Talkbass is full of threads with titles like "What's a good Bass / Amp / Cab / Pedal / Whatever for METAL". There's a lot of threads like this... some members try to give thoughtful, helpful responses to these questions. Others deride the folks asking... usually folks who've never faced the specific challenges inherent in these types of situations, and often with years more experience with various equipment. In this thread I'm going to attempt to address the most common problems facing young bassists in hard rock or metal bands, and share my experiences and a few inexpensive solutions I've found to these problems after dumping tens of thousands of dollars into solving them. I make no claims to being "right" or claim any absolutes... this is just an attempt to be helpful. This will be a long read so settle in.
(If you're just here to find out how to get an amazing "metal" rig on the cheap, skip to the bottom)
First off I'm no one special. I played in several touring metal bands, one of which was lucky enough to have a record deal and get on some major tours. I'm a fingerstyle player, and was lucky enough to have a steady source of income outside of music, which allowed me to explore lots of gear.
So let's get into it. Most of the questions asked here TB can be narrowed down to a few seemingly simple issues;
PROBLEMS:
1) So you've spent hours tweaking your tone at bedroom volumes or thru your amp's headphone out, and you finally get everything sounding KILLER. Fast forward to practice / rehearsal... and you can't hear a note, no matter how loud you get. The problem is your EQ. Before you rush out and buy gear understand this: That killer scooped-out all-bass & treble, no-midrange tone sounds great on it's own... but remember that's how your guitarists might also be EQ'ing and your drummer's kick drum lives in the low-bass region too... you're never going to be heard. You need to add some midrange content. If you're using OD or distortion, try adding some upper midrange. Try adding a LOT. If you're using a clean tone, try adding in some lo-mids, around 300hz. Try it during practice. Suddenly you will hear yourself, and your tone will sound just how you wanted!. Avoid adding too much bass. If you're practicing in a small room, move your amp into a corner. Then you stand in another corner. Suddenly you'll hear TONS of bass. This has to do with room acoustics. Remember your bass is pumping out soundwaves as low as 40hz... that soundwave is almost 30 feet long!! Ever wondered why, when you go to a big concert the subwoofers are set closer to the stage or underneath them, while the mains speakers are closer to the audience? This is part of the reason.
2) Almost all guitarists use 412 cabinets, or at least a 212 combo. Most bass combo amps can't get loud enough to compete with these at practice volumes. A 100w 1X15 simply isn't going to cut it when competing with two 100w 2X12's, no matter how you EQ it. Most of the problem comes from mechanical challenges encountered when amplifying low frequencies. Think of your speaker(s) like a motor. The motor's job is to create sound pressure waves by moving the speaker back and forth in a linear fashion. To create lower frequencies, this back on forth motion happens more slowly than with higher frequencies, and, depending on the speaker, has a greater range of motion (XMAX) than guitar speakers. To accomplish these goals requires a lot of power. If there isn't enough clean power, the speaker will have a difficult time completing this back and forth cycle smoothly, or will "fart out". The magnet will literally "let go" of the speaker cone instead of maintaining a tight grip on it. This is sometimes a desirable trait in guitar cabs and is called speaker breakup. For bass this is almost always bad. So to create the same Sound Pressure Levels or overall volume as a guitarist's rig, you need a lot more power and at least as much speaker. When choosing a combo amp or amp and cab separates... first go for an amp that has as much clean power as you can afford. Match it with a speaker cabinet rated for anywhere between 80% and 100% of the amplifier's rated RMS output into that load (ohms). A big misconception is that a 1000w amp will blow a cabinet rated for 500w. Although this IS a possibility, remember your amp is only producing 1000w for very brief periods, and only if you're turned all the way up all the time. You need lots of clean power. Select a cabinet with as much speaker surface area as possible. A 410 has DOUBLE the speaker area of a 115, even though the box is often the same size. If you're using distortion or heavy OD and your speaker cabinet has a tweeter... turn the tweeter OFF. Compression drivers (the most common form of tweeter in bass cabs) do not like distortion and nearly always sound bad when fed it.)
