I thought the Don't Stop Believing bass tone was really clever: It was enhancing the low notes on the piano. The chorus helped it mimic those low piano string sounds.
Jason’s tone was killer. Had we actually been able to hear it. I’ve said it a thousand times, they really should re-release a remixed version with audible bass for … And Justice For All
I think the people who voted just wanted to hear these isolated tracks and got together to vote for some the best bass lines ever made with great tones aswell
+1000 When you listen a lot of isolated tracks from your favorite songs, you can tell most of them may sound very disappointing just by themselves, but as a whole in the full mix they sound wonderful. And that's the most important thing when recording or playing live with others: you want "blend" with them, not fight them.
@@cantarosinfonico right, and I think its even more important on a recording. Something about hearing the instruments real space with i think allows bands to get away with each instrument being a little more "full sounding"
Exactly. A friend of mine explained it was characteristic of a famous compressor…maybe the LA 2A? Yes, I agree it adds understated percussion to the track. People here aren’t realizing how a bass track has to sound to Fit In The Mix and be heard.
@@drbassface I agree with you guys, it could have been the dbx 160 in hard-knee mode and low threshold to "snap" on long duration of bass notes. It's definitely a percussive effect, and when the bass is played as tightly as in that example, there is no flamming with the drums. It's a killer sound and it boggles my mind to think that someone considers it to be a "poor" bass sound, just because it isn't your everyday "vanilla" tone.
@@drbassface my Marshall MB30 compressor makes an audible click sound. Both on the settings and also the non removable one that operates at the amp's loudest.
Hell, a lot of stuff is difficult to hear in "September" unless you look for it because it's a really orchestral arrangement style, everything comes together to make a beautiful song.
A detect a pattern here: anybody who diverts away from the average by adding a bit of character to his or her basstone gets shot down. (the one with the distortion of Flea in the last part I didn't like)
fr like what happened to bassists experimenting with different sounds? all of these sounds besides the last one sound great and achieved what they were going for.
I don't think that's true at all. I'm not sure who was in the poll, though. But like, compare Don't Stop Believin' to like, Age of Consent by New Order. Peter Hook knew how to use chorus.
All of these tones are absolutely banging in the mixes they were sculpted for. The hard part really is making these kinds of bass tones to be replicated live, with different acoustics every show. Bass players, communicate with your sound engineers!
no question. out of context, almost all of these bass tracks are sort of mediocre (korn ISOLATED is the ony objecticely bad one imo) but aboslutely kill it in the mix. the clipping attack on the EW&F track helped it break through those loud horns. the journey track would not be what it is without the chorus. this question is just sorta toxic i guess cuz you'll really never hear an objectively bad bass recording in a "super famous song". bass is just too important.
Most of these are just extremely dated to the era they were recorded in. I feel like looking back and judging them with a modern perspective is informative, but unfair to the musicians
I think the big problem now days with peoples opinion with bass tones is they forget the tone with content of song and the era it was recorded it's almost like musicians in general are getting snobby like anyone is afraid to sound different
It's the youtube generation, make a vid sitting in your bedroom and wank on your bass. It used to be about how does the bass sit in the mix of a live band or recording.
For a long time I didn't realize that was actually a bass in the Don't Stop Believing intro. I thought it was just the left hand of the piano. It blends so well
It is cool, isn’t it? I listened to Journey’s Live in Houston recording, and Ross Valory is clearly playing along with Jonathan Cain, their new keyboardist at the time.
I always struggled with that too. Same thing with Boston's Foreplay/Long Time. I still really have no idea if that walking bit in the intro is a bass or a piano, or both.
Whoever said John Entwistle on The Real Me is f**King crazy. An amazing tone from one of the bass players that has ever lived. A pioneer of the instrument.
The tone was easier to deal with than “something”. That was the first time hearing the Mac baseline isolated and that was bad. The Flea one that was mentioned at the end was playing Maggot Brain and that was spot on.
yeah, the who were the band with four lead instruments, lead guitar, lead bass, lead drums and lead vocals, and the ox powers that track into perfection.
