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Effects for heavy music without a guitar???

father of fires

father of fires

Commercial User
Nov 29, 2006
5,363
4,771
BALTIMORE CITY
Disclosures
Chief of Medicine at Damnation Audio
#1
I was doing some thinking about a solo bass tone that would work for a guitarless metal-type project I've been thinking of.

My initial thoughts are to use a fuzz into a chorus and then a noise gate for an always on tone. Should I look at octaves or delays instead? I plan to have a mix of fast riffing and slow doomy parts.

I'm thinking of trying to get away with a single amp and one big cab instead of multiple rigs.

Thoughts?!?
 
#2
I have seen this done a few times, and it never really works well IMHO.

If you are going to go at it, you will need something in the guitar range, be it a POG, Unibass, Pitchfactor, whatever. Point is, even with fuzz and chorus, you will be missing something, and it will not sound right.

I would do a tri amp setup. 3 amps, 3 cabs. Amp one, clean or synth, amp 2 fuzz/distortion amp, and amp 3 octave up with dirt.

This way, you can get a solid clean running, and then silence the octave up parts and still have your distorted tone.

With one amp, you could do a series of Boss LS-2s or get some sort of looper/splitter to split then combine, but it'll get crazy hazy.
 
#5
Is this for that drum and bass pv/doom band?

Fuzz and chorus is really all you need. Personally, I'd just use fuzz. The chorus works for a lot of bands, though. Then again, I don't go for something that mimics a guitar as well. When I go for drum and bass, I go for loud, fuzzed out bass and a heavy-handed drummer.

MORS does it well in their two-man stoner/doom band. If you're playing faster pv-style riffs, I can see why a guitar sound would be beneficial.
 
#9
Lets see if I can answer most of the questions.

Checked out Castrovavla. Cool stuff. Pasty Fat White Guys representin'!

I don't have any crazy pedals, that must be Demon.

I had joked about a Doom/Grind band in the Stoner/Doom thread but I'm just looking for a musical outlet because my main band moves kind of slow (with good reasons).

I would love to sound like Jared Warren without all those f'n amps.

Maybe I should just get a B3K and a fEARful.
 
#12
If you are looking for a good example of how to fill up sonic space, listen to how the Black Keys do it (live) with guitar, drums and voice.

Assuming you are playing bass, singing and have only a drummer... I'd look at looping, MIDI, and sequencing. You can keep the "technology" simple, but still open up options for your self. A little synth goes a long way.
 
#18
Death from above 1979 pulled off the massive sound with only bass and drums better than anyone I've seen (lightning bolt being the close second).

I'd stay away from octaves and all that, I did it back in my two piece instrumental math rock band and it just never worked quite right.

The trick really is, good riffs and big sound. You might not need the wall of stuff Brian Gibson uses, but a couple of amps might not hurt (even two smaller rigs that are nice and full sounding). Perhaps eq them each a little different to get more range.

If I were doing this again my chain would go bass > rat (clean blended) > fuzz (not clean blended) > delay (because I really like delay) > ab/y > 2 amps

Being able to switch between the rigs also adds a nice dimension to the overall feel of the band.

I'd stick with one base tone for my overall sound and the an accent pedal for louder parts. Sometimes simplicity is key.
 
#19
Ron Now said:
Death from above 1979 pulled off the massive sound with only bass and drums better than anyone I've seen (lightning bolt being the close second).

I'd stay away from octaves and all that, I did it back in my two piece instrumental math rock band and it just never worked quite right.

The trick really is, good riffs and big sound. You might not need the wall of stuff Brian Gibson uses, but a couple of amps might not hurt (even two smaller rigs that are nice and full sounding). Perhaps eq them each a little different to get more range.

If I were doing this again my chain would go bass > rat (clean blended) > fuzz (not clean blended) > delay (because I really like delay) > ab/y > 2 amps

Being able to switch between the rigs also adds a nice dimension to the overall feel of the band.

I'd stick with one base tone for my overall sound and the an accent pedal for louder parts. Sometimes simplicity is key.
Click to expand...

I like the switchable amps idea. That could add a lot of dynamics.

DFA1979 sounded great when I first heard them. I did eventually get tired of his tone. It was bit but too synthy for my me. I think the key for them was that the songs were pretty good.

My all time favorite is Morphine. When I first heard them, I thought is was a 7 piece band with minimalist arrangements.

Anyone know how to write for bari sax?

Ok...so...I think I should start with good riffs first. Then fill in the holes.
 
#20
Ron Now said:
Death from above 1979 pulled off the massive sound with only bass and drums better than anyone I've seen (lightning bolt being the close second).

I'd stay away from octaves and all that, I did it back in my two piece instrumental math rock band and it just never worked quite right.

The trick really is, good riffs and big sound.
Click to expand...

+1

great band, but some snyth filled them out
 

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