Gunsfreddy2003

Did you have the Fender MM with the stock pre and then change to Sadowsky? If so, I am keen to know what the Sadowsky offered in terms of tone? [quote name='chardbass' timestamp='1469141278' post='3096145'] Crikey. So many thoughts but if you really want 'that' sound quickly on a 5 string then a Fender MM sig 5 will get you there. Even with the stock pre it's close. I have a 4 string sig model and fitted a Sadowsky pre. It sounds great slapped but I've never A-B'd it to MMs classic tone. I agree that the Sire isn't 'that' sound. I have 2 though and am very happy with them as I'm not after the exact MM sound. Even Marcus doesn't sound like classic Marcus on a Sire V7. Agreed with Garry re Wayne Braithwaite- heard him on Jonathan Butler's stuff in the late 80s. Pleasure's bassist Nate Phillips sounded like MM before Marcus did! We've all heard Glide- listen to Marcus' sound around 79-80 on say Chaka's Naughty and then listen to Glide. [/quote]

Yep 100% - just looking for bulk order discounts now! [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1469172638' post='3096245'] So you are a DR convert now? Bloody love those strings! [/quote]

It's hard to say - it's a nice sound and I do love the Sire bass and use it a hell of a lot and it is certainly much better with the DR strings on that you recommended but it's like chalk and cheese with the jazz bass with East pre. In my head I know the sound that I am looking for and I just can't get the Sire there, it seems to lack the punch and also the top end is not as bright as it could be. Annoying now as I'm nearly there but just missing a string! A mate of mine has a MM 5 string so perhaps I need to bribe him to come up and let me do some sound testing! [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1469138928' post='3096127'] Hmm. The sire not delivering really surprises me. What's the point at which it falls down? [/quote] [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1469138928' post='3096127'] Hmm. The sire not delivering really surprises me. What's the point at which it falls down? [/quote]

Agree to some extent but my technique is what it is and I can assure you that I sound a hell of a lot more like Marcus with my jazz bass than I do with any of my others! [quote name='ambient' timestamp='1469134614' post='3096105'] I think a lot of it is down to technique. [/quote]

Update on this - bought an EBS HD350 and that paired with the SWR cabs and the 74 jazz with East pre-amp has absolutely nailed that tone and I love it. However, there is one big problem, I don't play 4 string live at all anymore so as much as the tone is great at home its not going to keep me happy when I gig. Interestingly I do have a Sire Marcus Miller and it sounds nothing like I want it to and compared to the Jazz it's really lacking. So the big question is what is there in 5 string that is going to sound like the vintage jazz with the East pre-amp? Is a Fender Marcus Miller going to be the best bet or should I be thinking Xotic or Atelier Z? I have got to get that tone but in a 5 string variant - so close to the Holy Grail of tone now!!!

Nice to see all of the love for SWR coming out guys. As others have said it seems a real shame that such a great brand was swallowed up with no real benefit than to help Fender build up their market share. Personally, I have never used a Fender amp and have to say that they are not even on my radar to try at all. I wonder if the guy that started SWR toys with the idea of doing it all again? I'm off to search the web for second hand SWR cabs - they could be worth a lot one day!

Blimey - lots of love for SWR here, I expect their 2nd hand value to start rising soon! [quote name='Geddys nose' timestamp='1468335261' post='3090225'] I owned a Goliath Snr and a Henry 8, Tone wise they where by far better than anything I had since. [/quote]

I bought some SWR cabs last year which I have been very impressed with. I was thinking about getting some more but it seems that SWR have disappeared, there is a website but it doesn't go anywhere when you click on the the page links. I seem to recall that the company was bought by Fender but don't know much else after that. Seems such a shame that they have gone if that is indeed what has happened? If anyone can enlighten me it would be appreciated.

