Basking in the autumnglo

[jnbass]

its pretty light-close to that photo.

gotta look up the S/N for year...

[hieronymous]

I rerecorded "basking...", this time using the bridge pickup and trying to get more growl:

basking in the autumnglo, ver. 2

The lead part is the same, but I redid the clean bass. Bridge pickup this time, through compressor, and then pushing the Alembic F2-B just to before distorting, with the midrange at 10 (which is flat on the F2-B) and bright switch engaged. Also, the ending is different.

Not sure if I accomplished the growl, but so you can hear it better, here's a dub version with just the clean bass:

basking in the autumnglo dub

Bass is the same performance as in version 2. I like this one, because you can really hear what Greg's doing on the drums. Also, I let the bass sustain at the end - it actually kept going on and on but I gave up.

And for comparison, here's the "first" version:

basking in the autumnglo, ver. 1

Not that anyone's gonna want to listen to all of these! But for fun, here's the "original version" - I had forgotten that I used my 4003S/8 JGBT on it!

basking in the jetglo

In fact, here's a picture from that session:

[johnallg]

I vote for the bridge version. Like the tone better. Still like the drumming!

Also like the newer version over the older version though it is good and the 8 string great sounding. Drums sound higher in the mix also. Sustain!!

[hieronymous]

Thanks John. I think the mix could stand to be tweaked just a little bit, plus I wouldn't mind rerecording a couple of little sections of the lead bass. But this flurry of activity came about as a result of an unforseen vacation this week, which ends today! So we'll see if I get the time. Maybe next week.

Definitely comments about the mix are greatly appreciated! I find drum levels difficult to set - I like to hear the bass! Plus it's difficult to actually hear it after you've listened to it 50-100 times while recording and mixing...

[gearhed289]

Nice bass! I "resurrected" and cared for a friends '78 that looks just like yours. I like those dark, satin finished ones with the black plastic/white binding.
Great sound clip too.
I've been using a Digitech bass synth wah for a while now. It sounds pretty good for something in the below $100 price range, and it's got a blend knob, so you don't lose nearly as much bottom end.

[hieronymous]

So today turned out to be a vacation day after all. And of course I couldn't resist the lure of the laptop based recording studio! I considered and tried to redo the entire lead bass track, but got fed up and decided just to redo one section and touch up the ending:

basking in the autumnglo, ver. 3

On the original ending, the basses on the very last beat didn't match the drums, so with the magic of Protools I fixed it! I enjoy the irony of having an overwhelmingly analog and tube signal path, and then recording it digitally. It even extends to playback - I just got a Z.Vex iMPAMP - a teeny little tube amplifier to use to listen to my computer! This thing is so cool - I love listening to mixes with it.

[jmh]

Harry, I think the mix is perfect. The drums are in there just right. All instruments are up front and well represented. Very pleasant to listen to. I am no expert, just a novice's opinion. Thanks for posting these. Hope you've got more in store, with different sounds.

[johnallg]

I echo Jack.

[shinynewtoy]

Sounds GREAT Harry... never doubt a Ric bass's ability to cut a mix!!!

I'm digging your playing as well... some really cool grooves and fills in there!

[hieronymous]

I started this thread back in 2006 - through 2010 my Autumnglo 4001 has remained one of my main basses. I'm not going to post everything I've done in the meantime, but I do have a special track that I would like to share. It is called:

nova aldo

Same drummer I've been working with steadily since 2002, Greg DeGuglielmo, but this time instead of me going out to Boston to record, he came to the San Francisco Bay Area and we recorded at a place in Berkeley called Robot Envy Studio. This was improvised live in the studio - it actually grew out of a different piece but went in an entirely new direction and we just ran with it. You can also hear the new Moog Taurus 3 bass pedals in all their glory. I overdubbed the Rhodes electric piano later.

I played my 4001 with a pick, both pickups on full blast, into a CAJ tube compressor and Alembic F-2B preamp. The strings were really old, so when I was mixing I put the bass track through an Alembic SF-2 Superfilter to make it pop out more. I pulled the bass out of its case for the first time in several months - the strings felt awful, the studio was really hot that day, gonna have to give the bass a good cleaning and put on some fresh strings...

Here's a shot from the day before while we were rehearsing - if any of this sounds or looks familiar it's because I've posted this stuff elsewhere on the forum, but I wanted to put it here for my fellow low-end brethren to check out!

[rickyfricky]

Great looking and sounding bass Harry.

I just scored a '77 4001 that I think is Autumn Glo (black guard/TRC) and no gloss to it's finish.

Can you tell me what you use to clean and polish it??

Many thanks.

[hieronymous]

Hi Matt, thanks for listening! For cleaning, I just use a soft cloth (actually an old cotton t-shirt) and Alembic polish - for a while I was using Ken Smith polish. Probably the best thing is to try a little bit on a not-so-visible section like the back just to make sure. Even just using a soft cloth would probably help. Does yours have a kind of satin finish? Apparently that is the difference between autumnglo & walnut, but I forget which is which! You might want to search both for cleaning (there are other techniques that people use, like Xymol?, that I haven't) and also the autumnglo vs. walnut distinction.

[rickyfricky]

Autumn Glo is satin or matte finish - that's what I think I have.
I think I'll use Brillianze - a plastic cleaner. My regular guitar polish says do NOT use on matte finishes.

Walnut is a gloss finish - like most other Rickenbcker finishes.
Zymol is recommended for these.

I am also thinking about putting flatwounds on it (I play mostly with a pick).
Is that what you have on yours?

[hieronymous]

Autumn Glo is satin or matte finish - that's what I think I have.
I think I'll use Brillianze - a plastic cleaner. My regular guitar polish says do NOT use on matte finishes.

Walnut is a gloss finish - like most other Rickenbcker finishes.
Zymol is recommended for these.

I wasn't aware that some polishes couldn't be used on certain finishes. Guess I've been lucky with the Alembic & Ken Smith stuff...

I am also thinking about putting flatwounds on it (I play mostly with a pick).
Is that what you have on yours?

I have only ever used round wounds on my Rics. On the most recent recording I posted above though they are really dead. I used the SF-2 to bring out the highs. I do use flats on most of my other basses - one thing that surprised me is that I really like flats on my Alembic - I can still get a bright, crunchy tone with the filters. I think flats on a Ric would probably be really cool, but I've never gotten around to trying. Good luck with yours - are you going to post pics and/or soundclips?

[hieronymous]

Just a heads-up that Nova Aldo is now available on SoundCloud.