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

#143
Didn't read the whole thread, but the most modern, bright, and zingy bass tone of the old school belongs to the guy that held down the bass for Slave. Mark Adams. I think Slave's first album (with the guy holding the big silver ball) was in 75', so he has been doing that type of thing longer than Marcus probably since I'm sure he refined his approach to tone before that album, but buddy gets no credit. Marcus definitely took it to another place though.

I could always picture some 60s musicians telling that young man to turn his tone knob down and stop sliding so much lol.

R.I.P to that beast.
 
#145
We could all play Marcus' actual bass and not get that Marcus tone. It's in his fingers, attack, attitude and bass (and that isn't easy to replicate either). If it was everyone who wanted the MM tone would be nailing it. Many come close while Peter Muller being the closest. But to my ears I still hear a difference between Anybody and Marcus.
 
#146
chilliwilli said:
Didn't read the whole thread, but the most modern, bright, and zingy bass tone of the old school belongs to the guy that held down the bass for Slave. Mark Adams. I think Slave's first album (with the guy holding the big silver ball) was in 75', so he has been doing that type of thing longer than Marcus probably since I'm sure he refined his approach to tone before that album, but buddy gets no credit. Marcus definitely took it to another place though.

I could always picture some 60s musicians telling that young man to turn his tone knob down and stop sliding so much lol.

R.I.P to that beast.
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I don't hear any similarity between Marcus and Mark Adams. To my ears they have totally distinct styles and tones. Marks is usually brighter and he often uses light flange and or chorus. Marcus almost always goes raw with a bigger bottom end. Absolutely two of my favorite bassists for sure because they are different.
 
#150
Re Peter Muller-IMO he doesn't really sound all that much like Marcus anyway. Sure, he's got a very similar tone, and his material sounds like The Marcus+Miles Davis era stuff. But really, he doesn't play like Marcus at all. More like Jeff Berlin, if Jeff popped on a Jazz bass.
 
#155
chilliwilli said:
Didn't read the whole thread, but the most modern, bright, and zingy bass tone of the old school belongs to the guy that held down the bass for Slave. Mark Adams. I think Slave's first album (with the guy holding the big silver ball) was in 75'
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I don't know where you guys get this idea from - there were lots of R n B bands of the mid 70s doing this - a good example is Rose Royce - the high profile bass player, Lequeint "Duke" Jobe, played some great slap grooves, the first album being released in Sept 76 - sounds like a Precision to me. By the time I saw them live, Duke Jobe was playing an Alembic.

I also saw the Crusaders and Herbie Hancock several times in the mid to late 70s - both had bass players with an upfront tone - on one occassion the Crusaders had a full on slap player called Robert 'Pops' Popwell playing a Fender Jazz - bottom line, this type of sound was a fundamental element of R and B from the mid 70s onwards - many players turned to basses with more treble response than Fenders as well - probably one of the reasons Fenders started to move off the radar from the late 70s on. However Marcus Miller's sound is subtly different on his modern solo stuff - listen to Jocelyn Brown 'Somebody else's guy' - this has M Miller with a classic 70s R and B sound.

chilliwilli said:
I could always picture some 60s musicians telling that young man to turn his tone knob down and stop sliding so much lol
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I don't know about this but I did read an interview with Marcus in which he said people told him in the early days he should be playing a pre CBS Fender - but he said he wanted a shiny new one with a new case - bet he's pleased he did - and it also goes to show the 'vintage' hoodoo was around as long ago as that.

FWIW I put DR Marcus Miller strings on my Stingray 5 and they changed the character of the sound slightly - definite Marcus feel to the sound when playing some of his lines - I believe his strings contribute to the overall nature of the sound, which I believe is not simply any old Fender Jazz with the bridge pick up high in the mix and the tone control up.
 
#159
all it takes is a HEAVY ( weight) 70's Jazz w a maple board and fresh rounds. don't really even need a Sadowsky ore, although that helps. really, any super heavy J will get close to that sound, the maple board just gives a little extra zing.
 
#160
brad houser said:
all it takes is a HEAVY ( weight) 70's Jazz w a maple board and fresh rounds. don't really even need a Sadowsky ore, although that helps. really, any super heavy J will get close to that sound, the maple board just gives a little extra zing.
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+1
Its not the biggest mystery...Some go back and forth with the back pickup position...but not the hugest deal.

PS...Hi Brad...Hope all is well.

Cheers
 

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