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My quest for bass tone by
Mad Mike:
Ok, so maybe I have too much time on my hands BUT, after
years and years of searching for the perfect bass tone, I
think I pretty much have it down to a science. Let me start
of by saying this, I never claimed to be a great bass
player. I will however, put my tone up against anybody’s. My
approach to the bass guitar itself necessitates that I have
exceptional tone. I prefer to play a lot of root notes and
let my instrument do most of the work for me. If I had lousy
tone with my style of playing, I would never have gotten a
job playing in a band. As it is, I’ve had jobs with some of
the best bands around town due in no small part to my tone.
So, lookie here now!
A little background, I am very much a meat and potatoes type
of player. Michael Anthony, formerly of Van Halen, is my
biggest influence on bass. He keeps bass lines simple and
straight forward, and opens it up for the guitar player to
do most of the work. To me, that’s the way I think it should
be. If you’re a jazz player, maybe not. I play rock ‘n roll,
and that’s what sounds good to me. I have never tried to
play lead bass, nor am I impressed by people who do. Maybe
Billy Sheehan, but he’s about the only one.
Anyway, the real reason why I’m writing this is because it
took me forever to find the tone I was looking for. I
thought it might be interesting for other musicians to hear
about my personal tone “chasing” (as EVH calls it) that I’ve
gone through in my quest. It’s been an obsession of mine for
years now. I have had so many people ask me about my tone at
shows through the years, including many sound men who have
always complimented me on it, that I thought that it was
about time for me to write about it for anybody who wants to
know about it. Here it goes.
When I first started playing, I came to the conclusion that
since I EQ’d the bass through my amp anyway, the most
important thing was finding the coolest looking bass
possible and then I could figure out a way to make it sound
good no matter what. This was a huge error on my part. Out
of sheer dumb luck, the coolest looking bass (to me anyway)
was a Steinberger. I bought one on line for $299.00 and it
sounded REALLY good.
In some ways, it was a great bass to start on. It was cheap,
the tone was very good, and it was exceptionally easy to
change the strings quickly. I got to the point where I could
even give the entire bass a full set up in a short amount of
time by myself. No small feat for an amateur bass player.
Now for the bad, the neck of the bass didn’t have a really
good feel, but the biggest disadvantage to me was that the
bass had 24 frets. There were a lot of notes to keep track
of when I was playing it, and I always had to pay close
attention to the part I was playing to not mess up.
I experimented for a time with a Lakeland 55-02 around this
time but didn’t like it much, so I kept with the Steinberger.
In reality, a 5 string bass like the 55-02 only has 3 notes
on it that you can’t get with a 4 string when using drop D
tuning. In fact, if you want to get technical you could
probably make a standard E string tuned to C# sound pretty
good so that cuts it to 2 notes. To me, I prefer the feel
and simplicity of a 4 string so that’s all I play anymore.
I’m not into modern, heavy metal that’s tuned down so low to
cover the fact that the singer can’t hold a note. Just my
opinion. I’ll stick with my four string basses although I
would love to see Fender come out with a precision bass
tuned BEAD, I would give that a shot!
After joining a AC/DC Tribute band in 2006, I decided that
the look of the Steinberger wasn’t quite what I needed
anymore. At first I bought an Epiphone Thunderbird Goth
bass. It looked terribly bad ass, but it was also the worst
sounding bass I ever played and after a couple of weeks of
trying to make it sound as good as it looked, I came to the
conclusion that it couldn’t be done, even with all the EQ
ability of my amp. I should have learned something from this
on how important having the right bass guitar is, but I
didn’t.
I then looked to the Music Man Stingray. It made sense, back
in the day my guy Michael Anthony played one. Music Man is
known for exceptionally well crafted guitars and basses, and
to me this was my first move to a “professional quality”
bass. Music Man also was the first company to team with EVH
to make the Wolfgang guitar. They were known for having the
highest manufacturing quality standards in the business, so
I tried it.
