Getting that Heavier tone

[Hotel352nd]

The title may be a little misleading..

What im looking at more specifically is how two particular bassists get the distinctive sound they do.

The two i had in mind were:

-Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, i assume this was more about eq? but does anyone have a more detailed knowledge?

- The other is Henkka Blacksmith Seppala from Children of Bodom. I think his sound is more about effects but some as Harris does anyone have any knowledge a little beyond that?

This seem like somewhat silly questions, but i'm trying to develop myself as a musician/bassist, and these are two bassists in particular that are inspirational to me, i just want to understand their sound a little better is all..

Thanks in advance for any help im given


Liam

[tommorichards]

I know with harris, he uses his signature set of rotosound flats, and sticks new ones on before every show. Thats all i know, plus the precision bass too,.

[AnalogBomb]

Liam, I think there is a fine line between being inspired by someone and imitating their sound. You're a bass player in your own right and you will find a sound that works for you. Steve Harris plays a precision, so maybe start there, invest in a good amp and see what happens!?

Jon

[Lozz196]

Steve Harris - Fender Precision, new Rotosound (his own sig series) flats for each gig, think Seymour Duncan SPB Pickups (the 2 iirc) and fingers with the strength of, well I suppose 12 mere mortals. EQ must play a part, but I`m sure most of it is his own technique.

[Dingus]

Steve Harris is an amazing bass player at what he does,and I can see why any player into that kind of music would be inspired by him, but it would be a big mistake to copy his equipment choices to try and emulate his sound. Like most truly exceptional players, Steve Harris has got a unique sound that is as much more about how he plays his bass as what actual basses and amps he uses. The first and most obvious mistake would be to start using those Rotosound Steve Harris strings; Steve is something of an enigma to most bass players , as we wonder how he can play those heavy gauge flatwound strings the way that he does without the need for daily hospital treatment. The most amazing thing to me about Iron Maiden is that he has actually got any fingers left after thirty -odd years of shredding them in the most unforgiving way imaginable. Steve Harris must have the strongest fingers of any man in history-I just hope he doesn't pick his nose or he risks pulling his own brains out! Its worth mentioning that those heavy gauge flatwounds can also put a very serious strain on the neck of your bass, so as I said, proceed with caution.
A Precision bass is great choice of bass for any heavy rock music, though- in fact it's a great choice of bass for most kinds of music- so my advice would be to try a good Precision bass with sensible gauge roundwound strings through an amp you like the sound of and experiment with finding a sound that pleases you and works for you in any given musical situation i.e. if you are playing with other musicians, that yourself and the audience can hear what you are playing . If you are inspired by a particular player then that is great, but you will get far closer to the root of what makes them great by studying what they play ( listening to their records and working out how to play their basslines) than by copying their gear choices.

Edited September 15, 2012 by Dingus

[Hotel352nd]

thanks for all the wise words guys

had i posted this and read this thread about a year ago i would have gone out of my way to imitate Harris' signature sound that makes maiden one of my all time favorite bands xD

but this is good advice right here. It was Steve Harris that first made me pick up a bass. I heard that galloping bassline on Run to the Hills for the first time and i knew my heart was going to be set on 4 strings xD

I posted this thread more out of curiosity on how he does what he does. Its something i've always wondered.

I currently have a P-Bass i got from here which has yet to let me down. But i'm definately going to look into some rotosound strings, purely because if my bass playing hero uses them im sure i can at least try them. As we all know, you don't find that sound you just fall in love with overnight xD

But does anyone know anything about Henkka from Children of Bodom? Again its just curiosity based on a lot of respect for a player

[Doddy]

[quote name='Hotel352nd' timestamp='1347668484' post='1803956']
What im looking at more specifically is how two particular bassists get the distinctive sound they do.
[/quote]

The simple answer is they sound like they do because of who they are and how they play. Ultimately,the tone
comes from their hands. Dave.C mentions that he played Harris' bass and sounded nothing like him-that's
how it works.It's all down to the individual player.
You can go and get the same gear as your favourite players and you won't sound like them. You know,I play
Jazz Basses initially because of Jaco and Marcus and I tried to sound like them (especially Marcus) but it never
happened and i never will because I'm not them.Now,the influence is clearly there but without being a copy.
Listen to your favourite players and learn their music,but don't get so hung up on them that you just end up being,
ultimately,a poor copy of them.

[cocco]

Try a pre amp pedal, sans amp bddi or MXR bass attack+.

[bassmoof]

Hi Steve has is own Signature Bass by Fender as well as his own Signature strings by Rotosound.
I believe he uses Flatwounds 50, 75, 95 110 (Rotosound SH77) and Semour Duncan SPB1 Vintage pickups, both fitted to his Fender Precision (sporting West Ham colours) Alder body, Maple neck/fretboard.
The rest of the magick is in Steve's rockin digits.

[Jack]

A lot of Steve's sound is from hitting the strings both really hard and 'down' (in towards the pickups). That way they get that clacky sound, I think they hit the last fret in a similar way to when you slap. Try it, it's easy to do once or twice but you'll spend a lifetime trying to do it every time at that speed.