The bass mix on "What's Going On" is exactly what it is supposed to be: perfect. Uncompressed, multi-instrumentation genius. If Jamerson isn't where he is in the mix, the groove is lost.
I agree, but as a technical note I wouldn't call his sound uncompressed. In his classic Motown recordings he turned up his signal to the board so it was slightly "hot" creating natural compression, and the engineers also had it going through a limiter (this is described in the Standing in the Shadows of Motown book). And then, recording on tape adds some compression of its own! But, still not nearly as extreme as some of the super-compressed recordings you hear today.
I am not a big fan of the Korn bass tone but because the electric guitar is so bass heavy, it kind of goes with the tinny distorted twang even though the instruments have swapped roles compared to the classic Slipknot low bass but with less guitar bass.
I agree, it's so good in context. It's pretty much another percussion instrument, while the guitars fizzle about in the background. That signature sound only Korn can pull off.
@@TimpBizkit No, the guitars are not bass heavy. 7/8/9 string guitars being bass heavy, removing the need for bass guitars and other saying like that are all horseshit myths, unless that's what you want to do and it is very specific. down tuned guitars sit in the same freq spectrum as 6 strings, just starting a bit lower, but the low end is cut and reduced anyway.
Hearing the isolated bass track from and justice for all is like seeing a picture of bigfoot. I really thought it was just an urban legend that there was bass on that album.
Well he's one of the best bassists to ever live so it's hard to be objective about his tone. It's a little muffled but I think it has alot to do with the limitations of tape and old mixing boards.
I think the muffling is completely intended (having the foam below the plaque and everything). His sound is era-defining and so influential... I can't even believe he is on this list.
I remember hearing Robert DeLeo from Stone Temple Pilots talk about tone and saying that many of the sounds he’d use in the studio were objectively bad/ugly but worked perfectly in the mix of a track. I can’t argue with that because his bass lines always seemed to sit right for my ears.
I just watched the video and thought the exact same thing. I doubt that only you and I had that thought, I was just to lazy to scroll through all the comments to check on that. I only had to scroll a half page to see your comment.
These are all fantastic, there is no bad bass tone, only inappropriate ones. Case in point, Primus. A claypool-esque bass tone will get you thrown out from an r&b jam, but it's the almost the central motif of the entire sound of Primus.
As Scott says: sometimes the bad tone works within the mix. I have found that when recording, ive gone back and re-recorded with really bad/strange/ messed up tones after all the other instruments are in, in order to work better in the mix. The best bass tone is not always the best bass tone for the project.
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Honestly, James Jamerson tone is bass butter made in heaven. Jaco is Jaco and on that track he sounds so good, almost like a brass section. I don't know who chose this but these are 2 of the major tone references in bass history. And I love them!
@@devinebass I can see how the Jaco tone wasn’t a good “bass” tone but he wasn’t really playing it as a “bass” part. It was more of a lead part and as a lead tone it’s excellent.
I think the thing about Jamerson in that particular song is you can barely hear it even when isolated. With that beings said im a new bass player and tried learning the bass part....Its tough,,,,, and I agree with Scott......its Jamerson!!!
a) we're talking 60's and 70's. Lets be real. The equipment these guys were using and the recording methods for getting the best tones out of bands WAS STILL BEING INVENTED. Best practices were still being written and there was a lot of experimentation. Also they fit in the style of music they were playing. b) Early electric basses were trying to emulate the sound of a double bass and double basses don't not have a wide frequency response. c) Then there is fieldy. d) Overdriven bass is an art. There's only a couple of guys who really do it well. Tim Commerford, especially on Audioslave's first record and Jon Stockman from Karnivool. All of Simple Boy is an exercise tone wizardry. Flea didn't sound great on the fuzz/od video, but it sounds like he was just experimenting. Not all experiments go well *shrug*
Well Entwistle sounds great too. Very aggressive but still warm, he defined the sound of the Who. Something I miss with nowaday's rock bands. It's gotten too polished and sterile since the 80's.
