Red Hot Chili Peppers: Flea’s Isolated Bass on “Scar Tissue”

Flea can be a crazy funk-rock bassist, but here we get a look into the mellower side of the bassist with his isolated bass track from “Scar Tissue” from the 1999 Red Hot Chili Peppers album Californication.

He sets a steady groove with some nice higher melodic content. Interestingly, you can hear the use of some flanger, which isn’t as evident when you listen to the track as a whole.

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Share your thoughts

  1. There is nothing better than a bass player who understands harmony.

    • chris wolstanholmes amazing for playing good harmonies on the bass he often doesnt play the roots and plays 5ths and 3rds instead its all good stuff to mess around with when writing basslines might not be complecated but it adds so much to the songs

  2. Nice fret buzz as well.

  3. I love these “Isolated Bass” videos! Thanks for sharing.

  4. Sounds like those upper phrases are overdubs?

  5. Flea has and always will be one of our favorite bass players of all time! Amazing as always.. Loving all the isolated bass as of late!

  6. Very cool! Thanks No Treble.

  7. Keep up posting the isolated bass lines vids. I like how much more “raw” it sounds when the bass is isolated like that, with the fret buzz not being buried under the rest of the mix. Makes me feel better as a bass player knowing that even pros like Flea have that going on in their mix and that not everything is perfect and sterile.

  8. how about posting some early isolated bass lines from flea when it was all about the funk.

  9. Very tasteful…I am totally digging the various raw bass tracks. This instrument is open to lots of interpretation by the performer…twang, pluck, slide…its all in your flavour.

  10. Does anyone know what bass guitar was he playing on the song?

  11. Hey Kevin….As with many of my bottom dweller colleagues I always love listening in on isolated bass tracks …A special request here for a Dee Murray isolated track would be terrific sometime in the future .Dee’s slides up and /or down the fretboard is something to marvel.Thanks …and nice steady groove here by Flea.BASS ON ??