In what way would have to modify an alder body, rosewood fretboard maple necked American Jazz bass to get the same Marcus Miller tone ???
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Marcus Tone
- Thread starter :DChilis:D
- Start date
I'm not sure but lately I've been stuck on his tone too. I'm pretty sure he has some sweet electronics for his pre amp system in his bass. Also a big thing I've been thinking is that he has an Ash body.
One piece of advise I can give is try rolling a little bit more of you neck pickup. I have a Spector Euro with P/J EMGs and I can start to approach his tone when I boost the neck pu over the bridge. You're already several steps ahead of me having a Fender jazz. As for mods I don't know where to tell you to start without feeling 100% confident.
Good luck
One piece of advise I can give is try rolling a little bit more of you neck pickup. I have a Spector Euro with P/J EMGs and I can start to approach his tone when I boost the neck pu over the bridge. You're already several steps ahead of me having a Fender jazz. As for mods I don't know where to tell you to start without feeling 100% confident.
Good luck
do yourself a favor and start over with an ash maple jazz bass. Trust me I have one of both, and although you could get a decent representation of the marcus tone with an alder/rosewood jazz, you'll only really be half the way there....that drives me crazy.
Anyway, if you get an ash/maple jazz with turn both pickups and the tone on full through any decent modern amplification system you'll more than likely be there dude.
Anyway, if you get an ash/maple jazz with turn both pickups and the tone on full through any decent modern amplification system you'll more than likely be there dude.
Is there any way I can find ash body fender jazz bass. I think they stop making them like in the 70's ??? :
There is a quicker way...
Get yourself a Zoom B2 multi effects pedal. There's a patch preset on setting C7 called "Miller's Crossing"! - This gives a very good version of Marcus' slap sound with his Fender Maple Jazz/Sadowsky preamp & huge SWR thump. Try it, I think it's very close and a fraction of the cost of buying a Miller signature bass or a Sadowsky pre for your jazz!
Get yourself a Zoom B2 multi effects pedal. There's a patch preset on setting C7 called "Miller's Crossing"! - This gives a very good version of Marcus' slap sound with his Fender Maple Jazz/Sadowsky preamp & huge SWR thump. Try it, I think it's very close and a fraction of the cost of buying a Miller signature bass or a Sadowsky pre for your jazz!
Is there any way I can find ash body fender jazz bass. I think they stop making them like in the 70's ??? :
There's the MIA RI, the Japanese 70's models, and the MM Signature.
As I've posted before, when people say 'Marcus' tone, they usually mean one of two things. If you mean the exact, unique tone that Marcus Miller achieves, then, along with his great technique, you need single coil J 70's voiced pickups with some sort of two band preamp (I believe his is a Bartolini), and a full size J body, 70's pickup spacing, and relatively heavy ash body and maple board, That will be a good platform on which to build that tone.
However, if you mean, as most people do when they say 'Marcus tone', a nice, bright, growly fingerstyle and/or slap tone, there's no reason you can't get that with an Alder/RW J bass with 60's pickup position as long as you have nice J pickups (single coil is best, but not necessary) in there, nice bright stainless stell roundwounds like DR Hi Beams or Lo Riders, and some sort of active preamp like a J Retro. You will also need a relatively modern sounding backline amp (assuming you aren't going through front of house all the time)... preferably solid state with a cab with a good quality tweeter.
Will it be that exact 'Marcus Millers' tone... no... but you don't want to really try to exactly copy anyone else anyway, do you?
One of my favorite slap tones is from a stock alder/RW Sadowsky with the stock hum cancelling J's. It doesn't sound like Marcus' tone, but many who hear it and use the more general definition of the 'Marcus tone' say that 'it sounds like Marcus'
However, if you mean, as most people do when they say 'Marcus tone', a nice, bright, growly fingerstyle and/or slap tone, there's no reason you can't get that with an Alder/RW J bass with 60's pickup position as long as you have nice J pickups (single coil is best, but not necessary) in there, nice bright stainless stell roundwounds like DR Hi Beams or Lo Riders, and some sort of active preamp like a J Retro. You will also need a relatively modern sounding backline amp (assuming you aren't going through front of house all the time)... preferably solid state with a cab with a good quality tweeter.