@@d.l.loonabide9981 I agree. Replace Jamerson's tone with some active deluxe 3 band cold brittle crap tone and it wouldn't sound nearly as good. To this day engineers grow a big smile when the bass player walks in with a passive Fender bass from the 50's, 60's or 70's.
Bass guitars were usually recorded with an Ampeg B 15 amp, which is/was one of the best amps ever. The vintage Fender basses and Ric basses made then are considered some of the best. What changed is ability to record the bass sounds produced. Jack Casady has wished the sound he was getting with his Guild bass was reproduced as well as it could be.
A lot of isolated bass tracks sound pretty bad on their own. But that's because they weren't meant to be listened to out of context - it's all about how it works in the mix. For example Detroit Rock City by Kiss has a horrible bass tone. But it just works in the mix - the bass cuts through really nicely. It's the same thing with Don't Stop Believing. Is that an amazing tone on its own? Not really. But it cuts really nicely through the mix and blends with the piano sound. But of course there are also bass tones that sound great both in the mix and alone.
@@crimfan It works perfectly with the piano sound, as used in the early 80s... usually that Yamaha little electric piano that was all over the place back then.
I LOVE the bass in Don't Stop Believin', it sounds like its underwater, it has the same charm as a slightly out of tune piano, I've always loved that kind of tone, and it sounds great on that bass in my opinion.
@@martian9999 I do not disagree. Read my post again. I was only mentioning to the OP that this has nothing to do with the bassline itself, but those who has voted for worst tone. I do not participate in the debate about it, just stating that the video is about tone.
What this list reveals is how many of us instrumentalists become completely myopic when it comes to our instruments. We complain about someone's particular tone in a specific song and lose sight of THE SONG. Yes, the tone of one instrument in the mix may not fit our ideals, but that most of these songs will be more remembered than just about anything else the rest of us might accomplish (god, I hope that's not totally true) should tells us we might want to listen with more than just our judgements. Thank you, Scott, for breaking down each one of these and showing us a different way to hear it... As a musician. 👍🏽
The fact you are actually acknowledging that THE SONG is what matters, like this is some form of dramatic revelation, just shows how sad the state of instrumentalists have fallen. No instrument carries a song. A song carries the instruments. As a musician, you should know this already.
@@trippedmind and yet, there are millions of practicing/working musicians who will still don’t get it. No judgment, but a simple fact. You get it when you get it. And when you do? Everything changes in the best way. 😁
And to be honest the mere sound of the bass is amongst the lesser important parts of most mixes anyway. If it cuts it works. I can't think of any song I dislike because of how the bass sounds.
Metallica - Nothing wrong with it & it should have been louder in the mix - it would have really driven that song. Journey - Blends with piano perfectly. Gives it a really full sound. RHCP - Just really fast & sounds muddled, but once the groove starts it's great. EW&F - Nothing wrong with it in any way. Clacking is percussive. Beatles - Something is an absolutely amazing line & tone. Consider the time & context & how it sits into the mix of the song. Marvin Gaye - WTF is wrong with people who think this is bad tone??? Jaco - You people are nuts. The Who - JFC this tone and line by the Ox is outstanding!!! Korn - I'm not a fan of this band, but that tone absolutely fits that song perfectly. RHCP (2) - He's soloing FFS.
@@steveng6721 you do realize … these are pros and they select and craft the tone on purpose to suit the song … sure if you take many things out of context they may sound or mean something completely different … the point is THE SONG.
Paul’s bass tone on Something is nothing short of a masterpiece. It’s such a smooth and airy bass tone and fits the track so well. It’s like a lead guitar
@@arthernandez5514 he is, the tone is the hofner with a pick i personally love that tone specially since it was wired direcly instead of being captured from a speaker
Very much a Hofner bass sound. Played one for years and the staple pickups do that. Paul plays a hollow body, mine was a solid body with the same kind of pickups.
