Grateful Dead Music Forum

Walknbluez wrote:

Bassman wrote:This entire string issue has driven me crazy in the past. Through it all I have come to the conclusion that at least 90% of "the sound" is in the hands....the attack with the pick and the left hand muting, position on fretboard. It does help to have top of the line/state of the art gear. That being said I am about to go back to D'Addario Half Rounds, I just have received way to many "dead" B strings(even a couple bad E's) with Ken Smith Slick Rounds. I do like DR Sunbeams and may end up back with those if the Half's aren't happening. I find once the Sunbeams break in they sound nice with a pick and I can dial in the 90's and Furthur tones. I have a Modulus Q5, with the barts, I just invested in some Q-tuner pick ups, that Phil currently has on his bass. I dealt directly with Erno(founder and owner of Q-tuners). This is a completely passive system. When I questioned Erno about this, he replied, " I detest active on-board preamp systems."

What about the halfrounds do you like that are swaying you back to them? In terms of tone, what era do you get with halfrounds?

I think the halfrounds were most prevalent in the mid 70s to early 80s.The Osage Orange bass wore them for a good bit of its life.

zambiland wrote:

Walknbluez wrote:

Bassman wrote:This entire string issue has driven me crazy in the past. Through it all I have come to the conclusion that at least 90% of "the sound" is in the hands....the attack with the pick and the left hand muting, position on fretboard. It does help to have top of the line/state of the art gear. That being said I am about to go back to D'Addario Half Rounds, I just have received way to many "dead" B strings(even a couple bad E's) with Ken Smith Slick Rounds. I do like DR Sunbeams and may end up back with those if the Half's aren't happening. I find once the Sunbeams break in they sound nice with a pick and I can dial in the 90's and Furthur tones. I have a Modulus Q5, with the barts, I just invested in some Q-tuner pick ups, that Phil currently has on his bass. I dealt directly with Erno(founder and owner of Q-tuners). This is a completely passive system. When I questioned Erno about this, he replied, " I detest active on-board preamp systems."

What about the halfrounds do you like that are swaying you back to them? In terms of tone, what era do you get with halfrounds?

I think the halfrounds were most prevalent in the mid 70s to early 80s.The Osage Orange bass wore them for a good bit of its life.

Ah, so halfrounds in '77? I love that tone too!

Walknbluez wrote:

Rusty the Scoob wrote:Ah, now there's a whole new topic! And yes, you kinda do.. Unlike Edwin I love Fenders, especially Precisions, but if you're serious about Phil a P isn't really the best instrument IMHO - It's far too distinctive and recognizable of a tone to really get passed off easily as a proper Phil bass. Of course Kevin from DSO used one for 70's and elective shows for years with few complaints about his tone so it certainly can be done with success.

I made a couple of sound clips, both have LaBella .45-.105 strings, the first is my Fender/Warmoth P with an EMG PA pickup and a slight tone rolloff. (It also has a custom-made EMG bridge pickup and 4-band EQ but I left those disabled - this is how I use it for 70's John Kahn tunes.) The second is my 1997 Stingray that I remembered has the same strings on it. It has a John East 2-band EQ, set fairly neutral. Both have maple fretboards and neither one is a bass I would purposely use for GD material although if I had to use either in a pinch I doubt I'd get laughed off stage or anything.

http://www.mediafire.com/?i31tpvk5zj3d8mh

http://www.mediafire.com/?qt27c6wmsoh71dq


I should add, the amp is an ancient Peavey keyboard amp that someone gave to my girlfriend years ago. KB 300, 1x15" with a horn. Free practice amps are the only practice amps for me! Sounds fine to me, decent neutral bass tone. Recording was done on a Zoom H4n.

The fact that Kevin from DSO used a Precision on 70's shows is one of the reasons I thought I could get away with a P. Although I don't know what type of strings he was using.

Well that first sound clip with the LaBellas on the P sounded great to me. What would you attribute most to that tone, the strings or the pickup? My P has a '62 reissue pickup (and I also have the original stock pickups I could put back in). Or I could just give LaBellas a go and see how they sound.

For John Khan, what do you think about using a Fender Jazz bass?

I think the pick and the flatwounds make most of that tone. I've got other Ps with different electronics and they sound about like that.

I used a 5 string Jazz for John Kahn back when we first started a JGB tribute, and it's ok. You can solo the neck pickup and sound a lot like a P, or get in the ballpark of his Steinberger tone if you have an onboard EQ.