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hey , need a new bass , need ur advice ;)

B

bass_ache

Oct 21, 2010
9
0
#1
hey all

i m goin to buy a new bass , i m playing death metal so my main factor is the quality of neck and how fast i can play on it , my second factor is of course the output sound and how the pick ups can handle the low end notes ,..
right now i have a ibanez sr3005 prestige series with bartolini pickups , the neck is (was!) comfortable for me but i m not that happy with pick ups , it s more a rock or progressive sound than metal ,
hope u got the idea what i m lookin for ,as for price i think i can go around 3000 or 3500 ..
now i m torn between Warwick Corvette $$ Double Buck Neck-Thru 5-String with Dual MEC humbuckers or Modulus Guitars Quantum Q5 with active EMG pick ups ...
i never played any of these 2 before and unfortunately the place i m right now don have those so i cant go and chekem out at stores , so till then what do you think ? which one is more comfortable with the style i m playin in ur opinion ?
and one thing i forgot s that i m not looking for that click click sound , i m looking something between John Myung from dream theater and Alex Webster from cannibal corpse ... so will MECs do the job or i should stick to EMGs ( i know it depends on strings , amps , etc etc .. but you got the idea , i m look for something between so alive and natural and modern sound )
thanks in advance ;)
 
#6
Replace the barts with hotter pups that also more get the sound your after. Barts are good but a bit weak output compared to some, same for their preamps. Your current Ibanez SR with active Emg pups and Emg preamp would be very good choice imo. Or the Seymour Duncan/Basslines equivalent.
 
#8
AFAIK Alex is playing Spectors (NS2). So that can be another option.

My choice would be a W :) Be warned though: their necks feel completely different from a SR's. At 3k+ I think you an afford most of their basses...I'd keep my eye on a Thumb NT, Streamer or Vampyre.
 
#10
thanks for quick replies guys ...
spaz21387 said:
Another whats the best bass for metal thread... search...
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believe me i searched , i search my A** off when it s bout buying new stuffs for music .. but i didn t find my answer ..all those threads r bout what to play 4 or 5 strings which strings , etc etc , i m playin bass in almost 8 years now , and those questions where solved for me , i know what i want m and what i m looking at , but i love to hear opinions from more exprienced palyers ;)
spaz21387 said:
Honestly theres no bass that cant do metal adjust your eq and you can get any sound you want
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that s not it , i tried several basses , i tried a cort a6 with bartolini pick ups too , i tried an ltd ( not w emg ) i tried a warwick ( not with that same EMC HBs ) tried several ibanez , but i didn t found the sound , i tried lotsa amps , from amp simulators to handmade tube amps ,anyway ...
I like the warwick tone but hate the warwick neck
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that s what i wanted to hear ...

Get a fretless with a piezo bridge....your sound will be unique.
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fretless s not a choice for me , i tried playin fretless , doesn t work for me ...
Replace the barts with hotter pups that also more get the sound your after. Barts are good but a bit weak output compared to some, same for their preamps....
Click to expand...
that s what came into my mind first , but my sr f*** up in accident lately,, i tried to repair it but it s not a same bass anymore , it s become abit aggressive ( the neck ) , so that s not a choice either ,,,
Steve DiGiorgio with a fretless Jazz on Death's album 'Individual Thought Patterns' is one of the most unique and good sounding bass tones in Metal, imo.
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yeah i love it too , but i don think that sounds good on todays modern distortion guitars ...
AFAIK Alex is playing Spectors (NS2). So that can be another option.
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i know .. but spectors are around 5k+ way outta my price range ...

so i maybe didn t reflect what i m trying to say , it s all about the neck feel and output sound , something between modern sound and the natural bass feel sound ,
modulus maybe a closer option for me , but i wanted to know ur own personal opinions about these two ...
 
#11
odin70 said:
Imagine this bass in a Death Metal setting!

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i like it , but i believe sometimes mixing 2 completely sound from different worlds is n t a right thing , u know it may be an innovate and seems exciting at first , but it will not last cuz we see it from a player or musician point of view and we may like it but it doesn t mean that the audience will make the same connection with it too ... that s my opinion ...
 
#12
and one important thing i forgot to say s , i play hard , u know i don feel that comfortable on my sr or on cort , it s like they didn t made those for that kinda playing , but i didn t feel that on LTD , i hope u know what i mean , it s more like ibanez or that cort was designed for smoother playing ... and i don wanna feel that way on my new bass ...
sorry guys i know my mind will not make up till i personally see and try these basses , but since i cant do it now , i love to hear others opinions till then ... it always helps too see what others have to say ;)
 
#16
I personally love the feel of a Warwick neck, but they're avery polarizing brand - some hate them (like the guy that posted earlier) and some, like me, love them. They're solid, sturdy, and IMO nothing is faster than an unfinished neck. Where are you located? Sounds like even a couple-hour drive to somewhere that has some instruments would benefit you greatly.

bass_ache said:
i know .. but spectors are around 5k+ way outta my price range ...
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Spector popped into my head as well. Nice growly sound and solidly-built. Poke around - there are plenty of US neckthroughs coming in around the mid 4s or lower if you really wanted one.

ysand said:
Spector Forte line is just for you, and within your price range :)

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Agreed. The overall look of the bass ight be right up your alley as well.
 
