What exactly is "that seventies thing"?

[Iristone]

I've got a conclusion for myself:
Not a lot of low bass or high treble, but what is there is very tastefully and artistically there.

 

[Mark Ambler]

I remember those. They were light. I liked that.

Other than being ‘the new improved’ amp, which they definitely weren’t, imo, they were atleast significantly lighter. I can see them being ok for clean acoustic guitar or keyboards, but they were pretty cold sterile sounding amps.

 

[b_carville]

Not having to use a condom.

 

[chaosMK]

Probably kind of farty and overdriven

 

[jim nolte]

Maybe it has tone for days.

And sounds like butter, oh , wait a minute

 

[Mark Ambler]

I used a fender Bandmaster with a Ampeg 4x12” back in the day, sounded awesome!

 

[dkelley]

To me, that 60th thing is very little upper presence in the tone, possibly flats.

comparatively, that 70s CAN be the following:
- compared to "that 60s thing" I just described, it can mean rounds, lots more presence in the tone (But no tweeter frequencies still), and getting into the beginning of slap
OR
- it could mean, compared to later sounds, pretty much what I described as "that 60s thing"

Depends on your vantage point.

80s is when tweeters in bass cabs became a thing, as did trace elliot, as did SWR (later on), hifi bass tone.

These are total generalizations. Each generation had a ton of players sounding like or using tech from the previous generation(s), and still does.

 

[JRA]

What is "that seventies thing"?

something people have heard other people say and thus repeat it

i have distilled all of my '70s memories into good ones. that said: there is nothing about the '70s worth repeating. YMMV.

 

[Relayer71]

It means it’s a tone monster and plays like butter. Everyone knows that seventies butter was creamier than recent butter.

It's not butter, it's Parkay.

 

[DDXdesign]

Trying to think on the subject line at hand, I actually realized that basically the progression seems to just be "add presence and treble / reduce mids and gain" over the decades:

pre-Fender: Doghouse. Like 90% bass freqs, maybe some fretboard slap.
50s: Basically, let's just have a Bass knob instead of a multiband EQ. Perfect!
60s: Heavy, thick bass, oftentimes overdriving the amplifier
70s: Still thick, but with less WHOOF and some edge, still breaking up
80s into 90s: Approaching crystal clarity with a scooped, piano-y sound.
90s maybe into 00s***: So much scoop you might as well be playing a telegraph key, a la Fieldy - if you could be heard at all. Ironically, not far off from a badly-amplified doghouse in frequency response (I'm actually guessing here) but bleh.

***There is a wiiiiiiide channel for bass tones at this time, especially in grunge, with some actually nice tones on tap, but this post is intended for comedy purposes only. Thank you for your patronage.

 

[Ulf Buck]

Underpowered and smells bad?

Muddy, farty, and inarticulate?

 

[ad9000]

When I was on the road in 1975 and playing for a week at some club in Wichita, the house bass rig was a Sound City stack - 50w head with a 212 cab, definitely a bass-specific amp. My distant but distinct memory was that it couldn't really keep up with stage volume and didn't have much headroom, but it sounded amazing at lower volumes (my bass was a '71 P). I don't remember ever seeing another one of those amps and I'm not sure if it would compare favorably to present day gear, but it did make a lasting impression on me.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

To me 70's is: Heavy basses/amps, Blocks, PU spacing, Ash/maple.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

From the Talk Bass Trope Files:

It goes something like "I just scored a Brand X head and cab and it does that seventies thing really well..."

What is "that seventies thing"? Is it even anything? Is this just something people have heard other people say and thus repeat it?

never heard about “that seventies thing” ... what is it?

 

[2F/2F]

Secret code for "crappy tone."

 

[dramatwist]

Since I started playing in the early 70's and bought my first amps then, I'd define "that seventies thing" as: underpowered, limited bandwidth amp heads, cabs that have a severe rolloff at about 80 hZ and no top end to speak of, rigs with way too much weight/size for the perceivable loudness they put out (like my refrigerator sized 1971 Quilter 215 cab, which was probably not as efficient as a modern 210).

The advances in bass amplification since the 70's are monumental, and I am not the least bit sentimental about what was around then, with a few exceptions. I think these are some pieces that still sound great and deservedly have their place today: SVT, B-15, Sunn 2000S and 215 cab, Alembic F-2B (I have a 1976 F-2B, and it is hard to beat for a meat-and-potatoes tube sound). There are probably others but that's what immediately comes to mind.

I know some people these days have a fondness for Acoustic 360 or 370's, but I have to think that's largely nostalgia. Even back then I thought they were loud but boxy sounding and lacking in definition. I expect there are some opinions contrary to that!

...still playing an Acoustic 360... works for me... YMMV...

 

[james condino]

It's only retro if you were not there the first time.....

 

[bassliner50]

"that seventies thing"? is what that "60's thing" morphed into. Take the general 60's sound add a more production and slick niche marketing and you will arrive at "that 70's thing". Continue that trend for 5 more decades and you arrive at the general musical product of today.

 

[lizardking837]

IIRC today's Acoustic is Guitar Center. They bought the name, have no interest in making 360/370 reissues (instead making generic amps and paint them like Acoustics), and sued the real reissue company to bankruptcy.

Generic or not, they are pretty good for the money. I have an old (08/09) 100 watt 1 x 15" that stood up to gigging and practice in college and is my main 'practice' amp when I visit my parents house. The thing is a chameleon and produces an tone that I need it to.

 

[bassfran]

The sound of your jazz bass through a beat tuck-n-roll Kustom 200w/2-15's rig flappin' your bell bottoms.