How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

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PunkRockBassist
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How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

Post by PunkRockBassist »

hey i wanted to know what can i do to play bass a little more like eric wilson from sublime i just love his sound and style any tips? thanks
ThaBassment
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Re: How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

Post by ThaBassment »

Get a lead singer/guitarist who's addicted to heroin and then practice enough til you're able to ignore that tragic reality.
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PunkRockBassist
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Re: How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

Post by PunkRockBassist »

ThaBassment wrote:Get a lead singer/guitarist who's addicted to heroin and then practice enough til you're able to ignore that tragic reality.
Come on dont bash brad man he had his problems just like everyone else he made some great music in his short time here imo
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Addison
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Re: How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

Post by Addison »

PunkRockBassist wrote:hey i wanted to know what can i do to play bass a little more like eric wilson from sublime i just love his sound and style any tips? thanks
This might seem really obvious, but...

Learn as many Sublime songs as you can... note for frikkin note. The more you learn someone else's music, the more you'll start to subconciously pick up that person's style.

They're some great basslines, so it should be really fun for you... whenever the cover band I'm in has done Sublime songs, they've always been some of the more interesting songs to play.

As far as tone goes... I've seen pics of him using a lot of different basses. But I'll bet a dollar that he recorded everything on a p-bass with really dead strings... or with flats.

His tone in a lot of tunes is close to a "dub reggae" kind of thing, so you'll want to crank up the bass and roll off some of the highs and mids and keep your picking hand a little more toward the neck than towards the bridge for a fat, round tone. In order to get your bass tone to "cut through" with a tone like that, you'll need a lot of power to move a lot of air... so keep that in mind too.

Finally... and most importantly... it's fun to figure out your heroes' basslines and emulate their tones, but always try to be yourself. Find your own style and find something about your tone that makes you unique... and you'll grow a lot more as a player.

F Bass BN5 • ZON Legacy Elite 5 • ZON Sonus Elite 5 Fretless • ZON Sonus BG5 • Fender Custom Shop '64 NOS Jazz • Fender Custom Shop '75 NOS Jazz • Fender ADE Precision • Music Man SR4
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PunkRockBassist
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Re: How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

Post by PunkRockBassist »

thanks alot !
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Addison
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Re: How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

Post by Addison »

Just for fun I went and checked out the Date Rape video, cuz that's a cool tune... and I just noticed he's playing an old Music Man Sabre bass.

It might be just for the video, but the tone sounds about right too...

Cool!

F Bass BN5 • ZON Legacy Elite 5 • ZON Sonus Elite 5 Fretless • ZON Sonus BG5 • Fender Custom Shop '64 NOS Jazz • Fender Custom Shop '75 NOS Jazz • Fender ADE Precision • Music Man SR4
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PunkRockBassist
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Re: How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

Post by PunkRockBassist »

yeah i def think hes an very underated bass player imo
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Matt R.
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Re: How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

Post by Matt R. »

Excellent advice from Addison. I agree, he always sounded like he played a PBass & flats on the records.
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Re: How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

Post by ThaBassment »

PunkRockBassist wrote:Come on dont bash brad man he had his problems just like everyone else he made some great music in his short time here imo
Calling Brad's heroin addiction tragic is not bashing him... is it? I love Sublime and Brad's guitarwork especially.
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PunkRockBassist
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Re: How to play bass more like Eric Wilson?? Help

Post by PunkRockBassist »

ThaBassment wrote:
PunkRockBassist wrote:Come on dont bash brad man he had his problems just like everyone else he made some great music in his short time here imo
Calling Brad's heroin addiction tragic is not bashing him... is it? I love Sublime and Brad's guitarwork especially.
okay understand its just theres enough shit on youtube and stuff didnt want anyone to start hating on brad on leftybassist but i know what you mean man heroin sucks.
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