Wall of Mouths

Lawks, I haven’t been on this mb for ages. Took the new album to remind me it existed!

Just a quick 2c on the subject of ‘what bass you play’. I must say that Therapy?’s very own Michael McKeegan’s double-timed, clanking, syncopated basslines have been the single biggest influence on my playing since I was a wee bairn of 15 and picked up my first bass (a Westone Thunder 1A).

Of course, he also heavily influenced my choice of ‘real’ bass and overall sound and right now my setup is:

- Status Graphite S-1 Matrix Custom 4-string headed (black)
- Status Graphite Stealth 4-string headed (black)
- Takamine 512CFG Jumbo Acoustic bass (for the “mellow stuff”)
- A Mexican-made Fender Jazz (for abuse and practice)

All through an Ashdown ABM 300 EVO bass head (nearest I could get to a ballsy Trace Elliot) with various combinations of Ashdown cabs, Boss effects, etc.

If you want to hear some of my playing through this rig then you can check out this track here. Sadly I can’t claim credit for anything except the bass!

On the subject of bass solos, I’m also a huge fan of Mike and Fyfe’s “jazz breakdown” on Epilepsy (off “Infernal Love”) and I think that constitutes some damn nifty basswork in its own right!

> “boss”

tatty is right! Boss Chorus and Overdrive are the best there is (that isn’t saying much, however).

Although I do like the Jim Dunlop Bass Wah (105Q). It’s not as aggressive as the Snarling Dogs nor as wide as the Morley but it does help retain the “bass-ness” of your bass and it does a good job on those “Pulling Teeth”-style solos.

Hahah… Mike, thanks for clearing all that up.

As for the Westone on Nurse, that info came straight from Harvey B whilst we were recording with him (and I was trying to nick your bass sound) but he did confess to being somewhat err… tired and emotional at the time so maybe his memory is slightly less than accurate.

Cheers for the message!

Hey, don’t get me wrong - Musicmans are great basses. When I was a kid and listening to “BloodSugarSexMagic” and “Rage Against the Machine” that was the only bass I ever wanted. The funky, growling mid-heavy sound of the Stingray is probably the single most distinctive and recognisable sound of any bass out there (except possibly a Fender “P”).

However, now I’m older and have tried everything from Westones to Warwicks, my ears are always drawn back to the Status tone even though it’s so much the opposite of the MM: really bowel-shaking lows and pinging highs plus that machine “clank” from the graphite neck. Status’ are usually aimed at ultra-posh “session” musicians like Guy Pratt (Floyd) or Mark King, but with a bit of imagination on the EQ they can be made to sound utterly evil (like the live intro to “Innocent X”: “The thing I’d really hate… is to have a nail banged through the back of my neckCLANGCHAKKACLANGACHANKACNAHNKCLANG” etc)

Title: bass geek message, beware

Hey guys,

Alright, there’s every reason that no-one except Michael should know this stuff, but in case you’re interested:

Mike recorded all the stuff on Caucasian Psychosis/Nurse on a Westone bass (probably a Thunder 1-A), often through a regular guitar fuzz pedal. These basses are cheap and have a nice, woody sound but they ain’t very flexible - you can pick a Westone up for about £100 if you can find one.

Troublegum and Infernal Love are recorded using a Status Energy Matrix and a Series 1 Matrix. These are wood-bodied basses with a graphite through-neck - very high-level intruments and no longer made since ‘91 - the Series 1 has a slightly more complex tone control (dual rotary pot controls bass/treble) but other than that they’re fairly similar. Mike would use both live - one downtuned to ‘D’ (for “unbeliever” etc) and the other (sensibly, the black S1) at concert pitch.

[tatty seaside town: lovely bass, the stealth. Mike doesn’t have one as far as I know but they’re much more versatile than the old S1’s so you can nail the T? tone almost perfectly]

After that, he switched to MusicMan Stingrays and a Fender ‘57 P-bass for the rest of the albums (the P-bass has a much more “ambient” sound so you can usually pick out where he’s using it). IMHO (as with everyone else, I think), this was a shame because these basses aren’t as “bassy” or “cutting” as the Status (and they don’t look as cool) but you do get bored of a certain “sound” after a while so there’s every reason to change, if only to keep yourself interested.

Mike does also own a Status Buzzard-2, never seen him play it, though. Sounds very much like a Stealth with slightly more “bizarre” body styling!

Everything since “troublegum” is played through a Mesa-Boogie 400+ Bass Amp and Ampeg Cabs.

Cheers to Harvey, Dawn, Rob and SuicidePact for helping me put this info together and apologies to everyone else for being a bit of a spod. A man’s gotta have influences!