Song 4 - "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash

So, I’ve been doing a bit of research on this since I couldn’t sleep (not because of this). There are lots of different ways people are playing this. I mean… lots!

So, I’ve tested them all out and without changing what @JoshFossgreen has done too much, I think the simplest change that makes it sound better is instead of playing the C# that is the 4th Fret on the A string, play the C# that is an octave higher on the 6th fret on the G string. The rest of the tab is the same. So, the whole song is just on the D string and G string. Here is the tab that shows that, but it really is the same as Josh’s apart from playing that one note an octave higher.

The other change that makes it sound better is to tune down 1/4 step. The way I did that is to use this online tuner and get the needle halfway between the C# and D for the D string and halfway between the F# and G for the G string. So it looks like this:

qtr tuning

Here is the site I used to do the tuning. It will ask to access your microphone and you have to say Yes. You also need to have your bass connected to your computer (using a DAI for example) to do this. You could do it on other physical tuners, but it might be harder.

The third thing to do is to try to give it more of an upright sound by playing near the end of the fretboard, muting with foam, neck pickup only, rolling back tone, etc.

Here’s a quick snippet I made (I’ll do a full video later) of what these changes sound like:

https://youtu.be/CHUT42RcGKQ

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Sounds spot on!

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thanks for the tips :slight_smile:
I played with Neck PU only and Treble muted muted.
Kinda dig it!
Only gave it 2 tries tho, as someone in Discord says, this one feels more like a homework, so no video either :frowning:

https://youtu.be/GBmPtl4-uXE

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:slight_smile:

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Not a fan of the blues? :slight_smile:

Good job on this. Miss the kilt though. Hopefully you like the next song more!

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Here’s my rendition using the adjusted tab in my post a few posts above this. Used the neck pickup only with tone all the way down and tried to play closer to the end of the fretboard for a more upright sound.

I love playing the blues so this was right up my street. Had it memorized in about 5 minutes as it is a standard blues form. That being said, it wasn’t a perfect recording, but I think I did good enough to move on to the next one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmU5Gixpdg4

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Love that pink bass tone @JT
Sounded great with your tweaks!!!

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A on homework @enkhiel !!!

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Excellent job @JT! Love the new bass (had not mentioned that yet!!).

And, great job on taming the right leg. LoL If I could only do that with my “wandering pinky.”

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Thanks. I really have to try not to move my right leg. It’s my go to for beat tracking for sure. Was tempted to just stand up.

I am loving the bass, but haven’t really explored it much yet. Or the new pedals I have. I really need to dig into tone more. Just need to dedicate some time to that, but everytime I have my bass out, I just want to play instead of mess with dials. :slight_smile:

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My next “goal” is to stand up and play!! Hahahaa

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So, I have the B1X Four, which allows me to dial in the exact tuning. It seems 435Hz is close, but I didn’t have time to listen for exact match on pitch.
Anyone else figure out the correct reference?

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Good job @enkhiel!
:+1:

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I get a bit lost in all the hertz stuff so I just used that online tuner I linked, even though I have a fancy strobe tuner.

Not sure if this is right, but when A is 440hz, G# is 415hz. G# is a half-step lower than A and the difference is 25, so a quarter step lower would be half that, or 12.5., which would get you to 427.5. Again though, that could be completely wrong! The difference between a C# and an D is only 16.5hz, so it doesn’t seem to be flat across all half-steps. There is a table on this page that I’m looking at, but it’s all gibberish to me.

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Very nice @JT! Liked the tone on that bass.
:+1:

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Nice job @enkhiel,
Cheers Brian

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Nice job @JT,
love the tone from pinky :+1:
Cheers Brian

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I’ll record it tomorrow between starting the oven and getting the sourdough in to bake.

It sounds about right at 435Hz, so we’ll see how it goes.

Love the pink @JT!! Good job…

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Nice job @JT, love the bass.

I can understand what you are saying. And that is not a knock on the song, or Johnny Cash, it is a great song, but the repetition, I know is great practice, but that is what it feels like, practice (aka homework) more so then playing something with some tempo changes. Just my opinion, and I happen to agree with you.

I also love that picture @Barney , :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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Thanks for the kind words guys, much appreciated:
@TNKA36 @JerryP @John_E @JT

Kilt will be back for HTH \m/

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