Majid

Hi,

is your bass still available and is for sale?

Regards,

Majid

I changed the eq set up a little by cutting more of mid range and here is the result attached:

Please let me know if it has become closer to or farther from MM tone comparing to the tone in my video?

1 hour ago, Chris2112 said:

I think it sounds pretty damn cool as it is. 

Thanks a lot for your nice words 🙏

2 hours ago, jonnybass said:

i'd second the strings question, also marcus uses a badass bridge, different strings and bridge may help bring you closer to the tone you are after.  BTW great playing and your tone is fab.  I get that you are looking to be more Marcus but Majid's tone is good.

 

Jonny

And by the way, thanks a lot for your nice words 🙏

2 hours ago, jonnybass said:

i'd second the strings question, also marcus uses a badass bridge, different strings and bridge may help bring you closer to the tone you are after.  BTW great playing and your tone is fab.  I get that you are looking to be more Marcus but Majid's tone is good.

 

Jonny

Thanks for your reply. I also thought about it but was not sure if it will make a big difference. But maybe it is worth trying

2 hours ago, asingardenof said:

Apologies if I'm preaching to the converted but have you tried MM's signature strings? If not he talks in this video about finding more or less what you're after with them.

 

 

Thanks for your reply. No I haven’t tried those strings yet. I should give it a try soon

18 minutes ago, ped said:

It depends on how it’s recorded and what I’m listening through but that’s how your sound translates to me at this end, so it might not be the thing you need to do at yours if you see what I mean. Mind you I listened through my headphone system which I know sounds very faithful to recordings I’ve made and listened back to on different systems. 

I connected the bass to Zoom multi effect to boost the signal a little bit then send it through scarlett 2i2 and recorded on Cubasis 3.

6 hours ago, ped said:

For me the central tone is pretty good, it’s unmistakably a 70s spacing jazz. I think the treble is a bit too much in the 6k range and needs a bit more sizzle further up. I’d move some of the mid frequencies a little lower and boost the low end and run into a limiter to give it that brick wall growl.

As you can see here I used eq twice before and after compression. But maybe I should lower the mids further and remove the second eq entirely as it is adding low mid up to 5,5 db?!

28 minutes ago, lowdown said:

Nice playing and tone.

Your sound reminds me of the late, great, Wayne Braithwaite.

 

 

Thanks a lot 🙏🙏🙏

1 hour ago, ped said:

Great playing! 

Many thanks 🙏🙏

1 hour ago, ped said:

For me the central tone is pretty good, it’s unmistakably a 70s spacing jazz. I think the treble is a bit too much in the 6k range and needs a bit more sizzle further up. I’d move some of the mid frequencies a little lower and boost the low end and run into a limiter to give it that brick wall growl.

Thanks a lot for your feedback. Later I’ll share some snips of my eq here for a better understanding of how the tone was set for this cover video 🙏

Thanks for your reply. I know the risk you mentioned. However I’m not that picky. The tone I tend to achieve doesn’t have to be exactly and uniquely the tone we hear from MM which is kind of impossible as you pointed out. I fully agree with you that bass players have their own unique touch which has an impact on the tone. 
I’ve seen some nice youtube videos with somehow similar tone to MM and that’s what I’m looking for. The reason why I’m using this term “MM’s tone” is just because I don’t know how to describe that tone.

But again thanks for raising that concern 😊

Hi Bass lovers,

I opened such a topic here almost 1.5 year ago and got some feedbacks about preamp and PUs. Since then I modded my Fender AVRI 75 with Bartolini XTCT 4.5A/PJ preamp and Bartolini 9CBJD3 (bright) pickups and as you see still searching to achieve that Marcus Miller's tone (I agree that it is a kind of obsession)

After this mod, the bass sounds much better, however, in general sounds a bit too bright and lacks growl and throatiness in my ears when slapping most probably thanks to Bartolini PUs model I have. 

Now I'm deciding to check another set of PU on my bass with a little more vintage vibe/tone. Perhaps it would push me closer to MM tone?! Here is a cover I played from MM.

I really appreciate your feedbacks on the tone of my bass in this video and how I can get a tone like MM's. I'm considering few PUs now to go for like fender pure vintage 74, Lindy Fralin with stock winding, fender original, or fender CS 60's (ok maybe it sounds too warm for MM slap tone). 

Please help me and let me know about your experience with these pickups or any other ones I can combine with Bart XTCT preamp to get that damn tone.

Thanks.

On 05/10/2022 at 18:32, Majid said:

Thanks for your reply. I have a passive jb and have tried Sadowsky outbord preamp SBP-1 but I didn’t feel a big difference. Is there a Bartolini TCT outboard preamp available in the market?! Or is it possible to find a Bartoli or something similar as onboard preamp which can fit in a passive jazz bass? 

And by the way, EMG J or JVX set comes with pots and electronic whould turn a passive bass into active.

