@Yukyo8670 When the string clicks on the fretboard, it's called gauging the stings. It's not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it just makes a different sound. Cliff played real aggressively so that's why he got that sound. If your playing thrash metal, don't worry too much about the gauging. But if you were playing some slower or cleaner stuff, you would want to keep it to a minimum. If you have trouble with it too much, either play softer or anchor your thumb on a lower pickup.
@MattBodossian I see what you're saying actually, Puppets and Lightning, you could only really hear the bass when Cliff played a bass solo or something, but the black album was the only Metallica album where the bass was REALLY audible.
He didn't get the Aria until 1985, some time before they recorded "Master of Puppets." "Ride the Lightning" was recorded in late 1983 and early 1984, when the Rickenbacker was still his primary bass.
@mrspawkala Many of these tab books are transcribed by people with no access to the master tracks. It has been known that some have been transcribed by musicians whose primary instrument is the *piano*. Crazy eh?
These people said it perfectly, the clanking is from his right-hand technique (lol, that sounds dodgy). It's how Steve Harris of Maiden plays and sounds too. And also how it sounds when I play :P It's from hitting the strings so hard they smack against the fretboard.
the clank sound is because he played really fucking hard! hits the fuck out of the stings and he gets more clank out of them. There is also some Gain on the recording to make it stand out a bit in the mix.
Try setting the action on your bass really low. If you have a bass with two pickups like a rick or j-bass, solo the bridge and play between the pickups. You may turn the tone knob down to change the bright "clankyness" in to more of a grunt. Then add the overdrive mentioned before.
@ejl1000 but still its too low on em, like if you listen to the ridethe lightning bass track you hear all kinds of cliffs fills. but if u listen to the actual song ride the lightning its almost like his fills dont exist.
i was just looking at the sheet music for this song in the ride the lightning song book and it is not as accuate as i thought. cliff plays it differently. in the book it seems to be a simpler version. i bet the rest of the songs are like this...
Another thing to keep in mind: Live bass tones and recorded bass tones are hardly ever the same. I have recorded many bass tones that sounded great and supportive of an overall mix but sounded awful when solo. My live rig is WAY too boomy for ever putting on a recording. It is just the reality of audio engineering.
Wow. This is bludgeoning. Let's not forget, kids: Cliff had to band this out without the aid of Pro Tools or any other kind of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). Who knows how many times he had to band this out before this was determined to be the keeper.
![Welcome Home (Sanitarium) [Master Bass Track]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Fu6tSzKpQRE/mqdefault.jpg)
God, I love how utterly raw this sounds... And Cliff's groove in the basslines makes this an immense joy to listen (and headbang!) to...
A very easy track to play, but will ALWAYS be an epic masterpiece. Cliff Burton, God bless your soul.
thanks for the vid, i can straighten out how i play this song now
@Yukyo8670
When the string clicks on the fretboard, it's called gauging the stings. It's not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, it just makes a different sound. Cliff played real aggressively so that's why he got that sound.
If your playing thrash metal, don't worry too much about the gauging. But if you were playing some slower or cleaner stuff, you would want to keep it to a minimum. If you have trouble with it too much, either play softer or anchor your thumb on a lower pickup.
@MattBodossian I see what you're saying actually, Puppets and Lightning, you could only really hear the bass when Cliff played a bass solo or something, but the black album was the only Metallica album where the bass was REALLY audible.
He didn't get the Aria until 1985, some time before they recorded "Master of Puppets." "Ride the Lightning" was recorded in late 1983 and early 1984, when the Rickenbacker was still his primary bass.
Mmm Cliff Burton tone. I've been using my Rickenbacker a lot more now, I love the tone!
@mrspawkala Many of these tab books are transcribed by people with no access to the master tracks. It has been known that some have been transcribed by musicians whose primary instrument is the *piano*. Crazy eh?
no, he used mesa boogie D-180s and custom made mesa boogie 4x12 cabs with 1x15 cab to fit under the 4x12 width-wise.
