• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Paul Simonon's sound help

#21
Glad I came across this thread. And a lot of people have answered you accurately. The Clash are a top 5 favorite band of mine and other then Dee Dee Ramone influencing my pick playing, Paul Simonin is the other reason why I started using a pick. Paul Simonin is arguably my biggest influence. Between the reggae punk mix and playing both with a plectrum or fingers and using a p bass. Anyway the ric was used on the real early stuff but he didn't use it long as he was quoted in saying that the bass was to light, it didn't have a density to it and it was stringy sounding,so he ended up getting a fender standard p bass. He prefers heavier basses, and once he got the p bass instantly he noticed a fuller sound. The London calling p bass was his best sounding bass and he regrets smashing it. He uses your classic Ampeg SVT RIG, and I'm not 100% sure on what kind of strings he uses but I would believe they were most likely Rotosound round wounds. The other he may use or EB or Daddorio but I'm not to sure. His tone is a cool tone, nuthing out of the ordinary though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Squittolo
#22
The irony is that there are luthiers on this forum that could probably restore the smashed London's Calling bass, either with the damage visible or expertly patched up and hidden. Some of the guys on the Les Paul forums that can repair necks that have been smashed to smithereens, then repaired with woodscrews and Bondo. The Simonon bass has a split body and neck broken in half, with some of the fretboard and pickguard missing. Totally repairable, in my opinion. Perhaps worth more as a smashed cultural icon at the moment though...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Squittolo and Phaidrus
#23
Axstar said:
The irony is that there are luthiers on this forum that could probably restore the smashed London's Calling bass, either with the damage visible or expertly patched up and hidden. Some of the guys on the Les Paul forums that can repair necks that have been smashed to smithereens, then repaired with woodscrews and Bondo. The Simonon bass has a split body and neck broken in half, with some of the fretboard and pickguard missing. Totally repairable, in my opinion. Perhaps worth more as a smashed cultural icon at the moment though...
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree anymore. I've herd and read stories of bass and guitars that were smashed literly in pieces that were put back together and were as good as new. The Jaco bass of doom is a prime example of that. I always wondered why Simonin never got the thing repaired.That bass can be salvaged. Just from looking at that bass ( London calling ) you can tell it was one of those fenders that just had a great tone and feel. A
 
#24
descendent22 said:
I couldn't agree anymore. I've herd and read stories of bass and guitars that were smashed literly in pieces that were put back together and were as good as new. The Jaco bass of doom is a prime example of that. I always wondered why Simonin never got the thing repaired.That bass can be salvaged. Just from looking at that bass ( London calling ) you can tell it was one of those fenders that just had a great tone and feel. A
Click to expand...

Maybe he just doesn't care about it enough to have it repaired? he's been playing his current P since Sandinista, so he clearly likes his current bass.

image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Squittolo, murphy, Alain Decont and 1 other person
#25
I've been trying to figure out what year Pbass he smashed.. I've found a picture of the smashed bass and it looks like the serial number is on the front of the headstock.. first year the did that was in 76'? Looks like the first two characters are S6 which would confirm it was a 1976 Pbass. This is just my investigative work, I could be wrong.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3962.PNG
    IMG_3962.PNG
    529.4 KB · Views: 233
  • Like
Reactions: Squittolo and Phaidrus
#26
In his early career he had a desire to use a ric but once he started using it he felt it was to stringy sounding and had no density in the bass. He prefers heavier basses and was turned onto Fender precision. Once he started using Fender precision he never turned back. Rotosound roundwounds, ampeg SVT, and Fender p bass is the main source of his tone. It does tend to sound muffed or flatter but he does not use flats. Paul Siminon is one of my biggest influences from learning how to play bass practicing and listening to reggae, to playing Fender precision, and playing both pick and finger style.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Squittolo
#29
If/when my p bass is all beat up, roadworn, earned its every scratch ding crack and dent and its 40 years old, I'm going to leave it that way. That's the personality the instrument adopted from the bassist playing it. The beat up old p bass Siminon still plays to this day probably sounds and plays better then most modern instruments. Just like any other vintage instrument it's probably great in what it does.
 
