Budget stoner/doom sound?

[massivHE]

Hi folks,

I've been around the Forum for a while now and was mostly searching for threads about fuzz pedals and octavers.
I couldn't find any thread which covered my needs although I am now pretty certain that I'll need a Fuzz and an Octaver + some kind of preamp to model an amp
I have an Harte A100 kickback, which is a great combo, but pretty clean and kinda "boring"
I play mostly a peavey NTB 4 grind bass (although I've got a couple other basses now, but it was my first Bass and i kinda love it)
I tried a big muff but couldnt get the sound I was looking for.

I've been playing bass for almost 10 years now, but always played clean in alternative rock bands, and am looking for some more heavy style sounds.

I'd love to start with "cheap/affordable" stuff, to see if I am skilled enough for good stoner sound with a powerfull bass. And if i really like playing it as much as listening.

Thanks in Advance.

edit:

forgot to mention, I bought that behringer BDDI clone cuz cheap af and thought it would be good for trying.
also own an source audio manta envelope filter with a hot hand (did some live drum and base things with my band, used it for wobble sounds and synth)
and some cheapish donner boost which can overdrive a little. (wobbles have to be hard and a lot louder than main baseline ^^)

Ps.: excuse my bad english, I live in Austria^^

 

[Swimming Bird]

What you have alread is a great place to start. The Manta should be able to get you some pretty classic doom/stoner sounds and add in some subs plus the Behringer box can give you some grind.

 

[massivHE]

I was more or less just able to get some synthy fuzz sounds.
--> "pendulum fasten your seatbelt" bassline and some sick wobble stuff.
I know that it has a gated fuzz, but wasn't able to get some doomy sounds.... maybe i should retry it with the Behringer to boost the bass and gibe it some xtra grind (manta, since it is digital, does limit the volume pretty hard and has some kind of low end loss imo)

 

[Nunovsky]

Mosky Black Rat and Kokko Phaser

 

[BioDriver]

Any of the green Russian muff variants will do the job quite nicely. Way Huge Russian Pickle, EHX Green Russian, etc. They all sound completely different than the NYC Big Muff and are much better suited for bass.

Also, octave pedals will help darken your tone and add low end. The MXR M288 Bass Octave Deluxe is great for this and can be easily found used under $100 USD.

Ultimately, though, if you want to go the doom/stoner/sludge route you’re gonna need to eventually change to a tube amp - SVT, Orange AD200B, Mesa, etc.

 

[grillman]

I think you already have everything you need to play stoner except a loud mean amp. No pedal will get you there completely.

For the synthy thing a lot of stoner guys use the EHX bass balls. Mooer does a cheap clone of it. Sounds decent.

 

[massivHE]

thanks for your replies gus =), so I'll have to get a bigger amp... gonna be tricky considering that I am living in a flat xD.
Buuuut, I thought thats what the preamp is used for. to emulate a mean ballsy tube amp.

In Case you are wondering which tone I admire to acheive:

I saw them live once, and since them I am in need for a Fuzz.
Also their Bass had some heavy punch. I think I felt it a lot more than that I heard it (if this sentence makes any sense in english language). I know that that is common for Rock.
but i am every year on the Nova Rock festival in Austria, and I am pretty sure that this bass had more punch than almost anything else I ever heard (except slayer, they are in general loud..)

this is btw the sound my band makes at the moment:


I need another, more heavy project

 

[gfen]

Buy a cheap overdrive pedal, a EHX Green Russian or Sovtek Deluxe, and a wah. OD to wah to fuzz. Lots of different sounds, just mix and match the different pedals being on. Replace the wah with a flanger or phaser if you want.

Any big amp should work. A beat up old Peavey and some ratty 115s will do you fine.

Go nuts, and swing on by this thread.

 

[massivHE]

thank you for the input,
the linked thread is just tooo f**** big to read through all that.
what I have right now is:
* a rowin booster (an rc booster clone I guess this is an ooverdrive)
* a Behringer sansamp bddi clone
* a soundblox manta (gatet fuzz with a phasers and envelope filters)

so fx chain would be: rowin -> manta -> bddi clone?

 

[gfen]

so fx chain would be: rowin -> manta -> bddi clone?

Yes, even if it's not a fuzz or whatever, yes.

You can stack dirt pedals, sometimes they sound better in one direction than the other. Experiment.

The modulation sounds muted if it's clean to mod to dirt, it's dramatic if it's dirt to mod to amp, but it's *really* dramatic if it's dirt to mod to dirt.

Again, if you were going to invest in more stuff, I'd probably add the aforementioned EHX Green Russian or a DOD Carcosa. Both are under $100, common as common can be, and sound punishingly heavy. Maybe you don't have to. Maybe your current tool box works, and I suspect there's less super heavy bass fuzz in this music than you think, the bulk of it is just driven tube amps.

Good luck.

Edit:
Let me just go through your OP line by line instead of doing real work:

although I am now pretty certain that I'll need a Fuzz and an Octaver

I don't think you need an octaver at all, a casual straw pole in the S/D thread a few months ago didn't really turn up people using them. I mostly had a little space left in my pedal board and figured I'd see what people where into.. surprisingly, it wasn't that.

