how to get a certain bass tone

The Ethanator · #1 08-18-2008, 03:30 PM

i figured out one of the main sounds i want on a bass. its a deep, crunchy, grinding sort of sound. but id still like to keep clarity of the notes as i go higher. heres a few vids with what im talking about:
the intro to 'survive' by dope
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwiPdseqMg0

the second verse of 'slave labor' by fear factory (about 1:42 in)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPDaisWj5mQ

im guessing its some sort of distortion pedal on a really light setting, maybe an amp preset like found on line 6 pedals/amps? any hlep would be appreciated

by the way, ive searched everywhere on both of the above bass players. i turned up nothing for dopes bassist, all i found out for byron stroud (credited as bassist, but didnt play bass on the archetype album) was that he uses digitech pedals (in those exact words), and all i found for christian (who did guitars and bass on the second song) was his guitar rig

alexei · #2 08-18-2008, 03:48 PM

i know it's a matter of taste, but the bass in the first video sounds awful. Probably a pick witch overdive will get you close enough to what you're looking for.

for the second video, i think the sound you hear there is the combined bass+bassdrum, but the bass guitar is pretty much plain, probably with very little overdrive, but with a loud lowend work in the EQ part.

in both videos i've noticed a playing limited probably to the B string from frets 0 to 5 or so...
I'd say that if you buy yourself a big amp system, a drive pedal, an EQ pedal, a 5 string active bass, you should have no problem at all finding that exact same sound. No matter wich bass you choose, the sound is so distorted that we don't hear the strings brand, wood type, amp model... at all.

Pure distortion and lowend boost EQing and a lot of money in rig for gigs. Of course, simple and fast playing is a must... g'luck with that!

If you don't mind, a subjetive comment: I'd recommend you going after your own sound instead of trying to reach this low-quality bass playing, anyway.

Ampeg SVT · #3 08-18-2008, 03:53 PM

First one sounds like its going through some tinny sounding distortion pedal like a ODB-3
It could also be a bass amp running with a guitar amp. it is very thin sounding.

The second you probably want a SVT-2PRO if you really want to get there. A sansamp might do the job for a cheaper price.

I happen to know how to get the second one, on gearbox I have the SVT setting and a Sansamp.

Drive is 10 o'clock
Bass is Noon
Low Mids is 2.5 o'clock
High Mids is 3 o'clock
Treble is 3 o'clock

Then I mix in the Sansamp with a clean channel.
You could probably get that with an SVT with the Sansamp running for a tiny bit of grit.

GingerConor · #4 08-18-2008, 04:41 PM

i like these kinds of tones...just not with this music, crunchy but with clarity and a good bit of low-end. not all the time, but for certain times in songs it wud be cool! what other amp simulation pedals would work with this? Tech 21 VT? any others maybe that are a bit cheaper but still credible pedals?