Marcus Miller's thoughts on bass guitars

[bubinga5]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1330313' date='Aug 6 2011, 08:28 PM']This sort of cliche gets bandied about all the time, though I am sure there is some truth in it, Stuart Hamm playing a Kubicki still sounds like Stuart Hamm. Stuart Hamm playing an Urge II still sounds like Stuart Hamm even though the bass tone is different. If you took a '59 P Bass and gave it to Mark King and asked him to slap Mr. Pink out on it, I'm sure he could but the tone is never going to be right.[/quote]
ive got to agree.. i really dont get this..its all in the fingers..? if Victor played a stingray hes not going to sound like Victor on a Foderaw.. yeah he may play the same licks, but the tone will be different..

[Conan]

[quote name='JTUK' post='1329561' date='Aug 6 2011, 08:04 AM']I also know that other more mass produced basses have also been able to hit that target, but maybe less consistantly. But that doesn't mean you cannot find a gem, that way, every now and then.[/quote]

Agreed. I currently have four basses. A modest "collection" by the standards of some on here, but for me it's a lot!

Status series II worth about £1200
Cort Curbow 5 string worth about £300
No-name Jazz copy cost me £100
Squier affinity P bass cost me £65

Guess which one I play most at the moment? The P.

It just feels right in my hands and sounds great. OK, the replacement GFS pickups help there, but the neck is just lovely. The Status is, of course, more versatile and a much higher quality. The J copy does that "J" sound which obviously no P will ever do. The Cort has another string, and three band active EQ....

But I love the P at the moment.

There's no accounting for taste is there?

[Conan]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1330660' date='Aug 7 2011, 10:01 AM']ive got to agree.. i really dont get this..its all in the fingers..? if Victor played a stingray hes not going to sound like Victor on a Foderaw.. yeah he may play the same licks, but the tone will be different..[/quote]

True to a certain extent, but having seen that clip of Jaco playing a JayDee series II I'm not so sure...

Would Mark King still sound like Mark King on a fretless Jazz?

Edited August 7, 2011 by Conan

[JTUK]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1330149' date='Aug 6 2011, 06:11 PM']Who is this 'Wotten' you speak of?[/quote]

[JTUK]

[quote name='4000' post='1330084' date='Aug 6 2011, 05:27 PM']I love Stanley's tone. One of my favourite tones ever. I love the tone of pretty much all the "Other Alembic" guys too. I'll say it again; GOOD TONE IS COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE.[/quote]

well, kinda...Clark got his down to be ok...but sometimes the other guys stank. I'm talking Entwhistle, McVie, especially.
Youtube will be full of sh*te sounds from those guys and I admit I'd never go and watch them, but how wrong can a recorded sound that you'd have release control over be from the live rig..??

And I'll post a few examples that noone could argue was good...no matter how much a fan of them, you'd be.

Sorry, no other way to say that.

[Musicman20]

Interesting thread, but as much as MM is one badass player, his tone is 'meh' to me. Too clicky for my tastes. Flea is much more interesting but that's just me.

[4000]

[quote name='JTUK' post='1330858' date='Aug 7 2011, 12:39 PM']well, kinda...Clark got his down to be ok...but sometimes the other guys stank. I'm talking Entwhistle, McVie, especially.
Youtube will be full of sh*te sounds from those guys and I admit I'd never go and watch them, but how wrong can a recorded sound that you'd have release control over be from the live rig..??

And I'll post a few examples that noone could argue was good...no matter how much a fan of them, you'd be.

Sorry, no other way to say that.[/quote]

You seem to be forgetting our previous discussion of this. I love McVie's Alembic sound. Entwistle's Alembic sound is up there with Chris Squire's for my favourite bass tone ever. Just because you think it sounds crap doesn't mean I should. For one thing, I[i] like [/i]distorted bass. What part of "subjective" aren't you getting?

FWIW, some of my favourite bass tones:

Chris Squire
Lemmy
Early Jon Camp
Glenn Hughes on Made in Europe
John McVie (Alembic)
Early JJ Burnel
Matt Garrison
Stanley Clarke
Hadrien Feraud (solo sound)
Leigh Gorman (Bow Wow Wow)
Jah Wobble
Mark King (Alembic)

I'm guessing at least some of those won't be to your taste....which is fine by me

Edited August 7, 2011 by 4000

[stingrayPete1977]

The thing I find funny with all the tone freaks on here is it's as if there is one tone to be found that should be used on every record there after. If I was making a whole album it would feature P,J, MM, Rics, old gibbo's, 4&5 stringers, clean and distorted etc etc etc, And I bet we would have some fun trying to tell which bass was which as my clunky heavy handed style would be prominent more than anything.

