It’s hard to believe that the Red Hot Chili Peppers, California’s leading funk-rock-rap hybrid, are well into the fifth decade of their career.
As many incredible guitar players and drummers have graced the group, the two mainstays have always been founding members Anthony Kiedis on lead vocals and Michael “Flea” Balzary on bass.
Flea’s virtuosic, aggressive bass playing defined the sound of the Red Hot Chili Peppers from the very beginning. Although he rose to prominence as an eminent popping and slapping bass player, as the band’s career progressed, and mainstream success beckoned, Flea adopted a more restrained style.
When I was in high school, the album Stadium Arcadium was one of the few albums just about every kid could agree on. It was the third smash hit in a row for the band, following By The Way and Californication.
The incendiary playing across those records inspired countless kids to pick up instruments and pluck their way through the band’s catalog.
If you’re looking to emulate some of the power and precision of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ peak era, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, I’ll take a look at the gear and amp settings you need to nail the RHCP bass sound.
I’ve based the below recommendations on the smash hits from Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication, By The Way, and Stadium Arcadium.
Table of Contents
Flea Bass Guitars
Flea has played many basses over the years, including a signature line simply called the Fleabass.
A funk maestro at heart, Flea typically eschewed the growl and grit of Gibson-style basses for the snappier, more versatile tone of Fender or Musicman instruments.
To really nail the tone, Fender’s Flea signature model might be the best bet. The Flea Jazz bass, in a fetching pink color scheme, is based on the pink 1961 Jazz bass Flea plays to this day.
Otherwise, you’d be looking at the Musicman Stingray, which commands a much higher price tag.
Fortunately, there are plenty of more affordable alternatives. You don’t need a Fender Custom Shop or an expensive Musicman bass to lock down the Flea tone.
The Player Jazz bass is a mid-priced Fender offering, without some of the vintage appointments Flea favors, but with Fender build quality and, critically, Fender pickups.
The Squier Classic Vibe ‘60s Jazz bass is the most affordable option if you’re looking to capture the Flea tone. While it doesn’t have the excellent pickups of the Flea signature model, that’s a relatively affordable swap to make if need be.
Most important to acknowledge is how much of Flea’s sound comes from his technique. Flea is one of the hardest-hitting players in popular music.
His left-hand technique typically involves rapid switching between faraway frets, and his right-hand technique often alternates between ultra-aggressive slapping and popping and deft, well-chosen plucked notes.
Possibly the best example of this dichotomy is in the song “By The Way”, where in the verses Flea applies his slapping and popping technique, but in the softer chorus, he plays a more reserved style.
For this reason, when playing his music, your instrument must be comfortable to play. Flea’s playing stretches the limits for even advanced musicians, so you’ll want to be comfortable while playing his parts and capturing his tone.
That’s where the Fender and Squier Jazz basses work so well: their built-for-comfort C-shaped neck profile is perfect for this style of playing.
To facilitate this, you’ll need to have the action set quite low on your bass. This will likely cause buzzing when playing unplugged, particularly with as much force as Flea plays.
Flea’s string height is around 3/64ths of an inch on the bass side and just over 2/64ths of an inch on the treble side. This is tremendously low action, but it’s going to assist in pursuing the Flea tone.
Flea Amps
Flea has used as many bass amplifiers over the years as the Red Hot Chili Peppers have had guitar players.
Although for the band’s earlier funk-punk work he used a range of Ampeg and Trace Elliot bass rigs, during their turn-of-the-century commercial peak, Flea almost exclusively played Gallien-Krueger 2001RB heads.
Tracking one of these down is easier said than done, but Gallien-Krueger’s excellent range of bass heads has plenty of Flea-worthy offerings.
Chief among these is the 800-watt Legacy head, with built-in preamp and overdrive so you can nail the roaring intro to “Around the World.”
Of late, Flea has been using an Ampeg Portaflex, while touring in support of Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen.
I’d recommend either of these amplifiers, depending on how portable you need your rig to be.
Flea Amp Settings – RHCP Bass Tone Guide!
As always with great players, Flea’s amp settings are secondary to how he plays his bass.
I’ve already touched on the technique aspect of his tone, but an underappreciated feature of Flea’s bass playing (and, indeed, any guitar) is use of the control knobs on his bass.
Flea generally plays with both pickups on his bass on, at full volume. This is the first step to the wide-ranging tonal spectrum he occupies.
If the resulting sound is too bright, especially when slapping, roll back your tone knob to 8 or 9.
From here, we can get started on the amp settings.
Volume: 5
You can run the volume flat on Ampeg and Gallien-Krueger heads for this tone.
Drive: 6
This will vary depending on your bass pickups, but you’ll want a just-noticeable amount of overdrive on your tone so it really roars when you play harder.
Bass: 8
You want to feel the Flea tone in your chest as much as you hear it. For this, you need pronounced low end.
Mids: 7-8
You’ll need quite a bit of midrange to get the bite and twang of your slapping and popping technique to really shine through.
Treble: 5
Flea’s tone is not overly bright, so run the treble relatively flat.
Compression: 6
If you’re using an Ampeg, set the compression in the amp, rather than with a pedal. Flea’s sound is not totally squashed, but there’s some compression to help balance volume between different strings.
Flea Pedals
For Flea’s tone, you’ll need a few key pedals.
Flea uses the MXR Micro Amp as a preamp, and a range of overdrive to boost his signal. Appropriate models include the Boss Bass Overdrive and the EHX Big Muff Pi.
Flea also uses wah and envelope filters, usually the Cry Baby Bass Wah, the DOD Envelope Filter, and the EHX Q-Tron.
Final Word
Playing like Flea is a long, challenging process, but you can start the journey sounding like him with the right gear.
Armed with a Jazz bass, a well-set amp, and a couple of pedals, you can capture some of the mojo of the Red Hot Chili Peppers bass sound.
