Mudbucker article (fiendishly derailed by Uwe into unmotivated The Who attack!)

Dave W · February 08, 2013, 09:46:00 AM

Quote from: 4stringer77 on February 08, 2013, 08:05:47 AM
Dave, being a bassist who doesn't like Free is like being a duck that hates water. ...

For me, it's all about the music as a whole, not about the bassist or the bass lines. If a band or artist's music doesn't appeal to me on some level, then I won't be paying attention to the bassist, no matter how talented.

If you're inspired by Free's music or Andy Fraser's bass work, that's great. It never appealed to me. There's plenty of music out there and no shortage of bass to be inspired by.

gweimer · February 08, 2013, 09:56:32 AM

Figured I might chime in here. I had a slothead EB-0 briefly, and took it on a band audition. What I noticed about the mudbucker was that it was awesome in a closed environment. In that rehearsal room, with very little bounce and echo, the bass almost tore my heart out of my chest. It had all these great qualities that some of us love in a bass. Put that same bass in some open area, and the mudbucker earned its name. Vague, undefined, and lost.
I'm going to rip and post my Jack Bruce boot to Dropbox for us. Despite the conditions of the boot, we were still 20 feet in front of his amp, and the bass is pretty clear.

4stringer77 · February 08, 2013, 10:00:26 AM

I can dig that Dave. Rocco Prestia in Tower of Power was another grooving bassist but TOP could be downright sappy to listen to. Cream broke out before Free when everyone was getting into Acid for the first time so the culture lended itself to a more experimental band. Free was a much more traditional groove oriented band. looking forward to that Cream boot gweimer!

uwe · February 08, 2013, 10:03:05 AM

"What I noticed about the mudbucker was that it was awesome in a closed environment. In that rehearsal room, with very little bounce and echo, the bass almost tore my heart out of my chest. It had all these great qualities that some of us love in a bass."

Brilliant and true observation. Also the death knell for the dark sounding Gibbies: They were a pain in the butt to mix for most soundboard guys, while everybody knows that you have to be stone-deaf to render a Fender P inaudible or bad-sounding over a PA.

You can also get quite good results with a Muddie in a studio environment (with some eq tweaking, once you have explained to the engineer that you have already rolled on all available treble on your bass and he shakes his head in despair!), but live on a large stage you'll have issues.

uwe · February 08, 2013, 10:08:47 AM

"Rocco Prestia in Tower of Power"

... can play circles around me and I appreciate his superior technique, but he always makes me wonder why he is playing these hurried 16ths or even 32ths (dumb question: because he can!) when a quarter or an eigth note would do just as well and get the bass melody across better. The Steve Harris of funk!!!

I like sparse funk bassists such as the late Bernard Edwards of Chic better.

gweimer · February 08, 2013, 12:26:37 PM

Quote from: uwe on February 08, 2013, 10:03:05 AM
"What I noticed about the mudbucker was that it was awesome in a closed environment. In that rehearsal room, with very little bounce and echo, the bass almost tore my heart out of my chest. It had all these great qualities that some of us love in a bass."

Brilliant and true observation. Also the death knell for the dark sounding Gibbies: They were a pain in the butt to mix for most soundboard guys, while everybody knows that you have to be stone-deaf to render a Fender P inaudible or bad-sounding over a PA.

You can also get quite good results with a Muddie in a studio environment (with some eq tweaking, once you have explained to the engineer that you have already rolled on all available treble on your bass and he shakes his head in despair!), but live on a large stage you'll have issues.

In a live setting, you don't want to have the low end boosted. For years, I have brought down the low end a bit, and either flattened or suppressed anything under 100 hz, and then boosted between 150-250 hz. Then, TURN IT UP LOUD. You'll get that nice Gibby sound. The live post I have here somewhere with the Embassy was done with a room mic at the back of the club, and not from the board.

patman · February 08, 2013, 01:11:46 PM

Never been a fan of Free. Somehow the Grooves never worked for me.

I always loved TOP...Rocco grooves, but he is quite busy. For me it's the feel.

Dave, does the band "Black Dub" above have any commercial recordings?

chromium · February 08, 2013, 01:58:00 PM

Can't forget this mudbucker clip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPR3p0xmZgM&feature=youtu.be

westen44 · February 08, 2013, 02:01:38 PM

What language is that? At first I thought it was Spanish, but I can't understand one word of it.

4stringer77 · February 08, 2013, 02:24:42 PM

Some kinda Scandinavian. Icelandic maybe? Had a real good Larry Graham kinda thing going there for a sec.

chromium · February 08, 2013, 02:57:44 PM

I think he's from Finland.

uwe · February 08, 2013, 03:07:37 PM

But stark raving mad! In a talented way.

No, I don't think they had exactly that in mind when the good people of Gibson created the baritone switch.

patman · February 08, 2013, 03:23:13 PM

Put on "James Gang Rides Again"

Plenty of good tone there...fills a hall, very articulate. Far as I know...P-Bass.

westen44 · February 08, 2013, 04:12:08 PM

Quote from: chromium on February 08, 2013, 02:57:44 PM
I think he's from Finland.

Thanks. Normally, I'm pretty good at detecting languages. But I can't ever remember hearing Finnish spoken. It sounds nothing like I was expecting.

westen44 · February 08, 2013, 04:14:06 PM

Quote from: patman on February 08, 2013, 03:23:13 PM
Put on "James Gang Rides Again"

Plenty of good tone there...fills a hall, very articulate. Far as I know...P-Bass.

I could be wrong, but I think a Precision is all Dale Peters ever played. Tom Kriss definitely played a Gibson EB-3 on the first album, something I'm sure most people already know.