like a piano; that's the only part I use the Rat on."

Basses at that time were two '72 Jazzes (his main bass Black purchased as a shell and outfitted with Duncans, Tort guard and a BAII bridge, the other might have been retrofitted similarly) and amplification was a Mesa/Boogie 400B head, two Mesa/Boogie Strategy 500 stereo power amps with a third as a backup, a Peavey CS 1200 power amp crossed over for lows, running into four 4x10 and four 2x15 Mesa/Boogie cabs.

And as Beej posted, I recall from the article Ben did have a Hipshot Bass Extender tuned down to B from standard tuning. It must have been Flop City, but different strokes for different folks... :smug:
 

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