[BB3000S]

I would so love to hear Marcus live on a Stingray.

[4000]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1331028' date='Aug 7 2011, 04:14 PM']The thing I find funny with all the tone freaks on here is it's as if there is one tone to be found that should be used on every record there after.[/quote]

Some people will do this to an extent, others will approach each track differently. One thing that seems obvious is that there would be a lot of disagreement amongst us about what would be the right tone for a particular track.

[JTUK]

[quote name='4000' post='1330950' date='Aug 7 2011, 02:10 PM']You seem to be forgetting our previous discussion of this. I love McVie's Alembic sound. Entwistle's Alembic sound is up there with Chris Squire's for my favourite bass tone ever. Just because you think it sounds crap doesn't mean I should. For one thing, I[i] like [/i]distorted bass. What part of "subjective" aren't you getting?

FWIW, some of my favourite bass tones:

Chris Squire
Lemmy
Early Jon Camp
Glenn Hughes on Made in Europe
John McVie (Alembic)
Early JJ Burnel
Matt Garrison
Stanley Clarke
Hadrien Feraud (solo sound)
Leigh Gorman (Bow Wow Wow)
Jah Wobble
Mark King (Alembic)

I'm guessing at least some of those won't be to your taste....which is fine by me [/quote]

Nope, not forgetting that at all... but there is a huge differnce between different in taste and just god-damn-haven't-a-clue awful.
I'm talking about the latter in this regard.

[risingson]

[quote name='JTUK' post='1331105' date='Aug 7 2011, 05:37 PM']Nope, not forgetting that at all... but there is a huge differnce between different in taste and just god-damn-haven't-a-clue awful.
I'm talking about the latter in this regard.[/quote]

One man's meat is another man's poison etc. I'm not at all keen on John Entwhistle's tone but it was thoroughly unique, there's no contesting it.

[Chris2112]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1330328' date='Aug 6 2011, 08:47 PM']Flea to my knowledge has used live Wal, Musicman 2 and 3 EQ versions, Modulus graphite neck basses and Fender Jazz basses, Sounds just like the record everytime [/quote]

But even then he sounded different on each bass. His Wal didn't sound like his Alembic, which didn't sound like his Spector, which didn't sound like his Musicman, which didn't sound like his Modulus!

Similarly, looking back over the basses I've had, my Kubicki didn't sound like my ACG, which didn't sound like my Spector, which didn't sound like my Warwick, which didn't sound like my Status (any of them!), which didn't sound like my Alembic etc etc. Though if you heard me playing it you'd know it was me every time. In that way, I think people can get confused with the sound of the music/playing and the sound of the actual instrument.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1331131' date='Aug 7 2011, 05:56 PM']But even then he sounded different on each bass. His Wal didn't sound like his Alembic, which didn't sound like his Spector, which didn't sound like his Musicman, which didn't sound like his Modulus![/quote]
Only the albums sound different to me thats why I said live, When I have seen them bash out old tunes live wether he be playing on his Modulus or Jazz they sounded pretty close to the sound on the track from years before the only common factor, Flea

[Chris2112]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1331158' date='Aug 7 2011, 06:16 PM']Only the albums sound different to me thats why I said live, When I have seen them bash out old tunes live wether he be playing on his Modulus or Jazz they sounded pretty close to the sound on the track from years before the only common factor, Flea [/quote]

I suppose in the mess of a live situation you can lose that refinement that lets you tell one bass from another, especially if the sound guy is asleep at the board!

[stingrayPete1977]

Here you go Flea in 85 on guess what a Ray (So much balls spoken about Flea not using Ray's in the early days, Thats really really new!)
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p17gyvgCFA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p17gyvgCFA[/url]

Here is Flea on a (Modulus?) go forward a few mins to the normal bits
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqMseqjqwTo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqMseqjqwTo[/url]

Here is Flea on a Jazz
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA1C9PDTA3w"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA1C9PDTA3w[/url]

Still sounds like Flea to me?