The only one that I have strong feelings about is the John Entwistle one. He seems to have agreed--when he remixed the Quadrophenia songs for the movie soundtrack in 1979, he re-recorded his parts with a much heavier & twangier Alembic bass. The songs therefore have much more wallop than the original studio recordings.
The opening high-distortion bass tone on "Around The World" always seemed to me like it was Flea's way of expressing how overjoyed he was to have John Frusciante back in the band. Then after John's guitar playing starts, Chad's powerful drumming kicks in along with Anthony screaming like a banshee. It's like Flea, Chad, and Anthony decided to open the song/album with as much energy as possible because they were so happy with his return.
I thought the tone and playing approach on the intro was inspired by Chris Squire's clakkitty work on the old Yes tune "Heart of the Sunrise." And I'm surprised that song didn't make it to this list, frankly.
Didn't know the track. Yes, Flea's sound sucks but my god, Frusciantes is worse. Sounds like the tone a guitar newb would get out of a catalog strat. But then the rest of the song is great tones all around! Except Kiedis...
@@danielatherton1631 To be fair, John´s guitar playing was fairly simple in Californication as he was recovering from his drug addiction where he nearly died. Listen to his playing on the next two albums (By the Way and Stadium Arcadium) and you can see the improvements.
Fieldy's bass tone is about 50-60% of the soundof Korn. Almost everything else can be changed (and they did!) but this is the core of their unique sound. Amazing!!
@@MJ-tj3nd if you actually listen to his full isolated track it brings more groove than people would expect i get you bass guys like your tones but wheres your groove
Entwistle live had such an awesome aggressive/clean bass tone, but in the studio, he'd always be at odds with the producer who always muddied his tone in addition to cutting all of the treble
There could be a whole video on the musical crime that is the way the bass sits in the mix on every Who song and further more just the substandard overall Who sound. Imagine how much more amazing that music would’ve been if they were working with the same people Zeppelin was working with.
0:00 Intro 0:52 Jason Newsted - And Justice For All (Metallica) 2:16 Ross Vallory - Don't Stop Believing (Journey) 3:12 Flea - All Around The World (Red Hot Chili Peppers) 4:06 Verdine White - September (Earth, Wind & Fire) 4:53 Paul McCartney - Something (The Beatles) 5:40 James Jamerson - What's Going On (Marvin Gaye) 6:31 - Jaco Pastorius - Liberty City (Jaco Pastorius) 7:15 John Entwhistle - The Real Me (The Who) 7:52 Fieldy - Korn (Freak On A Leash) 9:00 Flea - 'Maggot Brain' Fender video (Funkadelic)
A huge part of Korn's successful sound was indeed Fieldy's jank tone. That "clack" that is shown off on the chorus of Freak on a Leash absolutely makes the aggression unique to Korn.
Factsssss. It's what made me love Korn. Sound fooled me too for years cause I thought it was the drums making the clanky sound lol such a unique way of doing percussion. He's one of the ones that changed the way bass could sound like. The aggression of his playing style just makes Korn what it is.
They've lost their minds about the Jamerson. I remember first hearing that bass iso years ago. Granted, it's striking how different it sounds in vs out of the mix. It's perfect in context, which is all he cares about. It does sound like the Funk Machine may be up for a restring, but he avoided that for as long as possible. If you srsly think that's the worst bass tone you ever heard, it's probably for the best that we're not bandmates.
This video is a microcosm of what the Internet looks like today. On the one hand, Scott gives us a real lesson in marketing here: he has achieved tremendous engagement by getting people to vote; then, with a controversial final list and its reactions, he manages to make a video with high potential for likes, comments, spontaneous clicks, etc. On the other hand, I have the feeling that many people (especially younger ones) are getting more and more used to the tones of "instagram/youtube" bass players - people teaching with a much clearer and "out there" tone over the song, very different from these songs in which the bass lines (almost all perfectly fine) are fine-tuned to work better in the mix.
I've been playing for nearly 40 years. McCartney's Something is the greatest bassline I have ever heard. From his tone to his note selection to his attack - it's a masterpiece.