Unfortunately, the tone of the bass didn’t quite have the
sound I wanted. In fact, the Steinberger was a much better
sounding bass for my style of playing. The problem was, the
Steinberger really didn’t look the part so I decided it was
still time for a change. The Stingray cost a small fortune,
but after a few months playing with it, I decided it wasn’t
the bass for me so I sold it.
The Stingray has a very high tone to it, very trebly without
a lot of lows. I EQ’d it with the active bass controls on
the guitar in addition to putting a lot of low end on it
through my bass rig, but at the end of the day, it wasn’t
the tone I was looking for. Also, I am not a fan of active
pickups.
One day, I wandered into D’Rocks music in Papillion. At the
time it was owned by a buddy of mine named Matt. Matt and I
went back a few years and he always would make me great
deals on bass equipment, as I went through a lot of gear in
those days trying to find what worked best. I was pretty
much obsessed with bass in those days.
One day Matt had a used Washburn that had a cool dark
reddish brown type of finish to it. It look great, and felt
sweet in my hands. It had a J neck (basically, a thin neck)
that was easy to play. I bought it and it immediately became
my number one bass. It costs less then $300.00 and was
replacing a bass I paid $1,400.00 for. Sometimes less really
is more.
After playing with the AC/DC Tribute band for awhile, we
wrote a couple original tunes and decided to go to Warehouse
Studios in Omaha to record them. I LOVE being in the studio
and have only had a few opportunities through the years to
do it. When we got there, the studio engineer insisted I
play an American Fender Precision Bass for the songs. I was
strongly opposed to this and was completely ready to fight
to the death about it.
Finally, we compromised and it was agreed that the “scratch
track” (the first run of the song played with the entire
band) would be played with my Washburn and my first take for
real recording would be with the Fender. We agreed that if I
didn’t like it, we would re-record the final take with my
Washburn. I could live with that.
I had noticed for years that a LOT of professional bass
players were playing Fender P basses. I couldn’t figure out
why. I never really gave them a chance, because to me they
looked like an old mans bass. Let’s face it, the things were
designed in the 1950’s and have looked pretty much identical
today to the ones made in the 1960’s. I just couldn’t take
playing an old mans bass. My opinion on the subject was
about to change.
When it was my turn to record my part, the sound engineer
strapped me up with the studios house Fender P and plugged
me into a vintage Ampeg Classic head with a 6-10 cab. After
I was all plugged in and ready to go, I hit an open E
string. The only way I can describe the feeling I felt as I
heard the tone was that it was an epiphany. Finally, and
quite shockingly, I stumbled onto the bass tone I had been
searching for all of those years. At that moment, I suddenly
wished I had given the P a chance years before.
The Fender P bass has always been the standard for almost
all professional hard rock bass players. Most of your great
classic rock albums were recorded with the Fender Precision
model of bass, including all of the early Van Halen stuff.
Also, it only has 20 frets on it. It was much easier to play
then the 24 fret Steinberger. It was so easy to know where I
was, I could not look at the fret board for long periods of
time and not miss a note. It was almost like cheating.
I had always been somewhat frustrated about my tone because
I never really felt like my bass sounded like a bass should
sound before I found the Fender, but that was because I was
operating under the misconception that all basses pretty
much sound the same and its how you EQ your amplifier that
makes all the difference. WRONG!!!!
In the end, great tone always starts with the bass guitar
itself and with the players fingers. There are a lot of
different basses out there, and a lot of them sound great
for a lot of different styles. The Stingray I mentioned
earlier, for example, sounds great with guys that are
“notey” type players who play a lot of bass riffs,
especially high up on the neck. I am not that type of
player. If I were, it would have been a better bass for my
style. I am, and always will be a hard rock bass player, so
the Fender Precision is the only real bass for me.
