So I've found myself in a surf rock band after years of playing metal and hard rock. I've been in it for a couple months and my name is on there band page so I guess it's going OK. What I've learned so far is that this seems to be a job for a pbass (HB 51 clone with SD 1/4 pound) and 15s (provided fender rumble). I got a tuner, chorus, comp, and a DI on my board. Is there anything I'm missing, or am i off? Only surf songs I've really listened to are the bands.
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Surf Rock
- Thread starter ghiggin1079
- Start date
Satan's Pilgrims have a great modern surf rock sound. Maybe check them out. Been liking my Broughton hpf/lpf
The P will definitely get you there, and would be my preferred tool for the job (I mean, it is for like 99 % of them for me).
Slap a little bit of reverb on there, and hang ten.
Slap a little bit of reverb on there, and hang ten.
Although they didn't think of themselves as a surf band the late Reed Diamond of Toronto's Shadowy Men On a Shadowy Planet played a Gibson Thunderbird. As always it's the player, not the instrument.
- Jun 30, 2010
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
...or a reverb pedal - I use this one set so there's the presence of verb, just enough to create a bit of depth. It's almost imperceptible in the mix but adds something nice.
Surf rock is just metal without distortion. P or J into an Ampeg with some reverb and maybe chorus/flanger and you’ll be set.
Here’s a good rundown…
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/does-anyone-have-experience-playing-surf-rock-on-bass.1451375/
The default is a Jazz Bsss, but don’t sweat being “traditional” with your gear. A friend of mine has had a high profile band, the Insect Surfers, for over four decades, and he plays a Gibson SG.
My current faves in the genre…
They also double as Nick Lowe’s backing band:
…just click on the link for this one:
(I was at that gig)
Then, the reigning queens of modern-day surf:
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I never used anything for playing surf rock except my P-bass, amp and cab. I recall this gig was a Rob Allen bass, a TecAmp Puma and Fearless 210.
Two Japanese surf basses , Yamaha Samurai and Univox HiFlier Mosrite copy. A Longhorn would do it too.
Surf rock is surprisingly broad genre with it's own micro-genres. From very old-school vibes to some Spaghetti Western tones to some almost proto-punk tunes.
So, bass sound could go in very different directions from Danelectro longhorns to Musicman Stingrays.
I had Surf Rock bend almost ten ears ago. It was more in garage rock territory so our bassist has more rock vibe into his tone. However, nothing too modern.
Precision Bass with Roundownds (mostly played with the pick).
As for pedals: light overdrive and octaver to add a bit weight and harmonics to fill more space when guitars goes higher. We played as trio, so there was a plenty of room to fill.
But again, it depends on what type of surf rock you are play.
Here are some examples of more garage tune we had:
And here is more spaced out release. Just Precision Bass straight to the amp here:
So, bass sound could go in very different directions from Danelectro longhorns to Musicman Stingrays.
I had Surf Rock bend almost ten ears ago. It was more in garage rock territory so our bassist has more rock vibe into his tone. However, nothing too modern.
Precision Bass with Roundownds (mostly played with the pick).
As for pedals: light overdrive and octaver to add a bit weight and harmonics to fill more space when guitars goes higher. We played as trio, so there was a plenty of room to fill.
But again, it depends on what type of surf rock you are play.
Here are some examples of more garage tune we had:
And here is more spaced out release. Just Precision Bass straight to the amp here:
I was in a little band that did a ton of guitar instrumentals , so we did maybe a dozen classic surf tunes. It got me playing with a pick again. It was always a joy to play that stuff.
Pandit was actually an African-American from Missouri, John Redd. Being light-skinned, he figured he’d encounter less racism as a performer if he passed himself off as an exotic foreigner.