+ some kind of preamp to model an amp
I have an Harte A100 kickback, which is a great combo, but pretty clean and kinda "boring"

Other than not being loud enough when playing with other people, it may really not be too bad. Sometimes it's about just finding the right EQ settings, and using an always-on drive pedal to provide the tube grit.

Furthermore:

forgot to mention, I bought that behringer BDDI clone cuz cheap af and thought it would be good for trying.

There's your pre-amp pedal, and a fine way to add always-on grit. It's a clone of the Sansamp VT, which is in turn a clone of the Ampeg SVT. That's about as doomy as it gets.

I play mostly a peavey NTB 4 grind bass (although I've got a couple other basses now, but it was my first Bass and i kinda love it)

Passive basses are pretty common, it's all Sabbath worship at it's core, innit? That's pretty much the sound right there.

I tried a big muff but couldnt get the sound I was looking for.

Curious as to which Big Muff? I had (still do) a Big Bass Muff (the square case with green front) and it never sounded good until I learned you could push it with another drive pedal (in my case, it sounded great with a Creation Audio Holy Fire or a DOD 250). I don't use the BBM anymore, but that extra drive brought it to life.

It went from a flat, sort of muffled (as per the name) sound to a much more dynamic, heavy, beast when it was driven by the OD.

I've suggested the EHX Green Russian or DOD Carcosa a few times, I actually have the Carcosa and have little reason to pursue another fuzz pedal because, frankly, it's so damned good for so little cash and is really flexible. The EHX Green (again, I suspect you're a bit wary here due to your other Muff experience) is highly reknowned, and the real green Russian Muffs are the ones all the clone makers copied for decades now.

I've been playing bass for almost 10 years now, but always played clean in alternative rock bands, and am looking for some more heavy style sounds.

I'd love to start with "cheap/affordable" stuff, to see if I am skilled enough for good stoner sound with a powerfull bass. And if i really like playing it as much as listening.

It's really less equipment than you think, armed with a bass and your BDDI you're 90% of the way to most of the music you'll want, anyways. Obviously, those last few percentage points are where it's fun to explore, and things like a heavy, crushing fuzz or swirling flter sweeps are where you'll find it, but, again, this is all really just Sabbath worship at it's core and you'll be able to ape that classic sound with your passive four stringer and that BDDI.

also own an source audio manta envelope filter

I'm not as experienced as some of these guys are, I mostly noodle in my spare time to relax, but my pedal collection is like 90% drive pedals, and pretty much the only thing I used that aren't was a wah, a phaser, and an envelope filter (and to be fair, the phaser and envelope are one unit, and when I added them I mostly replaced the wah with the envelope filter). I said earlier I slot the modulation between two dirt pedals to really enhance and give me some options.

I recorded some really rough examples, but take a look at this post for what it sounds like to stack drive pedals and a modulation, you can use your Manta as a filter (or phaser) in lieu of the wah pedal, obviously, like I did in this post. There's another post here which is slightly different (and back to the wah), but again shows off some of the sounds when you stack all this stuff together.

Just experiment with what you have a bit before you go throwing money around, you might be surprised... and again, you don't need $400 darkglass pedal to pull this off. A cheap Joyo OD and a good fuzz pedal will set you up perfectly. Once you learn if yo enjoy it you can pursue boutique pedals and walls of amps.

 

[jwr]

I'm going to suggest a Duality. I play active bass and the Duality can get plenty doomy/stoner for me.

That being said, the options are pretty endless. You have EMG's right? That's going to be the hardest thing to get past IMO. EMG's are soooooo freaking hot sometimes that they just don't play well with effects in my experience.

Something cheap you could try is the TC Rusty Fuzz. It can clean up for note clarity and also be muddy. I dig it.

 

[massivHE]

You can stack dirt pedals, sometimes they sound better in one direction than the other. Experiment.

you are damn right, with the "always on" tube grit emulation and the overdrive (rowin bast booster is kinda overdriven if you crank the gain up) and the manta (its kinda fuzzy, although not a rel fuzz) it sounds pretty doomy. but I'll have to experiment with the envelope filters and the different types of drives on the pedal.

both chain variants have been fun:
booster -> manta -> bddi clone
manta -> booster (od) -> bddi clone

drive types:
1.Clean – an even, clean sound with a hard clipping distortion when DRIVE knob is set to maximum.
2. Soft Clip – an even, warm sound, best for subtle DRIVE settings.
3. Octave – a bright sound, adding extra clarity to the higher register.
4. Fold – a more aggressive sound, that accentuates bass and treble.
5. Double Fold – an even more aggressive sound, that further accentuates bass and treble.
6. Gated – very aggressive and present sound with a quick cutoff to the sustain.
7. Quantize Min. – aggressive and present, with fuzzy noise generating accents.
8. Quantize Max. – aggressive but warmer than Quantize Min, with less noise generating accents

on page 18 you can see the different filters and fasers n stuff, this pedal has too much possibilities.. death by choice it is.
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thanks for the help and the support =). I'll have to experiment a lot with the pedals that i already have before I buy new ones^^.

 

[happycamper]

Mosky Black Rat and Kokko Phaser

I have both of these and can confirm they kill.