Bass tone help needed

[nickt2001]

Hi Talkbass,

My name is Nick from Australia, long time lurker first time poster... My current rig is an Ibanez SR305 >>> Sansamp RBI >>> effect return of a Gallien Krueger 1001RBII >>> Warwick 4 Ohm 6x10...

Problem I'm having is getting the tone I'm after. I can't seem to get it to sound how I want no matter how much EQ'ing I do. I play in a melodic metal band with layered guitars etc and am after a slightly gritty, dirty, distorted tone kind of like a more subdued version of the In Flames Come Clarity tone...

I bought the RBI with the intention of achieving this but so far have had no luck. Does anyone have any ideas? Failing that, I'm looking at getting an additional pedal, maybe an Ashdown Lomenzo Hyperdrive or MXR M80..


Thanks in advance,


Nick.[/B]

 

[LSMFT6]

Maybe send the RBI into the front of the GK so that you have both preamps to play with? You'll get a lot more gain and control that way.

 

[nickt2001]

I originally had it set up that way but sounded far worse?

 

[sadasar]

By an ebs head haha I kid I kid. For a slightly dirty sound but retain your tone which is what I run i use a phat phuck b into my rat king. But that is a little on the expensive side and with fuzzrocious being a one man and wife show could take some time to get the pedal.

It might sound crazy but the other thing I do as I play a sound gear bass as well is on the pre I roll off some of the treble and it helps a lot. I have the sr 506 so not far away in terms of sound.

I know you said you have tried numerous eqings but maybe try running the amp flat as can be and doing everything through the RBI.

I also play with a pick which lets me dig in a little more. Hope anything I've said in my ramblings help.

 

[jcburn]

Hey bud - welcome to the forum - I don't think the MXR M80 will do what you want.
2 pedals you might want to consider - Aguilar Agro and Darkglass B3k.
I use an Agro for the sound you are after, and even though it doesn't have a clean blend it loses no bottom end, but can do a low drive/grindy tone just fine. It can get very wild too if you want. I would use that into the inmput of your GK.
The Darkglass I dont have experience with but the demos on Youtube sound great.

 

[sadasar]

Hey bud - welcome to the forum - I don't think the MXR M80 will do what you want.
2 pedals you might want to consider - Aguilar Agro and Darkglass B3k.
I use an Agro for the sound you are after, and even though it doesn't have a clean blend it loses no bottom end, but can do a low drive/grindy tone just fine. It can get very wild too if you want. I would use that into the inmput of your GK.
The Darkglass I dont have experience with but the demos on Youtube sound great.

+1 on the agro I forgot about that one. They are usually easy to find in the classifieds for good deals but beware once you buy 1 thing in the classifieds you don't ever leave. Welcome to the forums BTW.

 

[FaithNoMan]

Hey bud - welcome to the forum - I don't think the MXR M80 will do what you want.
2 pedals you might want to consider - Aguilar Agro and Darkglass B3k.
I use an Agro for the sound you are after, and even though it doesn't have a clean blend it loses no bottom end, but can do a low drive/grindy tone just fine. It can get very wild too if you want. I would use that into the inmput of your GK.
The Darkglass I dont have experience with but the demos on Youtube sound great.

I've owned both. The B3K is more cutting, while the Agro is just a good-sounding distortion. Some good sounds actually from the Agro are the last Dub Trio album. I connected with the B3K better, but only because I like the tones of early Billy Gould of FNM - it just has that grind up top I love.

 

[Azure Skies]

I've found that getting that tone is tricky with standard pedals and cabs. A lot of equipment is made to sound good solo so that when you try it out it blows you away, but in the mix it's not so stellar. That's usually what I attribute to scooping, which all of the gear you listed (and some of the recommendations) does to some degree or another. What I would recommend is possibly getting rid of the Sansamp, bosting your low mids (~120 Hz) and overdriving only the upper mids (~2kHz). I find this is attainable by blending my signal with a Rat pedal of some variety. With this setup, albeit somewhat complicated, I can nail the classic grit tones while still cutting through beautifully. Keep in mind the Rat pedals typically invert your signal, so if you blend them back together, you need to be able to flip one of the signals 180 degrees to blend properly. This is typically how a lot of the studio sounds are made...a lot of routing and EQing. Rarely is it a one trick pedal or amp. Many of the sansamp sounds and the myriad of effects following it's path seem to sound too "glassy" and scooped, no real girth. IMO, of course.

 

[BassDbler]

I've been a big fan of a blend control/box. I had JHS make me a pedal which had this as a feature (they've since added a separate blend box to the line). In essence, this lets you go from 100% effect (distortion) to 100% clean. I use a ton of effects and this keeps some of my clean tone throughout.

If you're so inclined, building one of these yourself is simple.

