How To Get This Bass Sound?

[ggalen]

Here's an MP3 snippet of Bill Cosby's theme (written with Quicy Jones), "Hicky Burr", that has the sort of smooth, round bass that I dream about getting. I just read that's Carol Kaye on the bass.You know that kind of bass that you "feel all around you" as well as hearing the downbeat thump?I'd love to have a bass sample that would sound like this...or is this primarily done with EQ and proper compression?How would I go about achieving this with a bass sample?Thanks for any thoughts or advice.http://www.GlennGalen.com/HickyBurr.mp3Here's the bass alone (from Carol Kaye.s website)http://www.carolkaye.com/www/library/so ... y_Burr.mp3

[ernstinen]

Hey Glenn,Another bass mystery! Well, THAT sounds like a Fender Jazz or Precision bass, with some of the tone rolled off on the guitar, played with a pick and compressed quite a bit.But what do I know? I'm batting below the Mendoza line so far --- Ern

[ernstinen]

Jun 23, 2008, 8:29pm, mojobone wrote:Yeah, I think the controversy stems from a lot of Motown hits not just being re-packaged, but sometimes re-recorded; doesn't make Carol Kaye a liar.Carol Kaye's claim that she played some of the stuff that Jamerson obviously did always puzzled me. I'm A HUGE Jamerson fan, and that always reeked of jealousy to me. --- I've never heard that some of those hits were re-recorded. When, and by whom? BUT, reading her website, she also claimed to play on some of the Beach Boys' hits, too. Maybe so, but why would Brian Wilson want to do that when he was such a great bass player? Very odd ---Ern

[daniel481]

She definitely played on the Beach Boys stuff. I don't know anything about the Motown controversy, but I know for sure that that's true

[ggalen]

Bill,I was a Byrds fan, and kind of deflated to read that they didn't play on their records...except Roger Mcquinn and his 12-string. I never heard them live. I am sure I would have wised up during the first song, eh?Oh well, I keep learning more and more about how the world REALLY works on so many fronts!

[ernstinen]

I never heard the Byrds live (a little before my time for concert-going), but the thing I heard about their live shows was that they spent more time tuning their guitars than actually playing! It really put a damper on the pacing of the show --- heheh! --- I heard the same thing about Joni Mitchell, too.And I don't know why David Crosby didn't play guitar on their records. He's a fine guitar player, albeit not a lead guitar player. Listen to his first solo album "If Only I Could Remember My Name." It's a GREAT record! Crosby came up with so many cool tunings, and of course was/is a genius for vocal harmonies.Oh, speaking of bass sounds: On that Crosby album I figured out who played bass --- Jack Cassady of the Airplane. Now THERE'S a great bass sound! It's got that "thunk" and depth that I mentioned in the other thread about the BTO bass sound. Probably an Alembic, 'cause all those San Francisco guys were using those around that time.Ern

[billg]

Jun 24, 2008, 1:01pm, ernstinen wrote:I never heard the Byrds live (a little before my time for concert-going), but the thing I heard about their live shows was that they spent more time tuning their guitars than actually playing! It really put a damper on the pacing of the show --- heheh! --- I heard the same thing about Joni Mitchell, too.And I don't know why David Crosby didn't play guitar on their records. He's a fine guitar player, albeit not a lead guitar player. Listen to his first solo album "If Only I Could Remember My Name." It's a GREAT record! Crosby came up with so many cool tunings, and of course was/is a genius for vocal harmonies.Oh, speaking of bass sounds: On that Crosby album I figured out who played bass --- Jack Cassady of the Airplane. Now THERE'S a great bass sound! It's got that "thunk" and depth that I mentioned in the other thread about the BTO bass sound. Probably an Alembic, 'cause all those San Francisco guys were using those around that time.Ern They Byrds were the worst "famous" band I ever heard live, hands down. I was just a kid about 15 when I heard them. I had some friends that were in a local band that did only Byrd covers & I just remember how much better they were than the real thing.Jack Cassady always used a really cool Gibson hollowbody. Epiphone makes a pretty nice re-issue. Here's a video of Jack Cassady & John Entwhistle talking bass & Jack has his Gibson & talks about it a bit.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvk--gt5iYo

[ernstinen]

Hey Bill,Thanks for those links to hear Jamerson's parts! I was really surprised on "Bernadette" how much "fur" the bass part has on it. I think you or someone mentioned before that he went through some kind of preamp direct into the board, and could dial in how much "fur" he wanted on his sound. Was that a tube preamp? Sounds REALLY cool! --- You don't really hear it as much with the full band playing, but when isolated it really growls!Ern