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Pickup type or Bass sound on "Tin Man"?

PaperbackRyder

PaperbackRyder

Supporting Member
Apr 21, 2007
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Maynard, MA
#1
Listen to America's "Tin Man". What bass/pickup makes that tone?. Very well conceived part and well performed too. Even considering signal chain may have DI, or tubes or compression etc, it sounds nothing like a Fender to my ears. Deeper & warmer with a nice bit of "bounce". Is that the sound of the BiSonic/Darkstar on a short scale? Guild M85? or maybe a late 70's EB3 with the mudbucker toward the middle?
I would like find an axe that approaches this sound. Can't find bass player credits online, but the album was produced by George Martin in England.
Anybody know about this session or familiar with this type of bass tone?
Thanks,
=JR=
 
#2
Funny, always liked the song, even played & sung it on acousic guitar, never paid much attention to the bass part - thanks, that is indeed tasty stuff. Not sure what it is, sounds like roundwounds with the treble rolled off to me, but then, I don't have the best ears any more...
 
#7
PaperbackRyder said:
Listen to America's "Tin Man". What bass/pickup makes that tone?. Very well conceived part and well performed too. Even considering signal chain may have DI, or tubes or compression etc, it sounds nothing like a Fender to my ears. Deeper & warmer with a nice bit of "bounce". Is that the sound of the BiSonic/Darkstar on a short scale? Guild M85? or maybe a late 70's EB3 with the mudbucker toward the middle?
I would like find an axe that approaches this sound. Can't find bass player credits online, but the album was produced by George Martin in England.
Anybody know about this session or familiar with this type of bass tone?
Thanks,
=JR=
Click to expand...

Hello JR. Though I don't know the answer, I did just listen to the track from my library, in nice headphones.

I considered your analysis. Though I agree that the sound is not typical of Fender, it could be a Coronado. That is, it could be any hollow body bass guitar from those years.

The sound struck me as being of a single coil pickup, though. What hollow body bass guitars featured a single coil pickup?

However, the most important thing I noticed was the articulation: that part was played with a pick. If true, then unless you're playing the song with a pick, you'll be hard pressed to emulate the original closely. (I use double thumbing/'thumb as plectrum' a lot, but I would be challenged to play that part, precisely emulating the attack and picking direction.)

Lastly, I feel sure that the bass part was recorded some kind of direct, whether through a DI or straight into the board. Any processing is tasteful, subtle, indistinct both under close inspection and within the mix. It is a beautiful recorded sound, and it is the work of George Martin.

Good luck!

Addendum: And those are flatwound strings, of course.
 
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#8
Joe Osborn playing a pre-CBS Jazz with only the neck pickup and strung with LaBella flats and using a heavy pick, as was his normal MO. Not sure how it was recorded, but that's the bass and how he set it for everything he recorded.
 
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#9
Thanks Jimmy! Ive ways dug JO's work and know about his setup, just didn't think this tune was that sound. Seeing your post i went and found a discography and BAM, there is the credit for "Tin Man". Guess I will go back to flats on my old Jazz Bass. Gotta re-learn the pick business!
 
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#10
Jimmy is right, it's Joe Osborn on a 1960 jazz bass, with heavy gauge LaBella flatwounds. I don't know if this would matter, but Joe's bass was set up with a volume and tone control for each pickup (later ones have the current setup-2 volumes, one tone control.)
 
#11
TimB 619 said:
Jimmy is right, it's Joe Osborn on a 1960 jazz bass, with heavy gauge LaBella flatwounds. I don't know if this would matter, but Joe's bass was set up with a volume and tone control for each pickup (later ones have the current setup-2 volumes, one tone control.)
Click to expand...

Thanks guys. I appreciate the feedback...ah..er..the responses. FWIW - I am not saying or even thinking that with my hands, bass & ears, I can replicate what Joe Osborn & George Martin did. Lord have mercy...that's some major-league-hall-of-fame-nectar-of-the-gods stuff right there.

My Jazz is an early (82) Fullerton '62 reissue w/stack knobs. If Joe used his 60, it also had a slab board. Not nearly the same I know. My J neck is not a deep front to back as the "real" necks and cant handle heavy guage strings, I have Fender flats 50-100 on there. Tonally, with the neck Pup solo'd it gets close. Kinda. Cant seem to use a pick without introducing some mid growl or a too-sharp attack. Fingerstyle sounds closer with my hands. I'll bet an old Pultec compressor would help put that tasty "bounce" into the front of the note envelope.

I do love that sound and want to add to my pallet of vintage-vibey goodness. Maybe I'll put the pickup cover on and practice with a pick, learning to manage that huge booming single-coil tone.

If it works out I won't need to buy an old Starfire or M85. Damn it!


=JR=
 
#16
viper4000 said:
somewhat off topic, but this song has been my ear worm for 2 days now. I haven't knowingly listened to it in a long time. Must have heard it in a store or something. Then I come here and there's a thread on it.
Click to expand...
well then...get to work!
Just ran down "Tim Man" using a pick as suggested and got close. Close enough. For now. Far easier to cop the feel fingerstyle, but that's just a matter of practice. Then tried "Horse With No Name" then some Seals & Crofts "Summer Breeze". Fun stuff for bass IMO.
Now where are my bell bottoms and side burns?
I've spent years rippng off Jamerson and Duck. Gotta get Joe up to speed now. Another of the Titans whose work I grew up loving.
 
#17
PaperbackRyder said:
well then...get to work!
Just ran down "Tim Man" using a pick as suggested and got close. Close enough. For now. Far easier to cop the feel fingerstyle, but that's just a matter of practice. Then tried "Horse With No Name" then some Seals & Crofts "Summer Breeze". Fun stuff for bass IMO.
Now where are my bell bottoms and side burns?
I've spent years rippng off Jamerson and Duck. Gotta get Joe up to speed now. Another of the Titans whose work I grew up loving.
Click to expand...

Awesome that after all these years we can still challenge ourselves!
 
#20
Osborn is an absolute gentleman. He sent me (free) a set of his signature strings through Lakland when they first came out. Very patient. In the same phone conversation he explained to me the rationale behind his signature Lakland bass line and the retirement of his Jazzes (Who wants to tour with a bass worth $8,000?).

I am most impressed with his work with America (esp. Ventura Highway) and the Association (Everything that Touches You), but I also really like this track, which I think exposes his sound more than some better-known cuts.

 

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