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"Love me two times" sound

CaptainTuna

CaptainTuna

May 13, 2011
132
1
#1
Hey guys!

Wasn't sure where to post this thread, I figured out the "bassist" section would be the closest match.

I really like the sound on the song "Love me two times" by The Doors and most others by that bassist () and would like to know if you could give me any advice on how to get a similar sound out of my bass. (bassist is Douglas Lubahn, even wrote a post on this forum once!)

It sounds very "picky". It also sounds as if the bass (frequency, not instrument) has been boosted a bit, but I don't get how to get all the rest of that sound. You can clearly hear the notes he's playing, but without all those highs I get when I play with a pick. It sounds much more clean and less clanky, while still retaining that punchy sound you get with a pick.

Not really sure on how to get it, and what I should work on, except for a little boost on the bass frequencies. Any ideas?
 
#2
really like the bass (guitar) sound from the Doors :bassist:

My best guess is a mute, foam or palm, and compression going directly into the board. Pretty common practice in LA back then.

Oh, and a Fender P bass w/flats. Doesn't have to be sunburst w/a tort pickguard, either ;)

Again, my best guess listening to it and from reading some of the techniques used, I don't know for sure.
 
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#3
Are you sure about the P bass part? I've found this in the meantime : Invalid Link Removed

One of the most prominent 995 users was Doug Lubahn, "the fihth Door", who played it for various recordings with the Doors, always using a pick. He can be heard on tracks like You're Lost Little Girl , People Are Strange, My Eyes Have Seen You, I Can't see Your Face In My Mind, Summer's Almost Gone, and Wishful, Sinful.
Click to expand...

anyway, the flats was something I hadn't considered, might really help! I'll try foam mute too, something I also hadn't thought about. I've always thought it was a more of an "EQ" approach to it.

Let's see what others have to add to this :) Thanks for your answer!

EDIT: more "evidence"

http://www.douglubahn.com/index.php/default/book_excerpts/ (notice picture of the bass, middle of the page)

talks about a Gibson bass...even if on the front page it looks like he's playing some sort of Fender bass, not sure what though.
 
#4
hmmm, I stand corrected re P Bass, though you're right, that one photo shows him playing an upside down (assuming he's a lefty) Fender of one persuasion or another. I think both the P and J were still dot necks at that time (later 60s).

I should go back and listen to that track on my stereo via vinyl or CD and not on my computer w/ $1.50 ear buds :hmm:

Anyway, give the muting and flats a try, a little compression probably won't hurt either.

Looking forward to more info on this subject, thanks :D
 
#12
Well blow me down. I've been listening to this track over and over and yes, I can hear some hammer-ons and slides going on there which can only be a bass guitar.
I used to play this song all the time in a band too but my saving grace is that we always tried to get close to the Doors live versions of it (where Ray is playing bass on that little Fender Rhodes bass unit) so I guess got that sound in my head.
It does sound very close to Ray's tone though and it works very well. I would say that you're right too and that isn't a Fender bass guitar on this recording.

An idea on how to cop this tone:

Strings: flatwounds or nicely worn in nickel rounds with a touch of foam/felt muting at the bridge. Not too much muting, you don't want to kill the notes here.

Play with a pick over the area where the neck meets the body with a reasonably high action so you can dig in hard and still get a nice organic woody sound. (when I used to play this song I would use my fingers (hard) instead of a pick but I think your man here is using one)

Oh and that B-15 flip-top wouldn't hurt!

Good luck getting there.

interesting stuff this and great to have a thread about The Doors. More Doors! :)
 
#14
jbednarski said:
It is.
Click to expand...
Any evidence to support this? AFAIK Manzarek only plays the harpsichord on that track (again, I'm talking about the studio version).

miles'tone said:
An idea on how to cop this tone:

Strings: flatwounds or nicely worn in nickel rounds with a touch of foam/felt muting at the bridge. Not too much muting, you don't want to kill the notes here.

Play with a pick over the area where the neck meets the body with a reasonably high action so you can dig in hard and still get a nice organic woody sound.
Click to expand...

Playing near the neck helps a bit indeed. I'll have to wait some more time for the flatwounds since I just bought a new set of rounds a week ago, damn! I'll see what I can get out of the things I have at my disposal (pick, EQ, foam) and I'll keep you updated!

Last thing I tried before posting this thread was EQing the 450Hz band while greatly cutting highs at >1Khz, and finally bosting some 70Hz. Still need some experimentation, as EQ on its own didn't get me far.
 
#15
My local small-town supermarket carries Bass Player magazine, how cool is that? A few months back I saw "Doug Lubahn with The Doors" on the cover... having started learning to play bass by copping his lines from Strange Days, I had to have it.

The article is specifically about recording the song Strange Days. Here are some key quotes:

"... this was an overdub session to replace Manzarek's keyboard bass.... At that point, the left-handed Lubahn played right-handed basses upside down.... His choice for the session was his flatwound-strung 1952 Gibson EB-1, played with a medium pick. His signal went both direct and through the studio's Ampeg B-15."
​

The EB-1 is supported by the book excerpts on douglubahn.com. I'm not sure what to think about the Eko article on fetishguitars.com. Did Eko build the EB-1 for Gibson?
 
#20
For certain, it was a bass guitar on this track. The only time the piano bass made an appearance on the STrange Days album is on When the Music's Over.
When playing Love Me Two Times live, it was Ray. This is definititive.
On the piano bass topic, here is mine. IT's exactly like the rare gold one he used back in the day. Ray actually used this very one on a Fender Rhodes DVD called Down the Rhodes. Here it is in my music room/office.

Raypianobass017.jpg
 

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