Clarky Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 (edited) Below are three clips of Percy Jones, respectively from early Brand X (playing a fretless Fender Precision), later Brand X (playing a fretless Wal) and finally Tunnels (playing an Ibanez piezo-equipped Ergodyne custom). My observations are that (1) it really is in the fingers as Percy sounds like Percy (and noone else) whatever he plays and (2) that the good old fretless P delivers the nicest, woodiest tone of the three (in Percy's hands the Wal is more middy, the Ibanez very dark and buzzy; I do appreciate the Wal can be much more versatile tonally than displayed here). Fender Precision [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OqQ4m84FyY[/media] Wal [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IenEUOxLNlU[/media] Edited December 20, 2011 by Clarky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 Ibanez [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxhoe0jQ-3g"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oxhoe0jQ-3g[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 Leaving aside the music (absolutely NOT my sort of thing) I don't see how you can describe the Wal as "more middy". You know better than most that the Wal is one of the few basses where the old cliche about "dialling in a tone" really does apply. You want middy, it does middy. You want it to sound like a Precision, it sounds like a Precision. If that fretless P-bass tone is what you want, and [i][b]all [/b][/i]you want, then they're great basses. If you want a bit more versatility (and you're not Percy Jones) then the Wal is more likely to provide it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 (edited) You misunderstand me Jack - I know full well how versatile the Wal is (from hi-fi through to dub) and I would like my old one back, thank you I was putting this in the context of how Percy Jones uses [i]his [/i]basses. I saw an interview in which he said he wanted a more organic, almost acoustic sound, prompting his move to Ibanez. Yet I think he gets this from his Fender P more than any. I have amended OP to be a bit clearer Edited December 20, 2011 by Clarky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 IMO those three clips don't demonstrate so much which bass has the best tone, but how fashions in recording and production change over time and the importance of using the right instrument and sound(s) for the track. I personally prefer the sound of the Wal, it's a little bass light for my tastes, but I suspect that the percussive stuff he's doing on it would suffer with a less middy tone. I'd be interested to hear what the first track sounds like with the Wal instead of the Precision - imagine I'd find it an improvement, and conversely I doubt the Precision would suit the second track at all. Having said that I think that there is a danger that Wal users when they first get their basses tend to use them to over-emphasise those tones that they were reaching before but not quite achieving with their previous bass(es). Mick Karn was the same. I much prefer the more understated sounds he was getting with the Travis Bean even though it required a lot of studio trickery to get the right balance of volume in the high register and clarity in the low. His Wal sound makes that a lot easier, but at the expense of subtlety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 It is worth remembering that Percy Jones was an electronics genius and made his own effects. I recall one of them was a flanger that increased the flange effect as the frequency of the notes went up. A lot of his sounds are his and his alone and the bass is secondary not only to his fngers/concept but also to his signal chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 (edited) I think he has a unique way of attacking the strings and you can hear this whatever bass he plays. He often starts and ends a phrase with a triplet then follows that up with a string bend or a chord made out sliding harmonics. I still love his playing and he'll always be my favourite bassist but I've found his later compositions rely heavily on the droning bottom C he tunes to... and the pieces often sound like cod Indian/ethnic things... which is definitely not to my taste! The switch from 4 to 5 string has also made his playing more 'invisible' or 'inaudible' in my opinion. The other thing I'm not too keen on is his Ibanez sound which is a sort of fizzy, scratchy top end and a bit-crunchy bottom (all courtesy of the piezo pickups). This means his arsenal of special techniques don't come across quite as well as with the Wal (which as an instrument has an uncanny way of turning very subtle finger noises into very rich, musically usable sounds and astonishingly loud harmonics). One doesn't notice him quite as much on the Ibanez, that's for sure. Edited December 20, 2011 by Spoombung Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatboter Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 One thing I experienced during a studio session : you can not make a Wal sound like a Precision....I tried every frequency and every tone but it still sounded like a Wal. When I plugged in a Precision the difference was huge... I still prefer Percy on his Wal...superbe tone, very clear and percussive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 OK, not enough like a Precision to fool an experienced bassist (or sound engineer) into believing it's a Precision you're playing. But easily enough like a Precision to fool yer average bassist, and pretty much anyone in the audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I only realised a while ago that he uses a filter/wah type effect a lot in the later Brand X/Wal stuff - but its blended with his direct sound so it doesn't give the effect of turning a pedal on...as we were all used to back in those days! Its much more subtle. My favourite sound is the Wal - with the Pbass coming a close second. I saw him years ago with a re-formed Brand X and the Ibanez just didn't sound like him..boom and scratch, not much warble. Mind you, the guitarist was trying to deafen everyone, so I'm sure that didn't help. Still love the sound, if not the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Prefer the WAL sound and I've always associated Percy with the WAL. I have the older precision albums incl Livestock and it is good to hear some of it again. Percy was one of the reasons i looked at WAL bass many yrs ago. Will need to dig out my old vinyl again for a listen. Thanks Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo-London Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 I never realised he used P fretless originally. I bought a fretless P in about 1979. I just sold it recently. I could never get a decent tone out of it, so I admire that P-bass tone even more. I like both the P and Wal and hate his Ibanez tone. Not sure it's the bass just the sound he's going for. I just don't like it and it seems a shame. Davo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 His Ibanez tone can be good on some occasions. This a good example of the best it gets: [media]http://youtu.be/XTmke3BHyJA[/media] Wait for the solo in the middle of the track Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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