Who's Next bass tone

[RayWithFlats]

Great Who resource right here...

John Entwistle Gear | John Entwistle Bass Gear | Whotabs

Just don’t click on it if you’re susceptible to GAS, it seems like The Ox had at least one of every bass made at that point!

 

[Iristone]

More like three of each.

 

[Iristone]

Hello!
I listened to Who's Next again today. To me, the bass sound in "Bargain" and "Behind Blue Eyes" sounds like typewriting with a pretty hefty treble rolloff and cabinet resonance. I hear a similar "bloom" in "Won't Get Fooled Again", which supposedly was recorded with a P-bass, so I think it might be more of the amps and production and less about the bass or the technique.

 

[Rnr..........4]

Hello!
I listened to Who's Next again today. To me, the bass sound in "Bargain" and "Behind Blue Eyes" sounds like typewriting with a pretty hefty treble rolloff and cabinet resonance. I hear a similar "bloom" in "Won't Get Fooled Again", which supposedly was recorded with a P-bass, so I think it might be more of the amps and production and less about the bass or the technique.

Entwistle used his Frankenstein Precision bass on that record. This interview was on the site provided above:

Quote from April 1994 Bassist interview

Which sound was responsible for that amazing sound on Won’t Get Fooled Again?

“That was Frankenstein, which I made from dead parts. I had a day off in San Francisco once and spent it screwing a bass together from five smashed Precisions including a couple of slab ones of which they only made about 20. I took the pickup and scratch plate from one of the slab Precisions, the neck from another, machineheads from a Jazz Bass, the body off a sunburst Precision and the tailpiece from another. The slab Precisions were like white, squared-off Telecasters, with a split pickup, a maple neck, black scratch plate and what looked like blue veins coming through the white paintwork. I don’t know what they used on them but those basses had a sound of their own, really raunchy with more of a growl than a regular Precision. I have about 35 Precisions, all with different colours and from different eras, but I always go back to Frankenstein.

“I used Frankenstein through Hiwatts for the whole of ‘Tommy’, ‘Live At Leeds’ and ‘Who’s Next’ but by ‘Quadrophenia’ and Who By Numbers I was playing Gibson Thunderbirds. I felt I was getting stuck in a rut, using all the treble.

 

[Clemouze]

Entwistle used his Frankenstein Precision bass on that record. This interview was on the site provided above:

Quote from April 1994 Bassist interview

Which sound was responsible for that amazing sound on Won’t Get Fooled Again?

“That was Frankenstein, which I made from dead parts. I had a day off in San Francisco once and spent it screwing a bass together from five smashed Precisions including a couple of slab ones of which they only made about 20. I took the pickup and scratch plate from one of the slab Precisions, the neck from another, machineheads from a Jazz Bass, the body off a sunburst Precision and the tailpiece from another. The slab Precisions were like white, squared-off Telecasters, with a split pickup, a maple neck, black scratch plate and what looked like blue veins coming through the white paintwork. I don’t know what they used on them but those basses had a sound of their own, really raunchy with more of a growl than a regular Precision. I have about 35 Precisions, all with different colours and from different eras, but I always go back to Frankenstein.

“I used Frankenstein through Hiwatts for the whole of ‘Tommy’, ‘Live At Leeds’ and ‘Who’s Next’ but by ‘Quadrophenia’ and Who By Numbers I was playing Gibson Thunderbirds. I felt I was getting stuck in a rut, using all the treble.

Cool thank you

Night and day with live at Leeds tone !

 

[s_wood]

Quoting myself from earlier in this thread... I think JE's memory about what bass he used on Who's Next is a bit off.

My ears tell me it was a T-Bird. So do the circumstances I wonder if maybe you are both right about this. The recording of what started as the Lifehouse project and became Who's Next took place over multiple sessions in 3 different studios in two different countries in March, April, May and June of 1971. JE usually recorded with whatever basses he was using live, and there's no doubt that he had switched to the T-Bird for live work before "Who's Next" was finished. There a lots of pics of him using a T-Bird in February and March of 1971 at the Young Vic shows."Behind Blue Eyes" was one of the last songs recorded, in May or June of 1971. The history suggests what my ears tell me. It was a T-Bird.

