Recommendations for the John Deacon Sound

[Delberthot]

I am a huge John Deacon fan and have always loved his sound.

He was my first bass hero and I suppose a lot of what he did has rubbed off on me.

I have never had any luck with regular P basses in terms of getting a good sound so what would you recommend to help me get the John Deacon sound?

[Delberthot]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_g5SWui864"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_g5SWui864[/url]

[DirkThrust]

If you can't get that sound live I would suggest that the main culprit is the Schroeder. It probably doesn't have the low down thump that you need for that kind of sound. That's not intended as a criticism of the Schroeder as they are fine cabs but just don't do a traditional sound well IME

I can get pretty close to JD's sound using my Precision with D'addario Chrome flats through an Ashdown ABM head into a Barefaced compact, albeit at a living room volume. It's a very old school type of sound and pretty much treble free

Edited May 23, 2009 by AndyMartin

[Delberthot]

my favourite sound is either the Dragon Attack solo or the high up bit on Liar.

I'm confident I can get it on my usual rig

[chris_b]

Anyone who sounds good using a Precision gets that tone because there are no highs and no lows. It's all about mid tones. That’s what the P bass does and what John Deacon, James Jamerson and Duck Dunn etc do.

[rjb]

I can actually get a great Deaky tone with my Thumb NT by using the neck pup, maxing the mid dial flattening the treble and bass.

Deaky playing a Thumb bass just wouldn't have been right, though!

[Dood]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='496194' date='May 23 2009, 06:00 PM']I am a huge John Deacon fan and have always loved his sound.

He was my first bass hero and I suppose a lot of what he did has rubbed off on me.

I have never had any luck with regular P basses in terms of getting a good sound so what would you recommend to help me get the John Deacon sound?[/quote]

There's loads of information about his basses etc here. Notably his two main basses a 68 and a 67 Fender P [url="http://www.deaky.com/indexE.html"]http://www.deaky.com/indexE.html[/url]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='496310' date='May 23 2009, 08:50 PM']my favourite sound is either the Dragon Attack solo or the high up bit on Liar.

I'm confident I can get it on my usual rig[/quote]

Ahhh I love thise songs!

[quote name='rjb' post='497194' date='May 25 2009, 12:00 PM']I can actually get a great Deaky tone with my Thumb NT by using the neck pup, maxing the mid dial flattening the treble and bass.

Deaky playing a Thumb bass just wouldn't have been right, though! [/quote]


You'd be surprised! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuxS-9t3tnY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuxS-9t3tnY[/url] here's John playing a Warwick (John Entwhistle) 'Buzzard' Bass!

[Dood]

Actually, I'd be interested in finding out more about his live rig through the late 80's. I see at Wembely (86) he was using Sunn 412L cabs - but no real information about amps and stuff.

I *think* for the 86 gig he was using a Nady wireless? Anyone have any more information?

[Dood]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='496194' date='May 23 2009, 06:00 PM']I am a huge John Deacon fan and have always loved his sound.

He was my first bass hero and I suppose a lot of what he did has rubbed off on me.

I have never had any luck with regular P basses in terms of getting a good sound so what would you recommend to help me get the John Deacon sound?[/quote]


There's a few isolated bass tracks on you tube to have a listen to that may also be of help [url="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=queen+bass+only&aq=f"]http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type...s+only&aq=f[/url]

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='AndyMartin' post='496300' date='May 23 2009, 08:43 PM']If you can't get that sound live I would suggest that the main culprit is the Schroeder. It probably doesn't have the low down thump that you need for that kind of sound. That's not intended as a criticism of the Schroeder as they are fine cabs but just don't do a traditional sound well IME

I can get pretty close to JD's sound using my Precision with D'addario Chrome flats through an Ashdown ABM head into a Barefaced compact, albeit at a living room volume. It's a very old school type of sound and pretty much treble free [/quote]

I would agree with that, to an extent.
Having just recently played through a rig that wasnt my 1210 or 1212 i can see exactly whats missing from my tone.
I play a P5 with chrome's and the 12xx cabs get the job done but through a bigger rig with a 1x15 my bass sounded so much more P like.
I prefer the 12xx cabs though but they do sound different from "traditional, old school" cabs.

