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MowTown "funk" tone.

#43
Bruce Lindfield said:
But there's no way you're going to emulate that with a pedal and funk is still more about placement of notes than anything else!
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Oh, yes indeed, Mr. L! Placement of notes - absolutely. I'm working hard to understand that on the deepest level that I can!

I'm just saying (I mean, this being the Effects forum, and all) that if there was a single piece of processing on the sounds you hear on the records, that'd be it (not-including vacuum valve and magnetic tape saturation effects, which can in no way be discounted from a tone/mix/production standpoint)!

Joe
 
#48
DerekTbasser said:
Haha, you could'nt get me to play a fender if my life was at stake, Unless it's an old I mean old fender like 50-60's fender, anways what other pedals to look for?


"fyi" I play a Cort artisan B series P&J Bass, with flatwounds.
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Ifyou r life was at stake? i am sure fenders real bummed about this.

in fact, thats a pretty immature comment. you really think your Cort is SO far superior product to my (now gone) fender american delux P bass (made in - oh no!- 1998?). do you think your cort artisan B gets you closer to the basses they played (back then) than an off the shelf fender does?

to your point, the guys above gave you sound advice. You didn tlike it. Pedals dont make the man.

This will help get you there too.
raise your action, add a fiber / foam mute, get any amp and run it into a 115 with no mids or tweets. MAYBE bump up the low mids if your cab is new and properly tuned. if its older and low-mid heavy, maybe not.

or, it could be a technique thing. nah. no way.
 
#49
Bruce Lindfield said:
No - that wasn't the question - specific examples were mentioned, where no effects were used by the bass player(s) on the recordings :

"Old motown funk sound, Like James Brown, Otis Redding, Blues Brothers, Otis And the Knights, And Arethia Franklin?"
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Did any of the specified examples ever record for Motown? Aretha maybe but the rest I don't think so. Stax, maybe. Regardless it's a Fender bass being played!

Jeff
 
#50
OK, we've had some fun with the OP... but let me ask my own version of his question:

If someone was using a generic PJ bass with generic roundwound strings, and a moderately clean recent-model amp with a 2x10 cab -I'm talking about a working-class Joe or Jane here, not a bass gear afficionado- ...and let's say they wanted to cop the Motown sound for a few tunes their band plays, with the rig they've already got... Let's say they've got pretty decent finger technique -what signal processing should they try, to get that sound?

Would a graphic EQ be the first stop? How about a squishy compressor? A tube simulator?

P.S. this isn't my situation, I'm still working on the technique part... :)
 
#53
DerekTbasser said:
Haha, you could'nt get me to play a fender if my life was at stake, Unless it's an old I mean old fender like 50-60's fender, anways what other pedals to look for?


"fyi" I play a Cort artisan B series P&J Bass, with flatwounds.
Click to expand...

well there is your problem. All the guys you wish to be like sound exactly as they sound no matter what bass they play. Recently a few 'soul and funk' pioneers have resurfaced thanks to Bass Player Mag and some of them still gig today on old broken down Squier bass... not even real Fenders. Everyone I've heard you praise has been a Fender guy.

FYI: that Cort has a pair of humbuckers in it... not a P and a J bass pickup like you claim.


Some LaBellas broke in for a year on that Johnson P bass and you'll be set.
 
#54
James Hart said:
well there is your problem. All the guys you wish to be like sound exactly as they sound no matter what bass they play. Recently a few 'soul and funk' pioneers have resurfaced thanks to Bass Player Mag and some of them still gig today on old broken down Squier bass... not even real Fenders. Everyone I've heard you praise has been a Fender guy.

FYI: that Cort has a pair of humbuckers in it... not a P and a J bass pickup like you claim.


Some LaBellas broke in for a year on that Johnson P bass and you'll be set.
Click to expand...
i saw old rocco with a new p bass on that bassplayer dvd, it sounded pretty dawn funky to me
 
#55
The bad fender vibe is interesting. I mentioned getting a fender tele once to a guitar player friend who wanted more distinction in his notes and the other guitar player from his band exclaimed, "Don't tell him to buy one of those pieces of crap!" For some reason or another.. people who try to put on a 'cool' or 'bad ass' image bring hating fenders in as a part of that image. Last I checked, some of the most 'bad ass' players of all time used Fenders. (The previously mentioned parties tout ESPs and Gibson SGs as the best guitars)
 
#57
Seriously.... it IS a feel, no pedal will help you sound like Bootsy or any of the other bass players of the motown day's. Practice the dog **** out of your right and left hand muting and turn the tone knob down. The best advice i could give on the subject. As far as digitech pedals, Since you only want one pedal, I would suggest checking out the BP200. It has alot of nice setting synth, wah, and there's even a setting called "vintage" that does help the bass sound a lil more "aged".. Good luck man!
Peace
 

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