Yes, I think that is probably the best course of action - I was just hoping for a quick fix I could have done myself. I'm not sure that the amp is worth spending the money on for any kind of repair to be honest. [quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1465787584' post='3070949'] The caps are the black can looking things and smaller blue ones. But keep away from the large ones. Is it me or does the resistor between the heatsinks look a little burnt on the board?? Since you didn't know which were the capacitors then I advise you fasten it back up take it too a tech as you really can get hurt. [/quote]

I have opened up the amp and can't seem to see any fuses on the PCB - happy to be enlightened if anyone can see something that I am missing on the pic! Where are the power supply capacitors that I need to wary of? [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1465212811' post='3066109'] Could be one rail of the power supply gone. Have a look for any fuses internal, mounted on the PCB(S) and see if any have gone. Usual warnings about poking around inside gear apply - Unplug from mains etc. [/quote]

I had never heard of him but I like his tone - really sweet! [quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1465660389' post='3070052'] There was a New York studio player in the late 70's early 80's, who kinda had a Marcus 'sound' before Marcus. He played on quite a lot of named albums and projects. Unfortunately passed away through illness in his mid 30's in 1991. His name was Wayne Braithwaite and an excellent Musician and groover. He composed a few hits as well. I remember reading that he used an early 70's passive Fender Jazz Bass with Di Marzio pups. (Black with Rosewood board). A thread about him here and his tone, with track listening suggestions. (post #14 worth a look). [url="https://www.talkbass.com/threads/80s-old-school-wayne-braithwaite.501903/"]https://www.talkbass...thwaite.501903/[/url] Meanwhile here is a video with him on ( miming with a different Fender by the look of it). [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYAmSbg-uE0[/media] [/quote]

I had a 350 on loan from Bernie and also bought a Reidmar but at that time I was solely working with my Rumour and the tone from that and ended up preferring my Little Mark III and Berg set up with that bass rather than the EBS rig and yes I wish I had kept the cab and amp now!!! [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1465647257' post='3069918'] DRs last about 4 months for me but it depends how much you play/sweat. I've found them to be the best strings for me and do a mean impression of Marcus. A HD350 with a healthy dose of compression and pre shape engaged into some zingy speakers will get your there pretty quick. I thought you'd run a 350 with a 212 neo line at some point? With the shaping on the amp I'm not entirely convinced you'll need to much reliance on an onboard preamp. [/quote]

That story does ring a bell, he could make a £50 bass sound a million dollars. What preamp is in the Fender Marcus Miller? [quote name='LZD56' timestamp='1465644491' post='3069882'] I may be wrong (often am) but I seem to recall reading that Marcus' pre-amp was a Bartolini that just happened to be fitted by Roger Sadowsky back in the day. So many requests for similar caused Sadowsky to make his own. Marcus sounds like Marcus even when he's playing Jaco tracks. [/quote]

That sounds like one hell of a set up! SWR Redhead has always intrigued me too but never tried one. [quote name='luckydog' timestamp='1465634397' post='3069752'] Going back some decades now, I used a Warwick Streamer stage 1 (Seymour Duncan pickups with those odd switches), Rotosound Nickel (?) rounds 95 gauge, active preamp (whatever was standard in the guitar), Boss rack compressor, Trace Elliot AH350 mids scooped TE 2x10 + 1x18. Pretty classic growling sound, halcyon days. The other amp I fancied and tried but never obtained was SWR Red (2x10)..... As you say, much of the 'correct' sound starts in the fingers, and timing is everything. After that, it's having proper action and elasticity in the guitar/strings, then the strings themselves, PUs, compressor is key, and a rig that can cope with the top end transients as well as the shear kick drum like impact. I'd almost forgotten those times ! LD [/quote]

Yep and annoyingly out of all of my basses the 74 jazz gave me the closest thing to the sound I was after by a mile but just a shame it only has 4 strings! [quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1465638465' post='3069809'] This might be a silly question, but have you recorded yourself and played it back? After all, you're standing right over your bass and hearing the acoustic sound. Your audience are hearing the sound. Maybe if sounds ok out-front? [/quote]

