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Top 20 rock bass sounds...


TrevorR

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I do enjoy Rick Beato’s videos. Pretty well informed, well argued, interesting topics... always worth a listen. So what better way for him to start the New Year than with a “Top 20 Bass Sounds” video. Some great players and lines on there and some stellar sounding basses.

He asks about which tones he’s forgotten. I guess my nomination would be this one... always loved the bass tone on this track.

He chooses a totally classic Chris Squire line but I must say I’ve always had a soft spot for this Yes track. Love both the bass tone and the bass line. The hair cut not so much...

 

 

Edited by TrevorR
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In many cases he talks more about the line than the tone. It seems a bit like a hurriedly put together list, perhaps based on which clips of isolated lines were available. Some good examples are included though. It would have been nice to see John Wetton and Dug Pinnick and Tina Weymouth and and and......

I will continue to pronounce his name 'Beet-o'.

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Rick's vids are always interesting in some way... if not directly bass. I enjoyed this one... maybe I'd have a broader range of rock tones in there... maybe some Mick Karn or Mark King to reflect more the '80s between his 70's and 90's choices...

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What I did like was he didn't focus on what strings, amps etc are being used but emphasised how much playing style, use of dynamics (ghost notes etc ) and note choices contribute to the overall  sound; that's what I got from the video anyway. 

Being a fairly inexperienced player in an amatuer covers band I've found myself thinking of late how faithful I should try and replicate sone of the classic Rock Tones - this video gives me some useful reference examples to go after.

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A good video if for no other reason that it reveals a lot of 'classic' bass parts in isolation sound like a mess of string noise, fret buzz and unbalanced tone, yet in a mix they sit perfectly and sound awesome. For a bass amp / cab noob like myself mucking around on a Helix Stomp it's quite a lesson on NOT setting up patches that round and full through headphones at home only to find they disappear or don't suit in a band mix; better to try and get something similar to these isolated tracks that, while not perhaps 100% satisfying to listen to at home, sound much better in context with drums + guitar etc.

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Best rock bass sounds - shouldn't have included Wilton Felder and James Jamerson...  they are brilliant lines, not sure they are great sounds - and they definitely not rock. Same with Paul Mcartney to some extent. And Tony Levin. Not rock. 

Billy Sheehan is a huge miss. His bass SOUND was a huge change. 

Lemmy - I'm no big fan of Motorhead - but what a SOUND

Steve Harris - those clattery triplets on a precision bass... amazing SOUND. 

dUg Pinnck - love his SOUND. 

Phil Lynott - plectrums and p-basses... what's not to love. 

In my opinion. Love Rick Beato by the way. 

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Watched it last night. The rock tones I’ve got used to from being on here and picking up on isolated tracks. Jamerson- well, he’s the guy so have heard loads of isolated stuff. The one that got me was I Want You Back, which previously I would have held up as an example of the warmest of warm P bass sounds- by itself, hideous! Still top playing though.

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2 hours ago, OzMike said:

A good video if for no other reason that it reveals a lot of 'classic' bass parts in isolation sound like a mess of string noise, fret buzz and unbalanced tone, yet in a mix they sit perfectly and sound awesome. For a bass amp / cab noob like myself mucking around on a Helix Stomp it's quite a lesson on NOT setting up patches that round and full through headphones at home only to find they disappear or don't suit in a band mix; better to try and get something similar to these isolated tracks that, while not perhaps 100% satisfying to listen to at home, sound much better in context with drums + guitar etc.

This is a really good point - what fits in the mix and what sounds good in isolation is completely different. You don't need as much bass as you think, you don't want as much treble as you think - your tone has to be quite narrow in order to fit between the guitars and drums (sometimes...). A lot of isolated bass parts sound rubbish. Loose, distorted, quite empty. Timmy C's parts on RATM sounds AMAZING on the record - and awful when isolated. I don't even know how he made a Stingray sound so bad! But when you hear the harshness blended with a crash cymbal and the bottom end propped up with a kick-drum it all suddenly makes sense! 

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1 hour ago, OutSpoon said:

This is a really good point - what fits in the mix and what sounds good in isolation is completely different. You don't need as much bass as you think, you don't want as much treble as you think - your tone has to be quite narrow in order to fit between the guitars and drums (sometimes...). A lot of isolated bass parts sound rubbish. 

My favourite example is this ('Heartbreaker' isolated bass part):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vULgqDEDbiY&list=PL93E8111846B6E16F&index=2

Sounds pretty wretched,  by itself, but in context sounds amazing. I played part of this track to my wife, who knows a decent bit about music, instrumentation and bass, and she initially thought it was some 'idiot who sounds like crap doing a Zep bass line cover'. 😄

 

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