I was never a big fan of flatwound strings unless I was going for a rockabilly type sound on guitar.... I wish you lucj with them on bass as I have never used them on one!

I finally got to listen on a big system.

I'm having a hard time figuring out if it's an octaver or just the sound of a nice straight forward tube amplifier with all the knobs set perfectly.

A real nice class A amp will have a lot of 2nd order harmonics which can be loosely interpreted as an octave doubler.

It sounds, to me like a classic Fender Jazz bass tone played expertly.

I'm curious, and hope you get a chance to ask the bassist someday.


best regards,
mike

Yeah I'm not too sure now either about the octaver. I'm starting to think maybe it's not and is like you set, just a really nice setup.

You're right on the Fender Jazz, the guy in the bass shop said that's what he played and showed me the actual guitar (but I don't recall what it was).

The bass I'm using looks pretty much like a rip off of this baby:

http://www.fender.com/en-GB/products/search.php?partno=0252602350

Except mine has rosewood fretboard. The body is really light in mine too so I expect a lot of sustain and tone will be lost there. Cheapo loosely compressed particle board. It has a B.C. Rich Bronze Series stamp on it, which is weird cause I find it hard to believe it is actually a B.C. Rich guitar... Can't find anything like it on their website. So likely a chinese rip-off! No further identifying ciphers on it at all.


I've managed to at least come up with my sound I'm going to use. Running the bass (with tone control set to about half way - using my ears, not physically setting it half way cause this knob ain't in ANY way linear!) into a Zoom GFX-5 Guitar pedal just through the compressor (It's all I have) then out into my OctaBass (set to give a subtle Octave, not too strong), then DI into my Edirol UA-25EX. Decided to use a pick rather than felt pick. Smashing that sound with the Tube Leveller in SONAR to give it some grunge, but I'll experiment further. Maybe parallel Tube Leveller could sound nice. Probably smash out a subtle amp sim somewhere too with a slight crunchy grunge if I find something suitable. Then eq it into the mix and that's it! Also will only use the OctaBass where appropriate, but probably most of the time for most songs. Cut it out on build-ups to bring more impact when the beat drops (not the appropriate term for my style, but you get the idea!)

I'll post a little sample of the clean DI sound to the tweaked sound shortly. See what you guys think. It's not going to be super close to that sound at all, but that's ok, always good to develop your own sound anyway. And I don't exactly have his equipment available!

Little further info, the bass player is Wayne Bennett, former bass player of The Streets. And the drummer of the band was Lily Allen's musical director or something. And when she quit music, he went to Gypsy and the Cat.

Got a live video showing the bass. I think they just DI'ed this one though cause it was just for the radio.

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/media/s3248248.htm


I'm starting to see that most of the time when a popular band just pops up, there is just about ALWAYS someone involved who is already in the industry. Just goes to show that sometimes no matter how good your music is, you need someone in the industry to help you get out there, or you just can't fight the competition and you'll never get heard.

Fortunately I have links to a pop lyric writer who writes for many big names in the industry! And another who is a major Queensland radio host! Now just got to get them to like my music and make it a little more poppy 

Sounds just like my Warwick Fretless through my Universal Audio LA 610 with an Izotope Alloy plug, some limitting, compression, EQ and excitation in that Alloy plug.

Have a listen to my two samples if you're bored.

http://soundcloud.com/mattlyonsmusic/sets/bass-samples

The first one is the clean, and second uses the OctaBass and some compression before DI into SONAR. Unfortunately they are not properly matched for volume so the OctaBass sample is a bit quieter, but you can still hear the sound it gives. Thus it doesn't really have the same punch as the other one. Both have been hit with the TL64 Tube Leveler fairly heavily with a strong clipping factor to give it some grungy edge. No other processing.

This is definitely a preference thing here, and I think I may find a big divide on what people like! I imagine I'll see a lot of folks preferring the clean sound, but the OctaBass is certainly a bit more unique and interesting. So I'm very happy with the decision.



