Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) signature bass idea/discussion.

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No problem. EBMM production is roaring along .....
;-)

Shame though, Flea basses look damn cool if you remove the pickguard:

Fleabass_Junior_041101.JPG

167062d1361104696-fleabass-upgrades-quick-review-2013-02-17-12-25-32-jpg
 
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Right, but is "the fingers" effect so profound that somebody in a blind ear-test would tell the that a clip of Jaco playing a maple-fingerboard fretted Precision was clearly Jaco, and that a clip of a Jaco wannabe playing his Bass of Doom was conclusively not him?

Yes, if you are familiar with Jaco's playing you could probably tell the difference. Tone is only one aspect of a musicians unique voice/identity. Phrasing, articulation, attack, etc, will all outweigh just tone(what-ever that really is). it is the same concept as a persons idiolect when they speak. In linguistics, an idiolect is an individual's distinctive and unique use of language, including speech. This unique usage encompasses vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
 

DiMarco

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How did this turn into a jaco vs tone is in the fingers discussion?

Fact of the matter is Flea will sound great on any bass because of his groove and the brilliant stuff he keeps coming up with. Tone is overrated and only ever considered by bass players themselves. It is all about style and energy.
 
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How did this turn into a jaco vs tone is in the fingers discussion?

lowest common denominator - don't they all end this way?

Besides...we all know FNA really stands for Flea (was) Not Available for an endorsement at the time.
 

golem

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Am I the only one staunchly against the "tone is in your fingers" argument?
.............................................. ......... ... . .... . . .

Apparently, if Jaco said it then it MUST be true, and since
the INTERNET said that Jaco said it, then it is exponentially
truer than true.

I was just recording a line for somebody else to learn, so I
figgered to do it in several keys ... and so WTF why not on
several basses, huhmmmnn ?

So I just used whatever was in my music room at the time:
A $$, a Lightwave, a Boingo, an Alvarez, a Wendler, maybe
some other ax I'm not remembering .... and altho I never
changed fingers, they all have reeeeeallly different voices,
or "tone" IYP, all playing the same line in the same room,
same rig, same mic, etc etc etc, BUT, many different string
sets were involved: TIJFs, Acousticores, Chromes, others
whose silk color tells me they are others but I can't say for
sure what they are :)

I repeat, WITH EM PHA SISSSSS: Same fingers !!!! Verrrry
different voices. There. I said it, and you read it, ON THE
INTERNET ....... so it clearly MUST be true.
 
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Let's not forget Flea said the best bass ever was a '61 Jazz, and he uses those extensively in the studio. However, onstage it's pretty much all Stingray variants. I firmly believe if you stick a MM pickup in the MM spot, it'll sound a lot like an MM, which is a sound Flea would go for too in his early days.

Pretty sure I've seen footage of him playing a Wal as well.

EDIT: Just done some reading, and it look like he used a Wal to record almost all of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and a Spector for Mother's Milk and some of the earlier stuff. Apparently a lot of One Hot Minute is an Alembic.
 
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I repeat, WITH EM PHA SISSSSS: Same fingers !!!! Verrrry
different voices. There. I said it, and you read it, ON THE
INTERNET ....... so it clearly MUST be true.
Nono, if it's the same fingers, it's the same tone. If a passive P is played with the same fingers as an active MM, it's the same tone. Apparently.

The answer is obvious - OBVIOUS - but how did this turn into a Jaco vs tone in fingers argument? Look at the first two lines of the first reply on this thread:

Florin said:
Almost any Warwick bass is a Flea Bass in Flea's hands :)
He is known for playing various instruments in studio, so his signature sound is right in his hands.

I brought up Jaco because the "all in the fingers" thing is commonly attributed/related to him, and with him having such a distinct and revolutionary sound, it's a fantastic example (especially with that P-bass picture I saw in his book). It's as good an example as it gets.

Continue working on your cure.
 

Florin

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Apparently, if Jaco said it then it MUST be true, and since
the INTERNET said that Jaco said it, then it is exponentially
truer than true.

