There is much debate on what a proper smooth ’70s bass tone is supposed to sound like. Some believe it’s nothing but P-Bass with the tone rolled off. Others believe it’s J-Bass with a 60\/40 blend of rear and front pickup with the tone 3\/4 of the way off. And then there’s the active\/passive debate since preamps of the era did color the tone quite a bit.<\/p>\n
Now although this song may sound cheesy to some, Look Alike<\/em> by Bob James featuring Gary King on bass (who also played bass on Blame It On The Boogie<\/em> by The Jacksons a.k.a. Jackson 5) pretty much dictates what a smooth ’70s bass tone is supposed to be.<\/p>\n You can hear every single note Gary plays as the mix is flawless. Treble has some roll-off, there’s plenty of midrange and the lows cut through with ease – and that’s even with a bass-heavy dry snare drum in the mix.<\/p>\n Gary goes all over the fretboard in Look Alike<\/em> and doesn’t stay pegged to any one particular place for too long. Whatever bass he was using, it was definitely set up right.<\/p>\n The point here is that if it’s the smooth tone you’re going after, the studio mix of Look Alike<\/em> by Bob James is a great guide to go by.<\/p>\n There are several ways to go about getting the smooth tone. The quick\/dirty way is a passive P-Bass strung up with flatwounds<\/a> with the tone rolled off and playing through a compressor pedal of your choice such as the Aguilar TLC<\/a>. However, there’s a reason that’s the quick\/dirty way as you may encounter compressor “blaring” here and there. <\/p>\n The more advanced way is through use of an on-board preamp. We have plenty of those<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, no matter how you go for the smooth tone, everything starts with a properly set up bass with low action that’s comfortable to play. Whether you have a low cost Squier or a high end custom build, the bass absolutely must be set up correctly first before any other consideration.<\/p>\n Again, this song will sound cheesy to some, but pay attention to the tone and the mix. This is pretty much as good as it gets where ’70s smooth tone is concerned.<\/p>\nHow can you “go smooth”?<\/h3>\n
Look Alike<\/em><\/h3>\n