part 2.
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Basses:
Chris has used many different basses throughout his time with Muse. He started with Bass collection basses, and had a few other various basses around Showbiz. OoS brought the first sign of his use of Pedulla basses.
He used a few variations, but most were the same kind of bass. The biggest rumor is that he has a 5 string converted to a four string to add string spacing. This was supposed to be his main Pedulla, which was originally red, but spray painted by Matt. This bass has the original Red headstock, and four tuners, and no extra holes. It is a Pedulla Rapture RB-4 single Pickup in Candy read, spray painted Matte Black with a black covered Pickgaurd. As time went on, the black paint wore away, and some call it the “dragon bass” because the wear pattern looks like a dragon.
Around Black Holes and Revelations, Chris started using other basses to satisfy his tone. He started using Fender Jazz Basses, and Rickenbacker basses. He used these through out the BHaR touring, and also on The Resistance. He has added a few basses to the recording arsenal, including a headless Status S2 bass, a Gibson Grabber, a Chrome Fender 51’ P bass and a broken acoustic.
Mods that are done to any and all of his basses are not totally known at this point, though I am sure you could pay Manson to tell you.
Amplification:
Chris has an interesting amplification setup. He uses a very rare breed of amplifier, in a convincing number. The Marshall DBS 7400. This amplifier is capable of 400 watts RMS power, and 4000 (no that is not a typo) watts peak power. The amplifier is a dual power stage solid state amp with a blended SS/Tube preamp. This amp is very heavy, pushing 50 lbs alone. Chris uses a total of three now, where before he had 2 to 4 showing in a rack. He uses these in a unique configuration, providing him with massive tonal abilities, for minimal work.
His cabinets used to be a series of Marshall DBS cabinets ranging from 1x15 to 4x10, to 2x15s. Now he uses cabinets made by Mills. He has 2 4x10s and a single 1x15. Normally, he uses the 1x15 for clean bass, keeping the bottom end pumping, while his effects will run through the 4x10s, allowing tight crunch. Previously, Chris utilized a Marshall Bass State 150 combo amp for his distortion, at 150 watts and a single 15” woofer, it would crank. Now, his midi setup allows each bank to go through any amp he wants. This is truly where his rig gets so complex, you will never duplicate his modern tone.
Chris uses three midi patch bays, programmed into 3 banks. Each bank has a selection of pedals placed together to route to the amp of choice. Normal dirty tone for Chris is clean through amp one into the 1x15, Animato through amp 2 into 4x10 #1, and muff into amp three and 4x10 #2. Any loop can be placed through any or all of the amps/cabs. This allows for maximum flexibility.
Style:
Chris’s Style is that of a fast finger player. He can pump out 16th notes very quickly for a rock player. Mostly, because he has a very light touch. It seems he can dig in and grab some tone from his basses, but it is the lighter touch which allows his fingers to fly over the fret board. He only uses a pick where it is needed. Knights of Cydonia and Map of the Problematic are two examples. Recently, Chris added some slap bass into a studio recording, on the song Undisclosed Desires. This is the first track he has done so on, and probably will be the last, though, never say never.
Misc:
While I may have a ton of information relating to the signal chain, and actual patches (which are included in this document) I do not know everything that he is doing, otherwise I would be the most successful Muse cover act in the world. Point is, there are some things, you just don’t know, which will pose problems when trying to duplicate some things he does. For instance, he has 2 PODs in his rack. We have no clue what they are for, and what the settings are. We don’t know how extensively his basses are modified, if at all from Manson Guitars. For some pedals, there is no way of telling the settings. Most will be trial and error. The routing of the pedals is unknown anymore, and honestly, will never be known, without Chris actually telling us. This brings me to my next point. The amount of money you would have to spend is astronomical to get to his level, even at the OoS level. Let me explain…
I have the following gear as my rig, and only rig:
Pedulla Rapture Single pick up 4 string (Black)
Marshall DBS 7200/7400 head
Marshall DBS 2x10/4x10/1x15 cabinets
Human Gear Animato
Akai Deep Impact
Russian Big Muff
Boss OC-2
Boss LS-2
Line 6 FM4
Digitech Bass Synth Wah
Boss DD-3
Now I have other pedals on my board, and some of these are not on there now, but that is the OoS setup. I can nail almost every tone I attempt to get, and with authority, however… My wallet is very light because of it.