2 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

You really need to try things rather than buy on spec' and hope. What rig do you use? Is it capable of giving the desired result? Even if it is, so much is in the player's hands.

For practicing, I use Rumble 100 combo and for recording I use Focusrite 2i2 with Cubasis.

Fully agree with you!

32 minutes ago, Doddy said:

Honestly, I think Marcus's tone is more about the preamp than the pickups (which I believe are stock Fender).  You could look at a Sadowsky preamp or a Bartolini if you want to be authentic (Marcus's bass has a Bartolini TCT preamp). 

I think that would get you closer to that tone than a pickup change would. 

 

Thanks for your reply. I have a passive jb and have tried Sadowsky outbord preamp SBP-1 but I didn’t feel a big difference. Is there a Bartolini TCT outboard preamp available in the market?! Or is it possible to find a Bartoli or something similar as onboard preamp which can fit in a passive jazz bass? 

45 minutes ago, chyc said:

I don't own the EMG JVX, but there's a good video demoing in on YT. Slap starts at 4:04 but it has all main styles if you start the video from the beginning. I'll leave it to you to decide if that's a good MM soundalike.

 

 

Hi Chyc,

Thanks, yes I’ve seen this video. Although it’s a nice demonstration video with a great bass tone, first thing I noticed is that it is a bass which lacks 70’s PU spacing therefore, it is not a right bass to be compared with MM slap tone. No matter what PU is installed on a bass with 60’s PU position, it won’t sound like MM.

Br,

Bassovsky

Hi Bass lovers,

I recently bought a Fender am vintage 75 reissue (AVRI) jazz bass and now I’m considering to upgrade the PUs. As I love Marcus Miller’s slap tone, I tend to get a PU to sound as close as possible to that tone.

Do you have any suggestion?

As first options, I’m considering EMG J and EMG JVX. I’m not sure how close I can get with either one though.

Any other suggestions which could meet my requirement would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Best regards,

Bassovsky

Just now, JohnR said:

I have owned both and the tone circuits are identical with the SBP-1 having additional features such as DI and Tuner out. I went with the SBP-2 as it has a smaller footprint and takes up less space on my pedalboard.

Makes sense. Thanks JohnR

17 hours ago, JohnR said:

That is exactly the tone I was looking for and I feel using the SBP-2 with the stock pickups got me most of the way to my desired result. Strings will also be important. I use DR Strings Hi-Beams but Newtone Strings were also very close. I wanted to try Dunlop which Marcus uses but had two strings break during installation in the two sets I tried so gave up.

 

Edited to add that I found having the pickup height much lower than the Fender specification really helped get the tone I wanted.

Hi JohnR,

One more question: Do you know if Sadowsky SBP-1 can also provide the same tonality as SBP-2 does? I mean SBP-1 has an additional feature (DI), so although it is a little bit more expensive, I can have the DI feature additionally. However, I am not sure if SBP-1 is exactly the same as SBP-2 tone wise. 

Cool! I only use a combo Fender Rumble 100. It's not a very powerful combo though. But I'm getting an audio interface to see how the tone would sound like through that.

String gauge is also a good point. Thanks man. 

@JohnR BTW, may I ask what combo/ amp head+speaker you are using?

7 minutes ago, JohnR said:

That is exactly the tone I was looking for and I feel using the SBP-2 with the stock pickups got me most of the way to my desired result. Strings will also be important. I use DR Strings Hi-Beams but Newtone Strings were also very close. I wanted to try Dunlop which Marcus uses but had two strings break during installation in the two sets I tried so gave up.

 

Edited to add that I found having the pickup height much lower than the Fender specification really helped get the tone I wanted.

 Oh really? I was trying to higher the bridge pick up, as I thought it would help having a brighter tone!!

1 minute ago, JohnR said:

That is exactly the tone I was looking for and I feel using the SBP-2 with the stock pickups got me most of the way to my desired result. Strings will also be important. I use DR Strings Hi-Beams but Newtone Strings were also very close. I wanted to try Dunlop which Marcus uses but had two strings break during installation in the two sets I tried so gave up.

Sounds good! I initially installed D'addario SS 45-105 but then I came across these two strings (Dunlop SS and DR Hi Beams) when I was searching about the Marcus Miller's tone. I'll buy one of these this time

Thanks again. 

3 hours ago, JohnR said:

I have the same bass and had the same requirement. I tried different pickups and internal preamps but nothing worked for me. The eventual solution was using the stock pickups with an external Sadowsky SBP-2 preamp pedal. Sheer magic. 

Hi JohnR,

Many thanks for sharing your experience.

Was a crispy and bright slap tone (Marcus Miller's kinda tone) your desired one as well? and did you get what you were lookin' for through the Sadowsky SBP-2 preamp? That's very important for me and your lesson learned could solve my issue as well. Cause otherwise, honestly I'm somehow thinking about selling the bass as the ultimate solution, if I can't get a tone at least close to what I like.