Flea is probably just paying hommage to Eddie Hazel's fuzz+wah drenched guitar solos from the funkadelic song "Maggot Brain". Cliff used the same effects on bass years later though.
I agree wholeheartedly with the idea that the bass tone needs to primarily suit the song. As a bassist, I feel my job is to make everyone else sound great. Awesome video as always!
I feel like people don't get it. Nobody cares what the bass sounds like on its own. They're mixed to make the track sound good, especially really full mixes with horns and stuff. They gotta carve alot of those frequencies out because it's busy.
Trivia bit about Entwistle's work on "The Real Me." Supposedly, that wasn't supposed to be the "official" bassline; John was messing around and warming up before recording the track, and Townshend was like, "No, use THAT!" I agree with Townshend - the Ox outdid himself on "The Real Me," and it's one of my all-time favorite who songs.
No way is this a bad bass tone. This is perfect for the part. The people who voted this probably also voted for James Jamerson. I mean really? I don’t agree with Jason Newstead being there either. You can’t have a bad bass tone if some Wally in the band has decided to mix out the bass completely.
@@boomer5231 LOL ... I agree with you, except for your name. Man, parsnips lightly buttered with just salt and pepper are one of the things that make life worth living.
The Entwistle (WHO) pick is insane... "Gnarly" tone? Yes, how does it sound when trying to put a wall of Sunn 4x12's onto tape? Is the problem that some people think ALL bass tones have to be clean? Being scared off by heavy fuzz or digital distortion is one thing, recoiling at the sound of hard driving classic bass amps is ridiculous. John Entwistle could stop a man's heart with that live rig and it sounded awesome. I know Scott's Bass Lessons appreciates a huge width of music and tone, was a little surprised he let that one slip without supporting the majesty of The Ox. (Music is a funny thing... the same sound which makes one person leap off their chair with excitement makes another reach for the Off button)
Hey Scott, thanks for the video and yes I enjoyed being a member of Scott's Bass Lessons for just over a year. I know you like that roundwound sound, and you're just not a lover of that quick decay on Paul McCartney's bass but for me - I love that tone! [My hofner is now my go to bass, despite loving my Fenders and Ric] Also, despite that clacking, Verdine White's tone to me was awesome.
I think for the last bass tone Flea’s trying to emulate the sound of the fuzzed out guitar on “Maggot Brain”, and w/o that context ofc that bass tone doesn’t sound great on its own but with context it all makes sense (just like most of the songs on this list 😂)
All these "bad" tones may sound odd on their own. But in the mix they take on their own character and sound unique. Everything sounds different in the mix and experimenting with weird sounds is often beneficial
I do remember reading an article, probably in Guitar World, back when Follow the Leader was really big, and Fieldy basically said he takes the mids knob and turns "that shit all the way down" or something like that.
This is one of the most validating videos I’ve ever seen if these are what people consider “the worst”. I really think people just don’t know how to create enduring art through music. A lot of these are classic tracks for a reason, including the bass part. I think the people calling a lot of these worst would replace the classic lines with something completely forgettable and not fitting of the song it’s for.
It's like people arguing 'the best guitarist' - 'the best drummer' etc - it's all subjective - these bass tones absolutely suit the songs - in my opinion!
Honestly when it comes to the older stuff we have to take in consideration the lack of tone shaping equipment for bass compared to guitar. It's not necessarily a "bad" tone more of "this sounds good with what we have". Imagine having a Darkglass on some older records, that would really change the game
@@LageRU-vid mainly for fun, a few months ago I did a couple of remixes/remasters of both Blackened and AJFA. Truth to be told, I decided to further work on the bass and reamp to glue it better with the rest of the mix. I think that most of what you hear around is just Newsted's parts simply pasted on top of the mastered tracks, which is not exactly what happens when mixing in the studio, and that might also be the reason for things sounding weird. Feel free to have a listen to those tracks from my channel, btw, I'd like to know what you think. Cheers.
