I've been tone chasing the Precision gutteral 'clank' for years....

[BigEarl]

Sounds like what I like out of my bareknuckle loaded satellite neckthrough P with a maple board(I imagine the tokai hard puncher would be in the ballpark too!). I use a pick, nickel rounds and light overdrive, which compresses it a little.

I tried replicating that tone with a MIM P and an ashdown CTM30 but whenever I dug in it sounded awful, it just bottomed out -maybe it needed different technique or set up, maybe the MIM was a lemon.

I suspect the clank comes more from a combination of bass, technique and setup more than effects-for me the overdrive refines my clank more than making it in the first place.

+1 The best clank is the natural clank.

 

[toomanyslurpees]

Funny, the thread title made me think of Don Binns from the Sons of Freedom, I happened to have worked with him about 16 years ago and he lent me his bass on two occasions... I can tell you that tone is a 72.. I think... or 73 maple neck Pbass with an old dimarzio, played aggressively with a pick through an Svt and an 810... he played on the Econline Crush album that had 'Sparkle and Shine' on it... I loved the bass in that song and it was on the radio right when I got my license... little did I know a couple years later I'd get to play that very same bass... oh yeh, and that SVT should be cranked, Sons of Freedom had a reputation on being the loudest band in Vancouver

 

[Dbassmon]

Stainless Steel Roundwound Strings - Rotosound Swing Bass Strings
Sans Amp
That should get you plenty of ziz and clang.

 

[onosson]

Personally, I think it comes mostly in technique, attacking the strings straight down with the fingertips vs. plucking across and/or with the pads of the fingers... ymmv.

 

[FantasticFour]

That '77 USA P has a sound I could only dream of! Alas, all my basses have rosewood fretboards.

Well it's also the only one from the 70s and the only one with an ash body. So it's not necessarily (just) the maple neck?

My personal favorite was the Japanese one. It had a nice growl but also a warm and fat sound.

Agreed. And I ended up buying a MIJ Precision (but it's alder).

 

[ThudThudThud]

Am. Std. Jaguar bass can make the clanky Precision sound I hear in my head better than a lot of Precisions.

 

[gjohnson441496]

(77 P Bass) /(Ash + Maple) + (Rotosound roundwounds) = clank
I jest. As others have stated, you can also get it from an alder + rosewood. I think the Rotosound rounds are the key...

 

[pbass2]

Roto swing steels on a P (or perhaps nickel if you want less clank) will get you there.

Yep--to me, Roto 66 steels on a P (with a maple board, even better), with a pick is one of the classic rock bass sounds. And, it's very easy to achieve usually, and records great for lotsa rock styles.

 

[bass71]

The word is actually clang.
High action, fresh medium weight rounds, heavy pick and 70's SVT rig with the gain at 50% = P bass clang in spades.

Here it is

 

[chaosMK]

Clank is all in the fingers.

Source: 15 yrs experience clanking

 

[ThudThudThud]

Yep--to me, Roto 66 steels on a P (with a maple board, even better), with a pick is one of the classic rock bass sounds. And, it's very easy to achieve usually, and records great for lotsa rock styles.

Or, if I'm playing Roto 66 steels on a P (with my odd sweat chemistry), it's the clankiest thing ever for about six and a half minutes...

 

[garp]

My Fender P-bass Reissue '70 MIJ with maple fretboard was a Clank town.

Hmmm..."Clank Town"...there's definitely a country tune in there somewhere...if so, all royalties go to ME.

 

[RED J]

Here's some more P grind. I can hear the diff in the maple neck w/o even trying.

 

[Ric5]

The thread below is great - but I want to start my own...

I want my P Bass to be clankier/have more zing

I have been pursuing the Precision gutteral 'clank' for years - This tone is an elusive one to describe. and I'm not talking about fret buzz. It's a buzz free- resounding piano pick sound.

Here are a few examples ( I wish I could recall some good sound clips).
I recall John Wetton in UK (opening for Jethro Tull - yes, a long time ago).
A fairly obscure pre- grunge band from Vancouver called 'Sons of Freedom'.
Tommy Stinson in either G+R or the replacements.
Karl Meuller in Soul Asylum.

The other day in a music store to plucked away at a Fender American Standard 'Dimension' and it had that 'clank' tone unplugged. Also a friend had a Tokai 'Hard Puncher' P Bass that had the 'clank' for days. This leads be to believe it's a Light weight body/maple board/string thing as much as a compressor/preamp/amp/speaker thing.

It's not just a question of scooped mids.

Someone in this thread said Seymour Duncan quarter pounders help....I'm going to check out a ESP Vintage 4 Reliced' Tommy Stinson thing)today to see if it has that 'mojo'. For record I have owned 4 P basses, 2 Jazz's and three Musicman Sabre/Stingrays - and it has eluded me. I've owned SVT's , GK800 RB's and a Trace Elliott - I have never really delved into compression until now. I'm also going to try stainless steel strings (Gauge ?)

Just wondering if the tone I'm looking for rings a bell.

Maybe you want a Rickenbacker ...

or a p-bass like this one ... the MM pickup can be toggled to single/series/parallel. It has a 3 band preamp. I can dial in real clank.

 

[RED J]

This is more like "plank" kinda zingy but I like...

 

[Gaolee]

When I think of an angry piano sound, it's coming out of a Ric or Thunderbird. I can get a sound that's a dead ringer for a hard struck piano out of the 2001 Thunderbird strung with DR Sunbeams or Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats. That may or may not be the kind of clang anybody else wants to make, but I sure like it.

 

[warrplayer]

Ash? Maximum clank was achieved for me with a USA Peavey Millennium. Alder body with a maple top. MM and jazz pickups rolled to favor the MM. Birdseye maple neck and fretboard. I had to switch from steel strings to nickelwound
To cut down on the clang/clank a tad. Medium string hight so i can adjust clank factor by digging in more. Get nice a syrupy compressor so the clank just kind of hangs in the air even as the notes are fading. I use a modded cs-3 but the pigtronix stuff is great too.

 

[Planespotter]

Bright strings and a heavy right hand.

 

[BrianVengeance]

Great song, skip to 1:10 for the goods. One of my favorite bass tones of all times.

 

[lgrankin]

I remember talking to Don Binns from the Sons of Freedom back in the day and his tone came from a maple boarded p-bass pumping an old SVT rig with a mic'd up cab. He also played with a pick and beat the crap out of his strings. They had some great tunes...