Will it be that exact 'Marcus Millers' tone... no... but you don't want to really try to exactly copy anyone else anyway, do you?
One of my favorite slap tones is from a stock alder/RW Sadowsky with the stock hum cancelling J's. It doesn't sound like Marcus' tone, but many who hear it and use the more general definition of the 'Marcus tone' say that 'it sounds like Marcus'
There's a clip on bassplayer.tv (I think that's where it is) were Marcus talks about his tone and shows how much of it is the preamp.
I've seen Marcus get his tone from many basses. He's not limited to just one wood combo for his sound which makes sense to me.
I've seen Marcus get his tone from many basses. He's not limited to just one wood combo for his sound which makes sense to me.
JAUQO III-X
Inactive
DR Hi Beams and drop in a Sadowsky pre
Why drop a Sadoesky pre n, when he's using a Bart pre.
I was reacting to his comment of a 'modern crisp tone' that is not necessarily Marcus-like. In general, I GREATLY prefer the Sadowsky circuit with the VTC to the Bart pre in a J Bass... just IMO there. There really is something magic in that pre with a J bass... especially the alder/RW variety that the OP owns.... the Sadowsky does a great job of getting some sparkle and growl out of that slightly more mellow wood combination to my ear while not 'sucking the J' out of the tone like some pre's tend to do (again, IMO).
JAUQO III-X
Inactive
I totally agree.
For those who may be interested in what type of pre Marcus is using.
he told me that his original Stars preamp got blown out by a DI box around 83 and after that he put a Bartolini pre in it.
Haven't you heard, Barts are dark and wooly
For me the Marcus tone is more about where you set the knobs, not who you buy the knobs from.
Órale,
Marcus tone.......check out this Cat, mullennium.com
Jazz Bass, Alder/Rosewood, EMG pick-ups, and NAIL'S that tone! Just about any Jazz Bass, preferably Ash/Maple, BUT, I also believe the player and influence's have alot to do with it, just my Dos Centavo's!
Bobbo 77'
Marcus tone.......check out this Cat, mullennium.com
Jazz Bass, Alder/Rosewood, EMG pick-ups, and NAIL'S that tone! Just about any Jazz Bass, preferably Ash/Maple, BUT, I also believe the player and influence's have alot to do with it, just my Dos Centavo's!
Bobbo 77'
Haven't you heard, Barts are dark and wooly
For me the Marcus tone is more about where you set the knobs, not who you buy the knobs from.
Most of the 'dark wooly' Bart comments are in regard to the classic Bart HC J pickups, which are quite mid present, with a very warm, organic top end. The Bart pre's work quite well with aggressive, grindy pickups (preferable single coil) to give you the Marcus tone.. obviously since Marcus uses a version of the Bart pre!
The original classic humcancelling Barts (i.e., the Hi A derived models) sound great, but would be the last pickups I would recommend for this general tone goal. IMO and IME.
I would agree with you totally though that the brand of preamp is less important than the voicing of the pickups.
Edit: I also agree that virtually any bass in the hands of a good player can generate a very pleasing slap tone... I'm being very specific in my comments to the 'Marcus tone' OP. The Marcus tone is a very, very specific tone that is a combination of Marcus technique, and the very specific instrument he uses IMO and IME.
I remember reading that Marcus' preamp was a Bartolini TCT that was MODIFIED and installed by Roger Sadowsky. I would assume that his modification to that preamp makes it voiced more like the current Sadowsky preamp (since he did not yet have his own brand of pre). I could certainly be wrong though. I agree with KJung on dropping in the Sadowsky pre.
