Recommend me a bass for TOOL

[bchamorro]

Recommend me a bass for Justin from TOOL type tone. Budget: under $1500.

I need a new bass:drool

[EunosFD]

Good luck with that as Justin Chancellor uses Wal basses which have a very unique sound that's hard to duplicate. Not to mention when they do come up for sale (which is very rare) they now command some crazy high prices almost regardless of condition. Plus I don't think Pete is building new basses right now unless he has a new shop set up. And even so the wait list is years long.

So, probably your best bet at getting somewhat close for that price range would be a G&L L2000 or a two-pickup Music Man Stingray or Bongo (has slightly different electronics which may be the better choice of the two). Granted, the key to the Wal's tone are the very unique pickups and filter-based preamp they use, but I'm sure either of those basses would get you reasonably close enough. I personally prefer the G&L's MFD pickups and preamp, but all are killer basses & can be had for quite reasonable prices used.

Just my $.02

[deluxemeat]

i personally liked pre-chancellor tool only and there was a fair deal of ric bass going on.

[TedintheShed]

Recommend me a bass for Justin from TOOL type tone. Budget: under $1500.

I need a new bass:drool

Musicman Bongo HH

[Thor]

Pick up a copy of last month's Bass Player with Justin on the cover (or check their website)- it goes over his gear and set-up. I completely agree about the Wal bass being unaccessable, and last I checked, they are still out of production (as of a few weeks ago). the G&L and MM bases are a great suggestion. I think that a decet J-style bass could get you close as well. Geddy Lee used to use his Wals alot, but has since switched back to J's and he is able to pretty well capture the tones from his Wal and Rick years.

Get an outboard pre-amp to dial in the tone closer. A big part of the Tool bass sound is the blend of clean and overdriven - again - best to check out the article.

Happy hunting,

Edward

[Gordon_Gecko]

Blah, blah, blah... replicating JC "sound" is pretty simple. If you want to spend $20,000, buy the same gear he use. Spend your money on hi-fi bass rig and/or rackmounts. Remember this... most of "the sound" you hear on a CD is over-produced mixing/mastering. The live sound is killer, but can be replicated inexpensive.

[The Golden Boy]

Yeah, L-2000 with neck pickup solo, the coils in series and the preamp on. I can totally see that. Make sure you're also using a pick.

High powered solid state amp and some good cabs- you're in business.

[bbocaner]

I have three Wals and I adore them, the sound is totally unique due to the mahogany body and filter-based preamp, but the tool I've heard doesn't really have a particularly characteristic wal sound. It gets lost under all those effects and when played with a pick.

[high mileage]

I have owned a Wal and nothing sounds like them. MM basses are as close as you'll get - Stingray would have been along those lines but the Bongo is closer. I have an "H" but try out an "HH". The single pickup gives it a killer punch, but from trying them out I'd say the HH is closer to a Wal.