How can I get this tone???

What a violent bass sound . First impression was bit like Jon Stockman sound in one of Darkglass Alpha Omega promo videos. Not the same but similar, maybe more oldschool tough. Notice that that wasn't bare pedal sound there but split signal path.

No idea how sound was made actually in German band's recordind.

 

I don't know about '84 how they did it. Jon's sound was split signal to studio pre after the pedal (DI) and second signal to amp after the pedal (jack out).

 

Check out the YouTube channel Rodney McG .He's the ipso facto metal bass expert.I had a question on a tone and he asked for a sound sample of my tone to help me attain what I thought impossible for me.He is a monster player and all around nice guy.

 

Maybe not quite these settings, but I'm guessing an Asgard v.2 would get close with enough tweaking.

 

To ME that sounds like an overdriven Ampeg Tube amp and a detuned bass.

Or if you want a pedal, check out the MAE Black Math:





And if that recording is from 1984, they could have quite simply used an old Big Muff:

 

May very well be Muff in one channel and clean bass in another to preserve the lows. Could've also been simply overdubbed on recording...

 

So, the bassist played P/J basses, Yamaha and ibanez.



Given the era, my guess is a Marshall guitar amp cranked. Found a live show and sure enough, looks to be a Marshall head on some bass cabs

 

If you like that bass tone you might like the album
Old Smoke by Barishi

 

From first listen, to me it sounds like an old solid state amp cranked up nice and loud, played with a pick. Probably judicious use of EQ as well. Pretty cool stuff !
Could also be a big muff in front for dirt, but my guess is something like a Sunn Beta Lead or Coliseum driving a couple of 15's.

 

Try a Boss Blues Driver.

 

I like it! This is good stuff! Mini-bass solo at about 6:00!

The key is definitely to try and maintain some semblance of lows while distorting the top. I would start by just experimenting with (cheap) distortion pedals. Actually, can you crank an amp or are you doing it at home or on headphones? That will make a big difference in approaches.

 

Funny I was also going to suggest a heavy fuzz with a clean blend. I say that because if it is a ramped up Tune amp that is great but it’s way easier to experiment with pedals. Blackhawk Amplifiers specializes in heavy pedals that function well with bass. The guy is super cool too. Ask him if he can help with the sound.

 

Ok bear with me here...and I have brought this up in other threads before, but it just might be the actual speakers in the cabinet that are making that unique distorted sound. Years ago, I had purchased a used Avatar 212 cab and had it shipped to me. When I opened the box and plugged in the cab to my Peavey T-Max head, it made the most amazing, dirty, shredded, metal sound I had ever heard....and its the same sound that I'm hearing in this clip!
I was both crushed, because that was obviously NOT the tone I was hoping for and knew immediately that the cabinet had been damaged in shipping, and excited as hell because the tone was crushing! And If I had been looking for the ultimate in metal bass tone, I would have kept it and learned the whole Type O Negative catalog!
Turns out, after removing the speakers/opening up the cab, the entire magnet structures had come loose/unglued from the speaker baskets, and had slid down to where they were both barely hanging on the backs of the speakers.

 

That is a MEAN bass tone. I like it.

 

That's a fierce tone, very prominent. I would say to use a distortion or fuzz with a clean blend or you could mix the two signals with a Boss LS-2. There's not a lot of treble in the tone but quite mid heavy. Maybe a blues driver/tubescraemer type pedal with the gain maxed.