Some bassists are all about grace and pluck each note in a very delicate way to bring about the cleanest possible bass tone…<\/p>\n
…but that’s not Lemmy and it never was.<\/p>\n
Lemmy’s sound is a Rickenbacker bass using only the rear treble pickup with everything turned to 10 and played with a pick in a strumming guitar-player-like way.<\/p>\n
However, there’s more to know than just picking up a Rickenbacker and going for it.<\/p>\n
Lemmy did use power chord 5ths often (again, guitar-player-like play.)<\/p>\n
Lemmy’s bass tone hardly has any bass in it. It’s basically all distorted midrange.<\/p>\n
The amplifier head Lemmy used for 30 years (yes, really) was a model 1992 Marshall Super Bass Head (1976 build) that he nicknamed “Murder One”. He only stopped using that when Marshall themselves built Lemmy a prototype signature 100-watt head in 2007 modeled after the ’76 head called the 1992LEM. In the newer head, the main difference is that compared to the original, it has circuitry of both the Super Bass and Super Lead, allowing for greater frequency range.<\/p>\n
To get that cool distorted Lemmy bass tone however, there are two ways of going about it.<\/p>\n
Method 1: Turn up the amp, juice the tubes (meaning get them hot) and blare it out.<\/p>\n
Method 2: Use an appropriate distortion effect.<\/p>\n
Two pedals that work great for Lemmy-like tone are MXR M85<\/a> and EBS Metal Drive<\/a>. The MXR gives you more tone shaping ability while the EBS has a tube-type sim filter than can be enabled\/disabled at whim. <\/p>\n Now of course, the big 100-watt head with hot tubes is the preferred way to get the Lemmy sound, but since not everyone can blast out a Marshall amp setup when recording, using a pedal works too.<\/p>\n And again, with Lemmy tone you have to think more like a guitar player both in style and note choices. Use power chord 5ths, keep the tone very squarely planted in midrange frequencies and stay there.<\/p>\n