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My 1985 Marshall JCM 800 2204 (CSA/Canadian Version)

This Amp was modded in the early 90's by a Canadian Company that went by Rebel Sound Corperation, and I cant get over how much this amp rips. It doesn't have any extra tube, or diode clipping, and seems like all the mods are purely component changes. It has more gain on three than a stock 800 on ten, but it doesnt ever get fizzy, or shrill even full out, a symptom a lot of poorly modded 800s can have. The EQ is also considerably more active. This amp also sounds absolutely awesome, and stays tight even without a boost/Od pedal, which isnt always the case with a lot of 800s.

The amp also uses caps you dont normally see in Marshalls, and mainly in Soldano's, Mesa's, and Wizards, and they def give it a different tone/feel, often a little brighter/stiffer, but with how gainy/compressed this amp gets, I feel like they were probably chosen to bring back some dynamics, and tightness to the amp.

Either way, this amp is going to be a killer in the studio. I can tell it needs new filter caps though, so my plan is to do that, but while Im in there, I feel like the wiring could be done a little bit neater, so I'm going to do that, but think I'm going to add a couple/few more mods just to make it a bit more versatile in the studio.

This is my latest 'Cliff Burton inspired' chain for Aria Pro II SB-600. Aria is an overall great effects platform with a very balanced sound, partly due to the pickup itself and its position in the middle of the body, just slightly closer to the bridge(all the top end and midrange you would expect from a bridge pickup, without being honky, but also some hefty grunt of a neck pickup as well, without being boomy or truly bassy, tonally very simmilar to a 'heavier Stingray') so it has more than one setup.

Classic 80s Pop music tone. My bass of choice for anything Heavy Metal as well.

7ply walnut and maple middle section with ash wings, somewhat rare, Piano Black finish for this particular model, often associated with John Taylor of Duran Duran. Clear gloss 3 ply maple set neck with rosewood fingerboard and 24 frets. MB-II epoxy sealed soapbar pickup, single rotary volume and tone control with a coil tap mini switch. Aria is strung with Rotosound Swing Bass 66 roundwound steel strings. More setups with this bass to follow.

This particular setup is inspired by Cliff's 1984/Ride the Lightning era sounds.

Ibanez TS9 is the same overdrive source he used for his regular, 'rhythm' overdriven sound, featured on virtually every song from a RTL album.

Paired with other two pedals you also get the 'lead tone' as well for his solos; Morley Cliff Burton signature PWF1(I only use the wah side of the pedal, Cliff used Tel-Ray Morley PWB most of the times anyways but even in the early days when he used PWF he never really used the fuzz part) and a Boss CS3(Cliff owned CS1 and CS2). Excellent combo for 'Call of Ktulu' like sounds. Cliff also used couple different Ampeg SVT amps at the time(80s MTI, Curved Line and Blue Line) so my amp is quite fitting for that particular version of his sound as well. While he used this setup with Rickenbacker at the time, he kept using at least the TS9 and Morley with his custom Aria SB-1000 well into 1985(if not later as well, but there is insufficient data to confirm it just yet), so it is not a bad combo still. Worth mentioning is his passive Aria Elite 1 Black N Gold features the same pickup type and controls as those found in my bass.

Oftentimes I use this chain with some delay pedal but I've yet to find one which complements the sound the most, so none is included in the diagram here. Cliff used Washburn AAD9 and later used delay from his rack processor HD1500. I might also add a Boss BF-3 Flanger from time to time for Orion intro inspired by Trujillo live renditions. One more thing is the Pitch Shifter which I seldom use but will throw onto this sometimes to get those crazy sounds he sometimes displayed live during solos in late 84(in his case again from the HD1500 unit).

I've had many different Cliff tone setups over the years. Most can be heared on my rather poor YouTube profile but currently I've been enjoying this one for a change and will probably use it for a while.

Now, the Jazz Bass needs no introduction as it is probably the most versatile, widely used, classic bass. This particular Harley Benton JB-62 is my latest adition and has some quirks that I wanted from a Jazz, tho.

First stop, the 3 Tone Sunburst basswood body with tortoiseshell pickguard is a classic(1962 was the year of the one of the most iconic Jazz Bass ever), which in terms of actual finish, looks more like a 75 Sunburst than the 62(a bit more 'open' in the middle with the burst closer to the edges of the body, which is closer in appearance to the 70s finishes) which is great because I actually wanted 70s style bass(since I have 50s style P, 60s Style SG and 80s original Aria) but I didnt want 70s neck with inlays and block fret markers, so this one came in as the best of both worlds.

Satin finish roasted maple neck with laurel fretboard and 20 frets was yet another feature I liked about this bass particularly(I wanted satin finish neck for JB and roasted is an unexpected but very desired bonus as well).

Pair of Roswell single coils, nice and punchy as you would expect from a Jazz. Volume knob for each of the two pickups, which can be blended in to taste and a master tone control. Brass bridge saddles are a nice touch as well which can only help with a bit brighter tone overall. Strung with D'Addario nickel roundwounds.

The neck pickup alone can do a fair impression of a P bass sound, even if a wee bit thinner and noisier. This is what I use when I need a more modern P sound(think 70s punk tones with a pick for example) since my actual P bass is set with flats for vintage sounds.

Bridge pickup soloed is the classic honky 'Jaco Pastorius sound' great for tight-fingerstyle, 70s Disco sounds as well.