3) An age-old problem. Distortion leads to bass sounding thin below 120hz. This is due to both increased midrange content (harmonic distortion) and the fact that many pedals simply dont do a good job of it. The Sansamp BDDI was one of the first overdrive / distortion effects that did a good job dealing with this, and has lead in part to it's immense popularity. Other great choices include the MXR M80 DI and the Darkglass pedals. There are lots of great pedals out there, but remind yourself that you may simply need to re-EQ your setup once you add this effect. If you're using LOTS of distortion, you're going to want to find a pedal with an integrated NOISE GATE. You will also benefit from the addition of a Compressor. Compression is, IMHO, the most used, least understood signal processing tool in bass. I could do a whole thread on it, but many other have already done so, and better than I ever could. Check out TB user BONGOMANIA's many posts on the topic, and check out his amazing reviews page at www.ovnilab.com
4) Good gear is expensive and with Amps (far more than basses IMHO) you really do get what you pay for. You can buy a REALLY great import bass for $600, and you can also buy another bass made in the exact same factory, made with the same materials, using the same components but with a better name stenciled on the headstock for $1,800. But Amps are another story. At one point my live touring rig had more than $5,000 worth of gear in it and I still wasn't happy. Here's how assembled a much better sounding rig for cheap. (prices shown are used prices not accounting for condition)
Now you effectively have a 3-channel amp with three different tonal possibilities.... Channel A is bassy, ballsy and has plenty of upper midrange and treble cut... Channel B fills in the lower midrange and hi-bass to prevent your tone from getting lost in a dense guitar mix, with some extra grit when you want to switch it in... and no risk of it all blending too much because you're effectively running the separate signals into two separate cabinets! Use the footswitches to play around with different combinations....This rig will give you that coveted tone, bit will cut thru any mix and not get lost... and the whole thing should cost you well under $1000!!
(Make sure you familiarize yourself with GAIN STAGING.. there are some great threads on it)
** This thread is intended to assist younger players and / or players looking for an inexpensive rig solution and whom play metal styles. I've tried to condense a lot of topics as applies to these folks and put them all in one place. IMHO / IME / FWIW etc all apply. Please refrain from disparaging commentary**
(If you're just here to find out how to get an amazing "metal" rig on the cheap, skip to the bottom)
First off I'm no one special. I played in several touring metal bands, one of which was lucky enough to have a record deal and get on some major tours. I'm a fingerstyle player, and was lucky enough to have a steady source of income outside of music, which allowed me to explore lots of gear.
So let's get into it. Most of the questions asked here TB can be narrowed down to a few seemingly simple issues;
PROBLEMS:
- "I've found a tone I like, but I can't hear myself in a mix / at practice / live"
- "My amp isn't loud enough... do I need more watts, more speakers or both"
- "When I add distortion or overdrive my sound looses bass and definition"
- "I can't afford the rig / gear I need to be loud enough and sound good"
1) So you've spent hours tweaking your tone at bedroom volumes or thru your amp's headphone out, and you finally get everything sounding KILLER. Fast forward to practice / rehearsal... and you can't hear a note, no matter how loud you get. The problem is your EQ. Before you rush out and buy gear understand this: That killer scooped-out all-bass & treble, no-midrange tone sounds great on it's own... but remember that's how your guitarists might also be EQ'ing and your drummer's kick drum lives in the low-bass region too... you're never going to be heard. You need to add some midrange content. If you're using OD or distortion, try adding some upper midrange. Try adding a LOT. If you're using a clean tone, try adding in some lo-mids, around 300hz. Try it during practice. Suddenly you will hear yourself, and your tone will sound just how you wanted!. Avoid adding too much bass. If you're practicing in a small room, move your amp into a corner. Then you stand in another corner. Suddenly you'll hear TONS of bass. This has to do with room acoustics. Remember your bass is pumping out soundwaves as low as 40hz... that soundwave is almost 30 feet long!! Ever wondered why, when you go to a big concert the subwoofers are set closer to the stage or underneath them, while the mains speakers are closer to the audience? This is part of the reason.
