underrated to those who dont know him, non musical types, who'd never understand
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
Welcome to TalkBass! Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Michael Anthony Tone
- Thread starter GalardiGrooves
- Start date
underrated to those who dont know him, non musical types, who'd never understand
Michael Anthony tone?
That's some high cotton Brother.
Here's your best start:
Take any PJ bass into a B50. Get the tubes glowin'. Push the amp hard. Then attack the bass. His tone wasn't borne of effects. It was a result of an attackful, tubey, aggression on PJ basses.
That's some high cotton Brother.
Here's your best start:
Take any PJ bass into a B50. Get the tubes glowin'. Push the amp hard. Then attack the bass. His tone wasn't borne of effects. It was a result of an attackful, tubey, aggression on PJ basses.
I don’t think it’s about gear when it comes to MA
He’s endorsed everything under the sun at one point. Music-man, Yamaha, Peavey, mesa boogie, schecter etc.
I’d recommend a P bass and a loud tube amp like an SVT.
That’s probably as close as you can get.
He’s endorsed everything under the sun at one point. Music-man, Yamaha, Peavey, mesa boogie, schecter etc.
I’d recommend a P bass and a loud tube amp like an SVT.
That’s probably as close as you can get.
If it hasn't already been mentioned, Push Come to Shove off of Fair Warning is a great Michael Anthony track. There was a rumor that it was Eddie playing the line, but it was all Michael.
He is underrated and the combo of his bass playing and vocals are tough to beat! There's a lot more going on than you realize when you learn VH parts.
He's switched up basses and amps a lot over the years, but I think a P or PJ, with an overdriven tubey tone is the right start.
He is underrated and the combo of his bass playing and vocals are tough to beat! There's a lot more going on than you realize when you learn VH parts.
He's switched up basses and amps a lot over the years, but I think a P or PJ, with an overdriven tubey tone is the right start.
The fact that so many of us just love his work and still compelled to gush about it after so many years supports your point.
Some teens were blasting VH in the park the other day. I was soaking up some rays and was annoyed by the low volume
The Yamaha P's have their own character. I wish I had more to add.
I don't know that the timbre of his bass is particularly distinct, but somehow his bass tone always comes off as really heavy. It puts the muscle into every VH song. Think about Unchained, that song starts with one of the greatest-ever guitar riffs but when Mike's bass drops it kicks you in the face.
Then there's this tune. During the intro Mike is playing an octave up, and then when DLR's vocals come in around 50 seconds in Mike drops down an octave and makes the whole thing heavy as f-. His playing on this, his fills, the thick heavy tone, just awesome.
Then there's this tune. During the intro Mike is playing an octave up, and then when DLR's vocals come in around 50 seconds in Mike drops down an octave and makes the whole thing heavy as f-. His playing on this, his fills, the thick heavy tone, just awesome.
Hmmm - I always thought his bass sounded rubbish on the VH albums; his principal job being not to get in Eddie's way.
Maybe I'll have another listen.
Maybe I'll have another listen.
He played for the songs.
Rubbish though? I don't think so. He is playing very fast, very staccato, and his fingers are super consistent sounding between one and the next. Sometimes the note choice is simple, but not rubbish
I said the sound was rubbish (to me) - all middley and some deep bass; the classic case of the bass player "knowing their job" in someone's band.
But TBH I never much liked the bass lines either; evidently he was holding back (was probably told to).
Good singer, though!
Never saw a VH concert, but a pal got me out to see The Circle with Night Ranger to open a couple years ago. Didn't know how badly I needed to check the "see M.A. play a live show" box on my to-do list. Just a straight-up smoke fest of terrific playing along with dead-on backing vocals. Truly great!!
He was playing a lot of the night on what looked like his Schecter and there were a couple of the big Peavey bass rigs on stage with him that I think were their alternative to the big 'n bad all tube setups like SVT's and Mesa 400's on top of a fridge. Tip of the hat to them roadies...
He was playing a lot of the night on what looked like his Schecter and there were a couple of the big Peavey bass rigs on stage with him that I think were their alternative to the big 'n bad all tube setups like SVT's and Mesa 400's on top of a fridge. Tip of the hat to them roadies...
His P bass tone on the first record is fantastic, but I also like his tone on the later records when he was playing Music Man basses. He uses flanger and chorus for certain things, but for the most part he is just playing tube amps and pushing the gain a bit. He plays with fingers mostly , but some songs definitely sound like he used a pick in the studio.
I’ve been a VH/MA fan since 1979. 1st 4 albums are my favs.
Dirty Movies from Fair Warning has a cool bass groove.
It really does. I think Balance is one of their absolute best albums. Rewind back to college when the album came out, my roommate heard me listening to the instrumental track "Balluchitherium," and immediately ran out and bought the CD, without knowing anything about Van Halen (he came from prog). We totally bonded over that. I love it in songs like that when Eddie shows some control over his instrument, and isn't just going for the pyrotechnic "stunt" playing thing, and that song exemplifies his sense of bluesy control and discipline.
My absolute favorite VH track is actually a deep track, "Pleasure Dome," and Eddie has two solos in this song. Again, he shows pretty good control in the solos (starting around 4:15, I think). That second solo, around 6:15 is short, but it's one of my absolute favorites from Eddie. Also in this song Michael Anthony is ripping it up again, with his ability to do some pretty good right hand picking in perfect time with what I consider to be a fairly fast and tricky beat (not sure what Alex is doing with the snare on this song, but it doesn't sound like simple 4/4 time to me. Maybe it is, but it doesn't sound like it). Check out MA's bass fill around 4:48 - one of my favorites from him!
I'm one of the few out there who think VH did better songwriting once Dave left. I liked the "party vibe" that Dave brought, but I love, love, love the darker, "smarter," heavier Sammy albums. I'm not even really a rocker anymore (for bass, I play mostly smooth jazz and yacht rock - don't laugh!), but I'll happily spin the Van Hagar albums on occasion and love every note of it.
Last edited:
Salt never gets credit until it's left out of the dish.
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
- 10,974
- 14,389
- 6,413
- Disclosures
- have been on nationally released albums, charting on the Billboard 200
Yup, Pleasure Dome is awesome. Always loved that one. That groove is so tight. It's reminiscent of Zeppelin's Achillies last stand. For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge probably has the best bass tone/mix of all the VH albums. It's as if they said "ok, let's put Mikey's bass front and center". Andy Johns worked on the record along with Ted Templeman. Johns worked on a bunch of Zeppelin records as well- hence the very kick-ass sounding drums and bass.