Was Nirvana's Nevermind Recorded With a Malfunctioning Bass?

[A. D. Fairhurst]

I have posted here some isolated Nirvana tracks of Krist playing his Gibson Ripper. One thing I've noticed is that at random points, the sound suddenly changes and has a lot more midrange and less low end. At first I thought there might be some weird midrange pedal in use, but then I realised: it probably shifts to the bridge pickup.
But how would he do this without someone standing in front of him fiddling with the rotary switch? (Which I doubt happened.) He probably couldn't do it deliberately because it happens often right when he would be picking the strings, and he wasn't strumming, so it would be pretty hard to accidentally clip the switch. It's also funny how the second Ripper in the studio (a black 1979 model, tuned to D standard) didn't do this, from what I can hear.
Owing to the fact that the (probable) Ripper in question was a 1976 model (15 years old with all original electronics) and was never seen again on stage by August, being replaced by by a 1974 model, I believe that it had a defective neck pickup wire and kept cutting out randomly so was either destroyed or sold off. Just listen for sudden bass-frequency drops in these tracks...


Hear the pickup drop out at times like 0:16, 0:38, 1:47, 1:55...


There's a huge tone change at 1:26. You can even hear it on the record.


0:27, 0:40, 0:58, 2:58

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

You may want to listen for a few seconds before the times I've mentioned to hear a sudden change.

 

[hondo4life]

He could be jumping around and randomly changing where he's picking.

Or maybe that's just what Gibsons sound like. Shoulda gotta Hondo, bro.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

He could be jumping around and randomly changing where he's picking.

Or maybe that's just what Gibsons sound like. Shoulda gotta Hondo, bro.

I think in the studio he's be sat down and not being his usual self. Plus, Gibson Rippers are amazing basses and it's definitely not just a part of the sound. listen to this live version: no pickup faults or anything.

 

[Dug2]

to my ear, lounge act starts changing at 32 sec. all the way to 1.26 which is just terribly bad

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Dude ... studio magic ... he probably recorded each track a multiple of times with different basses and the engineer tried his best to correct all the mistake by patching another track

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

to my ear, lounge act starts changing at 32 sec. all the way to 1.26 which is just terribly bad

At 0:32 it sounds to me like both pickups are running rather than the bridge one. At 1:26 the neck one cuts out until 1:39. at least that's how it sounds to me.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

Dude ... studio magic ... he probably recorded each track a multiple of times with different basses and the engineer tried his best to correct all the mistake by patching another track

From what Butch Vig (the producer) has said, he only used one bass (a Gibson Ripper) and did most songs pretty much in one take. He was a bit sloppy (probably tipsy), but rarely made colossal mistakes that warrant a completely new take or punch-in.

 

[4StringTheorist]

I listened to In Bloom all the way through. The difference I heard at the points you mentioned could just be Krist hitting the strings closer to the bridge for a few notes. So much variation you can get just from where you hit the string, and it sounds like it could be (not saying it is, just that it could be) that... to my ear, of course.

 

[SunnBass]

So, he's not a perfect player is all we've learned here.
Most of those things you're hearing, to me, sound like a little imperfect fretting.
It's things like that, in the mix, that make recordings feel alive.
You're over-analyzing.

Oh, and on In Bloom @ :16, it's supposed to drop out like that.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

I listened to In Bloom all the way through. The difference I heard at the points you mentioned could just be Krist hitting the strings closer to the bridge for a few notes. So much variation you can get just from where you hit the string, and it sounds like it could be (not saying it is, just that it could be) that... to my ear, of course.

That might be happening sometimes, but I still think that some of the tonal changes are too much for just that. However, this is a Gibson Ripper we're talking about, which is a weird bass, so it could very well be that.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

So, he's not a perfect player is all we've learned here.
Most of those things you're hearing, to me, sound like a little imperfect fretting.
It's things like that, in the mix, that make recordings feel alive.
You're over-analyzing.

Oh, and on In Bloom @ :16, it's supposed to drop out like that.

You could be right, but in Lounge Act I doubt he'd be miss-fretting for 13 seconds. Also, with In Bloom I don't mean that the bass dropping out altogether is the pickup malfunctioning, as that's where the drum break happens. I just mean that for that last sliding note it sounds like the bridge pickup by itself.

 

[VinnyIuspa]

I'm with the dude above me. Tonal changes like those in in bloom are very subtle and could just be a technique thing like he's the hitting the string not as hard or in a different spot. Perhaps there are punch ins, but I'm sure there are punch ins on most recordings, especially now in days. Nothing to be ashamed of. Sounds good in the mix so it's a good bass track. I will note that I'm not a nirvana fan in anyway, just a rational individual.

 

[SunnBass]

Also, I think on Stay Away, what we're hearing is a "punch-in".
He may have played the riff a few times, and Vig just copied and reinserted it over and over.
Notice that after the initial "hit" where it seems to change, it goes back to "normal".
This is frequent studio practice when dealing with items of a repetitive nature.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

Damn Krist is a good bass player. He was essential to that band.

 

[4StringTheorist]

Possible explanation:
Krist played the original take standing up, then did a few punch ins sitting down, causing him to hit the string in a different spot.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

Damn Krist is a good bass player. He was essential to that band.

He's the main reason I like Nirvana. The main reason I like him is not only his playing, but also this bass:

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

Possible explanation:
Krist played the original take standing up, then did a few punch ins sitting down, causing him to hit the string in a different spot.

I applaud you, sir. I still bet he had the bridge pickup on for the punch-ins though.

 

[blue4]

Damn Krist is a good bass player. He was essential to that band.

I've always liked him. Bass players from the '90s are unappreciated. Nirvana, AIC, STP, Pearl Jam they all had fantastic bass parts.

 

[A. D. Fairhurst]

I've always liked him. Bass players from the '90s are unappreciated. Nirvana, AIC, STP, Pearl Jam they all had fantastic bass parts.

Knock yourself out.