Max Kay’s nephew Jeremy Kay makes an appearance in a Reverb video (seen below) describing how to get that beloved Motown bass tone played by bass great James Jamerson.
Something very important to note in the video is that Motown did not use amplifiers for studio recordings. What they used was their version of a DI box. Reproductions of their boxes (one is shown in the video) are available, but we also carry several very good DIs by SansAMP.
In addition, we also carry the famous flatwound La Bella “1954” strings, a.k.a. the 760M. However, a warning about those strings: They are built “like they used to make ’em”, meaning they are thick, they are heavy and they do have very tight string tension. If you have never played bass with old-school flatwound strings before, they feel very different compared to modern roundwound. Also, breaking them in does take time, so be prepared for that.
Seen also in the video is a very low-tech way of getting the proper faster note decay along with reducing overtones, which is stuffing some foam under the strings at the bridge. To note, foam mutes were in fact a normal “feature” of Fender bass guitars at one time, but you never saw it because it was hidden under the large metal guards that used to come provided with the instruments. If you want something that offers more muting control, try the GruvGear Fump (it certainly looks nicer than a piece of foam stuffed under the strings).
Something else that really helps bring out attack in the notes is another very old-school thing, the felt bass pick. We carry these by Grover and by Dunlop. Felt has an amazing way of bringing out a “thwack” when a string is struck while at the same time hearing almost no pick noise whatsoever. The sound is almost like adding compression without the use of a compressor.
Be sure to watch the video below for more details on how to achieve the great Jamerson Motown bass tone.
Nice video. Nice playing. I love Jamestown. His bass lines are study in tasteful note choice and groove. He’s the the epitome of “solid.” Thanks for the video!
Did we mention tone on the p and the amp
I’m sorry, but that doesn’t sound like the Motown bass sound on my records. I hear a lot more highs and a “click” to what Jeremy’s plying, than I’m hearing on the originals. Compare the three-note intro to “My Girl” that Jeremy played to the original. The recording tone is, I don’t whant to say “boomier,” but is a lot softer and warmer, without the high-end click. To me, what Jeremy is playing approximates the Carole Kaye bass reccordings (also a P-bass) on so many West Coast recorded hits, like the 5th Dimension and the Association. (Think the short bass run intro on Glen Campbell’s “Witchita Lineman — very plunky.) At least, to my ears. I greatly appreciated the demo, however. Thanks, Jeremy! Never knew about the Motown DI — always thought the Ampeg B-15 was always used.
Actually this is what the isolated tracks sound like. Have you listed to them? You can find them online. You are hearing the bass as it sits in the mix, so you don’t notice the high end. But it was there. It gives the notes presence.
I have been playing R&B/Soul/Motown all of my life, and until recently I always did it the way Jeremy does in the video. I would just like to point out that if you can master the Rocco left hand muting technique like Sharay Reed obviously has in this video, you can get an even better Jamerson-like sound without any special equipment. It takes a lot of practice and feels really awkward at first, but after a while it gets pretty easy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiJo3tAxfBQ
You should mute with your left hand anyway, but the foam mute was an important element in the Fender bass tone back in the day. You can even find photos of Bob Babbitt with a big chunk of foam under the strings, since he had the bridge cover removed.
The problem is that the Fump, isolated from the body and only touching the strings – Ruins Your Intonation! It sounds great, but your whole neck is now out-of-tune! The foam trick is isolated to the bass body – but still allows the ENTIRE STRING to vibrate, hence no effect on intonation. I’m sorry, but the current Fump Technology is poor.
If you stick foam under the bridge, which I used to do back in the 70s, it can also throw the bass out of tune. It depends on how thick the foam is. You have to retune it.
Really well done! Loved it, and your playing
After 59 years you get sick and tired of young guys laughing at the “crappy lump of foam” in front of my bridge or the “weird shit pick!”, that is my felt picks I been playing with for 40 plus years. I never seen anyone put in writing the use of felt picks and I’m sick of defending my style and methods: Thanks for shining some 21st century light on my 19th century tools! In the 19th century they didn’t have foam rubber obviously but they did use rabbit fur in a roll to get their own effects!
One more thing. In 1958 when we created these tones everyone is now chasing we only had our limited bass of choice single and 2 track recording, 20 or 50 watts amps with simple cone speakers, “Flat Wound Strings” and technique. So why are you fools buying all this technology and all these peddles, “plugIns” etc? I know your all crazy. I saw a guy with 26kOhms P Bass trying to be Verdine White. Copying a time when I know Verdine P Bass barely put out 9KO! Why don’t you just play music. All the greatest of the great just played music, and when they took in into a studio the world loved it. So the answer is not in your pedal board. It’s in your mind. That’s where music is created and if you cannot talk to your fingers, pedals wont help you. They will just distract you from the truth and make you poor! In His Grace and Grip. ziggy
Ziggybass,
Thanks for your ‘spot-on’ remarks. The key to great, classic electric bass tone is uncomplicated. Great music and technique are a matter of talent, work, and dedication – and they can’t be purchased at a music store. Fifty years later, and having wasted thousands of dollars on numberless amps, speakers, effects and bass axes, and I’m back to ‘square one’ with sufficient wattage, two quality 12’s, and a Precision Bass with flatwound strings. “Live and learn,” and “hindsight is foresight that happens too late.”