Bass Sound Question......

[Lefty4003S8]

Not sure if this is Artists or Rickenbacker basses material.............

I am a BIG fan of the 60's group The Association---ok, go ahead and laugh if you want

Apart from their amazing, layered vocals.....their bass sound Frickin FLOORS me!!!!!!
Two songs in particular, "Windy" and "Everything That Touches You" have THE most incredible bass sound.

Does anyone here know which instrument/amplification was used by their bass player???? To MY ears, it sounds like it could be a Fender P, or a Rick 4001/4005.

Ok.....you can stop throwing things at me

Lefty4003s8




Do not drink from the toilet when taking Lyrica

[bassduke49]

I like the Association, too, but without looking it up, I'll bet the bassist in their recordings was Joe Osborne who played bass on a LOT of recordings coming out of California back then, for artists like The Fifth Dimension, Mamas & Papas, Carpenters, etc. As I recall, he played Fenders with flat-wound strings, but I have no idea on the amps and studio equipment to produce the sounds he got.

[NFB-418]

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you, but I share your enthusiasm for The Association. One of my favorite songs that has a connection to The Association (and has a very distinctive bass line) is entitled "Carry On." Even though it's not officially one of their songs, it's included on one of The Association's anthologies. Perhaps you've heard of it?

In doing some research, I found that "Carry On" came from a group called Bijou which was formed by Russ Giguere. Jules Alexander joined him on that project. There's not a lot of info on Bijou, so I assume it was short-lived. Still, "Carry On" sounds exactly like one of The Association's signature songs. If you haven't heard it, I highly recommend checking it out.

[woodyng]

I've always wondered about the bouncy baseline in "windy",the sound of which seemed like maybe the bass guitar was doubled with another instrument? (sort of like what was done on the studio version of "roundabout".)

[teb]

Looks to me like it's a Gibson EB2 with the pickguard and hand rest over the treble pickup removed. In that day and age, it would certainly have had flats on it as that's pretty much all we had. This is from a "Live at Ravinia" concert in the '60s, playing "Windy" and it has "the tone". You would want to make sure that the EB2 is the two-pickup model, because the single-pickup version with only the big neck humbucker won't produce that tone (too bassy and not enough definition). The second photo is a similar EB2. One of the easiest ways to get that woody sound in something readily available these days is a Hofner with flats, which is one of the things they do best. I haven't played an Icon or Contemporary model, but the German Hofners can pretty much nail that tone with flats, played finger-style.

The amps they were using were tall with a sloped control panel cut into the upper front corner and I'm trying to remember who made them, but I'm still drawing a blank at the moment.

[NFB-418]

[RicOSoundMan]

The Amp might have been an Acoustic brand. Back then they were real popular. The Doors (Robbie Krieger) and John Paul Jones used them at that time, even into the 70's. Just a thought may be in left field but..... They were popular then.

For along time JPJ used the Acoustic 360 head not sure of the Acoustic speaker set up though but i know it was a Acoustic cabinet.

[Lefty4003S8]

WOW!!!!! Very interesting replies so far..........

1. I had forgotten about Joe Osborn. I looked him up and The Association IS listed as one of the MANY groups he recorded with. AND, his bass of choice was an early Jazz--stackknob---which he played with a pick.
2. I NEVER even thought it could be a Gibson EB2. I've never heard a "Gibby" produce a sound even close to that sound.

Thank you ALL!!!!!!!!!

Lefty4003s8



Do not drink from the toilet when taking Lyrica

[teb]

There is a pretty decent photo showing the amps in their gallery section, about ten photos in. You can see the logos, but can't read them. I was wondering whether they were Standels, but I'm not sure. I don't believe they're Acoustics. As a bonus, you get to listen to a high-quality version of Windy as you look through the gallery. Anybody recognize these cabinets? In some of the later photos, the bass player is playing a Fender.
http://www.theassociationwebsite.com/gallery.html

That resonant, slightly thumpy tone is just about the best reason to add a hollow body bass to your instrument pile sometime. I don't think I ever set up the Hofner to record without thinking of "Windy" and trying to get a little bit of that sound with the EQ.
sample: A mellower tune, but you can hear the hollow body sound.
http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/M ... ff/hof.mp3

[jps]

This is great, I watched all The Smothers Brothers shows, old and new(er) but don't remember this!

[jps]

Note that the bridge pickup is either missing, covered with black tape or he has the very first Bartolini humbucking pickup in the bass.

[iamthebassman]

"Windy" = Joe Osborn, sunburst Fender Jazz, "neck" pickup only, pick, flatwounds.

[Lefty4003S8]

Thank You NFB, and Jeff for those COOL videos!!!!!

I STILL can't get my head around the possibility that it was a GIBSON bass making that great sound.

BTW: I have two "Beatle" basses. An actual Hofner, and a knock-off by Brice. Maybe one day I'll try to see
if I can replicate that sound using them.

Lefty4003s8






Do not drink from the toilet when taking Lyrica

[Lefty4003S8]

"Windy" = Joe Osborn, sunburst Fender Jazz, "neck" pickup only, pick, flatwounds.

Now THAT seems more likely!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE did you find that info.??????

Lefty4003s8








Do not drink from the toilet when taking Lyrica

[teb]

That would seem to be correct for the recording, judging from the closest thing I could find to some session credits. But I don't find it surprising that the Gibson was doing the job in the live cancert versions. Even my old solid body Gibson will do a half-way respectable Windy if you mess with the knobs enough....and it's fretless with tape-wounds. This is played with my fingers through my old Acoustic 140 head and a JBL E-140, with an SM58 stuck in front of it.
http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/M ... /windy.mp3