[cetera]

I seem to remember seeing him use SWR gear at the end of the 80's....

[Adrenochrome]

[quote name='dood' post='497204' date='May 25 2009, 12:13 PM']Actually, I'd be interested in finding out more about his live rig through the late 80's. I see at Wembely (86) he was using Sunn 412L cabs - but no real information about amps and stuff.

I *think* for the 86 gig he was using a Nady wireless? Anyone have any more information?[/quote]

A key part of his set-up for that gig were his bright yellow short shorts

[York Paul]

Calling all John Deacon and Queen fans.
I'm selling one of my prize possessions, my 1978 Fender Precision P Bass that I have customised to the same spec as John Deacon's bass (fully fitted with all gold hardware - just like the real thing!).
This bass just has to be seen in the flesh to be believed at just how beautiful it really is.
I'm considering auctioning the bass on eBay shortly, however, I thought I would offer it to my bass friends first.
If you are interested and would like more information not to mention a host of photos, please feel free to contact me:
[email protected]

Here is a picture or two just to wet your appetite. . . . .

[dudewheresmybass]

i believe he used roto pressurewound strings too.

he was a roto endorsee for a while

[JTUK]

He did indeed use SWR gear and used the Big Ben cabs and Goliaths....a bit of overkill for what he would need, IMV. But he used a stock Precision so nothing mystical about his sound..

I'd endorse plugging the bass into another set-up to see how much influence your config has...
If your P-bass can't produce that sound with relative ease, then what is the point..?

A P-bass is a thump and hi mid grind, IMV..and that is pretty much all you are going to do with it...which is fine if that is what you are after ..and plenty are.

[Bassbank]

I have a 1966 Fender P bass however I think any passive Fender P. will work. I use Rotosound Jazz bass Rs77Ld flatwound strings (same as what Deacon used-they feel great and are even from a tonal perspective and are quite bright). I previously used Ampeg heads & Cabs however back in 2008, I purchased an Acoustic 370 head and an Acoustic 406 wide cab. This cab has 2 original Eminence 15" speakers and is ported in the middle.

If you look at the video for "Crazy Little Thing called Love" it appears to be the the same cab. The 15" speakers give the bass a larger sound than 4 10's and 1x 15 that i previously used with the Ampeg setup. I have owned the the 370 since 2008 with no issues at all and is crazy loud - I keep volume at 2 

but i should mention I only use it at home. I always keep the bright switch on for the mid range boost.

Having said all of this, the strings and the 370 are the 2 main ways (along with some EQ adjustments) to get that sound. I would say the sound is 85-90% of that tone.

Edited November 28, 2020 by Bassbank

[visog]

So I'm in. Great song writer and player. You've all covered the precision angle rightly. He was a big Squire fan in the early days so much respect for finding his own voice and not going down the Rick-route.

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Bassbank said:

I have a 1966 Fender P bass however I think any passive Fender P. will work.

Guessing he probably managed to work it out when the last post was posted 10 years ago 😂

[Shaggy]

Strangely enough, many many many years before the Internet, when I was 16, I wrote a letter to NME (or possibly Sounds) asking exactly the question as the OP.    B@stards never printed it....... 

[ped]

30 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Guessing he probably managed to work it out when the last post was posted 10 years ago 😂

Back when this thread started a ‘66 p bass was just called a P bass

[Woodinblack]

7 minutes ago, Shaggy said:

Strangely enough, many many many years before the Internet, when I was 16, I wrote a letter to NME (or possibly Sounds) asking exactly the question as the OP.    B@stards never printed it....... 

you sure that wasn't the OP?