Exactly. This is why I'd never recommend a P bass to someone 'wanting to play metal', because you just might realize you need a bridge pickup to cut through guitars... and then you don't have one. It works for IM because their tone doesn't have a lot of punchy low mids guitar wise, and it works for BS because their tone hasn't got a ton of low end. Enter modern metal guitar tones, and you need a bridge pickup to cut through. If you really want the P sound, PJ can take the cake, especially one with a humbucker size J (those things are actually great for metal, be it modern or vintage).
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Fender Squier P Bass for Metal?
- Thread starter Occulta19
- Start date
Exactly. This is why I'd never recommend a P bass to someone 'wanting to play metal', because you just might realize you need a bridge pickup to cut through guitars... and then you don't have one. It works for IM because their tone doesn't have a lot of punchy low mids guitar wise, and it works for BS because their tone hasn't got a ton of low end. Enter modern metal guitar tones, and you need a bridge pickup to cut through. If you really want the P sound, PJ can take the cake, especially one with a humbucker size J (those things are actually great for metal, be it modern or vintage).
What about all those people who say a Precision sounds so good in a band mix? Are they not playing heavier music?
You beat me to it. Also ,Bob Daisely, Duff, Frank Bello, and the list goes on. Keep in mind that regardless of who plays what live, alot of recordings are done with a P-bass. It's the bass in which all others are compared to.
The strat comment is also a little off base.
What about all those people who say a Precision sounds so good in a band mix? Are they not playing heavier music?
It can sound good for heavy music and it can work for some things, but it's absolutely not the best for this job, and I see no point in offering an instrument which is inferior for one specific context. That being said, there really are some people who need to rethink their religious views in relations to the P bass... It's one of the worst bandwagons we have here on TB. P is mostly 'good' because it's 'recognizable', if you need more clarity, snappier attack, a more balanced tone across the fretboard, fatter D and G... well... Sucks for you. If you need a nice and thumpy tone or have a 'pick and grind' rock context, it's obvious it's gonna work. Wherever guitars dominate those thumpy and punchy low mids, the P becomes undesirable since that's the range it excels at. Not to mention Ps are also often used because the engineer got lazy.
Also, why is the strat comment off base? By strat I mean your typical vintage SSS strat. Not gonna work all that great in metal and especially not in modern metal. If anything, it's an inferior tool for the job. The same goes for the P, the position of the P pickup is WAY off in relation to the modern metal tone.
Frank Bello plays a PJ. So does Duff. A PJ is actually desirable in modern metal context. Bob Daisely? What has he played that was really heavy? He also tends to use a PJ on occasion, as well as some short scales.
Why don't you ask Alex Webster if he'd play a gig with a precision? The whole point of my first post was that getting a P to play metal could be one of the worst moves possible for this genre because if you ever get into the situation that you need a bridge pickup you'll be baked, and if you play any modern/fast stuff, you will need it. I don't care about people saying that P is the most recorded bass in history. Ask Andy Sneap how many times he's recorded a P bass in the modern metal context and why he hasn't.
Not to mention that it's sorta more important what people use live. Why? Well, this guy is more likely to spend more time playing or trying to play with other people. His needs will be more alike to what people use on stage than in studio.
In reality, there's a great number of things for which the P works, a nice number of things at which it excels and metal in general is not one of these. PJs do remedy this situation a lot, since parallel wiring takes out some of the lows, and bridge pickup adds some snarl into the mix, making PJs work excellently.
You can play any type of bass in a metal band as long as you have some control over your eq and your guitarists have some understanding of where they sit in the mix. I have been playing Precisions forever, in all kinds of bands.
For metal , the kickdrum is the ONLY bass for metal.
I suggest a kickdrum mic-ed through a pitch-shifter , the pitch isn't as relevant as the movement.
Just keep pitching woo at that kick-drum and everyone will be sated.
I suggest a kickdrum mic-ed through a pitch-shifter , the pitch isn't as relevant as the movement.
Just keep pitching woo at that kick-drum and everyone will be sated.
Seriously though , your amp and speakers are much more important than bass choice for metal.
For amps and cabs some money must be spent , much less so for basses.
Good Luck and keep reading talkbass , lots of great advice here.
For amps and cabs some money must be spent , much less so for basses.
Good Luck and keep reading talkbass , lots of great advice here.
Last time I looked at the calendar, we were well into 2013... Thought I think it is important to mention that bass sounds terrible on that record.
I disagree. String choice, a pick and the right preamp and he'll be loud and present.
Alex Webster recorded the first two Cannibal Corpse albums with a P-bass. It worked for him.
Don't give me any cock and bull about bass not being heard or cutting through in metal. I can hear the bass on plenty of records, even when I listen to them on vinyl.
Don't give me any cock and bull about bass not being heard or cutting through in metal. I can hear the bass on plenty of records, even when I listen to them on vinyl.
It depends. On most of the Metal albums I have, the bass is barely audible even on a decent stereo *shrug*
It depends on the production. Pantera, for example, had pretty bad production in my opinion. All sounds very thin with little bass presence.
Kill 'Em All, on the other hand, had bass at a very nice volume (helped by Cliff using a relatively clean tone and heavy flatwounds). Mastodon albums also have good production, particularly their more recent efforts Crack the Skye and The Hunter. You might need to listen to an isolated track to get the bass sound, but once you get it you can pick it out pretty well.
EDIT: On that note, Troy often uses a Precision Deluxe.