 

[DeltaPhoenix]

I would say B3K as well.

 

[lemongrenades]

Sadasar mentioned that Fuzzrocious would be a bit of a wait as its a small company. However, let me share. I just got the BDPG and it is amazing. I tried the tone hammer two days ago, ive owned the VT bass, Rusty Box ,M80, SansAmp BDDI. Bottom line, the BDPG is the best sounding pre-amp I've ever owned. And you could use it as an OD as well. Deal with your sound for two months(average wait time) and then you won't need to worry about your tone again. Really man, I can't stress it enough. If you wanna keep tryin pedals out, go for it, but they all fall short compared to the BDPG.

 

[Stretchhh]

I can second the fuzzrocious BDPG as I received mine the other day and it is cut throat, so much balls and control it kills every I have. I run a lot of pedals but that is my favourite now and I wish I had another two on my board. If you opt for a stamped it should take a matter of weeks otherwise painted can take up to November.

 

[sadasar]

I can second the fuzzrocious BDPG as I received mine the other day and it is cut throat, so much balls and control it kills every I have. I run a lot of pedals but that is my favourite now and I wish I had another two on my board. If you opt for a stamped it should take a matter of weeks otherwise painted can take up to November.

I'll second or 3rd in this case any of Ry's pedals I still need to order the BDPG.

 

[nickt2001]

Thanks for the massive response guys, thought I'd address some of your replies...

Maybe send the RBI into the front of the GK so that you have both preamps to play with? You'll get a lot more gain and control that way.

Probably the only thing I hadn't tried was cranking the GK preamp (and the bass itself) in to the RBI. This gets me closer to what I'm after but is still a way off...

It might sound crazy but the other thing I do as I play a sound gear bass as well is on the pre I roll off some of the treble and it helps a lot. I have the sr 506 so not far away in terms of sound.

Tried this also and seems to improve things, thanks for the tip!

Hey bud - welcome to the forum - I don't think the MXR M80 will do what you want.
2 pedals you might want to consider - Aguilar Agro and Darkglass B3k.
I use an Agro for the sound you are after, and even though it doesn't have a clean blend it loses no bottom end, but can do a low drive/grindy tone just fine. It can get very wild too if you want. I would use that into the inmput of your GK.
The Darkglass I dont have experience with but the demos on Youtube sound great.

I went and watched some videos on both and they sound face meltingly awesome! Very much the sound I'm after.

Sadasar mentioned that Fuzzrocious would be a bit of a wait as its a small company. However, let me share. I just got the BDPG and it is amazing. I tried the tone hammer two days ago, ive owned the VT bass, Rusty Box ,M80, SansAmp BDDI. Bottom line, the BDPG is the best sounding pre-amp I've ever owned. And you could use it as an OD as well. Deal with your sound for two months(average wait time) and then you won't need to worry about your tone again. Really man, I can't stress it enough. If you wanna keep tryin pedals out, go for it, but they all fall short compared to the BDPG.

Will have to check this one out on Youtube tonight, also sounds very interesting. I have an old Turbo RAT at home but it seems to have a few issues, I can only seem to get high pitched squeals out of it... I'm thinking the Fuzzrocious would be worlds ahead of even a pristine example though...


If I had the $$$ I'd probably buy all three pedals mentioned and see which one I like most with my setup. Until then I'll do some more research and pick one that seems to best fit what I'm after. I will end up keeping the RBI too as it does so many other tones so well... Thanks again fellow TB'ers!

 

[Stretchhh]

I definitely suggest the BDPG by fuzzrocious first then when you get the cash go get a rat tail or OSD to place behind it, you have endless options with the BDPG so it will do you justice until you can afford more. This is coming from someone who owns every fuzzrocious pedal besides the rat king.

 

[FaithNoMan]

Sadasar mentioned that Fuzzrocious would be a bit of a wait as its a small company. However, let me share. I just got the BDPG and it is amazing. I tried the tone hammer two days ago, ive owned the VT bass, Rusty Box ,M80, SansAmp BDDI. Bottom line, the BDPG is the best sounding pre-amp I've ever owned. And you could use it as an OD as well. Deal with your sound for two months(average wait time) and then you won't need to worry about your tone again. Really man, I can't stress it enough. If you wanna keep tryin pedals out, go for it, but they all fall short compared to the BDPG.

From your suggestion, I'd imagine the sound the OP is looking for is not a "cutting" overdrive at all.

This pedal sounds the opposite of the B3K or Rusty Box. Every clip I have listened to with overdrive, it sounds sorta tubish and flatulent.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

As a huge In Flames fan, I can tell you that the ONLY time I could ever hear the bass clearly was on the tracks 'Evil in the Closet' and the breakdown of 'Embody the Invisible'.