7 band EQ vs DI bass Pedalt

[Josue Romero]

Hello everyone
Hope you are doing great,
I have the following question, looking forward for some advise to me to get a good sound.
I really enjoy playing slap, actually my sound goal would be to sound like this.


I recently get my Fender Jazz bass player series, so I got advised that a good compressor and a EQ would allow me to get a sound like that, so I got my MXR compressor and a Boss EQ pedal (GEB-7)... ( Additional to this, I know fresh strings would be like the best practice to play slap or having a good tone).

I used this configuration for Slap.
Guitar > Compressor > EQ pedal > Interface

However, I just did not get the sound I wanted when recording... finding it without that punch I wanted...

So, looking in the internet, I could find these devices the "D.I" pedals, for example a Sansamp driver. It's my understanding that my pedal comparing the D.I. pedal would be basically the same, being both a kind of "pre amp" ????

But.... In your experience, is there a big difference between a D.I pre amp compared with my 7 band EQ connected to my interface???


In your experience, what would help me to get the sound I'd like to get?

Please, all the help would be really appreciate it!!

Thank you!!

Regards.

 

[hbabels]

Well you're setup is going to sound very clean. A preamp has more going on that transparent EQ curve. Something like the Sansamp is emulating the curve of an amp and speakers which rolls off lows and highs at the extreme ends and then there's a curve in the middle combined with any grit or drive you dial in that cops the sound of amp and speaker breakup. This can also add a bit of natural compression and something good like the Sansamp responds to dynamics cleaner when played soft and and little more breakup and grunt as you dig in harder.

the example does have some Subtle character & "grunt" to the sound to it so I'd say adding something like a Sansamp VT Bass DI or Bass Driver DI would
Help you achieve this. I wouldn't ditch your current EQ & compressor they might be helpful combined. So long story short I think the right character type / amp simulating preamp Like a Sansamp would help you achieve this sound.

Another option since you mentioned yite plugging into an interface would be an amp sim plugin. Brainworx makes some great Ampeg sims , there's a Good Sansamp emulation that I think is free or very low cost floating around. Also look at Neural DSP B7k ultra plugin it is fantastic sounding and can do much more than the typically darkglass overdriven sound.
Line 6 Helix Native is also monster for bass if you want something more full featured with complex routing and FX

 

[Josue Romero]

Well you're setup is going to sound very clean. A preamp has more going on that transparent EQ curve. Something like the Sansamp is emulating the curve of an amp and speakers which rolls off lows and highs at the extreme ends and then there's a curve in the middle combined with any grit or drive you dial in that cops the sound of amp and speaker breakup. This can also add a bit of natural compression and something good like the Sansamp responds to dynamics cleaner when played soft and and little more breakup and grunt as you dig in harder.

the example does have some Subtle character & "grunt" to the sound to it so I'd say adding something like a Sansamp VT Bass DI or Bass Driver DI would
Help you achieve this. I wouldn't ditch your current EQ & compressor they might be helpful combined. So long story short I think the right character type / amp simulating preamp Like a Sansamp would help you achieve this sound.

Another option since you mentioned yite plugging into an interface would be an amp sim plugin. Brainworx makes some great Ampeg sims , there's a Good Sansamp emulation that I think is free or very low cost floating around. Also look at Neural DSP B7k ultra plugin it is fantastic sounding and can do much more than the typically darkglass overdriven sound.
Line 6 Helix Native is also monster for bass if you want something more full featured with complex routing and FX

That was just an outstanding response!!! Thank you very much, it was just only lack of knowledge the reason I got the EQ first. I've watching reviews from what I can do with it and investigating the kind of sound the DIs can give and I guess getting the Sansamp VT Bass DI would be like the best approach for what I want!

Thank you very much for the guidance I really appreciate it!!

Just take a look on this review and the sound quality is excellent:



Thank you again!

Regards.

 

[hbabels]

That was just an outstanding response!!! Thank you very much, it was just only lack of knowledge the reason I got the EQ first. I've watching reviews from what I can do with it and investigating the kind of sound the DIs can give and I guess getting the Sansamp VT Bass DI would be like the best approach for what I want!

Thank you very much for the guidance I really appreciate it!!

Just take a look on this review and the sound quality is excellent:



Thank you again!

Regards.

You're welcome. Yeah the VT Bass DI is great with a wide range of tones under the hood. Can't go wrong there.