2) Almost all guitarists use 412 cabinets, or at least a 212 combo. Most bass combo amps can't get loud enough to compete with these at practice volumes. A 100w 1X15 simply isn't going to cut it when competing with two 100w 2X12's, no matter how you EQ it. Most of the problem comes from mechanical challenges encountered when amplifying low frequencies. Think of your speaker(s) like a motor. The motor's job is to create sound pressure waves by moving the speaker back and forth in a linear fashion. To create lower frequencies, this back on forth motion happens more slowly than with higher frequencies, and, depending on the speaker, has a greater range of motion (XMAX) than guitar speakers. To accomplish these goals requires a lot of power. If there isn't enough clean power, the speaker will have a difficult time completing this back and forth cycle smoothly, or will "fart out". The magnet will literally "let go" of the speaker cone instead of maintaining a tight grip on it. This is sometimes a desirable trait in guitar cabs and is called speaker breakup. For bass this is almost always bad. So to create the same Sound Pressure Levels or overall volume as a guitarist's rig, you need a lot more power and at least as much speaker. When choosing a combo amp or amp and cab separates... first go for an amp that has as much clean power as you can afford. Match it with a speaker cabinet rated for anywhere between 80% and 100% of the amplifier's rated RMS output into that load (ohms). A big misconception is that a 1000w amp will blow a cabinet rated for 500w. Although this IS a possibility, remember your amp is only producing 1000w for very brief periods, and only if you're turned all the way up all the time. You need lots of clean power. Select a cabinet with as much speaker surface area as possible. A 410 has DOUBLE the speaker area of a 115, even though the box is often the same size. If you're using distortion or heavy OD and your speaker cabinet has a tweeter... turn the tweeter OFF. Compression drivers (the most common form of tweeter in bass cabs) do not like distortion and nearly always sound bad when fed it.)
3) An age-old problem. Distortion leads to bass sounding thin below 120hz. This is due to both increased midrange content (harmonic distortion) and the fact that many pedals simply dont do a good job of it. The Sansamp BDDI was one of the first overdrive / distortion effects that did a good job dealing with this, and has lead in part to it's immense popularity. Other great choices include the MXR M80 DI and the Darkglass pedals. There are lots of great pedals out there, but remind yourself that you may simply need to re-EQ your setup once you add this effect. If you're using LOTS of distortion, you're going to want to find a pedal with an integrated NOISE GATE. You will also benefit from the addition of a Compressor. Compression is, IMHO, the most used, least understood signal processing tool in bass. I could do a whole thread on it, but many other have already done so, and better than I ever could. Check out TB user BONGOMANIA's many posts on the topic, and check out his amazing reviews page at www.ovnilab.com
4) Good gear is expensive and with Amps (far more than basses IMHO) you really do get what you pay for. You can buy a REALLY great import bass for $600, and you can also buy another bass made in the exact same factory, made with the same materials, using the same components but with a better name stenciled on the headstock for $1,800. But Amps are another story. At one point my live touring rig had more than $5,000 worth of gear in it and I still wasn't happy. Here's how assembled a much better sounding rig for cheap. (prices shown are used prices not accounting for condition)
- Sansamp BDDI - $70 - Plug your bass right into this.
- MXR M80 DI - $50 - Take the parallel out (dry / unaffected) from your Sansamp BDDI and plug into this.
- Power Amp - $300 - Any used PA Power amp with at least 500w per side at 8ohms each. Carvin makes GREAT power amps that can be gotten for well less than three bills on the used market. Take the DI (XLR) outs from both pedals and plug into each side of the power amp.
- Ampeg SVT810 - $500 - As long as you don't care about cosmetics these can be had very cheap. You can run these as two separate 410's, plug your power amp outputs into the separate top and bottom inputs.
Now you effectively have a 3-channel amp with three different tonal possibilities.... Channel A is bassy, ballsy and has plenty of upper midrange and treble cut... Channel B fills in the lower midrange and hi-bass to prevent your tone from getting lost in a dense guitar mix, with some extra grit when you want to switch it in... and no risk of it all blending too much because you're effectively running the separate signals into two separate cabinets! Use the footswitches to play around with different combinations....This rig will give you that coveted tone, bit will cut thru any mix and not get lost... and the whole thing should cost you well under $1000!!
(Make sure you familiarize yourself with GAIN STAGING.. there are some great threads on it)
** This thread is intended to assist younger players and / or players looking for an inexpensive rig solution and whom play metal styles. I've tried to condense a lot of topics as applies to these folks and put them all in one place. IMHO / IME / FWIW etc all apply. Please refrain from disparaging commentary**
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