Weezer considered self-producing the album, but were pressured by Geffen to choose a producer. They decided on Ric Ocasek, who had played with the Cars. Ocasek convinced the band to switch their guitar pickups from the neck to the bridge, resulting in a brighter sound. Sharp and Cuomo imposed several rules on recording, banning reverb and insisting on all downstrokes on guitar. According to engineer Chris Shaw, the "overriding concept" was to treat the guitars and bass as a single, 10-string instrument, playing in unison. Weezer insisted that the guitars were mixed as loudly as those in the Radiohead song "Creep", burying some vocals.