Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now". Love the tone... especially the mini-solo riff at 2:45.
Is it synth bass? Bass guitar?
Is it synth bass? Bass guitar?
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What's this bass tone?
- Thread starter Hambone 70
- Start date
Roy Vogt
Supporting Member
- Sep 20, 2000
- 4,433
- 537
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Kiesel Basses, Ampeg Amplification, Hotone Ampero II effects
That sounds like synth bass. You could approximate that with a fretless and judicious use of EQ, though.
I couldn't find an online answer, so I took a chance and e-mailed Joe Leeway, from Thompson Twins, who interestingly is now a hypnotherapist and neuro-linguistic programming trainer in California.
He kindly replied "1981 Oberheim synth"!
He kindly replied "1981 Oberheim synth"!
Thompson Twins, “Hold Me Now” (Synth Bassist: Tom Bailey)
This hypnotic, moody track is one of the quintessential ‘80s pop tunes, built on a spacious bed of percussion, marimba, and ethereal synthesizers. That setup left plenty of sonic room for a strong bass line to leave its mark and Tom Bailey’s thick synth bass achieves maximum impact with a minimum of notes; he leaves huge gaps between phrases and drops some tasty fills-in all the right places, including the classic high-register lick in the last verse!
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found this info in 15 seconds, alright may 16 seconds
This hypnotic, moody track is one of the quintessential ‘80s pop tunes, built on a spacious bed of percussion, marimba, and ethereal synthesizers. That setup left plenty of sonic room for a strong bass line to leave its mark and Tom Bailey’s thick synth bass achieves maximum impact with a minimum of notes; he leaves huge gaps between phrases and drops some tasty fills-in all the right places, including the classic high-register lick in the last verse!
DuckDuckGo.com is your friend, it's Google without all the ads, tracking and collecting of all your searches
found this info in 15 seconds, alright may 16 seconds
I always figured it was synth bass but watching the video, it's understandable why there'd be confusion about whether it was bass guitar or keys.
My wife was just streaming this Thompson Twins video a couple daze ago...and from that, I stumbled upon this guy doing "Promises, Promises". Probably the best I have heard somebody do this tune.
Hello Chaps: I'm a sound engineer and record producer, and I've been wondering (for Deacades) what instrument the Bass sound on "Hold Me Now" was created on, I found (After many hours scouring the web) a post from Tom Baily Himself!! go here: Invalid Link Removed. I have found a software version of the synth, but the bass sound is not a preset, and you would have to spend quite a bit of time tweaking the preset "Deep Organic Mood" to get the sound you are looking for. I actually ended up giving the raw sound a Hi Shelf Boost and some 1176 Compression post EQ. and it felt pretty close.
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Since this subject came up… Yeah the TT tune was pleasant enough, a real slice of the early 80’s, but to my ears what they were doing was, well, I’ll be polite and say they were ‘borrowing’ heavily from this 1979 Roxy Music song, structure and bass sound…
The bassist on the actual recording was Alan Spenner, known to have used fretted and fretless P’s and a Wal. Gary Tibbs(ex-Adam and the Ants)who played on a few tracks on the album that song came from, Manifesto, and was the subsequent tour bassist, appears on bass in any TV shots or the official promo video where the band is lip synching/miming, playing an early Wal, but he had been a P guy as well.
The bassist on the actual recording was Alan Spenner, known to have used fretted and fretless P’s and a Wal. Gary Tibbs(ex-Adam and the Ants)who played on a few tracks on the album that song came from, Manifesto, and was the subsequent tour bassist, appears on bass in any TV shots or the official promo video where the band is lip synching/miming, playing an early Wal, but he had been a P guy as well.
I read somewhere ages ago that Tom was credited with “contrabass” on this song (and/or album). It might have been a bass magazine from back in the day. And that’s further confusing! 
Contrabass is the name of the instrument that Anthony Jackson helped develop…which is basically a 6-string bass (BEADGC), which Tom clearly isn’t using here. Glad to hear after all these decades that it’s an Oberheim! Now to find one on eBay…
Contrabass is the name of the instrument that Anthony Jackson helped develop…which is basically a 6-string bass (BEADGC), which Tom clearly isn’t using here. Glad to hear after all these decades that it’s an Oberheim! Now to find one on eBay…Funny thing…that’s not Tom Bailey playing “bass.” That’s Joe Leeway, who is credited with synthesizers, percussion and BGVs on this album. Tom is credited with bass guitar. Damn videos.
Promises Promises oozes the StingRay tone on the original track. It was played by the producer.
I asked Gemini if the synth patch for the Oberheim OB-Xa Thompson Twins bassline (specifically that caused them to rerecord all bass lines for the previous Quick Step and Side Kick album) was available... Gemini responded:
Your memory is absolutely spot-on. You are thinking of Tom Bailey and the recording of their breakthrough 1983 album, Quick Step & Side Kick (released as Side Kicks in the US).
During the production of the album at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas with producer Alex Sadkin, Tom Bailey accidentally stumbled across a specific, incredibly punchy bass patch on the OB-Xa. He loved it so much that he ended up using that single synthesizer for virtually the entire album's bass tracking.
The sound was so unique—mimicking a hyper-snappy, metallic, fretless slap bass—that it completely redefined the band's sonic signature on hits like "Lies" and "Love On Your Side". In interviews, Bailey joked that the bass patch was so good it actually led to high-profile studio session offers:
Your memory is absolutely spot-on. You are thinking of Tom Bailey and the recording of their breakthrough 1983 album, Quick Step & Side Kick (released as Side Kicks in the US).
The Story Behind the Bass Lines
The instrument in question was the Oberheim OB-Xa.During the production of the album at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas with producer Alex Sadkin, Tom Bailey accidentally stumbled across a specific, incredibly punchy bass patch on the OB-Xa. He loved it so much that he ended up using that single synthesizer for virtually the entire album's bass tracking.
The sound was so unique—mimicking a hyper-snappy, metallic, fretless slap bass—that it completely redefined the band's sonic signature on hits like "Lies" and "Love On Your Side". In interviews, Bailey joked that the bass patch was so good it actually led to high-profile studio session offers:
