Hey, I know this post is really late for the date of the thread, but I too am a Wombats fan and I came across this while searching up some of the recording techniques they use. This is a Q&A with the producer for some of the songs including Tokyo. Here's a quote talking about the bass sound:
Quote:
2) I've always been puzzled by the bass sound The Wombats have. It's a "gainy" sound but without any harshness and massive distortion. I've tried to get this sound myself but I've never been able to pull it off. Anything you can say about how that trebly sound was acquired?
Tord definitely has a specific bass he likes to use. He has a spectacular sounding 70's Fender P-bass. It is a great instrument. The action is a bit low so their is a fair amount of fret buzz going on all the time. It adds to the metallic brightness of the sound. Whenever I do that type of gainy sound with out being distorted or fuzzy this is how I approach it. I have one amp set up as a solid more straight forward sound... usually an SVT. i have another amp set very bright that is distorted. In this case it was an oldfield combo amp feeding an SVT 8x10 cab. The bright amp makes it so the distortion is on the overtones of the bass instead of the fundamental note. thats how you can get that crunchy aggressive sound instead of a dull fuzzy distortion. You have the other amp that is not distorting to carry a solid low end when they are blended together. the other way to achieve this if you only have one amp is to set the amp really really bright so the brightness is driving the distortion and then add low end with EQ on the mic. As soon as the low end starts to really distort the bass can lose depth, punch and focus.
Here's a link to the actual article: Invalid Link Removed
