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the misleading P/J concept (Wilbur Bascomb)...

#82
Great WB tracks, but I'd have to wonder how his bass was recorded before I'd think a PJ config is important in the construction of his tone.
To be honest, to my ear it sounds like a lot of recordings of the time period. Probably has a lot to do with his signal chain, strings, and primarily his hands.
 
#85
williamk said:
anyone can tell me which is the best sounding fender P/J out there (it's not that I'm a gear snob, it's just that I want the fender sound), other than the aerodyne jazz? (which I've tried and found bleh)
Click to expand...

Aerodyne Jazz has the P-pickup in a Jazz Bass neck position (closer to the neck) so it doesn't sound like a Precision when you solo the neck pickup and also sounds different when both pickups on (more like a Jazz Bass) compared to a Precision -style P/J -bass.
 
#86
williamk said:
eargasm:


I really cant say if these are rounds or flats though...
Click to expand...


My guess: rounds, definitely two pickups, perhaps P/J but I'm thinking JJ, probably an active preamp or some sort of outboard circuit. Definitely into the board, with some high-class processing - compression that does not stomp the life out of things, and some sophisticated EQ work. Hey, it was a Hollywood "rock" musical - you KNOW they spent some $$$ on the sound.

And Mr. Bascomb sounds GREAT!
 
#88
Sounds to me Wilbur plays PJ on Hair soundtrack. Fully opened P with a little J in it, opened tone. Than some kind of preamp with fair amount of drive (thus with a little of compression) and diminished presence (thus adding brilliance to sound, you can definitively hear that sparkle on soundtrack). In short - PJ with Sansamp-ish preamp. My Sansamp sounds pretty similar with my PJ.

One more thing - P and J pickups models combination affects sound a lot. My recommendation is to use medium output (Fender vintage type) P pickup, and for J - something that has a little more bite in mids. Seymour Duncan SPB-1 and SJB-3b worked for me.
 
#90
williamk said:
hi all
my all time favorite bass tone is the one that Wilbur Bascomb has (look him up if you don't know him, he's amazing). Here are perfect examples of his tone and style:



these are excerpts from the movie Hair; if you have the CD soundtrack, it'll obviously sound better than these youtube videos, but you'll get the general idea by listening to these.

To me it's the perfect bass sound, that fits remarkably well in the mix and seems to fit any style (if you listen to the whole Hair soundtrack, you will see what I mean).

As a bassist, I have tried for years to try and emulate his sound and playing style, and have done a lot of research to see what gear he used; there is surprisingly little info on this guy (what a shame, he's genius!). However, I discovered that he played a fender p-bass (so far that was pretty obvious) but I've played many p-basses and I could not sound quite like this. I also later discovered that apparently he had a j-bass pickup installed at the bridge, which might explain that extra "nasal" quality.

I then bought my first P/J...and that worked even less! Is it just me or when a p PU and j PU are played together, the sound is terrible? No mids at all, impossible to cut in any mix.
Was my bass just a bad one (an aerodyne with upgraded PU's)? Maybe a better match of specific PU's works better? Is the P/J sound a scooped/muddy one?

What's the secret to this guy's tone? He doesn't use flats because there's a lot of slap. It sounds like a p-bass with an extra kick, but I have yet to hear a good P/J sound. Any P/J guys out there to help?

I'm seriously ready to do all it takes to have that sound.
Help another "I wanna sound like this guy" guy!
And enjoy Wilbur Bascomb if you don't know him yet!! ;)
thanks!
Click to expand...


I can get almost the same tone as this with my Ash bodied P-bass with maple fretboard loaded with Dimarzio model P and a model J in the 70's bridge position. Try using GHS bass boomer rounds 105-45.
the tone is pretty much there no matter what I'm plugging into. Oh and you gotta bring some funk yourself! ;)

Hope this helps. :)
 
#91
Most of my basses are P-J's - great configuration in a quality bass. Big part of tone is finding the right strings, pickups, woods, and setup. Check out the clips on my Youtube page - plenty of mids, and certainly not a weak tone.
 