[AttitudeCastle]

Steve Harris tone is mostly in the playing, and a nice whack of treble on Roto flats.

It's all in the attack, he plays quite lightly and brushes the strings rather than smacking them,

He uses a custom Seymour duncan based on the SPB-1 but sounds more vintage and more like an orginal fender

[kendall]

[i]I did read somewhere that Steve Harris grows his fingernails and uses them as part of his attack on the strings, this helps for that percussive sound that he has. I have played a Steve harris signature p bass - really liked it, but it didn't give me that 'Steve Harris' sound or indeed those Steve Harris skills! At the end of the day, it's a P Bass with flats, lots of treble and fingernails attacking the strings.[/i]

[LiamPodmore]

P bass, new set of his signature strings, Marshall DBS rig. If i remember correctly, he actually has quite a light touch a lot of the time, just very low action, and plays inwards toward the bass, not up like most fingerstyle players do.

Liam

[Adrenochrome]

It's all in the set-up and action. He sounded exactly the same when he played an Ibanez and a Lado.

[charic]

I could have sworn harris used SD 1/4lbs

[harleyheath]

Yep as Kendall says in this months bass mag theres a very rare interview with Mr Harris an he does indeed play with his finger nails, think its more of a end of finger first then the nail, makes it even more impossible to believe how fast and hard he plays on the fat ole flats, but yh the sound of any player comes more from his hand than his bass, but saying that if you have a bass thats the same it gives you a gd point to start! lol.

Edited October 10, 2012 by harleyheath

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1349808765' post='1830879']
A lot of Steve's sound is from hitting the strings both really hard and 'down' (in towards the pickups). That way they get that clacky sound, I think they hit the last fret in a similar way to when you slap. Try it, it's easy to do once or twice but you'll spend a lifetime trying to do it every time at that speed.
[/quote]

Nah, just takes strength, endurance, practice, and lowering the action helps (but not too much or you'll choke the notes!)

[AttitudeCastle]

[quote name='charic' timestamp='1349860897' post='1831324']
I could have sworn harris used SD 1/4lbs
[/quote]

AFAIK he's never actually used the quarter pounder pickup

And I don't think he's ever used a DBS rig? Could be wrong.

He uses custom marshall cabs which he's used for ever, which are like the VBA 412s but are more like the guitar cabs.

And trace heads, pretty sure that's been his rig for donkeys years!

[Delberthot]

Its because of Steve that I use Roto flats from three of my favourite tunes, The Trooper, Phantom of the Opera and Killers. I love his sound but the sig set are silly high tension so opted for a set of highish tension 45s.

I've always played with a trebly sound but I found rounds too overbearing if that makes sense? With the flats I can play exactly how I want to and produce every type of sound that I want to, whereas if I tried it with rounds I'd sound like Billy Sheehan playing a solo whilst falling down a set of stairs.

I find that there's more control with the Roto flats in that I can change sounds without touching my EQ.

BTW the Steve Harris set sound amazing tuned down a semi tone

[charic]

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1349902523' post='1832153']
AFAIK he's never actually used the quarter pounder pickup

And I don't think he's ever used a DBS rig? Could be wrong.

He uses custom marshall cabs which he's used for ever, which are like the VBA 412s but are more like the guitar cabs.

And trace heads, pretty sure that's been his rig for donkeys years!
[/quote]

From the SD site :

[b]players[/b]
[color=#000000][font=Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif][size=3]Mark Hoppus / Blink 182, Ian Grushka / New Found Glory, Anthony Celestino / Box Car Racer, Jay Bentley / Bad Religion, Melissa auf der Maur / Smashing Pumpkins & Hole, Steve Harris / Iron Maiden[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#000000][font=Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif][size=3]I'm not saying it's right though [/size][/font][/color]

[4000]

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1349809158' post='1830891']


It's all in the attack, he plays quite lightly and brushes the strings rather than smacking them,


[/quote]

This. He said in an interview somewhere that he play a lot lighter then everyone thinks he does.

[Kongo]

That "clack" sound is played by striking the string from the top, instead of the side.
Confused? When you pluck the string, check how you do it.
Do you; A) go past the string, pull your finger back and go through it? or B] go over the string, and strike it towards the pickup?
Option B will get you loads of clack, but it can make notes sound uneven at extreme speeds when using 3-fingers (which Steve doesn't).

When I started playing, Steve was my main inspiration. I accidentally got my notes to "clack" once when messing around. I thought it was how you were sposed to play because I never had lessons on this. Because of that, it's become the norm. This may be what you refer to? In which case, just pluck the string from top down. More towards the back than directly above. (This is hard to say in text).

Edited October 12, 2012 by Kongo

[daz]

I'm confused now. Does he [i]belt [/i]the strings hard or doesn't he ? Because wasn't there a thread on here last month about Steve Harris having a[i] light [/i]playing touch ?

[Hidden Shallows]

Doddy's right. You can put two different players on the same kit and you'll get quite a different sound. Knowing what the top guys use is interesting, but only they can sound like they do with it. Why? How does that work? It's part of the magic!