@@LageRU-vid Its not copying the guitar its doubling it, thats how music works. Kirk Hammet is mostly "copying" James Hetfields parts when he's playing rhythm at least the bass is an octave lower and filling an entirely different frequency range.
@@jaydenwhitlen1489 If you use bass to just double the guitar on pretty much every song, might just add a bit bass to the guitars and leave out the bass entirely
@@EmanCarbone I watched the videos and that's the way the bass should be in it, even though I don't think the clanky bass really fits it. I also checked out your Jaco covers and they were very good
September is such a massive wall of sound though. This was more composed, instead of just written. In September each and every part was composed to work as a whole and that bass line works in the whole perfectly.
Jaco's tone is fine - revolutionary, even - in the context of his time. That said, if I never heard another modern bass player use that squawky bridge pickup/poly fingerboard tone ever again that would be totally fine by me.
Literally 100% of those tones were awesome. It’s fine to subjectively not like one or another, but I think this list of “bad” tones really just showed how versatile the instrument is. Bass isn’t just one sound, and we shouldn’t complain when people do something different!
@@exerciserelax8719 What I’m afraid of is, “Different,” being the same as, “Terrible.” It’s not like Flea didn’t realize how it sounded. He made artistic choices, and I will always respect that!
See, now, if I hear the McCartney and the Jamerson bass type of tones by themselves, I instantly know it's gonna sound perfect in the songs, and my ear judges it as a great bass tone. Like, I don't even have to think about it, it just sounds great to me.
Scott’s summary comment nails it about these tones: context of the song and being in the mix. Maybe the armchair bassists who voted on all these “worst” lines should probably get out (edit) and play their own tones in a band context, clamped in with drums and percussion supporting the whole structure of the rest of the song. Reflecting on these flat wound tones, which were also panned here… yeah for sure, it’s not crazy bright and zingy (edit), it’s not supposed to be. Flats’ tone combines to create the one sound presence with the drums and percussion where it separates from guitar frequencies and makes a solid brick house that holds up the rest of the band. The opposite end is the regularity panned tone of Feildy. Like him or not, in this example “with no midrange, etc” it sounds empty, but played with layers of midrange overdriven guitars and screaming vocals, that space is a huge safety net for the sound of the song.
I agree with comment about context but I think your arguments are really narrow minded. Bass is not really supposed to sound any kind of way. You’re right that it’s about context, but the tones of the people you are talking about sound great in many contexts too.
I have the same criticism. . . whats your beef with slapping ? (cant do it, eh? . . lol) . . not ALL slappers are idiots, and not all flat wound players are genius' . . . cant generalise about these things. I DO get your point, I just think you let your prejudice blur it a little
@@thebutton7932 , hi, I wasn’t implying slapping was idiotic. I do slap in my playing for accent (and yeah it’s difficult to do properly and not sound like unrhythmic smacking). The image seemed to fit how I imagined the narrow-mindedness of some of these ‘tone votes’ to be is all, and was trying to be funny... Proper comment on me blurring my point though, so those parts now edited 😎🤙🏼 . Cheers
The James Jamerson is a great tone. It's like a soft cloud which hugs the listener. And given you have a choir behind, and everything in the track is so soft, it fits really well. The Journey one I understand. But in the other hand, I think it tries to emulate a left hand of a very bright piano. Maybe a bit too cartoonish, and the chorus effect is a bit inconsistent, but I agree with Scott that it suits the song.
The Journey one suits the song but it sounds just as good with a thick meaty bass tone. A meaty tone is what I used live and it moved more air and sounded great, just a bit heavier.
I could see an argument against John Entwistle's tone from later in his life, when he started playing with WAY too much gain and what sounded like a ring modulator or a flanger or something a little weird on it, but his tone on Quadrophenia as a whole is killer. With a lot of these I'd say the biggest issue people have is with the isolated track, which is probably the WORST representation of any instrument's tone (as there's generally a fair amount of EQ and compression etc. to get it to sit in the mix), and with the fact that some tones are chosen to fit the song rather than because they sound good in isolation.