Cool clips - to my ears the live tone is infinitely better than the studio tone! Does anyone know what compressor he uses live? [quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1465639151' post='3069818'] Any decent round wound string brand would do, along with a Jazz Bass pup configuration. After all, Marcus and Co were getting great slap sounds long before the DR strings came along. (Although, they really are good strings) Marcus could also get great finger AND slap sound with minimal tweeking. Just rolling back the neck pup slightly for finger style. Marcus in the early 80's, with 'His' sound. Doesn't sound like very much mid cut to me. I have seen him live a few times, and his compressor does seems to work hard. http://youtu.be/rKNjKBszLA8 Studio version '81. http://youtu.be/tZntuL32_ps [/quote]

Agree to some extent but when I am playing live all I can hear is the tone from my bass and back line and this is the tone that I crave. Got some good basses so guess it's just the strings and amps to sort! [quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1465636942' post='3069783'] I'd suggest Jerry Barnes is using his regular gear. In this clip you're probably just hearing a DI'ed jazz type bass. You can hear him switch to a regular finger style Chic bass line at about 3 mins so he's not focusing on slap for the sound of this bass. You need a good 2 pickup bass and a set of new round wound strings. As an overall comment I'd say there is no "correct" slap sound. You can fit in anywhere between Mark King and Louis Johnson. Try to find your own sound and have others want to copy you. [/quote]

Ok, never used them before so will give them a go. How long do they stay bright for? [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1465635399' post='3069767'] Strings - DR HiBeams (Stainless) for sure. No signature, no nothing - straight forward HiBeams. Stainless is where this all starts. [/quote]

Morning all, After years of listening to the likes of Marcus Miller and Jerry Barnes I am on a mission to get as damn close to that dream tone as possible but I need some help guys! I am after opinions as to the the key ingredients that you need in your gear to get this kind of tone [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8PK9Z3Ww5w"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8PK9Z3Ww5w[/url] It obviously starts with your hands and been working on that for a long time with varying degree of success! Next up is the bass - Jerry Barnes uses Atelier Z with it's own preamp and electronics, whilst we all know about Mr Miller and his jazz bass and legend has it that his has a Sadowsky pre-amp in it that gives it that sound. First question, does the Fender Marcus Miller signature have a Sadowsky pre-amp in it - I doubt it. If not, you can buy them from Thomann so is it a better idea to out one of those into a Fender Marcus Miller or would it work just as well in the Sire Marcus Miller that I have? I do have a 74 jazz with an East pre-amp and have got somewhere close to the tone but no exaclt there - the other majot problem I have is that I am a 5 string player these days so have to get the tone from one of my 5's or buy a new one. Moving on to amps, apparently Jerry uses an Aguilar DB751 but for the life of me I can't see that amp getting this tone so that is a dead end and also it is too big and too heavy. So, we are into EBS and SWR area I would have thought, I have 2 x SWR Workingman's 1 x 10's and that with an old Hartke head sounded really nice with the 74 jazz and got quite close. Sadly that amp blew up 2 weeks ago and is probably not worth repairing. A knowledgeable friend on these things says that the tweeters used in older SWR stuff was comparable to that used in EBS cabs which helps to explain why they make a similar sound so I think I could work with these more and certainly 2, 1 x 10's is ok for live and rehearsal use. On to amp heads, happy to take suggestions and advice here but thinking it needs to be EBS Reidmar or HD350 but any other opnions are welcome and valued. Strings are also a key element, any advice on strings to give the closes sound would be good - I use Elixir at the moment which I know are not the brightest of strings but they are good to my fingers. The right combination of bass and pre-amp/electronics, strings, amp and cabs has to be out there to get to this holy grail of tone and I just want to find it! I am sure that its not impossible but do have to cut through a lot of the BS and marketing hype to get to the truth.

Hmm - I don't like the sound of that. Can anyone recommend a good repairer who might be able to take a look at it?