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Basses with serious growl.

Don't know about in your price range, but my Stingray4 has growl by the BOATLOAD! Almost a little too much at times, which is why I plan to buy another 4 banger after I get a 5 string. Maybe you could check out OLP's?

A lot of growl lives in your fingers and where you pluck.

:confused: Not necessarily... some basses sound REALLY smooth and need offboard preamps or effects to dirty them up.
 
What he's saying is that hte location of plucking and how much fingertip vs. pad and nail will help create growl. I find that right near the bridge pick up with more fingertip than pad and a nail edge is where I get more growl... IME

So, you must discover your growl place.
 
I've got a few of the most often mentioned here, with a Jazz I just picked up, but haven't played live yet. I'll do that tomorrow though. My Warwicks so far have the most growl to my ears. That I am sure of. The SR5 has an edgy- burpy tone that borders on more of a overdriven tone...very nice. My Bongo5 HS will NOT growl like the others, and has a unique tone all it's own. I find it difficult to identify with the sound at times. I'm in the middle on that one. I wish I'd love it or hate it already so I can move on...It can also get a super clean tone, or chest thumping if you want. I have a feeling this Jazz (OK it's a Squier Affinity alright?) will do well, but won't be taking over my others 1st string spots.:bassist:
 
What he's saying is that hte location of plucking and how much fingertip vs. pad and nail will help create growl. I find that right near the bridge pick up with more fingertip than pad and a nail edge is where I get more growl... IME

So, you must discover your growl place.

Oh, my bad. :)

Well I play just past the bridge pup on my SR4, sometimes over it. Plenty of growl there!
 
P-bass growl is usually because the P-bass is overdriving a tube amp. By default, P basses don't growl much, if they do at all.

You need a pickup by the bridge to get that growly sound. Warwicks do it exceptionally well, as to G&L 2000 series. Any Jazz bass will get at least some sort of growl out of it.
 
I've reached the point where a subtle growl doesn't do it for me. I want my bass to snarl. To get that I use a line 6 bass pod and an ampeg head and my own custom built speaker cabinets with eminence 10s.

With my band I was using a peavey 4x10 cabinet. I had a decent tone. Plenty of low end and a horn for highs, but I couldn't get it to snarl like my cabinets do. Mine have no horns so I get a more organic sound.

For me Snarl is an aggressive in your face sound that combines growl and distortion. When I play a snarlly bass you HAVE to notice it.

A good example of Snarl is some of John Wetton's work with King Crimson.

:hyper::bassist: