how to get this tone?

babebambi

babebambi

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[video=youtube;Rs6RefV1td4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs6RefV1td4[/video]

SSI -> ?? -> ??

any idea?
 
I'm gonna take a guess, Eden, or ampeg, and his right hand is very important to it, especially the pick
 
It sounds like he has an old set of strings on it and like the mids are scooped out or set to a lower mid frequency.

I would try getting some dark sounding strings and scoop out some mids. Maybe even pan the pickups a little to the neck as well.

That would be my guess.
 
as far as I know, he uses Ampeg stuff. Different setups for different bands, but always ampeg.
 
Yeah the pick. I think the fact that his bass is so low adds to the sound to. He is hitting the string at an angle with his pick making that scratchy sound.
 
I loved this band. I'm not a pick guy but damn that bass sounds good.

This song is one of the reasons why I started playing bass.
 
thx guys, great info

I m trying to replicate that tone with my Pro I
but damn, playing with a pick is really difficult for me
well, I really like that tone, so I guess no other choice but to learn, ha ha
 
Hey babebambi :-)
Well, first of all, of course, the bass and the technique...
The SSI has a more "organic" and natural sound yours is drier, but faster in response.
Still you can obtain a sound like this.
First of all, you need a tube amp like older Ampeg, or tubepath. You must have the possibility to have an overdriven sound, you can do it with the tubepath, you can do it with SVT 2 pro, you cannot do it with SVT 3 pro...
If you have a clean amp, then something like a EH English Muffn will do the trick nicely.
This is not a distortion, but a tube saturation sound, a mild, fat overdrive.
There is also a mid cut there... With a tubepath the "contour" function could help. But sure is a cut in 300 hz are, maybe higher too...
In has a high mid growl, so you need to find the sweet spot with the picking position, and with EQ.
I think there is a boost somewhere between 800 - 1,5 k or something, just look it for yourself, you will hear when you find it ;
You can have a similar sound with fingers too, but you need to boost the right freq, upper mids more.
Here is a soundcheck of mine: [video=youtube;ISeXZW_pZdk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISeXZW_pZdk[/video]
I have a more mid focused sound, but it is basically the same thing... I actually bosted 300 Hz there, but with a cut, and some contour, that would be it... That's only my SSII, and tubepath, and a very clean compressor.
I hope it helps, Flo
Later edit: [video=youtube;GhgN-d3-gxs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhgN-d3-gxs&feature=related[/video] Here is me attempting a poor wanker style bass solo in a pub. Same thing, tubepath and SSII. Both were recorded probably with Digital Photo Camera, so the actual sound is much wider and deeper.
 
Its a combination of the neck pup, some worn in strings and a pick. Its coming mostly from the SSI as mine with a pick sounds pretty similar to that. Maybe a sprinkling of compression and a bit of grit from the ampeg.

Never really listened to alice in chains, might have to that bass tone is amazing.

EDIT Just read flo's post, great advice, gonna have a play with my SSI might need to invest in an english muffin!
 
Callum said:
Its a combination of the neck pup, some worn in strings and a pick. Its coming mostly from the SSI as mine with a pick sounds pretty similar to that. Maybe a sprinkling of compression and a bit of grit from the ampeg.

Never really listened to alice in chains, might have to that bass tone is amazing.

EDIT Just read flo's post, great advice, gonna have a play with my SSI might need to invest in an english muffin!
Click to expand...
Agree with everything but worn strings. No way!
 
Lex said:
I loved this band. I'm not a pick guy but damn that bass sounds good.

This song is one of the reasons why I started playing bass.
Click to expand...

I dunno how much hope there is in this but last week on triple J I heard AIC were re-forming with a new singer.
 
[quote="Greg
I dunno how much hope there is in this but last week on triple J I heard AIC were re-forming with a new singer.[/quote]

It's true! The new singer is a black guy. I think they already did a tour or two with him. He sounds a lot like Layne (there are vids on youtube).

By the way, Florin, you're a f*cking maniac! That's a very impressive solo. I think that little kid liked it too. LOL. He didn't want to look away.
 
Florin said:
Callum said:
Its a combination of the neck pup, some worn in strings and a pick. Its coming mostly from the SSI as mine with a pick sounds pretty similar to that. Maybe a sprinkling of compression and a bit of grit from the ampeg.

Never really listened to alice in chains, might have to that bass tone is amazing.

EDIT Just read flo's post, great advice, gonna have a play with my SSI might need to invest in an english muffin!
Click to expand...
Agree with everything but worn strings. No way!
Click to expand...

I tend to use worn in as string having lost the unltra zingy ness of new strings, sorry its my ambiguous use of the term, i know many people take worn in for dead. I should have maybe used played in, dead/worn would give a too wooly tone to get that distinctive gowly fat tone. But then i find brand new strings tend to have that really trebley brighness for a few days until they are streched in and then the true tone comes out, especially nickle strings.

I had a play with my SSI and was messing about finding the tone and with a set of quite old stadium elites got a nice fat growly snap to them, more neck pup blend, and some fiddling on my eden (almost same as flo descibed dialed into the semi-parametric eq) i got a pretty similar tone, just lacks the grit (which eden is not really suited for)

So yeh thats deffinately the way to go!
 
Me likes that trebely brightness that you get from a brand new set of rotosounds, but I do understand what your saying about the strings being worn in (Played in). As I said, I love the extreme brightness of a brand new set of strings and would want nothing else live, but for recording I have found a set that has been stretched in really well tend to do better in the studio environment.

As to this sound. I tend to agree with those saying it has a little bit of an over driven sound with the mids cut a bit and I also agree it sounds very compressed. While I know the sound can be achieved with your fingers (if they have hard calloses or if your figernails get involved) but I think the easiset and best way to achieve it is with a pick. I would have to listen to it again closer, but it seems nto me it was mostly down picking. And yes, I really believe the amps growl also plays a big part. Although I do not believe it HAS to be an ampeg. In this case, it probably was tho.

Good luck with your search to achieve this sound. I would also like to point out, While your looking for it, remember to also keep your ears open, for many a great discovery has been made while searching for something entirely different. One, such a search really helps you to explore and learn more about your equipment and its capabilities. And two, you may come across a sound you like way more in the search for this one. So again, good luck and keep your ears open.


English Muffin ... Yum, i had one this morning with butter and raspberry jam on it. But I have to say, my bass much perfers a bagel with cream cheese on it.


Peace

PS, Florin, cool vids bro... I really got a kick out of you throwing Ice Ice Baby into your solo. Made me smile!
 
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