Whole Lotta Love - Isolated bass track

[68SSCAM]

This is what makes Whole Lotta Love... this bass track right here

[buryfc2010]

Is he using flatwounds?

[ric4682]

@buryfc2010 I believe so.

[hansbockler]

B D B D EEEEE

[Supercreep1000]

Sounds like an 8 string with a pick to me.

[Fredrockroll]

@Supercreep1000 Not an 8-string. There's an interview of him showing how the plays this song. Is a regular 4string bass, but he always hits 2 notes (2 different strings) each time.

[maxcohen13]

Someone get this guy a metronome.

[addictedtobass42]

@maxcohen13

sorry mate , but rock isnt about metronomes...

[maxcohen13]

@addictedtobass42

Yeah, like you'd know.

[sammy5772]

@maxcohen13 Considering this was probably recorded at the same time as the drums were recorded by one of the best rock drummers of all time, by one of the best bassists, I wouldn't criticise if I were you. Music can sound pretty robotic without any variation in the tempo.

[maxcohen13]

@sammy5772

lol...

[NR92CP]

@maxcohen13 The world "pompous" springs to mind when reading your comments. But don't let me be the judge of that. Kindly upload your own isolated track, on any instrument, and show us your flawless sense of time.

[maxcohen13]

@NR92CP

lol...

[XxfishpastexX]

thumbs up if you sang along!

[BECKDADDY]

Why do musicians record their parts separately?

[RogueRotting360]

@BECKDADDY So it's easier to mix in the booth.

[PorchBass]

@BECKDADDY

Umm you can hear the drums very quietly in the background, often drum and bass are put down together with guide vox and guitars which are then overdubbed/ augmented.

It's not recorded seperately, just with good isolation (put the bass amp in a booth).

I think Page&Co. had a very good picture of the song before they started recording so it doesn't matter really if they overdub or record 'live'. Look at 'Heartbreaker' where he recorded the solo many times - it goes flat!

[BECKDADDY]

@PorchBass Hmmmmm Interesting l'll check it out

[yaremus]

This is how JPJ got this amazing tone! 1) An early 60's Fender Jazz. 2.) A pick. 3.) No overdubs. What he does is he hits the root B on the E string moving to D on the A string while droning with the open D string then moving up to E on the A string while droning with the open E. Simple and effective! Try it! B-D-B-D-E eee eee (TAB: 4(7)-3(5 +02)-4(7)-3(5 +02)-3(7+03)

[buryfc2010]

Does anyone know how to get that tone, such as eq settings

[Bobladavies]

Great pick playing.  I use a dunlop extra heavy to get this tone. Of course it's a pick. Why this is an issue for some people is bizarre.......Using a pick on bass is not easy to do, so for those who haven't tried it, give it a try. Other famous bassists use a pick, Paul McCartney, John Entwistle, Carol Kaye (Feelin Alright by Joe Cocker) and many more!!!

[prohumanbeing]

JPJ used a pick on Whole Lotta Love Heartbreaker, Immigrant Song, Black Dog, Achilles Last Stand, Nobody's Fault But Mine, just to name a few.

[wwfoleyfan]

groovin baby groooovin

[FIeebz]

@aspnofrevolution actually he did use a pick for this song, if you find one of his recent interviews he explains the edge of this song coming from a pick

[mine816]

love this its pritty smexy

[AlecBeretz]

OMG TONE

[ryanbackup]

Great notes!

[jakdaley]

That's a hagstrom 8 string bass



[lencycler1]

sick

[biggstile]

I sure didn't know he ever used a pick, which many bass players feel is taboo, but I sure can hear that pick in this recording. I do see a place for picking basses, but most of the time prefer the right hand finger sound.

[GranDrJ]

Jonesy uses picks when he wants be more forward in the mix. Eventually he got the best of both worlds when he started using the 8 and 10 string basses...and he played those with picks. It is all about tone to JPJ, no arrogance involved.

[Kevjann]

I can loop this for the rest of my life!!

[TheErnieLeblanc]

Great use of harmonic overtones to embellish the industrial punch of Page's work.

[MrROTD]

this sounds right to me, amazing to hear just the bass

[MrVanDep]

Amazing.

[zachmcfatridge]

This right here is why I don't believe he used roundwounds.

[azombiestool]

DEAR LORD. The lost art of AMAZING bass tone. I wonder how they tracked this, Ive always wondered... with a mic?

