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Looking for a Muse Tone

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davecanady

Aug 24, 2008
134
2
#1
I've been up and down the bass effects rack at G.C.

Can anyone tell me how to get the tone for Time is Running Out by Muse? It may not even be the bass, but I'm the one having to generate the sound for our band.
 
#5
davecanady said:
I've been up and down the bass effects rack at G.C.

Can anyone tell me how to get the tone for Time is Running Out by Muse? It may not even be the bass, but I'm the one having to generate the sound for our band.
Click to expand...

MUSE tone on tunes has been discussed here many, MANY times. Use the search function and I'm sure you will find it very quickly ;)
 
#7
Like I said...not much luck with the searches. I tried "Muse". I tried "Time is Running Out". I used "Thread". I used "Post". I have learned that people don't know what bass is being played, let alone what effects. One person said it's a Big Muff. Then there was big argument about that not being correct.

Thanks Sean S for your synth thought. It sounds logical. I hate to have to buy one for one song. Oreo... I have to find out what a ring mod is.

Wasted....Muse may be discussed a bunch but I went back 40 threads listed under a Muse search. Not much on the specific subject of generating that one tone.
 
#11
you an get close with a fuzzbox. but not a big muff. it needs to have a really tight fuzz. id try the MXR el grande fuzz.
roll the tone to about 3'oclock, fuzz to just about 8'oclock and use the deep switch, but not too much bass boost.
also, it sounds like theres a clean signal running alongside.
i just tried this setup. nailed it to my ears
 
#15
how much money you got?

his sound, like many elusive sounds, is/are expensive. his pedal board is immense, and im pretty sure hes got a deep impact for most of his synth sounds, and from what i hear, those arent easy to find.

even his new live racks are filled with several line 6 processors, which im sure arent cheap.

also ricks, american J's and pedulla basses will be needed.

oh.. and you'll have to swap bodies and brains with chris wolstenholme (that should have been your search keyword, BTW).

to be honest, id just get a tight synth sound that you enjoy.. not go after his. as long as its nice and tight, people will get the point and it will sound good.
 
#16
MXR Blowtorch can nail most of the Absolution-Black Holes
fuzz sounds. From Starlight and Butterflies and Hurricanes
through to the heavier stuff like Stockholm Syndrome.

Also never underestimate how much difference in tone
you get from your playing, you'll notice that Chris just clips
the notes with the tips of his fingers when playing fast,
then digs in a bit on Time is running out etc. I find a big
difference in sound when I do this with the Blowtorch.
 
#18
rygon said:
you an get close with a fuzzbox. but not a big muff. it needs to have a really tight fuzz. id try the MXR el grande fuzz.
roll the tone to about 3'oclock, fuzz to just about 8'oclock and use the deep switch, but not too much bass boost.
also, it sounds like theres a clean signal running alongside.
i just tried this setup. nailed it to my ears
Click to expand...

Bass Big Muff does a nice job in DRY mode IMO.
 
#19
i'm surprised that nobody has called their bluff yet...

for time is running out, muse recorded a keyboard patch over the bassline.

where live shows are concerned, it is well known that among the many effects that chris uses are 2 russian big muffs and an akai deep impact.

personally i think there is too much emphasis on the fx and not enough on the rest of the rig. remember that matt and chris use a ton of gear, each piece contributing greatly to the overall tone.

if you want to do a synthy fuzz, try a gated fuzz. el grande and BBM have nothing on this one. try a zvex woolly mammoth, devi ever bass fuzz, arger capricorn, big john hairy balls. if you want to truly nail the exact tone, use the exact same rig.

hope this is enough to kill a topic that has been revisited one too many times.
 
#20
Arguments about the exact gear / process used aside...

I agree that a gated fuzz (Z.Vex Woolly Mammoth, etc.) or an MXR Blowtorch (the only non-gated fuzz I've used which can get that synthy, buzzy sound) is your best and cheapest bet for getting close to that sound.
 

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