'The Way I Am' - Eminem

[Lew-Bass]

The bass is prominent throughout and the tone is really, really clean with nice high mids. Anyone know what bass/type of bass you'd need to achieve that sound? And what EQ settings, both on the bass and an amp?

Thanks in advance, particularly interested as I'm starting a new indie project in the near future and I think this sound would work well

[risingson]

That's Mike Elizondo on bass and he's also the track's producer. He's produced for Dr. Dre, Eminem, Maroon 5, Natasha Beddingfield, 50 Cent, Nelly Furtado and Pink. He is a complete monster of a bass player, and a superb producer as well.

It would be hard to say what particular bass Mike used on the track because of the amount of processing gone into the whole tune, but he often uses a 5 string Sadowsky purpose built for Darryl Jones in 1990, vintage Fender Jazz/Precision basses strung with both flats and rounds, and a Hofner violin bass, amongst others. He most often records either straight into an Avalon U5 or into a miked Ampeg B15.

Edited May 19, 2009 by liamcapleton

[steve-soar]

For his ultra-current, chart-topping bass lines, Mike Elizondo relies on retro basses. Mike's main 5-string is an early Sadowsky (originally built for Darryl Jones circa 1990), with a narrow-spaced maple neck, black swamp ash body, EMG JJ pickups, and a Sadowsky preamp. For 4-strings, he chooses among a '64 Fender Jazz Bass, '68 Jazz, '74 Jazz with a maple neck, candy apple red '62 Precision, '68 P-Bass with flatwounds, fretless '78 P-Bass with flatwounds, ’61 Gibson EB-O, '72 Rickenbacker 4001, '63 Hofner Beatle Bass, Kay Jimmy Reed bass, and a Harmony bass. He also uses a fretless Modulus 5-string and a 1920s plywood upright bass of unknown origin. His keyboard bass is a Minimoog modified by Ken Rich. Strings for his bass guitars are Dean Markley medium nickel roundwounds, gauges .045–.125. He uses Monster Cables and Dean Markley heavy-gauge picks.
Live, Mike plugs into Aguilar gear: a DB 680 tube preamp, DB 728 400-watt power amp, and two GS 410 cabinets. He is also never without his DB 924 outboard preamp box. In the studio Mike usually records through his Avalon U5 preamp/DI and his early-’60s Ampeg B-15 combo amp. His effects include a Line 6 Bass POD and a changing array of vintage pedals.

[Kongo]

It's nice to hear people appreciate bass from other sources.
Indeed the bass is tasty on that track...Another bassist that works hard, plays well yet is unknown to the masses.