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Soundgarden

4001

4001

Inactive
Sep 29, 2004
5,311
3,890
60
Lake County, IL
#1
I hope I put this in the right forum......
....anyway, can ANYONE here give me any tips about the bass playing in Soundgarden???

What kind of tuning/s are used?
And can anyone tell me a bit about their bass player? What gear, amps and anything about the dude.

I am possibly joining a new Soundgarden tribute and any help to help me do as good of a job covering their music would be great.

I have Superunknown and I figure that we'll be playing a good chunk of that album. What other Soundgarden tunes are a must for a tribute band?

One thing is for sure, I have seen clips of them live and I wont be doing the antics that their bass player does while onstage. And how is playing a bass at your knees even comfortable?
 
#2
Google is your friend ("ben shepherd soundgarden equipment"):
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f36/what-effects-did-ben-shepherd-soundgarden-use-212834/
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f28/ben-shepherd-337780/
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/be...-rig-did-he-play-badmotorfinger-album-298516/

As far as tunes, I'd get Badmotorfinger and get real familiar with it. I'd expect any Soundgarden tribute to pull out "Rusty Cage", "Outshined", and "Jesus Christ Pose". Bonus points for "Big Dumb Sex" (from "Louder Than Love").
 
#3
4001 said:
....anyway, can ANYONE here give me any tips about the bass playing in Soundgarden???

What kind of tuning/s are used?
And can anyone tell me a bit about their bass player? What gear, amps and anything about the dude.

I am possibly joining a new Soundgarden tribute and any help to help me do as good of a job covering their music would be great.

I have Superunknown and I figure that we'll be playing a good chunk of that album. What other Soundgarden tunes are a must for a tribute band?

One thing is for sure, I have seen clips of them live and I wont be doing the antics that their bass player does while onstage. And how is playing a bass at your knees even comfortable?
Click to expand...

you are not worthy to play bass in this band. hope this helps.
 
#4
Bozendoka said:
Google is your friend ("ben shepherd soundgarden equipment"):
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f36/what-effects-did-ben-shepherd-soundgarden-use-212834/
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f28/ben-shepherd-337780/
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/be...-rig-did-he-play-badmotorfinger-album-298516/

As far as tunes, I'd get Badmotorfinger and get real familiar with it. I'd expect any Soundgarden tribute to pull out "Rusty Cage", "Outshined", and "Jesus Christ Pose". Bonus points for "Big Dumb Sex" (from "Louder Than Love").
Click to expand...

You are closer to trying out for this band than the other guy.
 
#9
On a lighter note...if your singer can nail Cornell`s vox, no one will care much what you or the rest of the band sounds like ! Dream gig :hyper: (joking, of course, to offset the jackass comment above). Yours is a very good question, though - upon thinking about it, he has a lot of interesting tones and textures that he employs, which usually serve the song subtlely, but are essential and undeniable - should be an interesting learning experience. Good luck !
 
#10
A fiver should cover most everything they did, or at least the well known songs. I know a few were in drop-D (maybe a few in drop-C?), but the fingerings shouldn't be too tough on a standard five string.

Also, +1 to the previous comment about vocals. Even though it was a joke, having someone that has the kind of range to sound like Chris Cornell will make for an amazing sound.
 
#13
Get the new live album, Live on I-5. if you can learn that and come close to reproducing it live, I for one would pay to see your show. Also, compare their live and studio versions of songs - no need for you to be slavish about a note for note reproduction of their studio versions when they weren't obsessed with that themselves.

Don't ignore their less popular but equally killer tunes like Birth Ritual, Beyond the Wheel (youtube the Nudedragons show from last year), Uncovered, Tighter and Tighter, Hands all Over, Incessant Mace, Like Suicide etc.

and skidrawk does have a point - being a successful SG tribute band bassist probably requires a bit more passion than owning their most commercially successful album. Doesn't mean you aren't worthy though, just that you have a lot of homework to do. Good luck!
 
#14
The one that always got me was "Burden in my Hand", that'd definitely be a big song for a tribute to know.

From what I can tell the tuning is c-g-c-g. It's a killer line with some well placed double stops. I never bothered to learn it note for note, but it's phrasing influenced a chorus I did on a recent original song of mine.
 
#16
Hawkbone said:
Get the new live album, Live on I-5. if you can learn that and come close to reproducing it live, I for one would pay to see your show. Also, compare their live and studio versions of songs - no need for you to be slavish about a note for note reproduction of their studio versions when they weren't obsessed with that themselves.

Don't ignore their less popular but equally killer tunes like Birth Ritual, Beyond the Wheel (youtube the Nudedragons show from last year), Uncovered, Tighter and Tighter, Hands all Over, Incessant Mace, Like Suicide etc.

and skidrawk does have a point - being a successful SG tribute band bassist probably requires a bit more passion than owning their most commercially successful album. Doesn't mean you aren't worthy though, just that you have a lot of homework to do. Good luck!
Click to expand...

+1
 
#19
Soundgarden used a ton of different guitar tunings throughout their albums, so your band's guitarists may have their hands full, but a lot of the tunes can be handled well on bass (if not perfectly replicated) using a few basic tunings. That band was great on grooving on odd time signatures, so practice your counting as a band.

Best I can tell, Ben Shepherd (bassist on Badmotorfinger and beyond) used 4-strings, mainly Fender P's and J's. To get Ben's look, make sure you're tall and skinny, and wear your bass as LOW as you can. He seemed to scowl a bit too, so add that to your practice repertoire.

The "heart" of Soundgarden's catalog is Badmotorfinger and Superunknown. Fans will find plenty to like on earlier records like Louder Than Love, and the later album Down on the Upside scored a few radio plays (so you might want to get familiar with a couple of those songs, like "Burden in my Hand" and "Blow Up the Outside World"), but BMF and SU are the keys. Learn those two albums inside and out, front to back.

Hint: Start your first rehearsal as a band with "Outshined" -- get that song nailed, and you'll be set to take on the rest of the Soundgarden canon.
 

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