#30
Ok... you got it all wrong dude.( OP ) A Mesa with flats? Seriously!? And you’re trying to get Paul’s tone. I’m not making fun of you but you mustn’t have a good ear or something. In my opinion Flats should NEVER be on a P Bass.defeats the whole purpose of a p bass. Personally I hate flats.Stick with the standard precision bass, with some Round Rotos. You Need an Ampeg SVT CL and an 610 or 810 Ampeg cab. Pretty simple. Fender into Ampeg.Before you even set the EQ you’ll notice that you’re right there with the tone. You want it slightly overdriven to get that growl/grind but also a good low end. He did like those reggae groove basslines which have a lot of low end. Personally I use Fender p bass specials with a Ampeg V4B and 610 HLF. Sounds ABSOLUTELY KILLER
 
#32
His main sound seems like dead round wound strings, although you may be able to get that sound with Rotosound flats. Fairly aggressive attack with a pick. Tone the way up on the rock stuff. Lots of mids. There's obviously a lot of variation within the Clash's body of work, but that seems like his main go-to sound.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Squittolo
#33
Thanks, he had more than one bass so it's feasable he used flats on at least one, or maybe it was Mick in the studio. I did change my strings yesterday, from Roto flatwounds to some already used nickel d'addario rounds and the bass seems more alive. I played along to some of the Clash songs like I have been doing most of last week and the rounds seem to cut more and I'm enjoying it a bit more than the flats and would agree it's more like his sound with old rounds, although the Roto flats were not bad at all. Much brigther than the Labellas and not as thumpy but more grindy in the mids.
But that smashed bass definately looks like it's wearing flatwounds, the rotosound roundwounds have more of a dark grayish color
 
#35
I’d be really surprised if he used flats on the clash records given the tone and what was being used by other punk bass players at the time. In saying that he played a lot of reggae bass lines and had a real bassy sound…maybe he did for some of them. Jah Wobble used them too.

Even so, when you hear isolated tracks or hear him live, it sounds very much like rounds.
 
#36
As a massive fan of old-school punk rock and bass player myself, I couldn't help myself and had to chime in; Paul used a Rick on the first album for sure, and you can absolutely hear it. It really comes thru on tracks like "Remote Control," "Janie Jones," "Complete Control,"(US) "Whiteman in Hammersmith Palaise," (US) and "Garageland"--really the whole record, it has a distinct sound. Black Market Clash is a collection of B-Sides, so maybe the first half of it is recorded using a Rick---maybe up Groovy Times/Time is Tight, but I'm not 100%. Definitely "Pressure Drop" was done with a Rickenbacker. Additionally, a bunch of UK punk bass players of that time used Ricks: Bruce Foxton (the Jam), Glen Matlock (the Sex Pistols, towards the end of his run), Alvin Gibbs (the UK Subs), Tony James (Generation X), Paul Grey (Eddie and the Hotrods/the Damned) and the fellow from the Undertones. Stateside, the bass player for GG and the Jabbers used one, as did the bass player for the Dickies, Mike Roche of TSOL, the first bass player for Social D, or at least the guy who played on Mommy's Little Monster, and Jerry Only of the Misfits, but his e.q. was so "particular" that you can't really hear it outside of Static Age, and it had some overdrive/distortion. I remember reading a long time ago that he used rotosound round wounds, as opposed to Paul's flat wounds.
As a bass player myself, I keep going back and forth between Rickenbacker and Fender, and they're both great, especially Fender P bass and the Jazz bass. For reference, I play a 2000 Fender American Standard P-bass, and really want to get my hands on a Jazz bass --had one years ago, but it got stolen out of my car--and a Rickenbacker someday, but playing live and gigging, all you really need is a *good* Fender to get by. I'm honestly kinda surprised that so many people on this thread are so up on the strings, amp/cab and sound mix, and yet you can't tell a Rickenbacker from a Fender? Also, Paul absolutely played his own basslines in the studio, aside from some tracks on Sandinista, "Rock the Casbah," and Cut the Crap. I pretty much learned how to play by playing along to him, Glen Matlock and JJ Burnell of the Stranglers. Although Fenders get a lot of attention for the first few waves of punk rock bass players, Rickenbackers were right there as well, and they deserve more recognition.

P.S. - Tony James definitely used a Rickenbacker, but I believe he also played a Gibson Thunderbird. The bass player for the Newtown Neurotics also played a Rickenbacker. If you listen to all the bands I listed, and I mean REALLY listen to the bass, you'll notice the signature Rickenbacker sound in a wide breadth of applications.
 
  • Love
Reactions: murphy
#37
Thanks, he did use a rick on the first album, but paul simonon's sound and playing is the P bass, not a rick. I mean, the majority of the recordings. I read in several books that mixk recorded some of the basslines, or at least wrote some, but paul was influenced by reggae and you can hear that in many clash basslines
 
  • Like
Reactions: murphy

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back