#94
Just a quick note to gloat that I saw the revival of "Hair" on Broadway several years ago, and the rhythm section was Wilbur Bascomb and... Bernard Purdie!!
:smug:
Edit: sorry-- Bascomb and the rest of the band was onstage, but he was turned away from me and I couldn't see what he was using for pickups.
:thumbsdown:
 
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#95
This thread sent me to the music store. Played over a dozen different basses. The one that had the sound I hear in my head when thinking of Bascomb? A used Squier Jazz. Passive 4 string. Sounded great, in fact better than anything else I played. And it was inexpensive! It has these issues:
- bowed neck
- strings too low
- pickups too high
- fret sprout

The neck could be adjusted correctly via the truss rod. But they don’t do those adjustments for used instruments (why???). Once that’s done, of course the string and pickup adjustments would be easy. At this moment, slapping whacks the strings against the neck pickup.it’s the final issue that bothers me, the fret sprout. They have a new one in the store, and fret sprout is even worse on that bass.

Then I came home, made a slight pickup adjustment on my Peavey Grind… and I’m content with having saved some hundreds of dollars :bassist:
 
#96
coyote1 said:
This thread sent me to the music store. Played over a dozen different basses. The one that had the sound I hear in my head when thinking of Bascomb? A used Squier Jazz. Passive 4 string. Sounded great, in fact better than anything else I played. And it was inexpensive! It has these issues:
- bowed neck
- strings too low
- pickups too high
- fret sprout

The neck could be adjusted correctly via the truss rod. But they don’t do those adjustments for used instruments (why???). Once that’s done, of course the string and pickup adjustments would be easy. At this moment, slapping whacks the strings against the neck pickup.it’s the final issue that bothers me, the fret sprout. They have a new one in the store, and fret sprout is even worse on that bass.

Then I came home, made a slight pickup adjustment on my Peavey Grind… and I’m content with having saved some hundreds of dollars :bassist:
Click to expand...
For what it’s worth…Bascomb was the tour bassist for Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow jaunt in the summer of ‘75, with Bernard Purdie on drums. I saw the show in Tulsa, OK(a co-tour with the second Mahavishnu Orchestra), and as far as I can remember, he had a basic Precision, no mods or anything like that. This was before that sort of thing became all the rage, so it would have stood out. However, I came across this article…
www.guitarworld.com

“George Martin wasn’t going to leave his own studio, and Jeff never gave directions or said much, so there was nobody telling us what to do”: Listen to Wilbur Bascomb’s bassline on Jeff Beck’s Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

New York session bassist Wilbur Bascomb Jr. recorded on Jeff Beck’s 1976 version of this Charles Mingus ballad
www.guitarworld.com www.guitarworld.com
And my memory definitely could be fuzzy after 50 years.
Bascomb did many tracks on that album, and got a bit of a solo spot…


But it still sounds like a straight ahead P to me.
 
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#97
Michedelic said:
For what it’s worth…Bascomb was the tour bassist for Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow jaunt in the summer of ‘75, with Bernard Purdie on drums. I saw the show in Tulsa, OK(a co-tour with the second Mahavishnu Orchestra), and as far as I can remember, he had a basic Precision, no mods or anything like that. This was before that sort of thing became all the rage, so it would have stood out. However, I came across this article…
www.guitarworld.com

“George Martin wasn’t going to leave his own studio, and Jeff never gave directions or said much, so there was nobody telling us what to do”: Listen to Wilbur Bascomb’s bassline on Jeff Beck’s Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

New York session bassist Wilbur Bascomb Jr. recorded on Jeff Beck’s 1976 version of this Charles Mingus ballad
www.guitarworld.com www.guitarworld.com
And my memory definitely could be fuzzy after 50 years.
Bascomb did many tracks on that album, and got a bit of a solo spot…


But it still sounds like a P.
Click to expand...

None of the P basses in the store sounded anything like it (Wired is my main Bascomb reference btw). It was just this one bass that the moment I plugged it in I was like YESSS!! Wired is IMO one of the preeminent recordings of that era. I know Sir George Martin never liked his work on it, but I love the sound of it as well as the playing. I recently got the Clavinet part for Play With Me under my fingers. To my ears, that’s the most bad-ass Clavinet ever to be recorded. So syncopated! Max Middleton is the unsung hero of that era of Jeff Beck.
 
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#98
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