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1331159' date='Aug 7 2011, 06:18 PM']I suppose in the mess of a live situation you can lose that refinement that lets you tell one bass from another, especially if the sound guy is asleep at the board! [/quote]
If the tune is good enough it doesn't matter as much as we all think, I found a clip of a lad jamming it on a Jazz bass and that sounded pretty cool too. It has never spoilt my enjoyment watching him on an MM, Modulus or Jazz and he appears happy to mix them up too. And what about Flea on that very early EBMM hey who would of thought it

[4000]

[quote name='risingson' post='1331112' date='Aug 7 2011, 05:42 PM']One man's meat is another man's poison etc.[/quote]

This. +1000. Thank you.

There is no fixed, absolute definition of "good" tone. Therefore the only argument for or against is a subjective one. However awful you may think someone's tone is, there will be someone out there who would kill for it. Of course the only real issue is that you (or your employer if that's how you work) like the tone you have. And of course tone is also dependent on context. I love Chris Squire's tone but wouldn't want to hear it on a Chic track (another of my favourites BTW). However someone, somewhere might prefer it....and they're perfectly entitled to.

Edited August 7, 2011 by 4000

[4000]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1331131' date='Aug 7 2011, 05:56 PM']But even then he sounded different on each bass. His Wal didn't sound like his Alembic, which didn't sound like his Spector, which didn't sound like his Musicman, which didn't sound like his Modulus!

Similarly, looking back over the basses I've had, my Kubicki didn't sound like my ACG, which didn't sound like my Spector, which didn't sound like my Warwick, which didn't sound like my Status (any of them!), which didn't sound like my Alembic etc etc. Though if you heard me playing it you'd know it was me every time. In that way, I think people can get confused with the sound of the music/playing and the sound of the actual instrument.[/quote]

+1.

[bremen]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1331184' date='Aug 7 2011, 06:31 PM']Here you go Flea in 85 on guess what a Ray (So much balls spoken about Flea not using Ray's in the early days, Thats really really new!)
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p17gyvgCFA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p17gyvgCFA[/url]

Here is Flea on a (Modulus?) go forward a few mins to the normal bits
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqMseqjqwTo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqMseqjqwTo[/url]

Here is Flea on a Jazz
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA1C9PDTA3w"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA1C9PDTA3w[/url]

Still sounds like Flea to me?[/quote]

Awesome drummer.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='bremen' post='1331351' date='Aug 7 2011, 08:33 PM']Awesome drummer.[/quote]
Hell yeah!

Edited August 7, 2011 by stingrayPete1977

[sime17]

[quote name='Conan' post='1330682' date='Aug 7 2011, 10:21 AM']Agreed. I currently have four basses. A modest "collection" by the standards of some on here, but for me it's a lot!

Status series II worth about £1200
Cort Curbow 5 string worth about £300
No-name Jazz copy cost me £100
Squier affinity P bass cost me £65

Guess which one I play most at the moment? The P.

It just feels right in my hands and sounds great. OK, the replacement GFS pickups help there, but the neck is just lovely. The Status is, of course, more versatile and a much higher quality. The J copy does that "J" sound which obviously no P will ever do. The Cort has another string, and three band active EQ....

But I love the P at the moment.

There's no accounting for taste is there? [/quote]


For god's sake don't go by the standards of people on here! When I joined I had three basses. 3 basses. I've now got six and I dunno how it happened. I've only been on here three months! Tarts the lot of 'em

[bubinga5]

for no particular reason, i wanted to post this... astounding musical slap bass.. imo

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emu54xHr4yM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emu54xHr4yM[/url]

Edited August 12, 2011 by bubinga5

[Len_derby]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1337216' date='Aug 12 2011, 03:50 AM']for no particular reason, i wanted to post this... astounding musical slap bass.. imo

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emu54xHr4yM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emu54xHr4yM[/url][/quote]

Yeah. From the Silver Rain album, great stuff.
For me, what makes this great is that good as he is, his technique never overshadows the song. He just lets the tune breath, and the groove dance.

[ivansc]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1327680' date='Aug 4 2011, 07:41 PM']Marcus Miller has played a jazz bass as his main bass for years...reason to suspect he doesn't have the highest standards of tone...confirmed when you listen to him!

Victor Wooten on the other hand, with his brace of Fodera basses has always sounded amazing. Mind you, Marcus has played enough boutique basses over the years to know what he likes and what he doesn't like. That said, it doesn't take much effort to get a better tone than he has so I suppose it's a case of horses for courses.[/quote]


But there again you have to define "better", don`t you?

And from up close and personal nexperience, Vic Wooten doesnt need a Fodera to sound like that. As always, it`s in the fingers.


Sorry about showing my arse re: Vic, btw.