Making my Bongo sound like Hysteria by Muse

[Jornan]

I have a Bongo 4HH and a Big Muff Pi (the black one). Anyone who knows how I can make this sound as simular as possible to Chris Wolstenholme's bass sound when he plays Hysteria?

[tiffles]

wow...id be happy if i could just play hysteria!!! im only as good as supermassive black hole... nice work.

[steptoe & son]

Jornan I think he uses a pedal called a Wooly Mamoth (seriously) but you can get the same sound with an MXR Blow Torch pedal.

[oli@bass]

You can't, you have to use a Jazz bass...

Seriously, it's not that important what type of distortion you use, but to blend the dry bass signal with a very distorted one.

@Tiffles: It's actually pretty easy to play. However, I'd do it differently than most YouTube videos show. Obviously, Chris plays it at the 12th fret, but IMO it's much easier to play at the 9th fret with string skipping.

[Jornan]

Jornan I think he uses a pedal called a Wooly Mamoth (seriously) but you can get the same sound with an MXR Blow Torch pedal.

I know that he uses a lot of equipment (including a Roland JP8000 synth, the fuzz you're hearing isn't just the bass!), but I want to get as close to the sound as possible with the equipment I got. Btw, I also got a DI-box so I have 2 outputs: one to the Muff and amp, the other one to a PA with clean sound. Guess that will give me more bass and better sound =)

You can't, you have to use a Jazz bass...

Seriously, it's not that important what type of distortion you use, but to blend the dry bass signal with a very distorted one.

@Tiffles: It's actually pretty easy to play. However, I'd do it differently than most YouTube videos show. Obviously, Chris plays it at the 12th fret, but IMO it's much easier to play at the 9th fret with string skipping.

How can he play it at the 12th fret? Then, the bass must be tuned down 1 1/2 steps, right? At Rock Am Ring he plays it with open A string and start at 9th fret, but that's a pretty early version of the song, so it might have been changed since that time.

wow...id be happy if i could just play hysteria!!! im only as good as supermassive black hole... nice work.

As Oli@bass says, it's not as hard to play as it sounds. You just have to know exactly how it goes before you speed it up. If you want to know how to play it, don't look at the videos on YouTube. Many of them are good examples of the riffs, but very few (or maybe no one) that I've seen has been played correct ... You can look at them to learn the intro riff, but many plays some parts wrong and skip some parts. I have the the sound clip from studio with the bass only (or, the bass and the synth to be correct), PM me if you want it =) I can make some tabs/notes if I have time to =)

[oli@bass]

How can he play it at the 12th fret? Then, the bass must be tuned down 1 1/2 steps, right? At Rock Am Ring he plays it with open A string and start at 9th fret, but that's a pretty early version of the song, so it might have been changed since that time.

Don't know what you mean with the tuning... (it's a classic I / V / IV progression in A).

However, in this video it's played at the 10th/12th fret
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZR_UkJV-wE]YouTube - Muse HAARP - Hysteria (Wembley Stadium)[/ame]

I have the the sound clip from studio with the bass only

I'd be very interested in hearing that!

BTW, do you know what bass was used on the record? To me it sounds very EBMM-ish, and I thought a 'Ray with any decent overdrive already yields quite a good approximation.

[MingusBASS]

BTW, do you know what bass was used on the record? To me it sounds very EBMM-ish, and I thought a 'Ray with any decent overdrive already yields quite a good approximation.

I think he was using Pedulla Rapture basses.

[Caca de Kick]

On the Absolution album he was recording with a Zon and a Pedulla. But I hear on Hysteria he also used an Akai Deep Impact along with the big muff, but then you also have to remember he uses a clean signal (amp#1) for the depth, then the effects signal (amp#2). On the video for the making of Absolution, he also shows a moment where he's using two big muffs at the same time, but on what song I don't know. Brilliant album, one of my faves!

Oli is right on the positionings; start on the open A and fret up at the 10th and 12th frets for the next notes. He uses open A, open E, and open D for this riff.

[b0b4f377]

On the Absolution album he was recording with a Zon and a Pedulla. But I hear on Hysteria he also used an Akai Deep Impact along with the big muff, but then you also have to remember he uses a clean signal (amp#1) for the depth, then the effects signal (amp#2). On the video for the making of Absolution, he also shows a moment where he's using two big muffs at the same time, but on what song I don't know. Brilliant album, one of my faves!

Oli is right on the positionings; start on the open A and fret up at the 10th and 12th frets for the next notes. He uses open A, open E, and open D for this riff.

From what I understand, he uses an A/B signal running a Big Muff (possibly an Octaver) to a guitar amp, and then a clean signal to his bass amp (maybe the Octaver, I think this would work better). The song is played standard tuning and up on the 10th and 12th frets. It's easier to play than it sounds, the distortion makes it sound more difficult than it really is. You can do it!

[tiffles]

hey jornan i'd love to learn it!... if you have that track or tabs or anything that would be a bit of fun on Mr Oli's wonderful stingray

[Jornan]

Sorry for being confusing. I was writing 9th fret, but I mean 10th fret

I'll see if I have time to make some tabs later today =) Do you have Guitar Pro, tiffles?

[Caca de Kick]

From what I understand, he uses an A/B signal running a Big Muff (possibly an Octaver) to a guitar amp, and then a clean signal to his bass amp

Doesn't use a guitar amp, he uses two matching large Marshall bass amps, one clean and the other dirty.

[tiffles]

Guitar Pro??.... um.... nope... what is it?

Sorry for being confusing. I was writing 9th fret, but I mean 10th fret

I'll see if I have time to make some tabs later today =) Do you have Guitar Pro, tiffles?

[MrMusashi]

its a program for tabs

Guitar Pro - Tablature Editor Software for Guitar, Bass, and Banjo

MrM

ps: what bass did oli lend ya?

[oli@bass]

How can he play it at the 12th fret? Then, the bass must be tuned down 1 1/2 steps, right? At Rock Am Ring he plays it with open A string and start at 9th fret, but that's a pretty early version of the song, so it might have been changed since that time.

Sorry. My fret count was a bit off. What I meant was:
Chris plays it on the 10th/12th fret and does the whole line on a single string. I prefer to play riffs like this using the adjacent higher string or even skipping a string, and play it at the 5th / 7th fret. So, at the beginning, play the open A string, then the 5th and 7th fret on the D string.

Hope that's more clear now.