#17
bass_ache said:
and one important thing i forgot to say s , i play hard , u know i don feel that comfortable on my sr or on cort , it s like they didn t made those for that kinda playing , but i didn t feel that on LTD , i hope u know what i mean , it s more like ibanez or that cort was designed for smoother playing ... and i don wanna feel that way on my new bass ...
Click to expand...


I owned Ibbys, Corts, ESP, etc. So we had some sort of a similar esperience.

I switched from playing SRs & EDBs to Warwicks (a Thumb & a Vette - passive).

I don't think there are many ppl who can play/dig in harder than I do :) To me Ibbys didn't feel fragile at all - they do have that kind of look, agreed, but they can withstand some abuse too. My Wicks are quite the opposite - very sturdy contruction, heavy bulky bodies, but very sensible necks (mine need constant maintenance). At first I hated the W neck - and mind that I have the new shaped ones - very different from the Ibbys, but thing is: the more you play, the more comfortable & fast it gets. Now I find them to be very very very fast. I dont know about the older models (the ones ppl keep reffering to "baseball bat" type), but their new basses have a nice neck profile. I recently tried to play something on my Cort and it was a struggle, it was like the neck was trying to slow down every note ;)

So yeah, W tend to fall in that love-hate category, but the tone is well suited for metal because it sounds naturally aggressive no matter the model or the electronics. Even my fully passive Vette has a growly biting voice. And most of them can cut like a knife in a mix, they're really present without losing tone clarity and also without overlapping the same mid freqs as the guitars so there's no risk of mudding the band's sound. Plus these are built to work well with lower tuning and heavier string gauges (I was able to string mine BEAD without any nut adjustement for ex).

You really need to test more basses before deciding to stick to a specific brand/model. It's impossible to tell what will work in your case, after all you're not alone in a band and the final goal should be building an overall good sound, not just individually ( tell that to the guitard, right? :) ), which means you could be forced to make a compromise or two down the road. Good luck, whatever you decide!
 
#18
Forget actives or passive just go optical,
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otherwise active pickups is going to get more of the modern sound you seek. The whole click click sound you don't want comes with any bass, but it seems active are more likely to bring that out as well. most clicking is from the player style and poor EQ choices.
Most likely an active system will get you closer to that "modern" sound

Otherwise for aggressive hard playing , on a super smooth flat action modern neck. usually doesn't work for me. Going old school like Steve Harris or Cliff Burton and just use a Fender P or a Rickenbacker. Most likely not your style im guessing. I have just found personally that large strings and fast aggressive playing works better on older, high action style necks. which is really the complete opposite I guess , for what most think for using in modern death/grind/speed metal.
you know stuff like this=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHPBX9czbgs&feature=related

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#19
I used to play some Melodic Death Metal a while ago, and I used a Jackson Concert Bass with active EMGs in it (tuned down 1 step for playing Children of Bodom covers, tuned down two steps to play Arch Enemy covers). The EMGs worked well for the Death Metal setting - as they gave me a "consistent" sound - I also used a pick to play back then, and had an approach to bass that could be compared to Peter Baltes / Jason Newsted / Sharlee D'Angelo. If you are a pick player, I would go with EMGs as they can handle that fast attack very well, and although some say they may be a bit sterile, I found them to be well suited for the type of music.

Now, I am more into Iced Earth, Accept, Iron Maiden, Helloween type music. In my experience that metal always worked well with a P bass (especially with a very agressive approach).

Keep in mind that Alex Webster recorded the first three Cannibal Corpse album with a Fender Precision. He used his Modulus mainly live (since that bass is an unbreakable monster) and on the latest albums he used his Spector (as far as I know, he had the Spectro Euro 5 on Butchered at Birth).

Since a lot of guitars are heavily rectified (with usually two lead guitarsits) in death metal, I would say you would need a bass with strong Mids. A Spector Euro, a Warwick Vampyre, a Warwick Double Buck Corvette or Streamer can all handle that workload. I would look at those basses.

It all depends where you are honestly. If you are in the States, then a Spector or Modulus will be better deals, while if you are in Europe, Warwicks tend to have better deals. Also, another question is - do you use a pick or your fingers?

For a modern sound, active pickups is the way to go.
 
#20
I may have missed it, but I'm assuming you're looking for a 5er. If not, all my suggestions can be had in a 4. Personally, I'd look into:

Modulus Q5. Very nice neck, but not for everybody so try one out first. I love mine. The neck is very fast. It's got a punchy tone that is nice and modern. I've got Barts in it though...

Stingray 5. Again, very nice neck, fast, sounds great.

Warwick Thumb 5 or a Vette $$. I like the Thumb better. Very aggressive sounding if you want it to be, and it cuts right through. I find that the necks feel similar, but not exactly the same so I'd play before you buy. Some feel good and some do not. Mine is very fast, but it's also a baseball bat.

Sadowsky 5er in JJ or PJ. It's my main bass. They sound awesome, cut through the mix. The neck feels great and is very fast. You can find them used for a decent price if you look hard.

All very different basses, but each works very well in the setting you're looking for (as well as many others for that matter).
 

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