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How to achieve growly, zingy tone?

C

cheezmasta

Guest
Jun 30, 2011
6
0
Kingston upon Thames
#1
Can anybody help me get a metal-ish tone?
I'm after a gritty, growling overdrive sound without fuzz, just plenty of aggressive sustain.
I want to retain the low end and punchy mids, and add sparkly highs without them being harsh.
Like these:

I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get this kind of tone!
I've previously tried a Bass Big Muff, a ODB3, as well as a MT2 guitar pedal. I also have an envelope filter, if that's useful at all, please let me know.
I play a Jazz tuned BEAD through an Ampeg SVT CL and a matching 4x10 cab.
Any help is much appreciated!:)
 
#9
You could probably achieve this sound with the SVT alone but not unless you are running it hard enough. You might need the help of a pedal. The SansAmp pedals, BDDI, ParaDriver, RBI will all add the extra agressive tone without the need to blow out the walls with cranking the SVT.

Definitely boost your mids and presence to accentuate the overdrive of the amp.
 
#10
Im no expert, but i was having the same problem.Brand new roundwound strings sounded exactly how i wanted.Zingy,grindy,but i would lose the sound after about a day of playing and would be twisting the presence knob,treble knob,ect.And it didnt help that my 1001rb 2 didnt open up untill i had it cranked louder than i really needed it to be.I finally broke down and got a Darkglass B3K. I can now get a really great driven sound at lower volume and i can keep the bright zingy sound by engaging the ATTACK switch on the pedaland keeping the blend around 1 or 2 and the drive down around 8 or 9.Its not a fuzzy overdrive sound,just an aggressive bright grindy tone.I just kept the same strings on for three months as opposed to a week.I justify the price of the pedal by what im saving in strings..lol
 
#12
Mind you, I am not a metal player by any stretch but I was able to achieve this by using the preset from the Sansamp manual for the Bass driver called "Crimson". It's pretty convincing and if tweaked would get closer. I used that first track you posted as a reference since the bass was pretty clear up front. Someone that knows how to play metal should be able to get the right sound with the Tech21 BDDI.

I have to say that BK3 pedal, and even the BK7, look and sound pretty sweat. That new Vintage pedal coming out this year is also pretty sweat sounding. Metal players seem to be gravitating towards those 2 pedals so check them out.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
#17
cheezmasta said:
Can anybody help me get a metal-ish tone?
I'm after a gritty, growling overdrive sound without fuzz, just plenty of aggressive sustain.
I want to retain the low end and punchy mids, and add sparkly highs without them being harsh.

Any help is much appreciated!:)
Click to expand...
Thats the definition of a Spector. A Jazz is nice, but it's only going to get you just so much growl. Get your hands on a Euro strung up with nickle rounds. Come to think of it, just play any Spector and you'll see.
You can thank me later.
 
#18
Chipit said:
Thats the definition of a Spector. A Jazz is nice, but it's only going to get you just so much growl. Get your hands on a Euro strung up with nickle rounds. Come to think of it, just play any Spector and you'll see.
You can thank me later.
Click to expand...


You can customize a J bass to have plenty of aggression, too. Last I heard, Geddy wasn't having too much trouble with his.


Spectors sound good too, tho. I don't know about "zing", but my Ric has old SS roundwounds on it, and it has a treble bite I have not heard in many active basses. It's a very harsh high-end that I love while providing plenty of bottom.

I bet a B3K or a Rusty Box would give you all the top-end aggression you desire on that J bass though....with no other mods except SS roundwounds:)
 
#19
B3K is way too thin IMO to get that tone. That sounds more like a Stingray or a Rick tone with an overdriven amp. A B7K on the other hand could get closer. If you're going to go the pedal route, I'd look at a pedal like the Okko Basstard or one of the Swell pedals. Sounds more like that tone than the Darkglass.
 
#20
I was frustrated for a long time with tone and tried several basses, amps and pedals to get it.

I finally got the growl I wanted and then some with a set of TI Flats. Try some different types of strings if you can and see what they do for you.

A Sansamp helped a little too with that sound as did a VT and a BBE Sonic Stomp for clarity, but it was the strings that finally made the real difference.
 

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