[Satyagrahaha]

@azombiestool -- Unconvincing as mp3 sound on youtube. Of course all great bass is tracked with a carefully placed mic with cab moved to sweet spot of room. You gotta move air! Try an AKG D-112, EV RE-20 or Sennheiser MD-421. If it is JPJ, the mic would be pre-amped with a UA LA610 followed by a LN1176 FET compressor with all buttons in, tracked to 2-inch analog tape at 30 ips. I'm not convinced. Sounds like it could be a line-6 bass pod simulator. But I want someone to prove me wrong. Waiting

[phase901]

@Satyagrahaha Sounds like alot of shit ! ! ! BULL-shit !

[phase901]

@Satyagrahaha Shove it up your ass JERKOFF ! Engineer- read musician wanna-be - fuckin' DOOFUS lol can't play chopstix so he bullshits his way into music with words like "out-of-phase" , multi-track ... go play with you I-POD !

[benthemiester]

Mistake at 0:27

[zachmcfatridge]

@benthemiester Not a mistake. JPJ never ever played the same thing over and over. He mixed up a lot of things.

[benthemiester]

@zachmcfatridge In this case he was trying to play it over and over again. Studio recording is a whole other thing from playing live and sometimes mistakes do work and are kept in. It happens all the time.

[themotleymandanger]

John Paul Jones does use a pick on certain songs. The video "John Paul Jones lesson" has him saying that it is one of the songs he uses a pick on. I can hear some of those pick strikes also in the studio version. And if it were a fake, why only fake half of it?

I do believe this is from the multitracks and I hope the rest will come to light within my life time.

[rmdppqmo]

have to agree w/ dude about the pick strike....... although many times it sounded like he uses a pick - he doesn't. Satyagrahaha- good call. ( it was fun to listen to though)

[MQRED011]

@rmdppqmo John actually does use a pick on this track.

[Satyagrahaha]

Drops beat at :09, flubbed octave at :027... pace picks up slightly at 1:01 when John Bonham didn't. muddy pick strike at 1:13.... and JPJ didn't play with a pick. Easier to fake this for untuned ears than take an "isolte" bass track from the 2-inch 8-track masters (submixed) Especially since they recorded Led Zep II backing tracks live with guide vocals & there was slight drum bleed. Too digital & clean to really be Zep. Why not give us the whole song unless it's fake. Nice try though.

[leddeath80]

@Satyagrahaha not sure weather to agree with you or not. All very valid points.

[LedWhisky69]

@Satyagrahaha First thing, urine idiot. Second then, JPJ does use a pick as well as finger style. Yeah, he can do both...imagine that. I'm surprised that so many so-called bass players don't know this. Watch a video called "John Paul Jones Lesson" and he himself states that he uses a pick on Whole Lotta Love to acheive that percussive style. In fact, he demonstrates exactly how he plays it and uses a pick. Then, take a look at live footage of Zeppelin and he played it exactly the same way.

[LedWhisky69]

@Satyagrahaha Third, there is no question that this is really an isolated bass track from the Zeppelin II sessions. Not necessarily the one that ended up on the final mixdown, but it's undoubtedly JPJ doing Whole Lotta Love for Zeppelin II. A person might be able to fake the playing style, but they can't fake the tone, vibe, and feel of the recording. It's like a fingerprint that any hardcore Zeppelin fan would instantly recognize.

[phase901]

@Satyagrahaha Did it ever occur to you that he may have wanted to play the G there ? Just exactly like he does on The Song Remains the Same and about 10 billion other live recordings ? I guarantee you he's not reading this from a chart.

[Satyagrahaha]

@phase901 But I don't know who you are phase901, so your guarantee doesn't mean anything to me. Nothing personal. You don't know who I am either, how many records and CDs I've engineered in the last 29 years, nor how my ear can spot the difference between an ampeg bass amp head pushing an 8 x10-inch speaker cab mic'd pushing real air in a room, versus the obvious sound of a bass guitar line signal through a usb port digital pod simulator. I'll just have to trust my own ears on this one for now.

[phase901]

@Satyagrahaha Right that is truly good for you but the at least 1 difference may be I also know the sound of an Ampeg SVT thru an 8 X !0" cabinet because I have personally played through one [ actually 4 different units on a Florida concert tour ] and created the massive sound not just wished I had and like to spew BS about how you know its sound. I've ACTUALLY DONE IT ! ! !

