'Heart Of The Sunrise' - bass cover video

[ricmic]

Mark, if possible, I like the sound of that beauty even better on this one. Thanks again Bro for posting these gems. Mark

[walker]

Thanks, Mark! Being a bit of a tone-junkie myself, that's much appreciated. There wasn't a LARGE variation in how the two tunes were recorded - the biggest difference being the room mic added to the 'America' audio, whereas 'Heart...' was minus the room mic for the majority, so you get a nice tight representation. The exception was during the "Sharp! Distance!" chords, where I brought the room mic back in. The bass really benefited from the room sound at those points, I thought.

The drawback to HOTS is the level of hiss on the track. I was using a cheap ART digital FX processor for the tremolo effect, and that brought in a LOT of noise. I think I'd be better off with a little tremolo stomp-box. Ideally, I'd like to pick up a Yamaha SPX-900 or 1000. Those things are great AND relatively quiet.

[johnallg]

Wow Mark, another gem. Continually amazed at your ability to pick out the parts. I especially love the chordings. Kudos.

[bartyclue]

Mark...Awesome!! One of the best yes songs and imho, one of Squires most compelling compositions ever. I mean seriously...how do you write something like that? Good work ...keep em coming. Love watching and more importantly, I love listening to your sound.

[walker]

Thanks again, guys - and seriously: "Cheers!" to The Man to created it to begin with. It is pretty mind blowing when you think about it.

[bluewhale]

Back to the old grind!

Love the sound you get out of that bass. I've never found a way to get a decent sound picking near the bridge the way you do.

[walker]

Brian - is that you on the bass in your signature link? You look remarkably like The Man your own self!

And that bass looks very familiar, too. What is that - a '74 Jetglo? (My 2nd guess would be a Burgundy since it's lurking in the shadows.) Reminds me of my '79 4001 JG - I, too, dig me some Grover Titan tuners!

[walker]

Thanks, Steve. You may not get as much rich harmonic overtone playing at the bridge the way you do when playing in front of the bridge PU, but you get a lot more sustain that way, as you probably noticed. If the attack sounds too harsh, maybe try lowering the bridge pickup a little bit. Or maybe it's the amp - what kind are you playing through? I play through tubes, so a lot of the sharp attacks get smoothed out nicely.

[bluewhale]

...You may not get as much rich harmonic overtone playing at the bridge the way you do when playing in front of the bridge PU, but you get a lot more sustain that way, as you probably noticed. If the attack sounds too harsh, maybe try lowering the bridge pickup a little bit. Or maybe it's the amp - what kind are you playing through? ...

Eden WT300, a lot like the current WT550. It's a hybrid: tube preamp/solid state power section. Sometimes I use a SansAmp Bass Driver DI - not really on friendly terms with it yet, but it's getting better. The sound doesn't seem shrill when I pick between the bridge and the bridge pickup, but the bottom end drops out almost completely. That's using either my '78 4001 or my 4001C64. The only way I know to compensate is to crank the bass up to 11.

Anyway, thanks for the tips; I'll give them a try. And I hope you post many more videos.

[walker]

How's the balance in volume between the two pickups? Is the bridge PU significantly louder than the neck PU?

[bluewhale]

How's the balance in volume between the two pickups? Is the bridge PU significantly louder than the neck PU?

I've got them balanced pretty evenly. I'm guessing you too, but I'm not sure.

[walker]

Mine are pretty well balanced, too. Just wondered if your neck PU was drastically quieter - I thought that might account for the drop out of the bottom end when you play by the tailpiece.

? ? ? ? ?

Curious!

[johnallg]

Could be phasing - do you both have the .0047uF cap in line with the bridge pup?

[walker]

I do.

Here's something I thought was interesting - in the two places where "Sharp! Distance!" appears in Heart Of The Sunrise, it's actually a half-step up the 2nd time it comes around. Not so noticeable in the context of the whole song, but pretty interesting to hear the two sections side-by-side: Sharp Distance 1&2

[Billsbro]

Those clever lads know the effect that simple 1/2 step difference can have...just a bit more emotion and impact that way.
Brilliant!