Late in Entwistle's career he'd become almost deaf so couldn't properly hear his bass tones. I love the tone he used on the original Quadrophenia album but near the end of his career his bass tones were awful.
I know I'm late to the party, but I've always loved John's bass on real me. The Quadrophenia liner notes even state: "His bass sounded like a bleeding VC10." Watch a few clips of one taking off and all of a sudden it sounds kind of like great creative choice to me
What is wrong with you people? There’s little wrong with any of these bass tones, esp in the mix. Yeah that last Flea tone wasn’t great, but I get what he was going for, even if I didn’t care for it. But the inclusion of James Jamerson on What’s Going On is just wrong. The Newsted bass tone is killer. Flea was going for a fuzzed out tone on purpose, and as Scott noted the rest of that RHCP track sounded great. Finally, any list of “worst bass tones” that doesn’t include literally everything from Billy Sheehan, who has the most atrocious bass tone ever, is woefully incomplete.
@@cary3428 omg i hadn't heard this... And now I wish I hadn't. Not only a perfect example of terrible tone, but also of playing against a song instead of for the song. Sheehan is very technical, he was fun in Mr Big, Vai and all that circus, but he just doesn't have the taste to play this style, with the right sound. I'll use this video from now on as a bad example of bass playing, even from a good bass player.
It’s Funkadelic, Maggot Brain; Eddie Hazel. It’s an interpretive homage to Hazel’s composition, done on bass guitar. What’s not to get? Ever worse, the people talking nonsense about Entwistle and Jameson; Disqualified.
Yeah Fieldy broke a lot of rules in terms of his Bass playing, but damn Korn wouldn’t have been the same without it. Low Tuning, Very High Treble and Extremely Low Action is a lot more effective on bass than y’all think.
Steve Harris always used a lot of treble and very low action (bridge is actually slighly recessed into the body of his bass) so Fieldy wasn't breaking any new ground.
@@simpleanswer8954 hey I have to admit, I respect any artist that both tries something new and unique and also brings more people onto their instrument. Especially since in the 80s was all about guitar and the bass playing was stale generally. Imo doing anything new and unique that inspires people is far better than people like you who play the same boring ass way everyone else does
I think the survey went to a bunch of young guitarists who don’t know what the bass equipment many of these were recorded with sounded like in those days 😂
The Real Me is one of the best bass songs by the one of the best rock bassists on one of their best produced albums. I shed a single tear when I saw someone voted for it.
Tone is definitely subjective. I really disagree with Jamerson being on this list- amazing bass part and it works well in the mix. One player whose tone I never cared for is Billy Sheehan- great great player, seems like an awesome guy, but something about his tone didn't jive with me. Also the modern "djent" bass tones in metal today, maybe because so many people have that sound. I enjoy more of that warm 70's P/J bass sound. Just my 2 cents.
Same I play Thrash Metal and I use my 1986 Ibanez Roadstar II rb650 bass because it sounds killer in D standard compared to a 5 string ESP or Jackson with humbuckers. P basses are my preferred basses for Punk, NWOBHM and Thrash Metal because of the clacking of the strings and crazy subwoofer like low end in the mix.
Totally agree with you re Billy Sheehan, one of my all time favorite bassists but I just don't like his tone - he's spent a lot of energy working on it so he obviously wants it like that - so be it, it really is subjective after all.
@@hiphophippy2439 I agree about Billy Sheehan’s tone. Such a monster player yet his tone leaves me cold. Honestly, the Fodera basses I’ve heard don’t sound like they are worth what they are charging. I have yet to hear one that I really like and or think is worth paying that kind of premium for. I’ve never heard one live and never played one though. V. Wooten’s tone is good of course but I believe he could produce a very similar sound from just about any decent bass. Maybe Foderas have excellent playability but as I said I’ve never played one myself. I have a Warwick SE Thumb that sounds incredible at just about any setting and plays very well. Yes, it was expensive but not near the price of many Foderas. Maybe I need to play one…
@@jeffjones1359 I agree , fodera never sounded like it should for the $ ,dont care for Billy's sound and hell if it wasn't for Jamerson we all probably would be not playing bass !