When I left the studio that day, I went and got my wife and
immediately went to Russo’s to buy a Fender Precision. I
found a black MIM (made in Mexico) Fender Precision. It was
black with a rosewood fret board and a white pick guard. I
didn’t really dig the look of the guitar, but the tone was
so sweet that I really didn’t care at that point what it
looked like.
Over the years, I upgraded and got into Fender Americans.
The difference here, just in case you didn’t know, is that
the Fender Americans cost around $1,200.00 each. They are
definitely pro quality. The Fender Mexicans are cheaper,
usually around $450.00, made in Mexico (as you may have
guessed) and don’t have the same premium standard of quality
as the Americans do. But, let me go on record on this, I
actually prefer the Mexicans. I always change the Mexicans
bridge (which I do myself) because the factory one is junk,
but other then that they are great basses.
The Americans and the Mexicans both sound amazing in
standard tuning. If there is an advantage to the Americans,
they do have a string through body system which basically
means that you string the bass through the back of the body
of the bass instead of putting the string through a small
hold at the end of the bridge. A seemingly subtle difference
to be sure, but it does have a huge impact on tone.
I never took physics, so I can’t really describe why it
sounds better when the strings go through the bass, I can
only tell you that it does. For some strange reason, the
string tension on the body through Americans feels tighter,
and that actually improves the quality of the tone. For
example, standard tuning for basses and guitars is 440. If
you were tune the guitar sharp, for example 444, it would
most likely sound much better. Don’t ask me why, but it’s
true. The higher the string tension, the higher the tonal
quality.
As a practical matter, you can’t really tune sharp in the
real world though. First and foremost, it would be difficult
if not impossible for most singers to sing in the higher
range that tuning up puts you in. Secondly, it would just
sound strange because everybody knows how songs sound in
standard 440. All I am saying, is the tone sounds better
when you tune up a bit. Again, this has to do with the
increased string tension.
I was always frustrated with the Mexicans because although
they sounded great in standard tuning, when I went to ½ step
down tuning (which many hard rock bands do, including Roth
era Van Halen) they sounded terrible.
In January of 2011, I happened to be a party and run into a
guy I sort of knew from back in the day. He had filled in as
a guitar/bass tech at Russo’s a few years back when their
normal tech was out for a few months for some health issues.
He really helped me out of a jam once when I had an issue
with the aforementioned Washburn bass and gave me a 24 hour
turn around (which is unheard of) when I told him I have a
show coming up that weekend.
Long story short, I re-introduced myself to the guy and we
started talking about basses. I asked him what he had been
up to the last few years as I hadn’t really seen him
anywhere. Turns out he was a professional guitar tech and
had been touring the country with some National Acts. He is
currently working for Meatloaf believe it or not. I
complained to him how the Mexican Precision basses I had
sounded great in standard tuning and how bad they sounded
when I tuned down half a step. The band I am in now plays ½
step down so I have been stuck playing the Americans only
the last few months.
With the American P Bass, they sounded great tuned down.
Again, this was due to the increased string tension created
by the string through the body feature of the American’s.
The guy told me that he could fix this issue more then
likely and make the Mexican’s sound equally as good as the
American’s. I didn’t believe he could, but I was willing to
give him a shot anyway. Why not, the guy works on Meatloaf’s
guitars and basses so I know he knows what he is doing!
A week or so later, I go over to his house to show him my
Mexican Union Jack bass. A great friend of mine taught me
how to basically paint a guitar the same way EVH did to his
legendary Frankenstrat, and I did a EVH style paint job in
the form of a Union Jack Flag on the front of the guitar. I
did some other stuff to it to give it a road worn look. It
looked pretty good to me and I was proud of it because I did
all the paint on it myself.
The first thing he said he wanted to do to the bass was set
it up. I told him no. I set up all my basses myself and I do
it for a reason that has to do with my tone. Fact- basses
and guitars that have the strings set up high up on the fret
board (and thus high from the pick ups) sound better. Again,
don’t ask me why. I realize that basses and guitars feel
better when the action (string height) is low, but that
truth is they don’t sound near as good. Guitar techs always
set up the action as low as possible because most players
prefer it that way. I do not.
