Getting the Perfect Sound!

[MarcTheRogue]

Greetings, all! I am Marcus, and I am a bassist in need of some help. Now, I do not know where would be best to place a thread with as broad of a topic as this, but I placed it in the most obvious sub-board: Bass Guitar. I would like to apologize to the administrators ahead of time if this thread seems out of place, but I am a newcomer to the TalkBass forums! I would gladly appreciate a warm welcome, and I can help some of my fellow bassists in their future endeavors.

Alright, let's get down to business!

I have been playing for three years now, and my rig consists of an Ibanez IBZ15 B 15 watt bass amp, an Ibanez GSR200, a Rogue LX205B (both passive pickups, DR Strings), and a Digitech RP50 Modeling Guitar Processor (I know, guitar pedals with basses usually don't mix, but it's all I can get my hands on at this point).

I believe that my tone at this point deserves a bit of an upgrade. I have always been aiming for raspy, vicious sort of tone to go with my bass. I have three videos below to demonstrate the type of tone I am aiming for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E-7Mqkx4hY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSVl2qlSqFU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx0if_lL__w

Any help on achieving this "dream tone" would be well appreciated! I know that this will probably require a new amp or pedal, but we'll work on that another day.

Cheers! ~Marcus

[the wako kid]

youll probably need a much better bass and amp IMO. something with active humbuckers and an head+speaker cab setup with a horn. take a look at what this guy is using(warwick corvette I think) and also look at what justin chancellor has( a wal). looking at the gear you have now, I'll assume you're not that rich to be able to afford those. you should look for an ibanez ATK,that would get you started.

[Jazzdogg]

Welcome to TalkBass, Marcus.

A good place to start is by reading the numerous "Sticky" threads that are available here. There's lots of great content archived for your edification and entertainment in the Links For Noobs, below.

[IPYF]

The tone you're seeing in those clips is 80-90% in the hands and the strings. You can get close enough to that high fidelity metal clang just by having a good technique and the right gauge stings for your instrument. Don't start this journey by tossing money at things

The perfect metal tone costs an extremely large amount of money so most of us settle for near enough is good enough. Here are a couple of basic things to start with, one metal guy to another.

Strings - Get the right gauge for your tuning and change strings often. If you're using standard gauge strings you're not going heavy enough for this tone. I tune a 4 to C standard so I use Power Slinkys but if you're wanting to go down to Periphery levels (His lowest fundamental is a G#) you're going to need Rotosound Drop Zones. Don't change the tunings on your instruments once the strings are on. That's the quickest way to spike the neck of your instrument. You will need to pick one tuning, set up for it and keep it consistent. I change my Slinkys every 4 weeks and I should be changing them every 2, but nobody can afford that. I suggest taking the strings off every month and boil them in a pot with vinegar for an hour. Allow them to dry overnight. Then restring after wiping your fretboard free of grime. You can't get that clank without fresh strings. That's just the reality.

Scoop your mids. Only got that little amp? Who cares...
Pull the midrange out of the amp and boost bass and treble. Give yourself maximum tone and volume on the bass guitar. This eq was pioneered by Fieldy from Korn, and regardless of your opinion of him it's a really good way to go for metal because it thumps as well as cuts. If your pedal has a compressor function I would use that element of it only, and dial in a lot of it. Don't go faffing about with overdrive settings. That will only add mud into a cheap amp, and from the clips you've put up you're a new-school metal guy anyway so OD is not a good port of call.

Try this before you let anyone con you into spending money on some amp or some bass. Look to your technique as well. As I said up-front most genres the tone is in the hands of the player. Give yourself as much time to practice as you can and let your hands and your ears do the learning. Later on down the road you can start to think about upgrading gear if you feel you're being held back by something. But you need to teach your ears to understand what that might be.

Also, guitar pedals are great for bass. I use heaps of them. My comp and my driver are both guitar boxes.

[Jim Carr]

Pure Gold.