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basses for filthy, nasty tone
- Thread starter Wayner
- Start date
I can get a pretty raw, slightly overdriven sound out of my Ibanez Musician bass, particularly when I use more of the big humbucker pickup at full volume, with more mids and bass on the EQ. Oh and especially if I play with a pick, right above the humbucker.
G&L L-2000. The pickups are so hot that they will overdrive anything. I have to turn the volume and/or bass down on mine just to get a clean tone.
Seem to remember playin an old gibson eb someting that had a fuzz tone switch built in - that really dirtied up tha sound...
Ash/Maple P bass, preferably a 70's, also Guild B-301 or B-302. Those guilds are cheap, big sounding, and really ganky when you play with a pick (I mean that in the nicest possibly way).
Martybass said:
My brother has an oldish Gibson Les Paul bass, and it is clean, big, and very warm sounding. Not nasty at all IMO.
oh a'ight then. I think it was in 'Bass Guitar' mag, the issue with the 100 tips from the pros or something like that. Anyway, the Blur Bassist's tip mentioned him switching to an old short scale Gibbo LP that he has now come to call the 'bad mofo' because it was so dirty sounding etc. etc.pickles said:
Also, I suppose cranking the Bass on the preamp and soloing the neck pickup helps dirty up the tone.
Rickenbacker -- no doubt about it. To me, no other bass comes close in producing that filthy, nasty tone you're describing.
I can get mine to sound super nasty. In a good way.
That's why I've held on to mine since 1987 (along with sentimental reasons). No other bass produces the same gritty growl, IMO.
I can get mine to sound super nasty. In a good way.
That's why I've held on to mine since 1987 (along with sentimental reasons). No other bass produces the same gritty growl, IMO.
I GAS after a Rick because of the stereo outputs. I biamp, and a stereo bass would cut down on the need for an ABY box.
And, they can sound pretty damn ugly.
And, they can sound pretty damn ugly.
Heh. Well, to me, nasty tone comes from the amp, rather than the bass.
A big exception I noticed is a bass I once owned that had an onboard Furman parametric preamp. When the battery got low, that preamp made an awesome farty tone. I asked a local tech about a way to modify the amount of voltage coming from the battery but he looked at me like I was crazy so I didn't pursue it.
A big exception I noticed is a bass I once owned that had an onboard Furman parametric preamp. When the battery got low, that preamp made an awesome farty tone. I asked a local tech about a way to modify the amount of voltage coming from the battery but he looked at me like I was crazy so I didn't pursue it.
I attribute my nasty tone to my tube amp and cranking the gain on my preamp. My bass is a Schecter SB1 with EMGs. I'm also able to change the amp settings and get a nice clean sound as well. The bass is always set with all knobs turned all the way up.