After trial and error with each bass, I am able to find the
lowest string level on the action which still sounds good.
Usually, this is much higher than other bass players would
prefer. But again, with my style of bass playing, just
pounding away on root notes and playing bass riffs sparingly
as possible, it doesn’t make that big of a difference to me.
A blues or a jazz player would hate my basses, but to me
they are set up perfectly to maximize their individual tonal
qualities.
Long story short, my newly found bass tech tells me that he
wants to grind the sides of the frets (as they were sticking
out a little like a cheese grater) and put on some heavier
gauge strings. My first reaction was “what the hell
difference would a higher gauge string make?” but I
reluctantly agreed to let him try this. I had nothing to
lose.
The following week I got the bass back, and to my shock, it
sounded as good as an American, both in standard tuning and
½ step down. Actually, maybe a little better. What I didn’t
understand at the time (again, because I don’t understand
even basic physics) was the thicker the gauge of the string,
the stronger the tension needed to properly tune it. Thus,
when he put the heavier gauge string on, you had to pull the
tuning keys tighter to get the thing in tune. It sounded
amazing! I just thought a thicker string would “flop” around
more. In fact, they flop less due to the higher tension
needed to tune them. This was a shock to me.
Here’s the other thing about Mexican Precision basses. On
average, they weigh 2 or 3 pounds lighter then their
American counterparts, which when your in a band playing
from 9:30 p.m. until 2 a.m. after working my real job all
day long makes a huge difference. But, more importantly, the
necks are sanded MUCH thinner in the back then the American
Precisions making them much easier to play. The Jazz necks
are thinner yet and easier to play but I hate the look and
tone of the Jazz basses. The American Precisions are pretty
much the same bass Leo Fender designed back in the 1950’s,
thick neck and all.
I love playing the Mexicans, they are lighter, easier to
play ( again because of the sanded neck), and you can find
used ones easily for less then $300.00. Again, less can be
more. I found that out over and over when it comes to bass,
less always is more. At least in my book. Do your job and
keep time with the drummer. That’s what makes people want to
dance, not doing wild runs on the bass trying to compete
with the guitar player. That’s just my 2 cents, sorry if it
offends anybody out there.
With all the talk I’ve done up until this point about
guitars, let me move my attention to the amp. First off, I
don’t believe in pre-amps for basses. Maybe for guitars they
work well, but for my money, just having a great bass and a
great amp are all that’s needed for bass. I’ve tried a few
through the years, both by Sans Amp and by MXR, but in my
opinion they are worthless. I know a lot of players much
better then me that use them, but I don’t care for them. It
takes a good guitar and a good amp to get good tone. That’s
it. There is no real secret to it, but if there is a secret,
that’s it.
I have experimented with a lot of amps through the years. I
have played Ampeg, Genz Benz, Fender and a few more. For me,
Gallien Krueger amps are where it is at. They are designed
differently then other solid state amps, and if you compare
a GK to any other brands amp of equal power, the GK will
ALWAYS have a lot more head room. I am not a high tech guy,
so don’t ask me how. All I know is that it is true.
I know that tube amps sound better, but the solid state GK’s
are so close with their tone that I don’t mind. Also, the
solid state is a LOT more reliable and roadworthy. Being a
touring bass player that keeps my amp in the back of a
trailer in the heat of the summer and the cold of the winter
in Nebraska 24 hours a day, that’s what I need.
Regarding EQ’ing of my amp with my Fender P, I generally
keep the tone control of the bass maxed out on the treble
side, and the lows and mid’s of the amp in the middle with a
little more on the highs of the amp. Occasionally, I will
add some more low end in there if I’m in the mood to move
more air. But with the P bass having such a low tone to
begin with, I usually need to “lift up” the tone a bit.
Obviously, each guitar and amp sound a little bit different
depending on the room your playing, but as a general rule,
that’s how I do it.
