The way bass "should" sound

[b/o 402]

My favorite bass sound would have to be the doubled (or tripled?) line on God Only Knows. Rich, full, rounded tone, lots of lows and low mids, with some treble bite from the picked Fender part. A very simple part, not only complements the tune perfectly, but adds "weight" when that E/F#/G refrain comes in.



I could also make an argument for Jamerson's work on Side 1 of What's Going On (or Babbitt's on Side 2!)

EDIT: Quick appreciation for the arrangements of Brian Wilson. One of the reasons I dig the bass parts in his compositions is he really understands sonic space, giving the bass its own territory to work with. Especially for popular music at that time, the bass was much more prominently displayed than in a lot of other stuff coming out of LA at the time. That plus the great players he hired and the lovely counter melodies he'd write for it, it's what solidified my love for holding down the low end.

Which brings us to Joe Osborne's contribution to The Way Bass Should Sound.
Too many examples to list!

 

[DJ Bebop]

david osborn's daddy, Joe

 

[pedulla-2007]

Obviously there is no single answer to this, but I thought it would be fun to get people to post clips with their favorite bass tones. I'll start. The first 1:20 of this is pretty close to the "sound in my head."

You are forgetting the biggest element....... Markbass AMP!

 

[Robertv19]

Yeah, he mostly played a StingRay in Fugazi. And with a pick too. But somehow it doesn't sound too bright.

That is a right trick too!
Always loved Joe's tone on that record.

 

[ZB5]

Which brings us to Joe Osborne's contribution to The Way Bass Should Sound.
Too many examples to list!

Hell yeah! JO's tone is insane, I almost brought up his work, particularly on the Carpenters stuff. So good!

 

[pedulla-2007]

This is how an open string should sound when you hit it with your thumb on every bass!

 

[NoSlapForYou]

My favorite bass sound would have to be the doubled (or tripled?) line on God Only Knows. Rich, full, rounded tone, lots of lows and low mids, with some treble bite from the picked Fender part. A very simple part, not only complements the tune perfectly, but adds "weight" when that E/F#/G refrain comes in.



I could also make an argument for Jamerson's work on Side 1 of What's Going On (or Babbitt's on Side 2!)

EDIT: Quick appreciation for the arrangements of Brian Wilson. One of the reasons I dig the bass parts in his compositions is he really understands sonic space, giving the bass its own territory to work with. Especially for popular music at that time, the bass was much more prominently displayed than in a lot of other stuff coming out of LA at the time. That plus the great players he hired and the lovely counter melodies he'd write for it, it's what solidified my love for holding down the low end.

One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite composers. Was that Carole Kaye on the track? I know she played on this one, which is one of my favorite bass lines period.

 

[NoSlapForYou]

That is a right trick too!
Always loved Joe's tone on that record.

His playing is even better later. Here's one I love. I linked it to when the bass starts, I think.

 

[the zombywoof]

Best. Bass. Tone. EVER.

But also, I love how the first few posts in this thread all have wildly different bass tones - all great.

That my friend is the crux of the biscuit

 

[DJ Bebop]

Which brings us to Joe Osborne's contribution to The Way Bass Should Sound.
Too many examples to list!

Was joe on Pet Sounds? I thought that was Carol Kaye, Lyle Ritz, and Ray Pohlman.
Or am I misunderstanding your post (which is more than likely )

 

[_Some Dude]

 

[ZB5]

One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite composers. Was that Carole Kaye on the track? I know she played on this one, which is one of my favorite bass lines period.

Yes indeed! And I believe Chuck Berghofer on double bass, though may have been Lyle Ritz (edited)

 

[DJ Bebop]

Yes indeed! And I believe Chuck Berghofer on double bass, though may have been Lyle Ritz (edited)

I met Lyle in Hawaii. Great guy! He was gigin' playin' upright with a bunch of union cats doing big band stuff. A horn player friend who was also living there, had me come by the union hall where they rehearsed. Good times!

Then he moved here to Oregon and we got to meet up again.
Saw him about town doing little gigs with his uke. That was right before he passed.

 

[Kilgore777]

Bruce Thomas

Hey Bebop,

Bruce didn't play on Watching the Detectives, it was Andrew Bodnar:

Watching the Detectives (song) - Wikipedia

Andrew Bodnar - Wikipedia

Bruce wasn't on until the second record with the rest of the Attractions.

Great bass line though!

Cheers

 

[onamission]

One of the best Rhythm Sections in the business, this machine hums.....

 

[ZB5]

I met Lyle in Hawaii. Great guy! He was gigin' playin' upright with a bunch of union cats doing big band stuff. A horn player friend who was also living there, had me come by the union hall where they rehearsed. Good times!

Then he moved here to Oregon and we got to meet up again.
Saw him about town doing little gigs with his uke. That was right before he passed.

That is awesome!

 

[DJ Bebop]

Hey Bebop,

Bruce didn't play on Watching the Detectives, it was Andrew Bodnar:

Watching the Detectives (song) - Wikipedia

Andrew Bodnar - Wikipedia

Bruce wasn't on until the second record with the rest of the Attractions.

Great bass line though!

Cheers

Thanks!

The Attractions were touring with him before the second record in support of the first.

I think I was believing they were on the first record (I can say that cause it was ) from the Saturday Night Live appearance (no internet)

And I caught them here at a Catch a Rising Star concert for a $1. Which they cut short 'cause a stupid in the balcony threw an M80 into the crowd. They threw down their instruments and walked off. A minute later Elvis walked back out and said I HAVE NO HEART and walked off again. I went with the band I was in at the time. We thought it was some sort of shtick.
But some staff came out and said that's it.

Anyway, thanks again for pulling my coat to this. I guess I should've used that Google thang


The whole audio...

 

[jerry]

I always dug the tone and groove Hess brought to the Mule!

 

[Kilgore777]

Thanks!

The Attractions were touring with him before the second record in support of the first.

I think I was believing they were on the first record (I can say that cause it was ) from the Saturday Night Live appearance (no internet)

And I caught them here at a Catch a Rising Star concert for a $1. Which they cut short 'cause a stupid in the balcony threw an M80 into the crowd. They threw down their instruments and walked off. A minute later Elvis walked back out and said I HAVE NO HEART and walked off again. I went with the band I was in at the time. We thought it was some sort of shtick.
But some staff came out and said that's it.

Anyway, thanks again for pulling my coat to this. I guess I should've used that Google thang [/QUOTE

Thanks!

The Attractions were touring with him before the second record in support of the first.

I think I was believing they were on the first record (I can say that cause it was ) from the Saturday Night Live appearance (no internet)

And I caught them here at a Catch a Rising Star concert for a $1. Which they cut short 'cause a stupid in the balcony threw an M80 into the crowd. They threw down their instruments and walked off. A minute later Elvis walked back out and said I HAVE NO HEART and walked off again. I went with the band I was in at the time. We thought it was some sort of shtick.
But some staff came out and said that's it.

Anyway, thanks again for pulling my coat to this. I guess I should've used that Google thang


The whole audio...

No problem, man. I get the gist of what you are saying.... Bruce is a great player with an awesome sound (those early 60 PBasses sound killer). His playing was immpecable. I saw the in Pittsburgh in 1982, still one of my favorite shows.

Its cool that you saw them so early albeit a short but quite memorable show.

About the first record.. the musicianship is really good on it, and my friend told me that the backup band for most of it was Clover, which was Huey Lewis' old band. i was surprised as I am not a Huey fan......

 

[Larchi]

Geezers tone in this EMG Demo vid.