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Good FX for goregrind - heavy fuzz & distortion

SystemsCreation

Inactive
Dec 17, 2010
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Hi all,
Been a bassist for about 20 years and recently got a gig with an extremely heavy goregrind band. I have been through more FX and boutique equipment than I know what to do with, but I figured I'd ask for opinions in people who are more versed in the genre than me....

What are some good old-school FX for heavily detuned goregrind, deathgrind, etc? I started by pulling out some of my old collection of DOD pedals and the supra distortion and classic fuzz sound pretty trashy (in a good way) It's what the bassist from Mortician played with a few weeks ago when I saw them. Should I whip out some of my boutique overdrives, distortions, fuzz, etc?

Any other recommondations? It could be boutique, cheap, doesn't really matter. Just wanted opinions from people who know how to kick out the devastating heavy lows I need for this style of music. Thanks!
 
I've been using my black sovtek big muff with the tone at about 9:00 and it is serving pretty well in this metalish band I'm doing. It keeps the low end and has some good growl without mixing too much with the guitar in a bad way. I used to listen to a bunch of razorback records bands a while ago and I think it'd fit well. They're pretty cheap on ebay.
 
Tech 21 XXL Bass Edition. This is a high-gain, rape-and-pillage, scorched-earth, nuclear destruction distortion pedal in a purple box. At the right settings, you can kill elephants.

Boss ML-2 Metal Core (no, really. it sounds very sick)

Boss HM-2/HM-3 (same thing, HM-3's tend to be about $30 dollars used, HM-2's about $45. G.C. Green of Godflesh used an HM-2.)

EHX Metal Muff. The one with the Top Boost.
 
For big setups:

3MeatGrinder.jpg


For smaller ones:

meat-grinder-gun.jpg
 
if your takling about tones like Exhumeds, Gore Metal Then the tone is Clean through the Amp with a DI'd Gain pedal.

but for those parts like in my inhumane slaughter house, or any buzz heavy id go as far as saying any boss pedal that has the word metal in it..

you can acomplish this studio thang inline by going LS2 with the gain in one and a graphic eq with all the mids and treble ripped out in t'other..

heavily scooped eqs and "metal" pedals are probably THE two commonly occuring effects in goregrind..

i tell you what, not goregrind related but what the hell.. i got the double disk The Berzerkers Self titled album.. and it has isolated tracks from each song on the bonus disk and the bass for burnt is SICK..

in the intro he tells you that the sound was a death metal pedal into a di and a peavy black widow 18 it was mental..

shame the bass is completely inaudiable on the album..

but it forced me to put a digitech death metal in my chain.. after putting the orignal and bass track together to see what it sounded like, took 30 seconds on acid pro..

so i bought one! and at £35 a bargain and it sounded better (although it doesnt have the options of the boss) than the metal zone and metal core.. which where twice the price..

hope this helps
 
if your takling about tones like Exhumeds, Gore Metal Then the tone is Clean through the Amp with a DI'd Gain pedal.

but for those parts like in my inhumane slaughter house, or any buzz heavy id go as far as saying any boss pedal that has the word metal in it..

you can acomplish this studio thang inline by going LS2 with the gain in one and a graphic eq with all the mids and treble ripped out in t'other..

heavily scooped eqs and "metal" pedals are probably THE two commonly occuring effects in goregrind..

i tell you what, not goregrind related but what the hell.. i got the double disk The Berzerkers Self titled album.. and it has isolated tracks from each song on the bonus disk and the bass for burnt is SICK..

in the intro he tells you that the sound was a death metal pedal into a di and a peavy black widow 18 it was mental..

shame the bass is completely inaudiable on the album..

but it forced me to put a digitech death metal in my chain.. after putting the orignal and bass track together to see what it sounded like, took 30 seconds on acid pro..

so i bought one! and at £35 a bargain and it sounded better (although it doesnt have the options of the boss) than the metal zone and metal core.. which where twice the price..

hope this helps

Yup. Recipe for the bass getting totally lost in the mix:
1 tbsp scooped mids
3 cups layered electric guitars
a pinch of double-kick pedal
 
if your takling about tones like Exhumeds, Gore Metal Then the tone is Clean through the Amp with a DI'd Gain pedal.

but for those parts like in my inhumane slaughter house, or any buzz heavy id go as far as saying any boss pedal that has the word metal in it..

you can acomplish this studio thang inline by going LS2 with the gain in one and a graphic eq with all the mids and treble ripped out in t'other..

heavily scooped eqs and "metal" pedals are probably THE two commonly occuring effects in goregrind..

i tell you what, not goregrind related but what the hell.. i got the double disk The Berzerkers Self titled album.. and it has isolated tracks from each song on the bonus disk and the bass for burnt is SICK..

in the intro he tells you that the sound was a death metal pedal into a di and a peavy black widow 18 it was mental..

shame the bass is completely inaudiable on the album..

but it forced me to put a digitech death metal in my chain.. after putting the orignal and bass track together to see what it sounded like, took 30 seconds on acid pro..

so i bought one! and at £35 a bargain and it sounded better (although it doesnt have the options of the boss) than the metal zone and metal core.. which where twice the price..

hope this helps

Really good advice, thanks. I'll have to check out that Berzerkers album

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions guys.... I have many of the mentioned pedals and it seems to be getting me in the ballpark. Like I said, many of my boutique pedals actually sound TOO good to be used for the raspy, mud puddle, grumbling buzzy lows I need so I think I'm going to turn to a setup with old DOD and boss pedals.

By the way, some of the bands that we're taking a cue from is Funeral Rape, CABT, Lividity, Last Days of Humanity, Gut, Regurgitated, etc... extremly detuned bass and guitars with gargling vocals.
 
DOD Death Metal and Boss Hyper Metal are pretty cool because they have an insane amount of gain and EQ knobs that can help keep the low end solid. The green Big Muff is also cool but lacks EQ (still sounds massive). I haven't tried the newer ones. As awesome as these pedals are, I never use them because I don't play heavy music.
 
I don't care how mean you guys want to sound, but from a musical standpoint a clean detuned bass guitar will thicken your band's total sound so much that you'll want to go and write a song about raping a fence post with the fist of a dead rodent. You will, I promise.
 
I don't care how mean you guys want to sound, but from a musical standpoint a clean detuned bass guitar will thicken your band's total sound so much that you'll want to go and write a song about raping a fence post with the fist of a dead rodent. You will, I promise.

Oh it will sound better thats fakt.. but wont sound like others in the genre. =). i rarely play goregrind i mostly play reggage and funk. but i like how this thread is naming all my favorite pedals. grotty bass lossy distortion pedals FTW. but most people dont have my sub...
 
Interesting....can you explain about the mods further? I'm very familiar with the BBM but not about the modifications. Where can I get them and what do they do?

Ask and ye shall receive:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=713891

The volume mod makes the pedal usable in dry mode and the feedback mod increases the gain and gives chaotic noisy feedback as your notes fade out as found on the Supercollider Beast. Putting the BB before it gives it the kick up the ass it needs to turn it into a high gain snarling monster whilst giving you a bit more flexibility with more tonal options at your feet.
 
Tech 21 XXL Bass Edition. This is a high-gain, rape-and-pillage, scorched-earth, nuclear destruction distortion pedal in a purple box. At the right settings, you can kill elephants.

this man speaks the truth.

the guitar edition was made because guitarists wanted LESS gain. and that is a researchable FACT.

nasty, nasty pedal. the type of pedal that gets coal for christmas.
 
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