Mike Gordon (A tone discussion)

[Gingerbass]

I know there have been many Mike tone threads over the years but this one may be a little different. I want to use this thread to document how the average bass player can get close to that Mike Gordon sound and start an extremely in depth discussion about the nuances of Mike Gordon's fundamental tone Not the flanger or the Deep impact,(for now) we are looking into all the real wizardry that makes his basses sound the way they do.This has been a life long personal journey for me more of a quest really, chasing the depth and clarity I hear when I see a Phish show. The picture above is my current rig which I will break down in my next post. (Where the real discussion will begin) I plan to make some videos and recordings showing how to as best as possible recreate that legendary sound and hopefully get some help from y'all along the way! I'm interested in any era but mostly 1998-end of modulus era. For now feel free to share any knowledge, insight or even stories you can I just wanted to get the ball rolling. Cheers!

 

[Kaa]

Well, first, nice rig.

Second, I'm not very familiar with all the different tones he gets, however, I love the tone of his rig on the "Joy" LP.

 

[BGroovy]

Folllowing! I love that era but I've also been loving the current era with the 34" Serek and especially some of the sub bass insanity he's rattling stadiums with.

I've always wanted a Modulus and never owned one. This thread is going to be dangerous...

 

[Gingerbass]

Well, first, nice rig.

Second, I'm not very familiar with all the different tones he gets, however, I love the tone of his rig on the "Joy" LP.

That's interesting, in the studio he seems to use other basses than the Modulus at times so it would take some digging to figure out which tracks have what bass. But I agree studio Phish always has such a great bass sound. As far as his different tonal eras there are many as its an over 40year career at this point. I'll be making a video soon showing kind of how I get the 3.0 tone and my best effort on his 2.0 tone. There is A LOT to cover and I'm by no means an authority on it so I'm hoping to get some people in here with first hand experience! Thanks for the interest I am kind of exited to see where this goes.

Folllowing! I love that era but I've also been loving the current era with the 34" Serek and especially some of the sub bass insanity he's rattling stadiums with.

I've always wanted a Modulus and never owned one. This thread is going to be dangerous...

Haha cheers to all that. Yeah I don't hate the Serek by any means and I love the direction he is going currently. I actually want one. The only thing I miss is that absolute clarity and definition the B string used to have. It sounds good don't get me wrong. My best guess is honestly the new pickups he has. I would love to see the Serek with EMG's

 

[frankie5string]

As far as I know, he's put away the huge Meyer sound system he used as a bass amp and the Modulus,
and has gone with a Bergantino amp and cab setup and a Serek bass. So his current sound is a bit more old-fashioned, with more sub-bass added.

Maybe he pulls the Modulus out for certain songs, still. He has a lot of basses he never takes out in public, you'd have to ask him what he used on recordings.

 

[Stagelab]

Looking forward to this thread. The Quantum 5 and Eden stack is the foundation for that era of Mike’s live tone, before he switched to the Meyers. Are you using Ken Smith halfrounds? I heard he no longer uses them but I’m pretty sure he did throughout the Modulus era and on his Languedoc’s, too.

To anyone looking to go to the MSG shows, I have some extras.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

dont forget, you need an amazing sound guy

 

[SC Bassboy]

I'm fascinated by these great bass players that have different signature sounds over their careers. How lucky are they? I'm not sure my tone has ever been that interesting once, much less over different eras

 

[Medicine Man]

Im also a big fan of his Modulus days. What gets me in the ballpark is a Q5 with GHS pressurewounds (very "similar" to the Smiths) into a Quilter Bass Block and an Audiokinesis Hathor. Modulus Quantums have a unique attack that is hard to replicate otherwise, imho. Not that the Serek sounds bad, but that snap and clarity is where it is at.

 

[Gingerbass]

Looking forward to this thread. The Quantum 5 and Eden stack is the foundation for that era of Mike’s live tone, before he switched to the Meyers. Are you using Ken Smith halfrounds? I heard he no longer uses them but I’m pretty sure he did throughout the Modulus era and on his Languedoc’s, too.

To anyone looking to go to the MSG shows, I have some extrarifh

Looking forward to this thread. The Quantum 5 and Eden stack is the foundation for that era of Mike’s live tone, before he switched to the Meyers. Are you using Ken Smith halfrounds? I heard he no longer uses them but I’m pretty sure he did throughout the Modulus era and on his Languedoc’s, too.