[Satyagrahaha]

@phase901 But I feel your good intent. It's really easy to prove this is isolated from the final take. Synch it up with the real deal in a multi-track and listen for out-of-phase differences. If it's the real deal, nothing will be out of phase. But I can make this sound right now with a line6 bass pod. All talk is just opinion. Not clear & convincing evidence. Convince me please. I want to be SHOWN I am wrong. Nobody has done that. Until then, this remains labeled as SUSPECTED OUT FAKE!!!!!

[phase901]

@Satyagrahaha I didn't post the video ! Your comment should be directed to whoever did. EarlsCourt something or other !lol

[HARALDEMANN]

Sounds like a Fender VI

[Adennos]

@HARALDEMANN It is.

[TheBlindVines]

the blind vines

[MrTimoteo01]

I hear him doing the chords to make it fat and full. He uses the low E the 7th fret E and the 9th fret B as a bass power chord to fill it up when J Page just plays his sexy single note riff. He goes beyond support and creates the heavy feel

I am diggin these iso tracks Thanks for puttin' em up. Do you know how many times I set down my needle to these tunes????

[Mithrindir1]

It's common,and many times desirable,to have a little bleed from adjacent tracks when recording onto tape.I can't say if that's the case here.

[bradh716]

Jonesy is using a pick?

[atactfulben]

@bradh716 he usually does

[tyrantsfaceisred]

@bradh716 i don't see why people doubt that so much. i mean, the bass track on achilles last stand too..

[gblueslover2]

@bradh716 Definately- And he's obviously on the E and the E octave of the A string at the same time whenever the E is played- so heavy, so great. I heard this when it came out, and was a very young (15 years old) guitar player at the time. Very soon after this tune I then switched to bass, because I saw it's potential. Feel that bass !

[TheBibleWitness]

@bradh716 Yes, he used a pick in almost everything Zep did.

[Murreh]

@bradh716 Yes, I'm pretty sure he's playing octaves; something that most people oversee when playing the song.

[elmerexpress]

@Murreh I heard he was into 8-string bass. Could this be what he used here?

Sounds like it to me...

[Murreh]

@elmerexpress Could be right, however, he said in a bass lesson that he played octaves with a pick :)

[burningxdimx]

He's playing the D on the fifth fret of the A string and open on the D string, and the E open on the E string and seventh fret of the A string.

[AFtheRocker]

@bradh716 Yes and its not uncommon for him either, he has never been one of those pretentious snobs that think "real" bassists play with their fingers, you cant get killer bass tones like this when fingerpicking, good old JPJ!

[brmoogma]

@bradh716 for recording nearly every bass player uses a pick..

[chazbutcher]

@bradh716 Actually it's both pick and fingers. The bass track on this song is doubled, with the fingers playing the low E and the pick playing the higher middle E. That's what gives it that weird flangy type sound.

[FAA4Life666]

@chazbutcher Don't forget that fingernails can do the same when trimmed correctly.

[chazbutcher]

@FAA4Life666 To a point, but using fingernails to reproduce the sound of a pick is limited. Especially when really digging in with the pick the way Jones is on this track. But I guess if you are at a jam night and you don't have any picks with you that would be a reasonable alternative. Whenever I found myself in that situation though, I usually opted to just play the finger part, seeing as how the guitar part is pretty similar in style and tone to the bass line that is being picked.

[FAA4Life666]

@chazbutcher Yes, it all comes down to how the mood feels. But all fingernails aren't created equal. Mine are like medium pick thickness, but my aunt, hell sheh as to soak hers in water for 15 minutes before she cuts them )gross I know, but she's a great musician).

[fretsbru]

@chazbutcher Sorry that's incorrect Chaz..John Paul has a youtube interview in which he states that he is double stopping these notes with a pick...do a search you will find it... he makes that claim when asked about the accuracy of the many transcriptions in publications about Led Zeppelin bass.

[ASonOfRevolution]

@bradh716 JPJ never used a pick. I've always seen fingers man. My father has been playing bass for over thirty years; myself six. That dude is all fingers. Which just shows his amazing talent. JPJ is lacked respect in that he himself organized many Led Zeppelin songs. He was the go to guy. He is a musical genius.

[zosometalgod]

@ASonOfRevolution amen brother!!

[faithnoman]

@ASonOfRevolution I have multiple articles in bass magazines WRITTEN by JPJ that states he used a pick often in the studio. Immigrant Song, Achilles Last Stand, and Black Dog just to name a few.

