Flat-pickin' the EB-3

[tommyb]

First off, I'm no bass player but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night fumble around on one for home recording. I just recorded the song "San Francisco" from 1967 written by John Phillips (Mammas and Papas). A signature of this "hippie" anthem was Joe Osborn's excellent bass line which he flat-picked. I thought "well, this ought to be fun" So I gave it a try. I also tried to get his tone which was fairly trebly for a bass, but it still sounded like a bass.

 

The original is a vocal done beautifully by Scott McKenzie, John Phillips' good friend for whom he wrote the song. My version is (mercifully) an instrumental, although I do sing the last verse...my apologies to Mr. McKenzie!

 

All the guitars here are Epiphone; The EB-3, the Masterbilt DR-500MCE which was live-miked, and the only electric is the main melody which I played on a LP 1960 Tribute.

 

Let me know what y'all think!

 

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9822988

[Beatles1909]

Good job Tom,

I'm opposite to you I'm a bass player starting to dabble in guitar (since retiring)

 

As far as the bass goes for fun I would try a different approach, for example, put something under the strings (behind the back pickup) to deaden the strings (more of a thumby sound) so the strings don't ring, & a little less treble.

 

I do this using paper towel folded up on my fender bass when recording at home to get that motown type sound..

 

please don't take offense, as I feel you did a fine job with the bass part,

[tommyb]

No offense taken at all!

 

I need the feedback. I actually re-did the entire bass line before reading your post for the reasons you state...too "ringy". What I'm trying to do is at least capture some of the tone of the original which was played by the great Joe Osborn. To me, in addition to Scott McKenzie's superb vocal, Osborn's bass line is a signature of this song. In the original you can hear his clear tones nicely in the left speaker. JO probably used a PB or a Jazz according to his bio. I'm doing the best I can with the old EB-3!

 

I muffled the strings slightly with the heel of my hand, but your suggestion of something under the strings is something I'll experiment with.

 

Here's the link again. When you get a chance give it a listen and see if you notice the difference. Thanks again for the suggestions!

 

Tom

 

San Francisco

[Beatles1909]

Yep, you got the sound, it's much tighter without the ringing.

now just bring er up a bit more in the mix & JO would be proud

[tommyb]

What a difference...I took your advice about the paper towel. I jammed it between the strings and the three-point bridge. It not only sounds better but I can play between the pups where I prefer and not have to worry about keeping the heel of my hand muffling the strings. Makes things easier and I need all the help I can get playing bass.

 

Funny that noone had come up with a gadget to do this...like a piece of felt or something. Thanks for this tip...I can see some improvements in tone for other stuff as well as this song.

 

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=9822988

 

Tom

[Beatles1909]

Hi Tom,

actually, in the olden days (60's) they did, Fender Jazz used to have a dampener under the chrome tail piece (with the big F) also my 74 rickenbacker has it where you can move the felt piece up or down, but nobody ever used them so most companies no longer have it. (I know fender no longer does) I think Rickys still do!

 

I do it on most recordings just to keep the bass a bit tighter sounding! another thing I do is use an eq when recording my hofner beatle bass as it sounds thin. (but it is fun playin it!!

take care!

[Gaolee]

My EB-2 had one when it was new, but it was long gone when I got it in the early '80s. I recently saw an EB-0 from about the same time which still had its bass mute attached and functioning. You can go on fleabay and find them. I thought about buying one and installing it on the EB-2, but they are more expensive than I'm willing to pay for much of anything right now.

[tommyb]

Hi Tom,

actually, in the olden days (60's) they did, Fender Jazz used to have a dampener under the chrome tail piece (with the big F) also my 74 rickenbacker has it where you can move the felt piece up or down, but nobody ever used them so most companies no longer have it. (I know fender no longer does) I think Rickys still do!

 

I do it on most recordings just to keep the bass a bit tighter sounding! another thing I do is use an eq when recording my hofner beatle bass as it sounds thin. (but it is fun playin it!!

take care!

 

So, THAT's what that big chrome "F" thing was for on the old Jazzs'...obviously I never owned or played one!

It also cuts the sustain a bit which, for much of what I do, is a good thing. I know sustain is king these days for a lot of modern rock. My EB-3 seems to have tons of it but sometimes I want a tighter sound...more of a thump with tone...kinda like a bass violin you hear in some jazz recordings.

[Gaolee]

That was exactly the point of a bass mute. The idea was to make a bass guitar sound more like a doghouse bass. Over time, bass guitar has become its own instrument and shed any pretense of sounding like an upright, but initially, it was an alternate which Fender others thought should sound like an upright. Gibson even made an EB-1 which is an odd upright bass guitar, even closer to a doghouse in all ways than a bass guitar with a mute.