Perfect Chris Squire tone with Orange

[squireguy]

Well, maybe it's not PERFECT, but it's damn close. I use an active Squier Jaguar Bass with humbuckers, and an Orange CR100BXT amp. With everything except the contour dimed, and the volume on any setting, and the bass on the guitar set to 0, I can get a sound that's shockingly similar to this:




Sorry about the lack of other recordings of my setup; I don't have any recording equipment.

I <3 cheap gear.

 

[JimmyM]

Ya, all you need is a little distortion and a pick.

 

[Hamlet7768]

Ya, all you need is a little distortion and a pick.

And roundwound strings, preferably steel.

 

[Right_Butterscotch64]

I can get a good CS tone when I hit the bright switch on my amp. But in all honesty his tone really only works for Yes IMO. It's a very unique tone that suits the band well but put it in place of most others tone and it sounds thin and clanky.

 

[JimmyM]

And roundwound strings, preferably steel.

There are some flats that you could use when they're new. Chromes and Rotos come to mind.

 

[wideload]

Squire on a Squier? Outrageous!

 

[xray]

Guess I just changed my mind about Squier's. Damn close to a Ric. Good playing.

 

[Hamlet7768]

There are some flats that you could use when they're new. Chromes and Rotos come to mind.

I'll take your word for it.

 

[squireguy]

Guess I just changed my mind about Squier's. Damn close to a Ric. Good playing.

Oh no, that wasn't me playing, that was just an isolated bass clip of HOTS. I just thought that that clip sounded similar to the tone I got.

When I get good recording equipment, I'll be sure to post something. My mic's kinda busted....

 

[Rick James]

Chris used a bass amp for the lows and a guitar amp for the distortion. You can't duplicate his sound without doing that.

 

[JimmyM]

Chris used a bass amp for the lows and a guitar amp for the distortion. You can't duplicate his sound without doing that.

Close, but not quite a guitar amp. He uses a Marshall SuperBass along with SVT's.

 

[Bob C]

Chris used a bass amp for the lows and a guitar amp for the distortion. You can't duplicate his sound without doing that.

Sure you can. That's what this thread is all about. It's well documented the Squire used to use Rick-O-Sound, two amps, Rotos and effects. But he hasn't had the exact same setup all these years.

Anyway, that's what amp modeling and other simulators are all about: digitally achieving vintage analog sounds.

My only quip with the OP is that he bragged about how close he came to the bass tone in the link (CS isolated HOTS), but didn't give us his own sound clip!

 

[johnpbass]

IIRC, actually Squire did not have the stock Rick-O-Sound on his bass. He had the bass rewired to run each pickup to a separate output. Same idea though.

Again IIRC, his earliest rig was 2 Fender Dual Showman amps with Fender cabs and at some point he switched to running Sunn cabs, 612 and 610 I think, one of the Sunns being a guitar cab. You can hear the speakers on the guitar cab on the verge of ripping apart on "the Yes Album".

Later, I believe one of his Fender amps was replaced with a Sunn head.

He also had a piece of gear called a "Frequalizer", some sort of parametric EQ.

He's gone through several incarnations of his rig, but his current rig, as JimmyM said earlier, is a Marshall Superbass with 2 Ampeg SVT IIs, and 2 810e cabs. Bass pedals go through an SWR SM500 (I think) and SWR 215 cab.

Strangely enough, I used to get a "Squire-esque" tone out of my old Ampeg V4B. I used a very strange EQ setting - something weird like both Ultra Low and Ultra Hi engaged, with a slight boost at 800 on the mid selector. Of course, that was the mid/late 70s, so my memory may not be 100% accurate there! LOL!

 

[JimmyM]

And actually, you can't duplicate his sound unless you're Chris Squire.

 

[johnpbass]

And actually, you can't duplicate his sound unless you're Chris Squire.

Excellent point!

 

[denton57]

What's kinda funny looking back in time, I always wanted a Rick because of his tone even though when I bought a Ric, it never came close. Owned a 77 4001 and an 81 at different times. I thought "I have to have a Ric because that's the tone I will have".

That was before I knew crap about amps, strings, etc. Had crappy solid state gear and dead roundwounds. The only tube head I knew about was an SVT, and couldn't afford one (or so I thought). Back then (early 90's), I prob could have picked up a V4B for $200 and gotten much closer tonally. My first Ric cost me $400. Second one cost $650. i think 70's P's and J's were going for around the same $$

 

[ThisBass]

And roundwound strings, preferably steel.

Rotosound Swing Bass

 

[Bob C]

+1 to just about everything in this thread. And I'm not dissing squireguy for no sound clip. But I DO want to hear one.

johnpbass, I think you're right about CS running split pickups but not Rick-o-sound.

denton57, so true about our expectations vs reality. Lots of nostalgie there too. I remember when used Fenders were dirt cheap cuz everyone was selling theirs to buy Ricks.

JimmyM, while I don't 100% subscribe to "tone is all in the hands" I will definitely say no one sounds like Chris Squire except Chris Squire!

 

[JimmyM]

True dat. Chris is unique. Heard many tones that were in the ballpark, though. Geddy's early stuff can sound pretty Squire-like. Dave Hope from Kansas got in that ballpark with a Precision and SVT's. None have been quite like Chris', but that's ok, because Chris' tone's aren't quite like Geddy's and Dave's, either. In the end, it's all about finding your own voice, not theirs, and that's what's going to come out of you no matter what you use.

 

[Bob C]

Absolutely. As was said a few posts back, his signature sound (Of course, he does have more than one) is perfect for Yes music. Plopped into other settings, it's not the same.