New bass

[Thunder_Fingers]

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a new bass to be used primarily in a 'The Who' tribute band. I have £1000 to spend. I'm trying to get John Entwistle's 'Live At Leeds' sound.

What do you recommend I check out?

Thanks in advance!

[ahpook]

there's a warwick buzzard for sale on basschat - not period-correct i guess, but should get a good ox-y sound.

[Thunder_Fingers]

thanks, i'll have a look

[4000]

Live at Leeds was a P Bass ("Frankenstein" I believe, although I could be wrong), so for £1k the world is your oyster. Best P Bass I've played recently was a maple-necked Mexican Classic - approx £660. Bear in mind your amp will have a lot of bearing on this. Using my mate's maple-necked 76 P through another mate's early Ashdown combo (200W 1x15) I could nail that sound, but a lot of the newer gear probably won't.

[Jarhead]

Aye, you'd probably be better off at looking at your rig, rather then your bass in this case, as most of his tone came from them. Like it has already been said, a P bass would be a good start, then I'd look at your rig, and change parts of it until you get as close as you can to 'that' tone.

Zach

[neilb]

and of course master JEs technique. loads of melodic fills/runs and tapping the strings onto the frets as opposed to normal methods.......but im sure you know all this as your doing a trib act. GL with it anyway,always wanted to give a Who Trib Act a go............

[hillbilly deluxe]

Avoid the holidays in Vegas and you'll be good.

[LukeFRC]

RE: amps, the bass pod has a live at leeds setting if i remember correctly, not sure how good it is (not listened to the who enough) but that might be a cheaper way to get the amp tone if you used a POD as a pre-amp with your existing rig.

[Dom in Dorset]

In the CD booklet it does apear to be the P bass that he's using.Many of the pics of Mr Entwistle + P bass that I can find with google appear show him playing with a plectrum.
My personal choice would be to build a "Fenderbird" hybrid.

[4000]

"Frankenstein" was a P Bass he put together from parts of different P basses, FWIW. He always said it had a very distinctive tone.

Edited December 6, 2009 by 4000

[SS73]

As said before your amp is going to be the main factor, grinding valves will work well.

But before all this you should try a set of Rotosound rounds RS66 on your existing bass and prepare to loose some skin and lots of fret wear.

[4000]

I've just checked my copy of "Bass Culture - the John Entwistle Bass Collection" and it was definitely Frankenstein that was used. Here's a link to an article about the bass (amongst others):

[url="http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/equipment/bass/equip-entwistlegear-67-71.html"]http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/equipment/ba...gear-67-71.html[/url]

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='4000' post='675557' date='Dec 6 2009, 11:45 AM']"Frankenstein" was a P Bass he put together from parts of different P basses, FWIW. He always said it had a very distinctive tone.[/quote]
The electronics were from a '66 slab P which JE also said had a very distinctive tone.

[quote]1965 sunburst (later refinished Fiesta Red/salmon pink) “Frankenstein” Fender Precision Bass with maple neck.
* Assembled from various basses, including the chrome pickup cover from a Fender Jazz Bass; the neck pickups and circuitry from two of John’s three “dead” slab basses.
* Serial no. 13081
* Used beginning 1967.

JE: I put this together in San Francisco on a day off part way through a Who tour. It’s the remains of five smashed basses hence the name ‘Frankenstein’. In the mid 70’s it was retired from stage work so I had it refinished from sunburst into its present pink colour. I used this baby from 1967 onwards through ‘Tommy’ and all the tours up to ‘Quadrophenia’...[b]The neck, pickups and circuitry are from a ‘dead’ slab bass[/b], the tailpiece from a Jazz bass, the pickguard from a black P bass and the machine heads from 2 white P basses...Two hours with a Phillips screwdriver and a soldering iron and I was ranting around my hotel room screaming “It’s alive, it’s alive!” [url="http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/equipment/bass/equip-entwistlegear-67-71.html"](source)[/url][/quote]

[maxrossell]

If it's for use in a tribute band I'd mainly look at getting the image right, so some sort of P bass or an Explorer bass or a Buzzard. Beyond that, I think that as long as you get a bit of a decent warm boomy retro tone most audiences will be delighted. There's no need to be ultra-specific about it.

[4000]

[quote name='maxrossell' post='675636' date='Dec 6 2009, 01:11 PM']If it's for use in a tribute band I'd mainly look at getting the image right, so some sort of P bass or an Explorer bass or a Buzzard. Beyond that, I think that as long as you get a bit of a decent warm boomy retro tone most audiences will be delighted. There's no need to be ultra-specific about it.[/quote]

In a tribute band I'd think it's very much about getting at least [i]pretty[/i] specific about it. Maybe not in a typical cover band.

[OutToPlayJazz]

There's a JE Live at Leeds sound patch on my Line 6 BassPod XT Live. May be a cheaper option than a new bass

[Thunder_Fingers]

Thanks for all the replies!

I'm going to look into getting a 'Line 6 BassPod XT Live'. I'm also thinking about getting a Fender 50's classic Precision bass and moding it. Good idea?

Thanks again!

[OutToPlayJazz]

In addenum, all of the Line 6 XT models have that patch. It's just that the "live" model is the floor board type.

[Thunder_Fingers]

Has the 'Line 6 BassPod XT Live' been discontinued? The reason I ask this is, some shops say "Sorry this product is no longer available".

Thanks

[4 Strings]

Might upset some people if you modify a 50s bass. Could always get a more modern Precision, they look the same after all! Definitely Frankenstien on Live at Leeds, it was white in those days so there's an easy start. However that's in reply to the original sound question.

To look the part I think the mopst distinctive is the Thunderbird body and Precision neck basses (didn't he call them 'Fenderbirds'?) made for him by his favourite luthier - name escapes me. Doubt you'll find one of those and if you do it'll be £50k and in competition with some Hard Rock Cafe. However the reverse body was his fave look and, I think, will be better than a Precision (for which you'd need to find the pickup cover).

Soundwise its Rotosound Swing Bass strings, plectrum on some ( Magic Bus, Can't Explain etc) and fingers on the others - You'll have to put your ear to find which.

You'll have so much fun in a Who Tribute band, I'd love to do it. I grew up with Entwhistle in my ears, he was my earliest and biggest influence.

[Jamesemt]

[quote name='4 Strings' post='676672' date='Dec 7 2009, 01:13 PM']Might upset some people if you modify a 50s bass[/quote]

I think he's talking about a MIM not a REAL 50s P

[Thunder_Fingers]

Sorry, I didn't make my self clear enough. I was talking about the MIM classic 50s bass.

[Russ]

The P-bass should nail the sound pretty well (especially if you stick it through something with distortion - the POD patch does a good job), but I'd say the iconic image of Entwistle is him with either the Alembic Exploiter or the Status Buzzard. Short of spending a fortune on an Alembic or Status (or Warwick), I'm not sure what to suggest. Maybe give Jon Shuker a call and see if he'd do you an Explorer-shaped bass with P pickups? Shouldn't come in much over £1000.

[4000]

I agree that the most iconic Entwistle image is probably the Exploiter, but he did specifically ask about the Live at Leeds sound, which is all P. Of course an Exploiter might cost a bit more.

[4000]

[quote name='4 Strings' post='676672' date='Dec 7 2009, 01:13 PM']To look the part I think the mopst distinctive is the Thunderbird body and Precision neck basses (didn't he call them 'Fenderbirds'?) made for him by his favourite luthier - name escapes me.[/quote]

Peter Cook.