Heavy Metal Bass Sound!!!!!

well, i'm not sure effect pedals are "where its at" to sound like them, although maybe a boss ODB-3 might help, i'd say its more in the amp and bass and tuning combo to determine a sound like that...

 

first of all all those bands bassists have very different tones... but the ibanez is a good place to start... Like superbassman said the boss overdrive is a good place to start, if you want to dish out the extra money though and get a lot more versatility go for a Tech 21 Sans Amp BDI. it also helps to know what kinda of amp you have. Play with a pick, a nice thick dunlop Tortex works well, or a brain pick. Play close back to the bridge to get a more cutting tone like LOG, Slipknot, or hatebreed, or in between the pickups to get more of a Zombie or cradle sound (Dave from cradle uses a lot of blend) and listen to shadows fall for some good heavy metal bass inspiration. dial in some extra mids and highs to help yourself cut through the guitars (if you play with any right now) but make sure you don't dial out your lows to keep the rumble. You could try a guitar distortion or overdrive pedal but many times they will suck away your low end. so let me know wat kind of amp you're playing with and I'll see if I can help you some more

 

yeah digitech isn't the best especially not for bass... they are kinda flashy looking to be but don't do that much.. I say go for the boss if you can or if you really wanna step it up go for the sans amp BDI... are you playing in a band or anything yet?

 

Your amp will make most distortion pedals sound tinny.

 

have you tried the Hartke VXL?

 

+1 on the Sansamp Bass Drive DI. I have the programmable version -- let's me store three unique settings. It can add serious grit to your tone and help give you a non-distorted metal sound. I also have a Fulltone Bass Drive that I use for layers of overdrive/distortion. These aren't the cheapest pedals though. But they don't make my bass sound like a guitar either.

To really cut through, you're going to need a powerful amp. Generally, bass players' amps need more watts than guitarists'. I'd look for something that gives you a lot of tone shaping options in the Mids.

Obviously you'll have to upgrade in stages, depending on your financial situation. But if you kinda like your bass, I'd leave that for last. And I wouldn't bother replacing the pickups. They'll probably sound a lot better with a better quality, higher powered amp. Save the money for something else. Besides, when you do upgrade your bass, the pickups will probably be better.

Look into good quality used equipment -- see the classifieds thread here on TB. Good luck!

 

Ive got the 5 string version of his bass and everytime ive played, my bass has kicked everyone in the mouth with it's heaviness, its been played through a martin stack on those occasions, through my digitech bp8(Digitech ARE good for bass.) with a bassy but clear sound, bass quite high but mid and treb higher, im not a massive fan of treb though so i dont have it too high.

 

A Sansamp will work wonders for your tone. Try that...but i'd also start looking into a different amp/cab setup. Hard to reccomend anything without knowing your budget though. Probably an Ampeg rig would be the way to go.

 

As far as cabs go, look into Avatar Bass Cabs. I've heard nothing but good things about them, and they are pretty inexpensive. A 2x12" cab and a good head to match will shake the molars out of your mouth.

 

Regardless of the comparison to your guitarist's amps, You need the 'authority' in your tone that only comes from moving some air at low frequencies.

I know that some will say "don't bother with less than five-hundred watts.." or whatever, and that's not necessarily true (although it could be, between an inefficient cab and a loud drummer, for example - especially if one is going for a clean, 'hi-fi' sound). Ya'GOT-ta run at least a hundred watts, though! I mean for-sure, with any kind of rock; but Dude - you said 'METAL'! Metal, Man!!

How are you guys going to crush some skulls with only twenty watts of bass? Your drummer is probably pounding-out at least a hundred watts of power with every kick drum kick! You should at least try to be able to blend with that.

If I were you - before I invested in ANY basses or pickups or pedals - I'd be getting some AIR MOVED; you probably don't even KNOW what your bass or distortion pedal SOUND like yet!

You gotta be able to tickle the hair on your... uh - legs, before you know where your sound is even AT!

I'd go for a used Hartke head or something like that (I run GK, but still love the Hartke amp-sound!) for cheap, and get a new Avatar cab. Then you'll be ready to start crushing some skulls, as-is-proper for a metal band.

Joe