For years I played a GK 1001RB. It is their 700 watt
professional model. It sounds amazing for the style I play,
and the amount of headroom is ridiculous. I have always
preferred the sound (and even the feel) playing through 12
inch speakers. This makes me a bit of an odd duck in most
mainstream bass circles. Most players today use a 410 or an
810 (4 10 inch speakers or 8 10 inch speakers) or a 410/115
stack (4 10 inch speakers on top and 1 15 inch speaker on
bottom) for live shows. While the later configuration
certainly gives you the best of both worlds between and low
and high end, to me the constant and steady push on 12 inch
speakers blows everything else out of the water.
Fortunately for me, GK introduced the MB212 in late 2009.
This thing is amazing! It is a combo amp, which means the
head and the cabinet are both built into a single unit. It
weighs only 38 pounds and sounds incredible. It cost less
then $700.00 new. If they would have made these (assuming I
would have found them) years ago, I could have saved so many
sore mornings from moving ridiculously heavy gear the night
before. My rig is so simple and light weight now, and I
would put my tone up against anyone. I’m completely set up
in about 3 minutes, even with my wireless unit. It used to
take my more like 20 minutes back in the day with other rigs
I used to play with.
Going back to the 12 inch speakers, basically the rule is
that the bigger the speaker, the better capable it is to
handle the low end of the bass. Don’t get me wrong, there
are some great 410’s cabinets out there, but they don’t push
a lot of air. When I play a 212 cabinet, or better yet my
412 cabinet with my GK 1001RB, I get a deep and rich bass
tone and can actually feel the air and growl coming out of
the cab when I turn it up. I must confess, I live for that
feel and that sound. It’s what makes me feel good, when I
can make the walls shake if I want to. Childish? Maybe. I
love it none the less.
The last thing about my tone, I don’t like using a lot of
effects. To me, if your playing the right bass with the
right strings through the right amp, you really don’t need
anything else. I do however run some slight compression
through my live rig. I almost hate to do it, because yes, it
does suck some of the great tone I love. But, like all
double edged swords, there is an upside to it. It makes me a
more consistent player. Sound guys love it because once they
get me dialed in, that’s it. They won’t have to touch the
bass level all night long. Also, it makes me more consistent
in my playing.
Compression always will be a “dark art” in the sense that
you always lose a bit of tone and the ability to really
emphasize a note or a part of a song by playing it a little
bit harder with your hands to make it stand out, but the
trade off’s of compression seem to be worth it in the end.
All I run in my live rig is my bass guitar to my tuner, my
tuner to my compression pedal, and my compression pedal to
my amp. That’s it. Probably one of the simplest set ups in
Omaha. To me, that’s they way I like it. I have always
followed the KISS principle on bass (keep it simple stupid)
and that philosophy has served me well in my musical career.
Also, most nights I am playing a $275.00 Mexican Precision
through a $699.00 combo amp and my tone still sounds better
then many guys playing $5,000.00 rigs. Just my opinion, but
again I’ve had so many people ask me about my tone through
the years that it makes me proud that I can do what I do for
the little amount of money that I put in on it. I have sold
off thousands of dollars in gear through the years now that
I know I don’t need to spend big money for good tone.
Anyway, that’s what works for me. I’m sure I will continue
to evolve regarding my tone a little bit, but I’m pretty
happy where I am now. I wish I would have figured all this
stuff out in 2003 when I started playing bass, but
unfortunately it took me 8 years of trial and error before I
figured out what works best for me. There aren’t a ton of
guys out there that play with the same style and technique I
do, but if you do and try some of these tips, I think you
won’t be disappointed.
Like I said, I don’t claim to be a great player. But, at
least I have a plan on what I need my gear to do to sound
great the way I’m playing. For anyone who cares, I hope this
has been a good read. Thanks again for checking it out, and
if you have an opinion on any of it, write me and let me
know what you think! Peace!
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