Trying to achieve a nice pick tone for metal.

[Demon]

Can anyone give some advice on getting a good tone for playing metal (with a pick)? Ive mixed around a bit, but havent found anything that really clicks. Im looking for a clear tone that cuts through, but still stays somewhat heavy sounding (while playing with a pick). Sofar the tones ive got are somewhat empty, and dont fill out enough. Im using a Warwick sweet 15 combo for an amp, and a G&L Trib l2500.

Any ideas?

[Tbirdbassist]

Boost dem mids.

[beyondhairy]

also, the pick matters, experiment with different guages.. i use a medium.. its less then 1mm i think.. and i play mainly metal

[Wes D]

I use Dunlops 1.14 thickness and that seems to work just fine.
Use whatever floats your boat, but I think 1.14 would be better for what your playing.
But ya boost the mid.

[Demon]

Yea, i have dunlop 1.14s and 1.5s. I prefer the 1.14s. Tried ur suggestions and it does sound better just gotta find a balance.

[ALiP BoB]

Don't your thumb hurt using 1mm and up picks? Mine does

[Demon]

Depends on how i hold it But dont think more than the 1.5.
What about Rex Browns (pantera) tone? It sounds pretty good. Like if it was on the verge of overdriving/distorting. but guess that must be pretty hard to get with a combo and a bass only:P

[SuperSnake2012]

I play with my Jazz bass, full volume on neck, 3/4 on bridge, full tone. I have my bass knob at around 2 o clock, my mids at 12 - 1, my treble at 1, and I get a pretty nice tone. I don't like to scoop my mids because it sounds like crap in a band situation.

One suggestion though: don't make your final decision until you play with a band. A bass may sound great EQ'd a certain way solo but it may sound crappy in a band. Depending on how the guitars are EQ'd, you might need to change your settings to fill in the gaps

[FrigginChris]

what worked for me when i was in a metal band was boosting the lower mids a bit on my amp and playing mostly with downstrokes