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OK, i'm a dull-eyed limey with bad teeth who knows little about everything, but drinks alot of tea. And thinks cricket is 'just lovely'

I also play bass.

simply wondering what sort of gear i should be looking to get to achieve the clanging WM Simms/John Brady tone of my dreams? Is lots of output the key? (i.e do i need a, er, power amp or something?) outboard effects? Tons of speakers? I play a Travis Bean bass, its called a TB something or other...i'm really no good with these things so go easy. MOney isn't a issue because this is still very much hypothetical

I leave myself in your hands

being a limey too......actually sod that. it feels like pandering to cutesey mid-atlantic ideals. i ham han englishman.
i recommend giving up smoking for the dull eyes.....you can....ask me how.....

i also play bass. i don't know either of the geezers you mention. but for vast clanging rumbling thunderous tone and style, with any bass, i don't think you can beat a fender bassman (pref. with one of the valves pulled out) and a 2x15. i've tried them all, and that's the only thing i keep coming back too after ten years. don't forget tone, all tone, comes from yr soul and your fingers. outboard FX and power amps are replacements for your soul and your fingers. ta, johnny.

Well, the pickups on the TB2000 (which is the bass you have, I'm guessing) are good enough as a start.

I saw Sims play a bunch of times with the Jesus Lizard. He used a less common set of cabinets (and I heard that they were made by some farmer in Wisconson in his garage, which I don't think is true). His amplifier was a Gallien Krueger 800RB, which he ran into three 15" cabinets.

I was in high school/college at the time and thought "that's exactly what I want", because it's what he was playing. So I get where you're coming from.

Things have evolved a bit since then, and I've settled on the following -

GK 800RB - Loud enough to drown out everyone else in whatever band you're playing in. It's a solid amp, and I like the bi-amp option. The tone, while good, only sounded satisfactory to me when I really cranked it up. As that isn't always an option, I added a pre-amp.

Ampeg SVP Pro - Tube pre amp, versitle enough for me to figure out exactly what I was looking for. Added a big more grumble to the tone, but without obviously narrowing the dynamic range (ie. stripping out the very high or the very low, the way a pedal seemed to).

Cabinets - Hartke 4x10 (to handle the high send) and a Sunn 2X15 cabinet loaded with EV drivers (to handle the low).

If you'd like to hear what it sounds like, I've got a test .mp3 on our site from a mic setup session in a boxy basement. Don't pay too much attention to what was being played - we were just messing around.

Click here.

In the US, all of this stuff is readily available. I've never been too much of a tone freak when it comes to bass, and so haven't had too much trouble finding what I'm looking for. The key for that tone (that you've probably figured out) is to play the bass with a pick, not with just your fingers. Once you've gotten that figured out, the biggest subtle choice that you'll face is how much overdrive and presence you want on the attack. You can sound all fuzzed out like Godflesh or nearly clean like Fugazi.

Some people obsess about Traynor amps, but I've never played one. You'll have to ask someone else about those.

= Justin

Oh, and we were using the same bass that you have.

Okay,

= Justin

the main hire company i use reckon Hartke stands for:

"Horrible American Rubbish That Keeps Exploding"

just me tuppence

The cabinets mentioned above which were used by Sims in the Jesus Lizard are called Dietz cabinets made custom by Heart of Texas Music in Austin Texas. The cabinets were specifically designed around the 15" Electrovoice speaker to maximize its efficiency. I believe I recall Bob Weston telling me his cabinets were built by someone at Electrical and are a take off of the Dietz design.

Uh, yeah, they were built by me and Steve in his backyard. They're almost exactly the same as the Dietz boxes. The port is a little longer.

I love the Traynor TS-50B amp (50 Watt solid state). It may not be loud enough for live use. But I use one with a single 15 in the studio.

Live I simply add a giant power amp at the line-out of the Traynor to feed two 15's. It's my favorite bass sound.

Harte sucks.
Trace Elliot sucks.
SWR sucks.
Thay all suck except for some Ampegs and Traynors.

I've also had good luck with the Traynor YBA-3 tube head.

weston

I have also had great luck with a Yamaha B-100 solid state head I assume from the 80's. They are cheap and nobody wants them so you can get them for like $150 when you do find them (I now have two). They are great with very pleasing and musical EQ and an XLR out on the back that has worked very well live (pushing a 2x 15" cab) and also in the studio as a very big and heavy DI box. The xlr 'out' signal is post EQ. I got this thing once in an emergency on tour when my old Bassman died and it was just to get me home but it has been so good, way beyond it's price.

Also about Mr. Simms, you have to remember his sound started with only the finest of basses and pickups. I mostly saw him play a Memphis fender look-alike that sold NEW for $99 back then. I think the duct tape holding the strap on was a major part of his sound, also.

Bob Weston wrote:I love the Traynor TS-50B amp (50 Watt solid state). It may not be loud enough for live use. But I use one with a single 15 in the studio.

Live I simply add a giant power amp at the line-out of the Traynor to feed two 15's. It's my favorite bass sound.



weston

dear bob - is that what is in your big silver box with the big knob on it then?

Bob Weston wrote:Live I simply add a giant power amp at the line-out of the Traynor to feed two 15's. It's my favorite bass sound.

weston

Blown any of those Crown power amps lately?
dB-