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Marcus Miller's tone....secret revealed?

#22
IMO, a lot of that "Marcus Miller Tone" has to do with the following, in what I think is order of importance:

1) the fact that he uses single coil pickups; no split-coil, not stacked-coil but SINGLE COIL; that "sound" of his is a typical single-coil sound
2) the woods of his bass; he has a very bright combination being that his bass is maple and ash
3) they way he plays; by this, I mean the way he "attacks" the strings in addition to his right hand placement
4) the setting on his amp and any tone shaping that is coming from his pedals

This is what I have found to be the best way I can explain it. Just my two cents.
 
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#23
ThatCoolBassist said:
many, many, of us bassist long for that unexplainable tone best known as Marcus Miller's.

a recent comment started me thinking...

of course its the maple fret board! as ignorant as it may sound it...strangely seems true.

exhibit A.
Marcus Miller - Run for cover Cover slap bass - YouTube
exhibit B.
Marcus Miller - Scoop Bass Cover - YouTube
exhibit C.
Marcus Miller - Frankenstein [Bass Cover] - YouTube

tell me what ya think!
Click to expand...

Great Question,

Here is my opinion.
About 6 yrs ago, I was also trying to modify the sound & tone to my FENDER Marcus Miller signature Jazz Bass V. I was not really happy with it's PREAMP's use, sound, tone and EQ.

I did some search and starting calling some Luthiers, bass guitars technicians and musicians.

I finally realized that the sound that I was searching, I had found it when Many years ago, I had played a Fender Jazz bass with a J-Retro Preamp.
So, I decided to go with the John East Marcus Miller's J-Retro.
The Best thing I EVER DID.....!

And I have to point out some Important Key Elements:
1-The MM J-Retro was easy to use and handle.
2-Easy to install.
3-Great EQ...!
4-IT DID NOT ALTER THE SOUND OF THE PU's.
5-It's Response was Accurate and Solid for Fingerstyle and Slapping playing.

I mentioned that I had done some search and I had talked to some top Luthiers. To my Surprise, I called the Sadowsky co. which I truely Respect and Believe they are Great Basses.!
But, this was one of the OPINIONS I got from one of them:

That 90% of the Tone comes out of the Pickups.....


If this is true, that 90% comes from the PU's .....this explains why....? that a bass player musician that I met....said to me that MM had mentioned to him that the PICKUPS that Marcus Millers uses in his bass are BARTOLINI J Vintage PU's ....and by the way, these PU's have been Discountinued...!
If this is true....TK bass players.....next time you see Marcus, please ask him what kind of PU's he uses in his bass.?

I have been playing for about 20 yrs. & here is what I believe and I may be wrong but, You are WELCOME to judge & contribute to this dilema about MM's UNEXPLAINABLE GREAT TONE :

Probably around :
30% comes out of the PU's
30% comes out of the Preamp
20% comes out of the Body Wood core.
10% comes out of the Fingerboard.
9% comes out of your amp.
1% comes out of Strings texterity.

Again, I might be wrong....What do U THINK ?

Getting back to MM's Unexplainable Tone....I think that many important factor contribute to his sound & TONE:

His :
-Experience.
-Preamp he uses... ( some say it's Sadowsky's )
-Pickups
-Strings.

Thanks guys ........
"There is a Tomorrow for a Bass player in Music"
 
#26
conqr said:
How can TONE have anything to do with the person? You mean if MM slaps a G on the E string of his bass, hands it to me and I slap it, the TONE produced would be different?

The difference is in his vibe, feel, technique, interpretation heart soul etc etc, not actual tone of the instrument - that's electronics, materials, construction amplification, effects processing etc. I've heard many MM basses and on some setups, the tone is identical to MM's.
Click to expand...

Agree with this^ it's all about the person, technique and more than anything else STYLE. Mm has his signature style, you'd know it if they where giving you a blindfold test. If you listen to him enough.
 
#28
A good part of your tone, is in your fingers, we could all play on the same bass, and amp, not change the settings, play the same lick, and it would sound different each time. MM tech, the way he attacts the string all play a part in his tone, as in ours. It's cool to cop someone elses tone, but for me I want when other musicians hear me play they know it's me without seeing me, not thinking, man he really got MM,. or Jaco's tone. Just my humble opinion!
 
#29
I totally agree!

woody357 said:
A good part of your tone, is in your fingers, we could all play on the same bass, and amp, not change the settings, play the same lick, and it would sound different each time. MM tech, the way he attacts the string all play a part in his tone, as in ours. It's cool to cop someone elses tone, but for me I want when other musicians hear me play they know it's me without seeing me, not thinking, man he really got MM,. or Jaco's tone. Just my humble opinion!
Click to expand...
 
#31
BASSPLAYERS4HIM said:
Great Question,

Here is my opinion.
About 6 yrs ago, I was also trying to modify the sound & tone to my FENDER Marcus Miller signature Jazz Bass V. I was not really happy with it's PREAMP's use, sound, tone and EQ.