I think this squeaky sound is also due to the use of some sort of Hi Beams roundwound strings (like the DR Hi Beam or something like that).
@duffmasterofpuppets I use the floating thumb method and I never have problems with click even with an aggressive attack.
Listen to the accent he plays with,the man was a pro.
Well, it was usually hidden under a wall of guitars anyway, bottom line is that the whole band sounds tight, and on this album, they did
These people said it perfectly, the clanking is from his right-hand technique (lol, that sounds dodgy). It's how Steve Harris of Maiden plays and sounds too. And also how it sounds when I play :P It's from hitting the strings so hard they smack against the fretboard.
@Jinxerz010792
You are totally right. finally some real fans
the clank sound is because he played really fucking hard! hits the fuck out of the stings and he gets more clank out of them. There is also some Gain on the recording to make it stand out a bit in the mix.
hendrix of bass.
if you use your fingers for playing bass, the click is tough to avoid unless you pluck them completely vertically
Try setting the action on your bass really low. If you have a bass with two pickups like a rick or j-bass, solo the bridge and play between the pickups. You may turn the tone knob down to change the bright "clankyness" in to more of a grunt. Then add the overdrive mentioned before.
some of the 'clanking' sound
is him hitting the strings against the fret board with his fingers
Lightning, Puppets and Black are the only metallica albums where the bass is very clearly audible :(
BASS TAB:
creeping_death_ver2_btab from Ultimate Guitar page
I think this is the best one out there, if wasn't posted here yet.
@carterpringle They may have started going commercial, but the black album was awesome - compared to later releases.
For people saying it's sloppy who are you to question a bass legend?
does anyone know the tableture from 0:56-1:00 i honestly cant find it anywhere
@ejl1000 yea, black albums bass was pretty audible.
He's using a Rickenbacker and cranking the gain and/or using some light distortion. End result = clankity clank clank
call of ktulu would be sick
@ejl1000 but still its too low on em, like if you listen to the ridethe lightning bass track you hear all kinds of cliffs fills. but if u listen to the actual song ride the lightning its almost like his fills dont exist.
Also use your fingers and hit really hard,using the bridge pickup and hitting the strings close to the neck.
We didn't. But you try playing this kind of music at that speed with your fingers alone and no pick, and let's hear how 'tight' you are
@thunderous42 is the master cliff
i was just looking at the sheet music for this song in the ride the lightning song book and it is not as accuate as i thought. cliff plays it differently. in the book it seems to be a simpler version. i bet the rest of the songs are like this...
you wouldn't get this bright sound from flatwounds, these are roundwounds he's using.
Another thing to keep in mind: Live bass tones and recorded bass tones are hardly ever the same. I have recorded many bass tones that sounded great and supportive of an overall mix but sounded awful when solo. My live rig is WAY too boomy for ever putting on a recording. It is just the reality of audio engineering.
he got that from geezer butler, cliff did.
i dont think its the wah on this track.i agree with gnrher,just use a bitve overdrive.works for me,but you have to compensate for loss of bottom
he used mesa/boogie, not ampeg, and on master of puppets he used his aria
Wow. This is bludgeoning. Let's not forget, kids: Cliff had to band this out without the aid of Pro Tools or any other kind of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). Who knows how many times he had to band this out before this was determined to be the keeper.
Exit
@ThrashingSlayer you better learn how to play this for our band!
@carterpringle It's nothing new, James' guitar tone swallowed most of the Bass notes
0:30
@IntegraTron2010 yeah, for bassists, Metal is kind of a sloppy job for all players.. just my own opinion though.
no hes using aria on this album
cliff
@sp4rtn thats what I'm sayin metal is turning into a joke recently
No, it's Trujillo *facepalm*
@thelegendoflink52 It's not.
@thunderous42 fail
this is pretty sloppy if you ask me..