Both together at full blend are excellent for John Paul Jones or Geddy Lee punchy fingerstyle, twangy pick tones that cut through and it is 'The Slap Tone' in my head(I will use Aria occasionally for more of an 80s Stingray-like, dry, snarly slap, like, say Paul Young-Come Back n Stay, but I generally prefer the tone of a Jazz for general slap applications).

Incredibly versatile with plethora of useful sounds, this bass is enough on its own. However I've been toying around with some possible effects that I might use with this bass eventually, so this is more of a concept really.

Dunlop Mini 105Q is great for funky wah sounds that I believe complement the sound of a J bass well. Synth pedal would be interesting(thinking Muse-Plug in Baby and Daft Punk sounds), Chorus with a pick would be an almost uncanny Duff McKagan sound(he used P/J configuration on his Jazz Bass Special but its in the same tonal ballpark) and Flanger might be interesting because I've noticed flangers like high frequency harmonic content to really shine, which J bass has plenty of. All in all, this might get revised in future.

Finally this is my 'all around' bass, I will use for everything my more 'specialised' basses are not really suitable for.

My Epiphone EB3 is my FuzzTone bass. Fuzz and SG bass go hand in hand since early 60s.

Mahogany body and set neck in heavy gloss Heritage Cherry finish. East Indian rosewood fretboard with 22 frets and lovely pearloid trapezoid fret markers. Usually strung with Elixir Nanoweb coated strings because this bass is very low mid heavy and it benefits from a brighter set of strings that last long in order to keep things a bit more defined(unless one prefers to use flats which then make the sound rounder but still fairly defined).

It has been modified significantly. The pickguard and the knobs have been replaced for 60s original EB-3 5 ply black pickguard with a tug bar and the 'witch hat' knobs, respectively. The rotary pickup selector was faulty and a standard 'SG guitar' toggle switch replaced it(much nicer visually and way more convenient to use, especially since it was never the true '4 position varitone' as found on 60s EB basses).

There is a range of great clean tones from this bass but I use it with an EHX Big Muff Pi the most. With sustain and tone all the way down, I get that classic rubbery 60s type of fuzz-bass sound famously utilised by the likes of Jack Bruce or Felix Pappalardi. Not unlike tuba or bass sax sounds in a way. With this particular bass I dont really hear the loss of low end with Muff engaged(if anything it seems to scoop the mids a hair and even add a bit more sub lows, so the overall dirty sound with Muff engaged is complementary to the clean sound of this bass). However if you crank the sustain up, it can get into a 'Doom Metal wall of fuzz' ala 'Al Cisneros' territory real quick.

The neck pickup, a Sidewinder humbucker(better known as the Mudbucker) alone dishes some serious lows. Very uprighty, it can almost sound a bit hollow bodied with tone all the way up. Excellent choice when you need the deepest warmest bass sounds(Tennessee Whiskey comes to mind or something like the bass solo in Jethro Tull-Bourree rendition as well as some Reggae sub lows with tone control down).

NYT Mini bridge humbucker on the other hand is the polar opposite. It gives a nice pokey, thin sound, excellent to sit on top of the mix. Not unlike Jazz bass bridge pickup really(think of the bass break just before guitar solo in Free-All Right Now).

Both humbuckers together, when balanced properly(I have adjusted the pickup heights a bit to get truly 'third' unique sound in the middle position of the toggle switch) get that classic, deep, low mid heavy, iron-like clang Gibson basses are known for. This middle position is what I use for fuzz sounds as well.

Controls wise obviously volume and tone per each pickup and a toggle selector switch.

All in all, one of my fav basses, or at least the most personal one, out of the 4 I own.

My Precision Bass setup is as simple as it gets.

See-through White Blonde finish poplar body with anodised gold aluminum pickguard and chrome pickup and bridge covers with a tug bar, all of which I've mounted on it for classic 50s looks and features. Vintage tint, heavy gloss, single piece maple, bolt on neck with 20 frets. It is loaded with a passive EMG GZR split coil pickup(Geezer Butler wanted to get his early sound again so guys at EMG made this pickup inspired by the one found in Bobby Vega's 62 P Bass). Single rotary volume and tone controls. Precision is strung with a set of Ernie Ball Slinky cobalt flatwound strings, ages old now and there is a foam mute on top of the the strings, right under the chrome 'ashtray' bridge cover, to dampen the sound and shorten the sustain. Running straight into my Ampeg mini stack.

This is my 'Motown bass'. Think of the tone James Jamerson got in the numerous hits such as 'Power of Love' by Martha Reeves. Very much a classic, vintage bass. It is inspired by the 1957/58 Precision which also happens to be the first 'true P bass' as we know it today(compared to a much different 1951 Precision aka Telecaster bass)

This is a diagram of my select collection of bass guitars.

I will make a series of photos showcasing different signal chains I use with each bass as well as upload actual photos of the rig in question.

So left to right we have:

-1982 Aria Pro II SuperBass-600

-Epiphone EB-3 SG Bass

-Squier FSR Classic Vibe Late 50s Precision Bass

-Harley Benton JB-62 Jazz Bass

I wanted all of my basses to have a unique look, sound, feel and features as well as to be as dramatically different one from another as possible. So that whenever I use either of these, I get a unique playing experience and also to cover some of the most notable, industry standard tones. I've also covered four of the most common pickup types with this collection; single coil, split coil, vintage humbuckers and modern soapbar humbuckers. More in depth reviews of each coming in the following posts.