REDLAWMAN Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 I'm struggling to emulate this at close quarters: what is it; that deep, glorious, clear, harmonic, bright, yet slightly 'over-driven' tone on the original recordings...?? Are we talking pure Ampeg 'tube' sound...? As daft as this might sound, the only way I can describe the sound is 'Golden'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markorbit Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Which recordings? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REDLAWMAN Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 The best examples I can think of are 'Back to You' and 'Come Up and See Me (Make Me Smile)'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 I'm just listening to 'Come Up And See Me' on our studio monitors and what stands out is that whoever played bass on it is just really deep in the pocket! Lots of muting and ghost notes, really strong pulse, mellow top but enough growl from where he's plucking, fairly worn in strings I suspect but nowhere near dead. I think to get that 'tone' it's much more about the playing than what you're using - I'd say it isn't 'pure Ampeg tube' sound, I'd say it's 'bassist in the zone laying it down' sound! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brensabre79 Posted December 13, 2011 Share Posted December 13, 2011 Yeah theres all sorts of factors at play here, not least who is playing like Alex says above, how old the strings are etc. But you'd need to also get the same Bass, Amp, Cabinet, Microphone, Desk (probably a nice old Neve) a nice old compressor (Fairchild or something), not to mention a modicum of tape compression running the VUs into the red. I used to use what I call the triple compression method to get that 70s studio sound when I was recording. Record to tape via a Neve Pre-amp and a tube compressor (Tube-Tech), driven a little, red line the tape, then from the tape through the compressor again just to tickle it. Reducing the attack time and the amount of compression slightly the second time. The result: smooth and slightly toasty golden Bass, Vocals, Drums... whatever... I don't think you'll ever get the exact sound, even the same people in the same studio with the same gear would struggle, so I would stop trying and just get as close as you can with what you've got Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peety Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 (edited) [i]The bass player on Come up and see me was George Ford generally seen playing a Jazz, saw him play with Cockney Rebel a couple of times in the 70's however as at the time i was young foolish and most likely hammered i have absolutely no idea what amplification he used, [/i] Edited December 14, 2011 by peety Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peety Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 A quick google search revaels that as well as playing bass for the 2nd incarnation of Cockney Rebel Geoge also played with Cliff and the Shadows and was a long time member of Al Stewarts touring band and along with Stuart Elliott the drummer from Cockney Rebel provided the rythmn section on his Year of the Cat album. George has apparently passed away and information on him, is very sketchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scalpy Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 If I recall correctly, it was recorded by Geoff Emerick as well, a man who knows how to get good sounds to tape. So a large part of the sound will be big diaphragm mic+meters in the red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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