Two Tone Tommy

[JacketGal]

Take a bow! Your bass playing is off the HOOK on this record! I can't even listen to one song with out noticing how beautiful or phat or funky it sounds at times!

my oh my! gorgeous!!

[primushead]

I think it was in the bass player magazine interview where TTT said he used his live rig during the whole recording...or something like that.  But yeah, it sounds tight.  It's got a real warm tone to it... [smiley=guitar.gif]

[ratsprayer]

i remember hearing 'it beat 4 u' at lebowski fest last year and being blown away by the bass line, and it definitely does the same, if not better on the cd.  the outro on 'off the record' is amazing too.   [smiley=rock.gif]

[fitzcarraldo]

Take a bow! Your bass playing is off the HOOK on this record! I can't even listen to one song with out noticing how beautiful or phat or funky it sounds at times!

my oh my! gorgeous!!

Word!

[JacketGal]

I think it was in the bass player magazine interview where TTT said he used his live rig during the whole recording...or something like that.  But yeah, it sounds tight.  It's got a real warm tone to it... [smiley=guitar.gif]

Does using the live rig make a difference in the tone? I swear the bass sounds so rich on this record!

[CC]

in case anyone missed it, some recent bass talk:

http://www.bassplayer.com/story.asp?storycode=11047

[corey]

Agreed!
Tommy is a class act.

[tomEisenbraun]

ah nice. yeah, i never really cared for his tone on One Big Holiday on It Still Moves. That and the fact that the album sounded terribly "thin". I liked how thick At Dawn, especially when the guitars come in on "The Way that he sings", it was so viscous, and ISM just kind of reversed and sounded a bit hollow, like they were using the wrong mics, or something. It just wasn't full where it should've been. Probably due to all the crazy recording techniques they were expirimenting with. But Z's sound is so full, having Leckie on board really helped them nail "that sound" and I think they are definitely on the right track production-wise.

And little amps only do so much in the studio. Seeing Carl with his huge Mesa half-stack crankin out the end of Anytime on that video made me very happy.

[tomEisenbraun]

the live rig is what he uses to play through when he's on stage. So a Mesa 400+ head and a bottom cabinet. In other words, some serious power. He was saying that on ISM he just used a little fifteen watt Ampeg, and since he was recording in the studio, you don't need a ton of power to get something to cut through a mix, so you can use little amps. Brian May from Queen did this.

However, when you sacrifice the power of a half-stack bass amp, you lose the half-stack bass amp sound. You get fiteen watt sound, even if you do mix it right, and it just doesn't compare. It's the difference between standing there and hearing some bass, to standing there and needing ear plugs and feeling your whole body shiver sympathetically with the pitch. Using a big bass amp, and getting big bass amp sound, really make a huge difference on the way the album sounds. If they had just used an Ampeg B15 on this record as well, you would definitely notice a lack of power hitting you in the chest, but that low solidity is definitely in this album. I've had a lot of fun with the low-end on this album, crankin it in my car and really feeling the bottom end of the sound be rounded out quite nicely.

I guess, hmm. Compare the way the bass completely rounds out "Dondante"  and then compare that to the way it's an audible instrument, but not really full in "Mahgeeta". This has more to do with production than the playing. But notice how full it sounds in Dondante? That's because they probably recorded with the amp cranking, really giving it room to breathe and drawing a lot from the resonance you get out of an amp when you really run it hot, especially when its built to handle power, like those Mesa 400+'s.

[ChiefOKONO]

i totally agree with you on the ISM sound.. this a very good thing that came out of this disc.

ah nice. yeah, i never really cared for his tone on One Big Holiday on It Still Moves. That and the fact that the album sounded terribly "thin". I liked how thick At Dawn, especially when the guitars come in on "The Way that he sings", it was so viscous, and ISM just kind of reversed and sounded a bit hollow, like they were using the wrong mics, or something. It just wasn't full where it should've been. Probably due to all the crazy recording techniques they were expirimenting with. But Z's sound is so full, having Leckie on board really helped them nail "that sound" and I think they are definitely on the right track production-wise.

And little amps only do so much in the studio. Seeing Carl with his huge Mesa half-stack crankin out the end of Anytime on that video made me very happy.

[Oz]

This is really educational! Tom, thanks for the info.

[JacketGal]

Thanks for the article CC.

Yes, that was VERY educational, thank you. The sound on Z, especially the drums and bass, is def hitting me 'in the chest' as you say!  [smiley=rock.gif]

[tomEisenbraun]

Just another thought.

I think that a lot of why Z sounds so good is that it was recorded at high volume. Compare that (once again, I know I'm ripping hard on this track, but it's because I think that it could sound so much ballsier) to Mahgeeta.

Okay, you listening to it? Listen. Listen, especially to the guitars. Notice how they sound thin? It sounds like they were tryin not to wake up Johnny's grandparents. They aren't pushing the amps hard enough, it sounds like they haven't brought the volume up past 2, and tube amps just don't work at that volume. Everytime I listen to this track I just want turn their darn amps up, but I still love the music.

But I think they'll be just fine after Z.

[dragonboy]

Gotta be honest, I very rarely notice the bass when I'm listening to music but Tommy's bassline that plays out It Beats 4 U is something else!
I love Patrick's drumming at the start too - it sounds so urgent.

[sideroad32]

a b15 is not 15watts.  it's 100 watts of tube power which you could drive hard if you wish.  But it does have a softer sounding 15 inch speaker which is rounder and usually less punchy than tommy's current live rig of something like 6 10inchs.  The B15 is the king of bass recording and has been used on countless records for its beautiful and amazing tone, but is not a touring machine and is rarely used on stage any more by anyone.  It is old school all the way, and very warm and round.
Personally I think the bass on Z is much better sounding than on It Still Moves but i think his live sound is suffering.  He used to use 15 speakers live which sounded warm and filled the room,  but the shows i saw in the summer the tone was definately lacking from the 610 rig.  they are punchy but not very warm and all roundness has gone, definately dosn't sound like the album of Z.  I would probably blame this on the sound crew though, not tommy, cause he really has no way to tell how his bass sounds out in the room.  The guy who set up his amp in Buffalo this year had the mids and highs cracked, and it sounded like tommy was using a pick most of the time.  Crappy tone...
Hopefully the upcoming tour will have better sound since it is a headlining show.  
Next week! can't wait.

[Oz]

Damn, you guys have good ears! There are times I don't even hear the bass...

[tomEisenbraun]

ah ok. hmmm...i figured it'd be 15 watts, but that makes sense if its the speaker.

by the way, it must have just been your show that sucked. because Tommy sounded fabulafrickintabulous on Saturday. Musta been a tin eared sound guy.

[sideroad32]

by the way, it must have just been your show that sucked. because Tommy sounded fabulafrickintabulous on Saturday. Musta been a tin eared sound guy.

cool, can't wait to see them myself this time around.

[tomEisenbraun]

Damn, you guys have good ears! There are times I don't even hear the bass...

HAHAHA.

O, it took me forever to realize this was you, and then I understood it today. That one letter difference can screw a guy up, but the "Formerly known to be real" tag helped out.

 :)