Nick O'Malley (Arctic Monkeys) clean bass tone

[Terry Dodd]

Hi all
I'm woundering if anyone could help me getting a clean tone similar to Nick O'Malley from the Arctic Monkeys
Specificly the tone in this performance



It's super bright and has a nice punch to it
I know he uses ashdown and amp peg amps and normally p bass's but looking for the settings on his bass, amp, pedalboard that gets him that clean tone



If it's helps here is my current set up

Guitars:
Custom build P bass fitted with Wilkinson pick ups (not the highest end pick ups but I like them)

Back up for live is a hohner Marlin jazz bass
Super cheap bass that a friend was getting rid of so I took it in, have it a set up and cleaned it up got it sounded nice

I also have a Epiphone eb3 fitted with a sidewinder and a nyt mini humbuckers

All strung with Dunlop Lemmy iron series signatures 50 to 105 gauge

Amps:

Ashdown mag c115 - 300 combo

And back up is a ashdown mag 200 head with a mag 115 - 200 1x10 can

Pedalboard (in chain order)

Hotone bass press wah/expression/volume pedal (I only ever have it on the way setting)

Boss tu3 (everyone and there mother has one of these)

Tech 21 Sansamp 3 channel programmable bass driver pre amp

Berhinger cs400 compressor/sustainer (yes the B word, I like berhinger pedals just not the plastic cases, currently looking at replacing it with a compressor with a similar sound but that I'm not scared of breaking with my size 13 boot haha)

Hartke HF44 bass fuzz (my favourite)

Boss ds1 with the Keeley seeing eye mod (my 2nd favourite)

Berhinger bod400 bass overdrive (yes the b word again, my first and longest serving pedal still going strong, considering replacing it with a boss obd3)

Hotone octa octave pedal (want to replace with a TC sub n up, far too small for me to hit and be confident I'm not going to miss it and I've never gotten a sound I'm 100% satisfied with)

Mooer envolope filter

And lastly a berhinger nr300 noise reducer

Sorry for the ramble haha
Just wanted to give people an idea of what I'm working with
So any suggestions on different pedals/setting, amp setting etc for getting the tone Nick O'Malley has would be greatly appreciate and thanks in advance

 

[Pat Harris]

It's super bright and has a nice punch to it
I know he uses ashdown and amp peg amps and normally p bass's but looking for the settings on his bass, amp, pedalboard that gets him that clean tone

This sounds like "P-bass with flats, pick, and palm muting" 101. There is a ton of space/separation between the notes, and his tone directly compliments the kick drum and vice versa. Most of the top end that I hear is coming from the attack on the kick drum, not the bass. It sounds like mostly a DI track mixed with a bit of mic from his cab to my ears.

Tone doesn't exist in a vacuum. What makes this bass or any other instrument sound great/right/cool/groovy (insert adjective) is how it's interacting with the other instruments and the arrangement. I suggest listening to some isolated bass tracks on YouTube to get you ears around what bass guitars sound like "on their own" VS. how they are perceived to sound "in a mix."

Any amp and EQ settings will likely change from room to room and stage to stage. One size does not fit all. Players at this level have great/consistent tone because they pay great engineers handsomely to know their material and how to best get every instrument slotted into the mix where it needs to be for a given song to have the best overall effect.

 

[WayneP]

What Pat said about P-bass, flat strings, etc. I’d add to that, if you want to emulate someone’s tone, you need to start with a bass like theirs.

Note the whole notes at 2:11 and following. Most fade pretty quick but, at 2:14 you hear a long sustain. That confirms what Pat said that he’s using palm muting extensively for most of the song.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

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