[LedWhisky69]

@faithnoman Of course, JPJ used a pick on several songs, including Whole Lota Love. ASonOfRevolution is just being ASonOfABitch. He's been given TONS of evidence to prove that he's dead wrong, but he refuses to acknowledge any of it in order to keep trolling this video. Fuck him and his stupid statements.

[ASonOfRevolution]

@LedWhisky69

LOL.

I'm sorry you have nothing better to do than to get pissed off over an incorrect statement. I wasn't trolling, but if you want to say I am sure. I'm not going to troll Led Zeppelin. My parents are musicians and my mom played up to nine months pregnant with me, covering songs like Going To California while I was in the womb. You can hate on me and my incorrect statements, but I have the Zeppelin love from the womb.

Peace, fuckers.

[youreastupid]

@ASonOfRevolution dude, just stop... seriously just stop

[youreastupid]

@ASonOfRevolution and BTW I bet your parents fuckin sucked as musicians...

[ASonOfRevolution]

@youreastupid lol. Aren't you mature.

[LedWhisky69]

@ASonOfRevolution "JPJ never used a pick."

Ok, now you're just trolling because we already DEBUNKED this statement months ago. Look up this video right here on YouTube: "John Paul Jones Lesson". JPJ, himself, states that he uses a pick on Whole Lotta Love to acheive that percussive style and he demonstrates exactly how he plays it using a pick.

Stupid people, like yourself, who write stupid things shouldn't be allowed to comment on YouTube. Tell your father this, also.

[mrpaxtonquigley]

@ASonOfRevolution I agree with your last 3 sentences..but as everyone has pointed out here, JPJ DID play "Whole Lotta Love," and many Zep songs, with a pick. That's why he is a Musician's Musician. He uses the technique that is required for the song. This idea that playing bass with fingers (only) makes you somehow more macho..or more musical, than someone who plays pickstyle, is a bag of baloney. There are riffs & tones you can get with a pick that you can't with fingers..and vice-versa.

[youreastupid]

@bradh716 This is why picks are used, for that awesome tone!

[LedWhisky69]

Fantastic basswork from Jonesy. Truly amazing and it's even more amazing hearing it isolated from the rest of the track.

[BassFever74]

sounds awful all alone but great with the song. it's a miracle!

[jsnhrv]

Also doubling the strings too.

[dm3830]

Isolated tracks dont usually completely eliminate the rest. Thus Im thinking, not genuine.

[MrRocknRollJoe]

@dm3830 You can still hear drums in the back...?

[jonomutiny]

@dm3830 Noise gates maybe?? There are some good ones.......

[jonomutiny]

@dm3830 Was prolly an ODub anyway

[1612HavenhurstDrive]

@dm3830

If you DI a bass straight to the board there would be no bleed whatsoever.

[benthemiester]

@1612HavenhurstDrive Maybe not mic bleeding, but if your using old 24 track 2 inch analogue tape, you can still get cross talk bleeding if you dont store & wind the tape in the right direction. If you listen to the part that goes........ Way down inside.......You ah need...... Loveeeeeeeeeeee. You can actually here the reverse or front echo before you even hear the actual part. They accidentally wound and stored the tape in the wrong direction and then just decided to leave the echo there.

[jbassman666]

@thechuckwillkill definetely a pick

[TPBass1224]

I see. Do you know if there are any others "floating" around? These are the mother-lode of master tracks!!!

[EarlsCourt75ProShot]

@TPBass1224 The ones I have uploaded here are the only ones from LZII that are "floating around" at the moment. If new ones are ever coming out is up to previously collector! Don't hold your breath though.

[TPBass1224]

How were you able to do this?

[EarlsCourt75ProShot]

@TPBass1224 Not my work TPBass! This is the track that Led Zeppelin themselves used for mixing the album and it has been shared by a generous collector of Zeppelin material!

[TheIntruders]

@EarlsCourt75ProShot

Bullshit.

[LedLass]

@EarlsCourt75ProShot Please tongue kiss that collector for me.

[acoustic360]

Superb!

Heaven knows how 'The Fonz' obtained these Led Zeppelin II tracks; (the Ramble On Vocal and Bonham's Heartbreaker drum track), BUT, to hear some more would be most appreciated.

How about the complete isolated bass to Heartbreaker (one of JPJ's most creative accompaniments)?

Thanks again!

[joneslt]

@acoustic360 The isolated bass track to the Lemon Song would also be great to hear