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best passive bass for metal?

S

skoti89

Feb 23, 2006
190
0
Chico, Ca
www.myspace.com
#1
hey, so ive been in my metal band for about 8 months, ive been playing an ibanez SR400, and i hate it. The reason i was considering a passive bass, is because i think im puting and extremely hot signal to my head (if thats how it works?) i have to keep the pre gain almost all the way down to avoid distortion. We play in Drop C, and i play with a pick with heavey guage strings.

I think my whole problem is my Ibanez, because I also play punk rock, but in standard tuning, and i love the tone with my Fender Deluxe active jazz. It also sounds sweet for slap and funk.

What would you consider a good passive bass for metal? I dont like P-basses much, and I love the tone of a band called Haste the Day, and Job for a cowboy, or the Human Abstract.
I have been highly considering an Ibanez SRX model, but if it plays anything like my Ibanez, i will most likely hate it. My SR400 has a punchy low C (E string), but thats it. The E string is so loud, but then the a d and g strings have no punch and no volume, and i have messed with pickup height, doesnt work. sorry for kinda ranting.

thanks
 
#3
SRX models are not passive. They have a very mid scooped tone and really do lend themselves well to Metal. I had an SRX for a while. It played decent but after a while, the tone wasn't for me. The neck profile and action will be pretty much the same as your SR400. It is a Soundgear bass after all and will still have that tight string spacing and skinny neck.

I would say a good passive bass would be a MIM / MIA Fender Jazz / Jazz V or a something with a P/J configuration like a CIJ Fender Aerodyne Jazz.
 
#6
How much you wanna spend though? If you like your Fender, then why not. There must be a pedal to help you match the power of your amp input and your active bass output (volume, compressor?).

For metal, then anything that tickles your fancy. ATKs/MM maybe, Warwicks are popular with metal players for their punch and growl. Thumbs can run without the preamp passive, but the output is still pretty hot (they have active pickups). In fact, the amp is pretty transparent, when push-pull with the settings flat. Some Fender J-style bass, passive maybe.
 
#13
Yeah, the Geddy is really well suited for metal though you wouldn't think so by looking at it. Ideally a Warwick Thumb would be the best metal sound IMO, but those can run 2500$. A Warwick Corvette is another decent metal sound for far less. If you can find a Warwick P/J, then you've got yourself a winner. MusicMan is good, but pricey. Fenders don't really do metal that well, sadly.
 
#16
afroman said:
A very good P-bass or PJ bass like Steve Harris of Iron Maiden or Duff from Guns'. Both have some of the best hard rock cutting and agressive tones I've ever heard and NO active pickups.
Click to expand...

I agree, and for current models I'd look at G&L SB-2 and Fender's Frank Bello sig. The G&L MFD pickups are very hot and aggressive, and the Bello sig comes with a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder P and noiseless J. Interestingly, both models have no tone control, so you know they're designed to cut through like nobody's business.

Actually, any G&L bass with MFD pickups would be a good bet for Metal. The L-series basses have preamps, but are fully functional in passive mode.
 
#18
Baird6869 said:
I play both a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz and a Music Man SUB for metal. Both are passive and sound amazing.

I play stuff like Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots, Iron Maiden, Rush, Metallica, etc.
Click to expand...

You guys are trying, but he plays in drop C. And plays some pretty intense heavy metal (to put it broadly). Iron Maiden, Guns & Roses - they were considered intense 20 years ago...

Most of the bands now, at most, have influence from those guys...

skoti89 said:
....What would you consider a good passive bass for metal? I dont like P-basses much, and I love the tone of a band called Haste the Day, and Job for a cowboy, or the Human Abstract.....
Click to expand...

The Job For A Cowboy bassist plays Warwick Thumb BOs and Strykers -- Warwick is pretty popular in heavy metal.
 
#19
Well... I am a grind/death metal bassist, I also love passive basses and I also play in C tuning. You can check out my band @ Link Removed. My tip is to use a 5 string set with a .125 guage B string and then tune it up a half step. Makes the string tention much nicer to play and also it will allow any bass to hold your tuning better.

I'm actually a P-Bass guy myself, I own 2 of them. But there are tons of other basses that would fit your bill, my picks would be the Ibanez RD300, any Jazz Bass or clone (jazz bass necks are real slim and play very nice for metal) if you are on a budget, the Peavey Millenium Series is awesome also, the necks are really fast and for the cash, they are really well constructed. I could go on for hours about good basses, but I just thought I'd give you a bit of an overview.

I hope that helped a bit, if you go [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] you can pick up a cheap 5-string set and try them out, those are actually the ones I use on a regular basis, they are as good if not better than most of the mass produced strings and they are more than half the price. Anyhow, that would be all from the peanut gallery... :D

-deadman
 

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