John Entwistle Bass Sound

[bigtexashonk]

Maybe this way?

ashdown bass cabinets that belonged to John Entwistle o - eBay (item 190532141271 end time May-17-11 21:26:36 PDT)

 

[oddio]

In the Who's heyday his bass sounded like a bass!

+1

Jon was the "god of Thunder" for the majority of his career, but at the end his tone was tending more towards that of a synth than a bass.

 

[Lowbrow]

I have to say, that Buzzard bass.......ugly. I admire Entwhistle as much as anyone and his Little Manhattan is truly overpowering, but that bass is UGLY.

I am so glad I'm not the only one who believes this... and also glad that someone else said it first.

That bass is ooglier than much of JAE's wardrobe, which is saying something.

 

[Lowbrow]

Hmmmm............
I don't know if I'm in the minority here but as much as I love Entwistle, and I love him, I thought his tone was terrible at the end of his career. Too much treble, too much distortion.
In the Who's heyday his bass sounded like a bass!

+1. Live at Leeds = amazing. Later tonality was an evolution that did not building on that great sound, IMO.

 

[Lowbrow]

P.S. While much JAE gear detail appears at thewho.net, for the lowdown on the massive mid-70s Sunn rig seek out the November 1977 issue of Guitar Player on eBay. A scan of the applicable article page below - telling quote: "Entwistle's system was so powerful that there was no need to mike it and run it through the PA." They were playing STADIUMS, TBers!
Side note to wattage lovers: Though the rig included a total 1,200 watts in Sunn power amps, Bob Heil, who designed the rig, estimates that JAE wasn't utilizing more than 500 watts at any one time - his volume was due mostly to signal splitting for fidelity and the massive amount of designated cabs in use.

 

[Orangeclawhammr]

I assume you mean luthier, but what do you mean put the strings on the other side of the frets?

If you mean the word for the guys who build/fix stringed instruments, I guess so, but I have more fun bugging my friends by referring to th.em as I did in my post. Oddly enough, I still have friends.

I don't know where to look for the quote, but I knjow I read somewhere that JE told his techs that he wanted the strings on the other side of the frets. I thought it was a reference to how low the action was on his basses.

 

[Gotta P]

quote: but I knjow I read somewhere that JE told his techs that he wanted the strings on the other side of the frets. I thought it was a reference to how low the action was on his basses.


Yup, that's what he meant, lower than low action.

 

[Luke.Walton]

Ah, of course. I thought that might be it, but I wanted to make sure, haha thanks