Tech - Alex Webster / Eric Langlois

[pablomigraine]

Anybody know how these guys get that SOUND? These guys are both fingerstyle players, and thier tone is massive. The only way I've been able to replicate it is by hitting the strings so hard they bounce off the fretboard. This is fine except it's simply to hard to do at any real speed, and if you lower the action to where it's comfortable, you buzz from fret 7 up........anybody have any experience with this technique or how you can get that articulation ?........please lemme know....


Gear

GK 1001rb
GK 410 SBX (X2)
Korg Tuner
Sansamp Bass Driver
Spector NS JH5 CM

[Stachio]

Eric has to be playing hard to get that snarly sound. The fact that Cryptopsy tunes to B (on standard 6 string guitars and 4 string bass) also gives it that somewhat clanky sound. You can hear it on Cold Hate, Warm Blood. The intro with the clean guitars: the bass throws in the odd clank or 2 and he's obviously not playing that hard.
As far as Alex, I think the tone he gets comes from the EMG, Ampeg, and finger combination. He's definitely not as upfront in the mix as Eric is. On the Wretched Spawn video, it shows him playing a few songs and he doesn't seem to be yanking on the strings. Although I'm sure that 15 or 16 years of playing technical death metal will build up your finger strength.

Common denominator to Eric and Alex: technique and a dash of Ampeg.

[Tash]

Its more than a dash. When I saw corpse back in high school I think he had 4 SVT4s behind him on some really big scary looking cabs....that's at least 100% of your recomended daily allowance.

[Metal Mitch]

Here's some info from the FAQ on cannibalcorpse.net:

"What gear did Alex use for each of the Cannibal Corpse recordings?

Gear used by Alex Webster on each Cannibal Corpse recording: Eaten Back To Life: 1987 Fender Precision bass, a Gallien Krueger head, Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. Butchered at Birth: 1987 Fender Precision bass, Gallien Krueger head, Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. Tomb of The Mutilated: Ibanez SB900(Sabre) bass, Trace Elliott head, Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. Hammer Smashed Face EP, cover songs: Ibanez SB900(Sabre) bass, Peavey Mark 4 head, Peavey 2x15 cabinet. The Bleeding: Ibanez SR1500 bass, Ampeg SVT200T head, Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. Vile: Spector NS USA 5 String bass(for songs tuned to Bb), 70's Fender Precision bass(for songs tuned to Db), Ampeg SVT Classic Head, Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. Gallery of Suicide: Modulus Quantum 5 bass, Ampeg SVT200T head, Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. Bloodthirst: Modulus Quantum 5 bass, Ampeg SVT200T head, Ampeg 8x10 cabinet, Sans Amp bass driver DI. Live Cannibalism: Modulus Quantum 5 bass, Ampeg SVT200T head, Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. Gore Obessed: Modulus Quantum 5 bass, Ampeg SVT200T head, Ampeg 8x10 cabinet. Cover songs for box set: Modulus Quantum 5 bass, Ampeg SVT 4 Pro head, Ampeg 8x10 cabinet, Sans Amp bass driver DI. NOTES: I recently acquired an excellent Spector Euro 5 string bass, the Spector I used on Vile was a rental from a local music store in Tampa. American made Spectors like the one I used on Vile are amazing basses, but are a little out of my price range, hence the rental. The Euro Spectors are built to the same specs as the USA models, but are more reasonably priced. I can't wait to try it out on the new album. You'll notice I didn't list strings on the album gear list, that's because I'm not entirely sure which kind of strings I used on some of the earlier recordings. I've used DR strings on all of the recordings starting with "Gallery of Suicide". I know for sure that I used Blue Steel strings on "The Bleeding", and I'm pretty sure I used PGR strings on the "Hammer Smashed Face" EP. I think I used Rotosound strings for the first two albums."

And I remember seeing an interview with Alex from about 10 yrs ago(?) where he mentions using a BBE processor and the DR strings. That's what got me to try DR and I've been using them ever since.

I can personally attest to the following through my own experience... BBE helps A LOT to get the fingerstyle attack to cut through. Fender P-bass + Rotosound + DiMarzio gets a killer ripping snarly/growly metal tone. Ibanez + DR gets a clean smooth present tone with bitey attack and that signature Ibanez "ping" to help cut through.

As always, YMMV.

Edit because I really didn't address the topic of technique:

Eric sounds like his action is set real low with all the clanking. And I think he dials in his weak tone (IMHO) to try to help minimize the clanks with his low action.

I've never heard any clanks come out of Alex's bass. This is really the simplest part of the equation - if you want to play hard without clanks, raise the action!

[DiG]

Originally Posted by Stachio

Eric has to be playing hard to get that snarly sound. The fact that Cryptopsy tunes to B (on standard 6 string guitars and 4 string bass) .

Eric plays a 5 string bass now doesnt he
I thought he did in None so Vile

[PICK]

Originally Posted by DiG

Eric plays a 5 string bass now doesnt he
I thought he did in None so Vile

Yup! 5 String Carvin. Has done for a while now.