I did some search and starting calling some Luthiers, bass guitars technicians and musicians.

I finally realized that the sound that I was searching, I had found it when Many years ago, I had played a Fender Jazz bass with a J-Retro Preamp.
So, I decided to go with the John East Marcus Miller's J-Retro.
The Best thing I EVER DID.....!

And I have to point out some Important Key Elements:
1-The MM J-Retro was easy to use and handle.
2-Easy to install.
3-Great EQ...!
4-IT DID NOT ALTER THE SOUND OF THE PU's.
5-It's Response was Accurate and Solid for Fingerstyle and Slapping playing.

I mentioned that I had done some search and I had talked to some top Luthiers. To my Surprise, I called the Sadowsky co. which I truely Respect and Believe they are Great Basses.!
But, this was one of the OPINIONS I got from one of them:

That 90% of the Tone comes out of the Pickups.....


If this is true, that 90% comes from the PU's .....this explains why....? that a bass player musician that I met....said to me that MM had mentioned to him that the PICKUPS that Marcus Millers uses in his bass are BARTOLINI J Vintage PU's ....and by the way, these PU's have been Discountinued...!
If this is true....TK bass players.....next time you see Marcus, please ask him what kind of PU's he uses in his bass.?

I have been playing for about 20 yrs. & here is what I believe and I may be wrong but, You are WELCOME to judge & contribute to this dilema about MM's UNEXPLAINABLE GREAT TONE :

Probably around :
30% comes out of the PU's
30% comes out of the Preamp
20% comes out of the Body Wood core.
10% comes out of the Fingerboard.
9% comes out of your amp.
1% comes out of Strings texterity.

Again, I might be wrong....What do U THINK ?

Getting back to MM's Unexplainable Tone....I think that many important factor contribute to his sound & TONE:

His :
-Experience.
-Preamp he uses... ( some say it's Sadowsky's )
-Pickups
-Strings.

Thanks guys ........
"There is a Tomorrow for a Bass player in Music"
Click to expand...
I love Marcus too and I've been chasing that tone for longer that some of you guys have been alive (I'm guessing here).
On a 4 string it's not as hard to get as on a 5er.Mid 70's Fender good 2 band preamp ( don't boost too much ) fresh DRs and practice practice practice
At least that's what I've come to.
But you are taking it to another level!
Let me think....
9% comes out of your amp.
1% comes out of Strings texterity
Are you sure it's not 8% out of the amp and 2% Strings?
And what in the world is "Texterity?"
And if you know what that word means, could that actually be an obstacle for you on the way to actually sounding like Marcus?
I don't know....hmmm
I get it, you're messing with us...good one!:D
 
#32
Tupac said:
What? There's never been any mystery about Marcus's tone at all. It's all in the 70s jazz and low settup. He has one of the easiest tones to replicate...
Click to expand...

+1

I don't hear anything difficult to replicate there. A major part of how he sounds is him. One look at his right hand will tell you that.

That tone should be pretty easy to cop with a jazz, low action, and the pickups dropped down a bit. Similiar attack and muting should do the rest.
 
#36
I've heard other bass players using my bass and rig that sound nothing like me. Meanwhile all the different equipment I use has some variation but inevitably ends up sounding like me. Marcus could pick up my stuff, and except for not having a tweeter, it would sound like Marcus. If people think it's the gear, it's only true to a little extent. You still have to play like that.
 
#37
BASSPLAYERS4HIM said:
Probably around :
30% comes out of the PU's
30% comes out of the Preamp
20% comes out of the Body Wood core.
10% comes out of the Fingerboard.
9% comes out of your amp.
1% comes out of Strings texterity.
Click to expand...

Depends on the pickups and preamp, some preamps color the sound a lot more than others I think.

I personally would say more like 5% Body Wood core, 10% Fingerboard wood. In an A/B test I can hear a much clearer difference in bass tone when you swap fingerboard woods than when you swap body woods.

Oh and I'd put the amp at at least 30% of your tone, easily.
 
#38
KingRazor said:
Depends on the pickups and preamp, some preamps color the sound a lot more than others I think.

I personally would say more like 5% Body Wood core, 10% Fingerboard wood. In an A/B test I can hear a much clearer difference in bass tone when you swap fingerboard woods than when you swap body woods.

Oh and I'd put the amp at at least 30% of your tone, easily.
Click to expand...
LOL!
 
#39
Probably around :
30% comes out of the PU's
30% comes out of the Preamp
20% comes out of the Body Wood core.
10% comes out of the Fingerboard.
9% comes out of your amp.
1% comes out of Strings texterity.
Click to expand...

More like
40% comes out of the PU's
30% comes out of the Preamp
4% comes out of the Body Wood core.
1% comes out of the Fingerboard.
10% comes out of your amp.
15% comes out of Strings texterity.
 

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