Distortion on bass???

[dialtone]

I went to see 2 metal bands last nite. I noticed both did a sound check with distortion on there bass. But in the mix when playing it was hard to tell if they had it on or not. I am curious on how many people use distortion regularly on there bass. If so is it light distortion or heavy? I play clean but click on the distortion when I want it to sound dirty. I am considering playing with a light distortion now though,

 

[Nyarlathotep]

1) This should be in the Effects forum (come on over you'll have a blast)

2)...

I noticed both did a sound check with distortion on there bass. But in the mix when playing it was hard to tell if they had it on or not.

That is the inherent problem with distortion, especially in metal. It's eaten up by the guitars, especially when they double (or triple) the bass line

Ive really gotten away from effects over the last bit cus i want to hear the sound of my bass unobstructed so I can hear when something is wrong techniquewise. Distortions tend to cover up the freqs that betray technique problems. If I did get back in to the effect thing (which I prolly will after i get my 1st real powerful rig) I would like to get a blendable fuzz so that i could give the illusion of bass+guitar if there is only 1 guitar in the band and she/he is taking solo. Other than that I would also use it to get a better idea of how a line will sound live, especially when coming up with stuff away from a band.

Just my 2 cents

 

[TheInsane]

See I fint that distortion actually helps the bass to cut through the guitars of done right. Alot of metal bands use it and on my bands new cd (yet to be released) I used distortion and I cut through really well. I've been doing some shows with distortion recently and it works really well most of the time. One of the keys is to not do all out distortion. I mix it to about 30 % on my POD so that it sounds like a normal bass but with a cutting edge. I learned this from watching the extra DVD that came with The Haunted "dead eye" album.

This features teasers of the tracks off the "dead eye" album I spoke of:

 

[jcburn]

For my set up for my sound I run my pre gain on my amp at about 7 and use a BOSS ODB3 overdrive pedal to add what I call grit to my sound. I actually set the bass at 6, the treble at only about 1, the balance on full and the gain on nearly zero. If done correctly what you get is a great clean sound from the amp but just a little extra edge on your sound to help the lower notes cut thru just enough and creates that cool grinding sound on the lower notes that are indicative of Rex Brown for example. It tames the high end a little as well but add bottom end and depth which I find cool. I play metal, and while I dont want to 'override' the sound of the guitars I like to be heard as well as 'felt'.

 

[not_jason]

My entire effects chain is an MXR M80 into a Big Muff.

When I used to run the Big Muff alone, I usually had one of two things happen:

A: I ran it about the same level as my clean signal (or slightly louder, regardless, at a level that seemed appropriate during sound check), but since it cut out the low end, it made me fall out of the mix when I turned it on.

B: I ran it unreasonably loud compared to my clean. This did the job of keeping me in the mix when I turned it on, but the added volume was just plain absurd for certain applications.

Since I added the MXR, I keep the Big Muff at it's loud setting (B) and use the MXR for a lighter distortion with the clean blended in. With the MXR, I get a very slight volume boost, with some dirtiness on top. It's such an effect that when I'm in a mix with loud guitar, it's very difficult to hear the distortion, but when the guitars cut, it's clear as day. It's an interresting effect if used well, and it can be good to give the music a little extra drive without being ridiculous.

At this point, I hit my Big Muff maybe 3 times in a set, and it's on for maybe 2 minutes total. It's a bit much, at the level I like to run it at, but sometimes my music just needs a squeal of microphonic feedback followed by an obscene burst of pitchless fuzz. It's beautiful.

 

[heroincredible]

Strange, I saw 2 metal bands soundcheck with distortion only to not hear it when they were playing. Mind you, I couldn't hear the bass for one band, but the other guy (Nick Cates) came through loud and clear (his bass didn't sound distorted, sounded gritty with a lot of mids). That was pretty sweet, but what was even better was his stage presence. Holy smokes! If you ever get a chance to, check out 3 Inches of Blood live. Dude is all over the stage, fists pumping, singing along, has 3 different bass faces. That and the music is awesome.