 

[silky smoove]

That video, from a frequency perspective is a whole lot of content from about 120hz and down to near the fundamental of the E string, around 40-50hz. It may extend all the way up to around 200hz as there's definitely some "woofy" sounds in the lower midrange. There's a big scoop in all of the boxy mids around 350-700hz. It's got a big wide boost in the lower portion of the upper mids, I'm guessing the 1-2khz region, and then not much way up top. It's also compressed fairly aggressively with a moderately fast attack (the transient still comes through, but not by much), slow release, a moderate ratio, and just enough gain reduction to make it sound as consistent as it does.

All of that is important, but what really matters are three things for that tone:

1. Fresh roundwound strings
2. Having the string action be set low enough to induce some rasp from the frets
3. [most important of all] Player technique. She's fingering near the bridge pickup with a fairly heavy attack, but not an uncontrolled finger swing. Just solid fingerstyle that leans a little bit towards popping without getting all of the way there. You'll find this referred to as "digging in" by a lot of folks. Her slap technique is very controlled and near the end of the fretboard.

I hear no audible distortion aside form the raspy sound that comes from digging in with fresh rounds on a low action bass. It also doesn't hurt that she's mixed WAY out in front of the band. No live or record release would sound like that, simply by virtue of mix levels.

 

[seamonkey]

I'd say to go guitar -> Interface
Focus on your playing and record.
Then, put compressor and EQ plugins on the track and focus on the "tone" and while listening.

The EQ and compressor are no so permanent doing this. You can easily do multiband compression which is very nice for techniques like slapping.

You can also add a VT Bass by putting it in the interface loop - aka "re-amping"

And make sure you listen and adjust the tone in a mix with other instruments.
A lot of time you spend focusing getting the tone right is best done in a mix.

 

[Josue Romero]

That video, from a frequency perspective is a whole lot of content from about 120hz and down to near the fundamental of the E string, around 40-50hz. It may extend all the way up to around 200hz as there's definitely some "woofy" sounds in the lower midrange. There's a big scoop in all of the boxy mids around 350-700hz. It's got a big wide boost in the lower portion of the upper mids, I'm guessing the 1-2khz region, and then not much way up top. It's also compressed fairly aggressively with a moderately fast attack (the transient still comes through, but not by much), slow release, a moderate ratio, and just enough gain reduction to make it sound as consistent as it does.

All of that is important, but what really matters are three things for that tone:

1. Fresh roundwound strings
2. Having the string action be set low enough to induce some rasp from the frets
3. [most important of all] Player technique. She's fingering near the bridge pickup with a fairly heavy attack, but not an uncontrolled finger swing. Just solid fingerstyle that leans a little bit towards popping without getting all of the way there. You'll find this referred to as "digging in" by a lot of folks. Her slap technique is very controlled and near the end of the fretboard.

I hear no audible distortion aside form the raspy sound that comes from digging in with fresh rounds on a low action bass. It also doesn't hurt that she's mixed WAY out in front of the band. No live or record release would sound like that, simply by virtue of mix levels.

Thank you very much for the detailed response! I've heard in the past "more or less" what do the frequencies affect in the sound, but this was a great explanation! thank you for taking the time to explain all of this! Will definitely take it in consideration next time I'm recording something!

 

[Josue Romero]

I'd say to go guitar -> Interface
Focus on your playing and record.
Then, put compressor and EQ plugins on the track and focus on the "tone" and while listening.

The EQ and compressor are no so permanent doing this. You can easily do multiband compression which is very nice for techniques like slapping.

You can also add a VT Bass by putting it in the interface loop - aka "re-amping"

And make sure you listen and adjust the tone in a mix with other instruments.
A lot of time you spend focusing getting the tone right is best done in a mix.

Thank you very much! Yes! I used to use the amplitube effects and the results were outstanding,however my computer is quite old haha and everytime I had to run the pluggins it got stcuk lol, so I'm just giving it a try with the analog pedals so that I will give a break to my computer, but either way thank you very much for the recommendations!

 

[pravus]

Listening to the video I immediately thought of Ibanez basses using the Bartolini Mk1 preamps. After checking the Altelier website it looks like their basses do use active preamps and they even offer Bartolini as an option so that's probably 80% of what you are hearing.

As others have suggested I would start hunting for a pedal/preamp by watching YouTube videos. I'm sure there are quite a few more, but three that come to my mind are the Aguilar ToneHammer and the Darkglass Microtubes X and B7k. They all kind of do a mid-range punch without losing clarity in the lows or highs.

Happy hunting!