 

[s_wood]

Here’s a photo of JE with The Who at London’s Young Vic Theatre in February 1971, where the Who debuted a lot of the material that would be released on Who’s Next. Much of the album was recorded in April and May of ‘71, except for “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” was recorded after this picture was taken. “Behind Blue Eyes” was recorded in May of ‘71, and my ears tell me that’s a T-Bird for sure. Ditto with “Bargain” which was recorded in June ‘71.

 

[Clemouze]

Here’s a photo of JE with The Who at London’s Young Vic Theatre in February 1971, where the Who debuted a lot of the material that would be released on Who’s Next. Much of the album was recorded in April and May of ‘71, except for “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” was recorded after this picture was taken. “Behind Blue Eyes” was recorded in May of ‘71, and my ears tell me that’s a T-Bird for sure. Ditto with “Bargain” which was recorded in June ‘71.

View attachment 4395935

The tracks on bonus , mentionned Live at Young Vic, have a so much beter bass tone than the core album I find !

 

[s_wood]

Totally agree - and those are all Thunderbird!

 

[Iristone]

I've read He said that, with a passive bass (P bass or Thunderbird), He couldn't play very loud or bright in the studio before overloading (probably not the musical "overdrive"). Later with the Alembic, He could play louder and brighter in the studio, and replicate His live tone.

 

[Rnr..........4]

Yeah but he could have used the Thunderbird live?
I'd rather believe it was the precision bass used on Who's Next. Straight from his mouth.

 

[Iristone]

I think that He used the Precision on Won't Get Fooled Again (per His words). Songs like Bargain and Behind Blue Eyes sound like Thunderbird to me, with the open midrange and "clank" (even with all those treble rolloff in the studio).

 

[bobyoung53]

I have always thought the bass sound on the album was great, especially on this tune for that time, this was actually very trebly compared to most bassists at that time:

He got way too trebly later in his career at least IMHO

I also really liked his tone on Tommy.

 

[Iristone]

I have always thought the bass sound on the album was great, especially on this tune for that time, this was actually very trebly compared to most bassists at that time:

He got way too trebly later in his career at least IMHO

I also really liked his tone on Tommy.

Later on he got a "fizzy" sound in his overdrive, perhaps to counter his hearing loss. I really like his Live At Leeds tone, sort of like a cross between a supersized guitar and an angry piano.

 

[Rnr..........4]

Songs like The Seeker too. Good bass tone in that song as well.

 

[Iristone]

Songs like The Seeker too. Good bass tone in that song as well.

I've heard that it was a Rickenbacker. Certainly added to my pulling the trigger on my own Rick!

 

[bobyoung53]

I've heard that it was a Rickenbacker. Certainly added to my pulling the trigger on my own Rick!

Not only a Ric but a 4005.

Source: John Entwistle Gear: 1968-1971 | John Entwistle Bass Gear | Whotabs
"19 Jan. 1970, IBC Studios, John was recording the Seeker with 1967 Rickenbacker 4005." according to TheWho.net

 

[sc_precision]

I am pretty sure that Entwistle used both the T-Bird and the P on “Who’s Next.” Sorry to add to your angst.

Yes, Entwistle used the thunderbird and p bass on that record. One of their best albums.

 

[jerry]

Who's Next still sounds awesome to me and a huge step forward sound wise over Tommy. Who's Next is one of the apex albums that became classic rock. I loved John's tone in those days, he got too clanky in later years. IMHO

 

[Iristone]

Not only a Ric but a 4005.

Source: John Entwistle Gear: 1968-1971 | John Entwistle Bass Gear | Whotabs
"19 Jan. 1970, IBC Studios, John was recording the Seeker with 1967 Rickenbacker 4005." according to TheWho.net

View attachment 4405498

Also with his transitional hairstyle

Who's Next still sounds awesome to me and a huge step forward sound wise over Tommy. Who's Next is one of the apex albums that became classic rock. I loved John's tone in those days, he got too clanky in later years. IMHO

He became far too clanky during his later Warwick/Trace days, and his overuse of chorus sounded like "playing underwater" according to another forumite. I've always thought of Warwick basses as clanky, and his hearing loss didn't help with dialling in his tone. My favourite tone was his Alembic/Sunn era, it sounded more refined than his earlier passive basses but still had the raw Who power without the later shrillness.