BTW I absolutely love Ross’s isolated tone on DSB. It’s over-the-top and super chorusey flangey and is the anchor of the song. There’s a reason it starts at the very beginning with the piano. It rocks!
I think the bass in September was mixed to pop on old radios without much bass frequency. It's easy to judge tones of the past using today's standards for audio systems.
The bass line is one of my favorite parts of "The Real Me." When I finally picked up the bass in the late 90's it was one of the first lines I tried to replicate.
I liked Ross Valory's bass tone on that track!! He uses the lower five string, on a four string, tuned low to high: B E A D. He has a strong sense of melody, and a great knowledge of theory!!
The Real Me is just an awesome bass line for the song. It really drives the song along. I have to say that whoever voted for that need to have your ears checked :)
I disagree with every choice here. In fact, I even like the unique qualities of that last Flea bass tone. I guess the point is, some people hate unique tones.
I saw Entwistle, and I was like ok let's hear em out, but then it was The Real Me, and I was like oh hell no that's one of my favorite bass tones, bass lines, bass SONGS of all time. Y'all show some respect for the late Thunder Fingers
I think the problem, especially with the Real Me example, is that with these "Isolated Tracks" that get uploaded, it's not the ACTUAL recorded track but rather an application that tries to pick up the frequencies from the full mix. So you will obviously will lose some of the frequencies that the application deems to be occupying a guitar's space or the singer's or hell even the drums.
Context is important buuuut ....if i hear a bass tone i think sucks - which for me is almost always the fretless fart-tone - i generally turn it off . But hey, vive la difference !
A lot of bass tones outside the mix or song are not gonna work for most things. A great thing about bass players is we support song s regardless. The Journey tone is perfect accompaniment with the piano. Geddy Lee's bass works awesome and cuts through the mix on Rush albums but soloed sounds kinda trashy to me. We do what the song calls for and that is a beautiful thing!!!
@@TheLocalFuzz ha,ha,ha! Just love music but understand ugly tones by them selves. I hate using distortion but with heavy shit sometimes it helps. I love clean uncolored tones for sure.
Fieldy is why I started playing bass. Tuned a full step down bass and treble up, mids cut out. But James Jameson’s tone is what I fell in love with . Reggae tone. Deep round chuggin along.
Just learned Freak on a Leash last month and honestly, playing with that hyper percussive sound and focus I've found to be insanely fun. Does the sound work for most things? Absolutely not. But it's a blast to play and listen to.
I agree. Been playing ibanez sr basses for over 20 yrs. Im sitting around a half dozen rn. Love the tone of feildy. Was the first i ever heard like it and nade me want to play. My first bass was a brand new late 90s sr 505. This list Goes to show who runs their mouth and who plays the bass.
Holy fuck anyone earnestly claiming Jaco or Paul have bad tones need to be legally barred from listening to music. Paul's exact beautiful tone in Something is the sound I exclusively chase after. Also Liberty City?!?!? This list is a sin.
Many bass players choose a bass based on how it sounds solo in the music store or their bedroom. Which is why the P-Bass is their last choice. What sounds dull solo often sounds perfect in a band mix and what sounds amazing solo often steps on the other instruments and vocals and ruins a mix.
Well said! My Fender Elite Jazz in active mode steps all over the rest of the band. My P-Bass on it's own sounds awful to me and doesn't even feel as good as my Jazz, but the P-Bass will always serve the song - any song from any genre - perfectly.
@@ghosttownreview1531 it might not feel as good as your jazz because the p has a much fatter neck. The neck on a p kind of makes me choose the "right" notes and groove, the neck on a jazz is slimmer and almost begs me to "overplay".... I think they are both amazing basses with amazing tones. The p is my go to for almost everything, the jazz has the best slap tone in my opinion though.