Welcome to any ideas or suggestions in sound of the bass if you can think of anything. Please note that the guitar and vocal parts are just rough recordings for reference purposes. Drums are BFD with a real set of Sabian cymbals set up over the midi kit and just miced with a spaced pair using Rode K2's. I talked about this drum setup a while back and very happy with the results. No processing has been done on the drums yet. 100% raw sound.



Infact. Just comparing my bass and Gypsy and the Cat's bass, I think the low end is sounding remarkably similar. Same kind of feel to it. Mines a little rounded feeling at the high end, slightly muffled, but nothing a bit of post processing can't spruce up. I'll never quite get that beautiful high end theirs has, but something different can be good! I'm feeling really confident that once I mix this properly I can get a really great sounding bass off a $150 ebay heap of junk. Granted, I did put new strings, $400 of effects pedals and 20 minutes of correcting the intonation and 8 hours playing round with sounds to develop the the right settings (running through amps, using amp simulators etc). In the end I went with super simple. But I'm quite amazed at what you can do with cheap gear if you spend the time to tweak it and really listen.

"Sounds just like my Warwick Fretless through my Universal Audio LA 610 with an Izotope Alloy plug, some limitting, compression, EQ and excitation in that Alloy plug. "

Or not, whatever.

bandontherun19


"Sounds just like my Warwick Fretless through my Universal Audio LA 610 with an Izotope Alloy plug, some limitting, compression, EQ and excitation in that Alloy plug. "

Or not, whatever.

Woah! Sorry mate, I just didn't notice your post there!


I have not heard the Warwick in action but looking at the solidity of it, I'm sure it's got some amazing sustain and power, especially on those low notes. Much like the bass I'm hearing on this song. And the tube saturation through your UA is certainly gonna help. Haven't used the Izotope Alloy plug before. Looks good. I do like Ozone. You mention excitation. I was actually thinking of that at one stage and it's certainly something I'll keep in mind and give it a try. Especially as I want to add some more harmonics back into the recording. I don't feel I get the right sound if I keep it bright, so I think cutting the highs and adding them back through light distortion and/or harmonic excitation could give me a really nice sound. I'm a big fan of that type of processing on guitars, when it suits.

I really liked the live radio booth performance.

It was like seeing a Radiohead video except the guys were actually playing the instruments.

I like all the "live" misgivings and getting to see an actual performance.

Good stuff.


best regards,
mike

Hi Matt,

I checked out your reference track that you're sort of going for as well as the tracks you provided. In my opinion, the difference is....if you listen close to the G&C kick drum, it isn't even remotely close to where the bass guitar lies. That bass is the lowest frequency in the mix pushing about 50 Hz with a nice, tight compressor on it so it never lashes out. The kick drum is way out of the way frequency wise and is more up in the 85 Hz range where it's tigher and out of the bass guitar territory.

See that's the thing, when you want a nice low bass to stay in your mix, you have to go with a kick drum that has a bit more beater attack that also doesn't thump in any frequencies close to where the bass is. The bass is what that song is about for me. If they had the kick drum down low, they'd need to bring the bass low end to something higher. This is where carving can really help you get what you're after.

In your mixes I heard, your bass isn't down low enough in the frequency range to hit like G&C's. You'll then need to sacrifice some kick drum thump once you get down there. A good 5 string bass with new strings and a tight compressor on the 50 Hz bottom should sort this right out. Or, a DI and a pre-amps bass signal will work. You set one for the sub low area, the other for the definition.

Granted, this is a different style of music here which is more guitar oriented, but listen to how low my bass is in this. It just grabs that low end area and never lets go. Fender P custom 5 string into a Manley on one end, and a direct box on the other. Mix them together, and you get this: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4909348/DestinyPreview.mp3

Of course my bass there isn't as dominant as what you're looking for, but that same low end is there that never quits or gets muddy. No octaver yet pretty similar results.

-Danny