The Marshall heads alone, ran over $1000 total, for both, and the refurb on each. The cabs were $780 shipped. The Deep Impact was $450 on TB. The Animato was $450 imported from Japan. The other pedals added up to around $500-$600 with cables. The Pedulla was a grand.
That totals up to over $4000 dollars in just a few things to make music, and while I enjoy it, and use them for my own benefit, it was still the price of a Honda Civic Hatchback!!! With the other pedals I own, the second Pedulla and what not, I am up over $7000 invested.
This is not even getting close to the three amp, triple Mills cab, midi switching, rack mounted tone generator he is using, or his long list of Fender, Rickenbacker and Pedulla basses.
Tips on creating a sound which is similar to Chris:
So, you wanna sound like him huh? You think you got the skills to nail his parts? Ok. Well, here are a few tips, and pedals which you can buy to get close to his tones, some of the time.
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there u go, better start saving.
First off, Chris gets his tone from splitting his tone over multiple amps. While this is all good for a Millionaire, we are not as fortunate. I suggest a Boss LS-2. This pedal allows you a pair of loops, to patch different pedals through and stack the effect. Chain A I use for my dirt, and chain B I use for Synth/Modulation. You can run A into B, and what not, but I mostly leave it on A+B. Get one and play around with it…
Second, the Big Muff. The Black cased Big muff is one of his most used pedals. Get a black boxed muff, and do it soon. While plentiful, they are now discontinued, and will go up in price, once the new ones are gone. Settings: All knobs around 2 o’clock, adjust until you get it, but start there since all are a little different.
For synth tones, there is no real replacement for the Deep Impact. While some people say the Korg G5 tracks better, or sounds more like his tone, the fact is, Chris uses a Deep Impact. I am not advocating spending close to $1000 for this pedal, unless you really need it, but it is worth it in my opinion.
You will need a Boss OC-2. they can be had for $40 if you look hard enough. You can get an OC-3 and use the OC-2 mode, but nothing replaces the original. Settings are 1 down full up, dry 50% 2 down, off.
The coveted Human Gear Animato is a hard beast to find. Took me 2 years to track one down. I recommend buying one if you ever see it in a store, which you won’t but crazier things have happened. You can get close though… And I’ll tell you how. Sure, you can get a Rat, simple and easy. It will get to the level of distortion, but the voicing, and timbre are all wrong. I found a Hardwire Tube Overdrive is very close. You still miss the timbre, and the nasal sound, but it is close enough, that at stage volume, you will fool almost everyone.
Chris used 40-60-80-100 sized strings up through BHaR. Now he is using 45-65-85-105, in stainless steel. Not that this really matters, but some fanboi’s have to cover everything.
He uses a leather Manson Guitars Strap.
Below is his rig, in its entirety, according to Bass Player Magazine, November 2009.
Basses:
-Fender American Standard Jazz
-73 Fender Jazz
-Status Series II Headless
-Gibson Grabber
-Gibson Ripper
-Noah Guitars Excalibur Bass
-Pedulla Rapture RB-4
-Rickenbacker 4001 and 4003 Basses
Live rigs: 3 rigs total
1: Marshall DBS 7400 into a Mills 1x15
2: Marshall DBS 7400 into a Mills 4x10
3: Marshall DBS 7400 into a Mills 4x10
All rigs are stacked side by side, with in ear monitor and subwoofer side fill for monitoring.
Effects: Three distinct Effects loops. Loop one goes to all three amps:
Electroharmonix Octave Multiplexer; TC Electronics G-Major multi effects unit; ElectroHarmonix Big Muff Pi; Akai Deep Impact SB-1 Bass synth
Loop two goes to amp 2 only:
Big Muff; Human Gear Animato; HBE Hematoma; Crowther Prunes and Custard; Zvex Woolly Mammoth
Loop three goes to amp three only:
Big Muff; Animato; Line 6 FM4; Electrix Filter Factory; Digitech Bass Synth Wah; ElectroHarmonix Micro Q-Tron.
Typical setup for regular distorted sound: Amp 1, clean. Amp 2, Big Muff. Amp 3, Animato
DR Stainless strings .045-.105, new strings every show.
Deep Impact Settings for Space Dementia and Apocalypse Please
Space D. Apocalypse
Program 3 6
Note Off 9 9
Note On 9 9
Attack 1 8
Decay 5 5
Envelope Depth 1 1
Dynamics 8 2
Cutoff 5 9
Resonance 9 7
Balance 5 7
Level 9 9