To anyone looking to go to the MSG shows, I have some extras.

Right now I actually have Ken Smith taper core rounds on them just to try it out but yes I normally play with the slick rounds. I feel I have got very close to some of his sounds using the Telefunken 1.6mm derlin picks. The only problem is they only last one gig the way I play! I'm excited to make some demonstration content to show how you can get close to that sound even without a Modulus.

 

[Gingerbass]

dont forget, you need an amazing sound guy

Absolutely!

 

[Gingerbass]

Im also a big fan of his Modulus days. What gets me in the ballpark is a Q5 with GHS pressurewounds (very "similar" to the Smiths) into a Quilter Bass Block and an Audiokinesis Hathor. Modulus Quantums have a unique attack that is hard to replicate otherwise, imho. Not that the Serek sounds bad, but that snap and clarity is where it is at.

Interesting I have not tried those. I love trying new strings so I'll put em on the list!

 

[winston]

TBH my favorite Mike tones were the early records with the G&L I think? And any discussion of the Modulus - Eden - Meyer era needs to include that for a time, it seems that Mike was aping Phil Lesh’s setup down to the graphite picks, same strings, and cranking the Eden “Enhance” knob all the way up.

 

[Gingerbass]

TBH my favorite Mike tones were the early records with the G&L I think? And any discussion of the Modulus - Eden - Meyer era needs to include that for a time, it seems that Mike was aping Phil Lesh’s setup down to the graphite picks, same strings, and cranking the Eden “Enhance” knob all the way up.

Yeah I'll be talking about the enhance knob quite a bit. If u do crank it on full you have to severely eq the thing but you can get a super beefy full sound out of it.

 

[Stagelab]

Yeah I'll be talking about the enhance knob quite a bit. If u do crank it on full you have to severely eq the thing but you can get a super beefy full sound out of it.

If you’re familiar with the HX Stomp and are able to share ideas on a Mike preset or two, that would be icing on the cake. Surprisingly, Line 6 didn’t include an Eden amp or cab sim in the Stomp.

 

[jonartimus]

I'm still chasing Mike's tone from the YEM on A Live One

 

[edwinhurwitz]

One of the thing about Mike’s Modulus basses is that, for the most part, they are TBX neck throughs. They have a very different sound from the bolt ons, especially in a big room on the B string. I have both and I love the neck throughs, although the Q basses have their charms, too.

 

[Stagelab]

One of the thing about Mike’s Modulus basses is that, for the most part, they are TBX neck throughs. They have a very different sound from the bolt ons, especially in a big room on the B string. I have both and I love the neck throughs, although the Q basses have their charms, too.

Oh yeah. I think he pretty much exclusively played TBX once he got one. Started on a Quantum in ‘97. When did he switch?

I still can’t believe his first Serek was a 32”. Going from a 35” TBX to a medium scale MWII is a leap. Is he still playing a 34” MWII or did Jake make him a 35”?

 

[Stagelab]

An ask for the folks on this thread. Aside from digging into Mike’s tone over the years, it would be very cool to discuss some of his phrasing. Maybe that’s for another thread.

I’ve transcribed a few songs and played through notation of several and one thing that boggles my mind is that I haven’t come across many Mike-isms. Ya know, the same phrases appearing in different songs. Thinking about players like Jaco, he had phrases he used all over his compositions. Mike strikes me as a musician who, like Phil, has fewer stock phrases.

 

[Gingerbass]

One of the thing about Mike’s Modulus basses is that, for the most part, they are TBX neck throughs. They have a very different sound from the bolt ons, especially in a big room on the B string. I have both and I love the neck throughs, although the Q basses have their charms, too.

Edwin!! It's been a while my friend! I think the last time I saw you was in the bathroom at roads Good to have you in the discussion! Also that is something I'm unclear on I would love to know if all of them were tbx or not. My bass is a 1999 with a Redwood Burl top and I have been extremely surprised how much more it sounds like Mike's than Brian or Fleeb's basses (which I have played) granted they have a different top wood the biggest difference is they both use the Bartolini pickups where as I have the EMG setup. I think the 35" bolt on has some different tonal qualities that I like compared to the 34" tbx Mike used till recently. I'll be doing some demonstrations for folks on here that I think will be pretty informative on achieving a "Mike Like" sound. I will say that AlembicXModulus 6 string tbx you have might have the best sound B string I've ever heard!