I was just recording a line for somebody else to learn, so I
figgered to do it in several keys ... and so WTF why not on
several basses, huhmmmnn ?

So I just used whatever was in my music room at the time:
A $$, a Lightwave, a Boingo, an Alvarez, a Wendler, maybe
some other ax I'm not remembering .... and altho I never
changed fingers, they all have reeeeeallly different voices,
or "tone" IYP, all playing the same line in the same room,
same rig, same mic, etc etc etc, BUT, many different string
sets were involved: TIJFs, Acousticores, Chromes, others
whose silk color tells me they are others but I can't say for
sure what they are :)

I repeat, WITH EM PHA SISSSSS: Same fingers !!!! Verrrry
different voices. There. I said it, and you read it, ON THE
INTERNET ....... so it clearly MUST be true.

Great answer Mr Golem!
But you know, there is a subtlety here I guess.
I agree with you basses have their own voice, and I think they even have music trapped inside them. Sometimes I pick up a bass, and his sound almost forces me to play one song I have in mind, with the sound expected to hear in that song. Sometime I get in bass nirvana by playing different basses, and being in different worlds.
Most of the time however I just need a bass for my gig, same 22 songs, and with any bass I have I do my best to deliver the sund I know. And I know for sure that most of the difference is the way I play them. With my fortress, I dunno, I just play the bass. With a P bass I would probably play closer the bridge, attack harder an in a different angle with the pick, etc. It will feel harder to play though :)

Flea (because it is about him) have his sound in his mind and in his soul. He will get that sound even with a wooden shoe with strings. We all recognise his sound right away, but god knows how many basses he played in his records :)
 
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Well ... they could do a totally new project in collaboration with Status from England. Like the 100th NAMM stingray in i guess ... 2001?
A Streamer/Thumb/... with a warwick-shape graphite neck, wooden body (wings) and maybe LED-Dots on the fingerboard.
That would be a really nice and suitable Wick for Flea.
 
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Flea used to play Spectors, so i'm sure a streamer CV with a single MM would suit him.

[video=youtube;xNtO91LJ_f0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNtO91LJ_f0[/video]
 

boston asphalt2

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Am I the only one staunchly against the "tone is in your fingers" argument?

Jaco used to say this... I saw a photo of him playing a fretted, maple neck Precision bass. Are we really going to say that bass had the "Continuum" sound? Sure, I bet you could tell it was him through his playing, but it wasn't "his tone". You're telling me John Entwistle had his "tone" consistently throughout The Kids Are Alright? What the hell else sounds like an Alembic? If Stanley Clarke and John Entwistle were playing straight 8ths on a Series II, you could tell who was who?

Someone else playing my Buzzard is going to have my tone much more than me playing someone else's Stingray.

I'm with you. You aren't alone ;-)
 
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[video=youtube;uzk58P9P8oQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzk58P9P8oQ[/video]

#AllInTheFingers

Same gear = same sound.
 

golem

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I'm with you. You aren't alone ;-)

And the PK has always had your back on this,
time after time. I just now checked the tone in
my fingers. It sounds like one hand clapping.

But if I were to apply those nearly silent pads
to the strings of an amped up bass, then we'd
hear some tone, tone which acoarst would be
different from the tone of some other strings,
PU's, amp, cab etc as compared to whichever
ax and rig was the one in use at the moment.

There's your evidence of how much tone is in
your fingers vs how much is in your ax & rig.
I spoze sometimes the obvious can mabbe be
just waaaay toooo obvious for many peeps.
 
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golem

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Am I the only one staunchly against the
"tone is in your fingers" argument? .......

No. We've been round this a few times before.
There's both of us ... but mebbe no one else.

And BTW there was a comment somewhere
above that the "old" Flea bass was a budget
bass, which acoarst a Wick Flea bass would
not be.

Wellll ....... the actual "old" Flea bass was a
Modulus and it was NOT budget priced, but
neither was it exotically priced. It woulda fit
pricewise into the Warwick line up, perhaps
*below* the median Wick price, altho IIRC
it cost more than any EBMM or Fender, but
not by double.
 
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