Michael Anthony Tone

[GalardiGrooves]

Hey everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster

My favorite bassist is Michael Anthony of Van Halen / Chickenfoot / Circle. I am trying very hard to recreate his tone. My effect chain is as follows

Tuner --> Seymour Duncan Bass Compressor --> Ampeg Scrambler Bass Overdrive --> TC Electronic Mini Spark Boost --> Electroharmonix Bass Balls Envelope Filter --> MXR Octave Deluxe --> Carl Martin Bass Chorus

My wife got me a BOSS GEB-7 EQ pedal so I wondering

1) what settings should the eq pedal be for my intended tone
2) where it should sit on my chain
3) how my chain looks in trying to get that Michael Anthony tone.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you so much

 

[Killing Floor]

No idea but subbing because I’m interested. He’s always sounded great and he’s 5X better rock’n’roll bass player than he gets credit for.

 

[crguti]

I would move the overdrive and boost after the octaver.

 

[GalardiGrooves]

I would move the overdrive and boost after the octaver.

for education purposes, why do you say that?

 

[devnulljp]

for education purposes, why do you say that?

I'd think all those harmonics from the OD would mess with octaver tracking. That's been my experience anyway

 

[arbiterusa]

Anthony used effects? Every time I saw him his rig was bass -> cable -> SVT.

Very straightforward and yes, a far better bassist than he’s ever been given credit for.

 

[Isaac_James]

What bass and strings are you using? Both of those are important parts of the equation. I know he played a Yamaha BB for a while and Schecter also has a signature model, both of those are PJ configurations. I imagine any PJ bass will at least get you in the ballpark. I'm certain he played roundwounds but whether they're stainless steel or nickel plated, I couldn't say.

 

[HardNHeavy]

underrated player and vocalist for sure. I cant seem to find anything but this link about his effects and it looks as if you got the essentials already..Where those knobs are pointed for Michael will be a real mystery.

Michael Anthony's Effects Pedals | Equipboard

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Michael Anthony's tone is more about playing style and attitude than anything you can put into a pedal.

 

[TerribleTim68]

I would just start here...
Chickenfoot - Michael Anthony Bass Rig Gear and Equipment

 

[bassbrad]

@GalardiGrooves nice collection of effects.

MA might have been an SVT user early on but since the mid eighties he has been an ardent user of Peavey bass amps, I spec'd out a stage rig for him while I was consulting for Peavey that supported several world tours. He also had his own signature amp and cabs. He also has several custom Peavey basses including one of the infamous JD whiskey basses.

Chickenfoot - Michael Anthony Bass Rig Gear and Equipment

Michael Anthony | Equipboard

Michael Anthony Bass Tech Kevin Dugan Talks 30-Year History With Van Halen

Peavey VB-MA Michael Anthony Signature Bass Rig | Musician's Friend

 

[Chrisk-K]

Michael Anthony’s tone is a classic roundwound P bass tone with slight OD. It’s a good old rock bass tone and I hear nothing really unique about the tone.

 

[pbass2]

The last time I read anything specific about his recorded tone was he was using one of his Yamahas into a mic'd Ampeg B50R, and that's it. I always thought of him as having a pretty meat-and-potatoes sound, nothing fancy (in a good way!). If I was the OP I'd start out taking all that stuff outta the chain, and add things in one by one if needed.

 

[bigjames]

The last time I read anything specific about his recorded tone was he was using one of his Yamahas into a mic'd Ampeg B50R, and that's it. I always thought of him as having a pretty meat-and-potatoes sound, nothing fancy (in a good way!). If I was the OP I'd start out taking all that stuff outta the chain, and add things in one by one if needed.

I agree with this. To my ear, his tone sounds like fat P or PJ bass direct into the amp. The thing that makes him stand out is what he (and the band) play and the syncopations. I absolutely love the shots and patterns the band plays through almost all their songs. Nothing overly fancy, but so so tight. I heard "Dreams" the other day and I have had the breakdown with the syncopated eighth notes in my head since. (So baby dry - da da da da - your eyes - da da da da - , save all - da da da da - the tears you've cried - da da da da. So good.

 

[Spirit of Ox]

For his tone a PJ would work great and he even used a Stingray in the 90's. His tone is pretty balanced and not overlly bright or dark. Maybe a little tube like dirt would help as well. Unless you wanna tackle the ridiculous (meant to be) bass solo that he does, I wouldn't worry to much about effects.

 

[Bass-ball]

and vocalist

I started listening to VH in the mid 80s. Bought all their cassette tapes and CDs through the years, etc. etc. Then later on I was listening to one of his other projects (can't remember, but I think it was Chickenfoot), and heard that familiar vocal harmony from VH and thought "Holy cow, Michael's actually the one doing all that harmony with Dave/Sammy!" and it clicked for me just how good of a singer he was. All those years I thought it was either Dave/Sammy or maybe even Eddie/Alex doing the vocal harmonies but I was dead wrong.

As far as bass, he gets the job done well. Some of his lines are pretty simple, others requires some picking speed, but they all serve their songs perfectly. I had to cover "Runaround" with some guys years ago and thought his bassline in that song was pretty fun to play. That's the only song I've ever tried to learn of his, but from what I hear, he's not bad.

And he makes a good living doing it, so that's more than I can ever say for myself!

 

[Smooth_bass88]

underrated player and vocalist for sure. I cant seem to find anything but this link about his effects and it looks as if you got the essentials already..Where those knobs are pointed for Michael will be a real mystery.

Michael Anthony's Effects Pedals | Equipboard

Disagree that he's an underrated bass player. Michael Anthony is actually very highly rated. He brings the thunder every night and thousands upon thousands have witnessed this.

 

[pbass2]

I started listening to VH in the mid 80s. Bought all their cassette tapes and CDs through the years, etc. etc. Then later on I was listening to one of his other projects (can't remember, but I think it was Chickenfoot), and heard that familiar vocal harmony from VH and thought "Holy cow, Michael's actually the one doing all that harmony with Dave/Sammy!" and it clicked for me just how good of a singer he was. All those years I thought it was either Dave/Sammy or maybe even Eddie/Alex doing the vocal harmonies but I was dead wrong.

Aside from his awesome Beach Boys-esque harmonies, pretty sure some of the really high yelps and vocal riffing that I thought was Roth going for it, was actually MA.

 

[DaveParker39]

Mikey is a great bassist. He plays for the song but is capable of really going hard when it is suited to the song. He has very consistent right hand finger attack and precision. Not to mention the fact that he is probably the greatest pure backing singer in rock history.

The best/closest I have found is a Yamaha BB series (P/J) into a fat/slightly dirty SVT sim type amp.

 

[Lowbrow]

Though I couldn't help but hear and appreciate Van Halen, I never really noticed M.A.'s bass playing/tone (didn't own the records so never listened close). I do trust the TB hive mind generally - can some of the faithful point me to some of the best example tunes?