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grind/heavy metal amp setup

L

life.x

Dec 21, 2003
72
0
39
hamburg ny
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#1
OK, for anybody that does listen to really heavy music (Lamb of God, Norma Jean) I'm shooting for a tone to measure up to these setups. It's mostly grinding bass, so far i've gotten a ton of pedals that are counter acting eachother to compensate for a wicked bass distortion. right now it's two compressors a tube screamer and a big muff (USSR) running through a SVT-Cl and two cabs all to compensate for muddy tones in one place and treble tones in others, i.e. the second cab to kill some of the signal (cabs in series) to cut the treble out when the ultra high is off and the treble turned down to 2 or 2 and half. The compressors are (don't laugh, i'm still learning) a behringer MDX2600 and an ashdown dual band comp. The behringer does good from actually compression and the ashdown acts more like an aurual enhancer to continue cuting out the treble created by the bass and the TS9.
Most people either think i'm unwise in my decisions or not understanding what i want. I have too much i need a simple solution is essance but even it's complicated i could still understand. If you listen to Norma Jean, that is the tone i'm shooting for but his is cleaner than mine (due to prolly recording/mix and mastering)

Thank you to anyone who has read this and bless you for those who reply.

Aaron
 
#3
this probably won't help much, but back in my college daze I was into that grindy bass tone and used a heavy teardrop pick. I used a Gibson SG bass into a Sansamp (the original model they made) going into an Ampeg SVT and a pair of Marshall 4x12 bass cabs.
 
#6
Are you saying that you want a brighter kind of distortion to your tone?

If so, I definately agree with the suggestion of strings. Also, I'd definately try a Sansamp BDDI or something that can lift your presence up. I bet you can achieve what you're looking for with no more than 1 or 2 FX units in your loop.... so having a huge pedal board really isn't necessary.

To clarify, are you talking about the "Bless the Martyr" sound?
 
#9
TheChariot said:
Are you saying that you want a brighter kind of distortion to your tone?

If so, I definately agree with the suggestion of strings. Also, I'd definately try a Sansamp BDDI or something that can lift your presence up. I bet you can achieve what you're looking for with no more than 1 or 2 FX units in your loop.... so having a huge pedal board really isn't necessary.

To clarify, are you talking about the "Bless the Martyr" sound?
Click to expand...

Yea, that is what i'm looking for so maybe a BDDI or an aural enhancer ultimately. Also right on the head with the Bless the Martyr sound and just being incredibly crunchy bass distortion...so far the dirty plus the muff make that possible but that bass freq is cut even at 10 and mids and treble low (<5)
 
#10
I could be mistaken, and probably am, but in some videos I found of a live set during NJ's "Bless the Martyr" it looks like the bassist is just using a Boss Distortion pedal in an SVT-4 Pro...

I'm pretty sure now a SVT-Cl is being used but other than that I have no idea...

Hope this helped somehow...
 
#15
If you already have an SVT-CL, why would you want to use a SansAmp? Ideally, you want an overdrive or distortion pedal that gives high-end bite, and not a tube-emulation pedal.

And yeah, the pick used and the style of attack makes a big difference, as do the strings. In fact, you might want to start with the strings! If you're using GHS Bass Boomers, you won't get much in terms of bright tone that works well for pickstyle metal (IME, GHS Bass Boomers don't last long with their brightness, and they're naturally warm, not bright). You'll need roundwounds, stainless steel ones preferred. Try DR Hi-Beams, or D'Addario Pro Steels.

drwhiteguy said:
NJ's bassist attack?
Click to expand...

You know, the way Norma Jean's bassist strikes the strings.

No, not an attack by New Jersey bassists! :hiding:
 
#16
haha yes, I was reading it differently than you intended it to be read. I thought you were characterizing most NJ bassits in that genre. There's millions of em' these days....

Although an attack by NJ bassists would be pretty interesting... depending on what they were attacking....

...Midevil Times corporate headquarters?

Proceed with the thread.....
 
#18
MysticBoo said:
If you already have an SVT-CL, why would you want to use a SansAmp? Ideally, you want an overdrive or distortion pedal that gives high-end bite, and not a tube-emulation pedal.

And yeah, the pick used and the style of attack makes a big difference, as do the strings. In fact, you might want to start with the strings! If you're using GHS Bass Boomers, you won't get much in terms of bright tone that works well for pickstyle metal (IME, GHS Bass Boomers don't last long with their brightness, and they're naturally warm, not bright). You'll need roundwounds, stainless steel ones preferred. Try DR Hi-Beams, or D'Addario Pro Steels.
Click to expand...

Yea i've tried both of them and they are incredibly bright but like i said before, no strings come heavier that GHS boomers that is the only thing stopping that becasue whole step down makes them quite floppy but i will try them again to see what i get, and the DI box (either sansamp or MXR) i will try eventaully (money problems)
Thanks alot for all that have replied
 

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