I have a fretless Jazz and keep reading about the difference between the Jaco and Mick Karn tone. How would you describe the Mick Karn tone? We know you favour the bridge pickup and use rounds to get the Jaco tone, can I achieve the Mick Karn tone with a fretless Jazz bass?
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Jaco and Mick Karn fretless tone
- Thread starter the low one
- Start date
I don't think you can - it's a very different sound to a Jazz bass!
I remember reading an interview with him in International Musician magazine - when he was in Japan and he explained how he would play his bass lines in the studio and they ended up being out of tune with everything else! But David Sylvian liked the lines so much that he re-did everything else to fit around them!
Maybe the answer is to play out-of-tune or adjust your intonation ....badly!
I remember reading an interview with him in International Musician magazine - when he was in Japan and he explained how he would play his bass lines in the studio and they ended up being out of tune with everything else! But David Sylvian liked the lines so much that he re-did everything else to fit around them!
Maybe the answer is to play out-of-tune or adjust your intonation ....badly!
Yeah, IMO his fretless tone that you hear on most things is very much a product of the Wal basses he plays. if you listen to a recording of him playing another kind of bass, it doesn't sound so much like the classic Wal tone people know and love from him.
Both are great tones.
The Jaco tone has become the norm.
I prefer Mick Karns Wal tone. (Not better, just different)
I made the point when I started this thread of saying and instead of or or vs because they do both have great tones. I'm just interested to see if I can get a Mick Karm type tone from my fretless Jazz using pickup selection and preamp EQ. To my ear it's favouring the bridge piclup and boosting the bass on the preamp but not the mids as much as the Jaco tone. Mick's tone is darker than Jaco's.
The Mick Karn tone is quite similar to the Audere tone demonstrated on the Audere web site sound clips page where the guy uses a fretless Jazz. Not the same I know but it got me thinking.
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The Mick Karn tone is quite similar to the Audere tone demonstrated on the Audere web site sound clips page where the guy uses a fretless Jazz. Not the same I know but it got me thinking.
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To me I find that the single coil pickups of the jazz bass always impart too much of a "nasal" midrange characteristic, especially in the upper mids, to be able to pass for a Wal sound.
I'm sure that with the right preamp and playing technique you could probably do a pretty decent take on Mick's sound, but if you're really serious about getting it, you'll need to spend some money.
The common way to replicate the Wal tone is often said to be:
1) Get some custom pickups with the coils and wiring made to replicate Wal pickups. If this is impossible, find some big humbuckers with a naturally dark sound. IMO, Bartolini do this well.
2) Get a custom preamp from ACG with the low pass filters.
3) Put them in a bass with a mahogany body and and ebony fretboard.
I'm sure that with the right preamp and playing technique you could probably do a pretty decent take on Mick's sound, but if you're really serious about getting it, you'll need to spend some money.
The common way to replicate the Wal tone is often said to be:
1) Get some custom pickups with the coils and wiring made to replicate Wal pickups. If this is impossible, find some big humbuckers with a naturally dark sound. IMO, Bartolini do this well.
2) Get a custom preamp from ACG with the low pass filters.
3) Put them in a bass with a mahogany body and and ebony fretboard.
+1
There's a touch of neck pickup mixed in with the bridge pickup to his Wal tone. The heavy action involves swinging the finger a bit more than usual on to the strings.
The most dominant element is VERY heavy vibrato (usually on the upper notes and usually over a semitone - sometimes 3 tones.
There is also a panning effect - probably a subtle use of delay.
The answer is, no, you'd have trouble replicating the tone on a J Bass IMO.
His tone in this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O63pPSrW-Co
Is (don't laugh) reminiscent of Gene Simmons' tone back in the 70's using his custom made Spector (which recently sold for $30,000) which is clearly heard here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWkLOrfDAo4
Also not a bad bassline...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O63pPSrW-Co
Is (don't laugh) reminiscent of Gene Simmons' tone back in the 70's using his custom made Spector (which recently sold for $30,000) which is clearly heard here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWkLOrfDAo4
Also not a bad bassline...
This well worth a listen if you like Mick...great playing, great tune! Such a unique way of playing the fretless.
The Mick Karn tone is my favorite fretless tone. Big fundamental, lots of growl, heavy vibrato and sliding. His melodic approach is really surprising and inspiring (for me at least)
Maybe wiring the Jazz pups in series will get you closer? Gives a bigger, darker tone.
