Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
I need some more growl
- Thread starter jaybones
- Start date
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
There are two types of Growl that I know of. High end slightly scooped growl like a Jazz bass, T bird, Ric, and Stingray. Than there's the pure midrange growl of a P bass.
Growl is subjective, but to me it is more the bass than the amp/fx.
For me GROWL=Wenge Neck
Say, a Warwick Thumb I used to have groooowwwlleed, my Elrick Wenge GROWLs no matter what amp I play with.
Warwick Thumb = Growl
P-Bass = Thump
Jazz Bass = Scooped
For me GROWL=Wenge Neck
Say, a Warwick Thumb I used to have groooowwwlleed, my Elrick Wenge GROWLs no matter what amp I play with.
Warwick Thumb = Growl
P-Bass = Thump
Jazz Bass = Scooped
You may be on to something here.. My Streamer (laminated wenge/maple neck and wenge fretboard) growls like it's going out of style, esp when playing the (Bartolini) bridge pu and boosting mids a bit on the amp. Yehaa!
Never thought it may have something to do with the Wenge..
Regards
Mark
+1 on the GK.
Jazz bass with rounds and the neck rolled off a bit into any of the RB heads with the boost and mids up = growl
Jazz bass with rounds and the neck rolled off a bit into any of the RB heads with the boost and mids up = growl
I'll have to agree with that GK growl as I own both the 400 and 800RB's, but if that's not an option the source audio OFD is simply amazing, you can get overdrive, fuzz and many more tones, and they are reasonably priced at $150 new...and my OFD is the last man standing after trying numerous pedals, yes, its that great!!
Well I started out with a 'Stedman Pro' P copy, then on to a J, both with a Combo 300. I played my Carvin through it too and it has soapbars so there's lots of fun to have with the noise from those too. So let me give you a suggestion from that experience.
There are some amps that will give you tubey type sounds. These Peaves are the exact opposite. You can get a little grindy noise from pre/post gain controls but the amp itself will give very little 'growl' character on its own. Also considering the age, it can be kind of difficult to get true clarity; if you can clearly hear the difference between the different settings on the j pups as you blend them, then yours is clearer than mine when I got it. Some of these may be just as good as they were back in the day but most have been put through hell.
My first pedals were Monoprice OD/dist pedals. They did make a huge difference. So you don't have to spend a whole lot to get noise out of it, but I would not start buying expensive pedals to make that rig better unless you were going to buy the pedal anyway.
There are some amps that will give you tubey type sounds. These Peaves are the exact opposite. You can get a little grindy noise from pre/post gain controls but the amp itself will give very little 'growl' character on its own. Also considering the age, it can be kind of difficult to get true clarity; if you can clearly hear the difference between the different settings on the j pups as you blend them, then yours is clearer than mine when I got it. Some of these may be just as good as they were back in the day but most have been put through hell.
My first pedals were Monoprice OD/dist pedals. They did make a huge difference. So you don't have to spend a whole lot to get noise out of it, but I would not start buying expensive pedals to make that rig better unless you were going to buy the pedal anyway.
As I'm sure you've noticed, everyone has a different growl recipe. As far as pedals, I love my ehx English muffin and sansamp BDDI.
Honestly though, my growl recipe is more about hot pickups into an amp that'll take that signal into nasty territory, try cranking that TKO as much as your comfortable and just laying into your strings. I like this solution cause its free!
Honestly though, my growl recipe is more about hot pickups into an amp that'll take that signal into nasty territory, try cranking that TKO as much as your comfortable and just laying into your strings. I like this solution cause its free!
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
- 16,223
- 7,613
- 76
- Disclosures
- fEARful Kool-Aid dispensing liberal academic card-carrying union member Musicians Local 72-147
Jazz bass. Rounds. Roll off neck pickup 30%. Cut treble on bass 30%. Play near bridge. Possibly cut upper mids on relatively flat amp about 50%. You will be growling in the official horn-like (Jaco) old-school way, IMHO. It is a clean sound, and mildly aggressive.
Growl is a mid notch AND a mid bump. Really.
IMHO and IME, a P-bass does not growl much. A bass with one or more pickups near the bridge will growl if EQ'd and played to do so.
For a pedal that enhances existing growl, I recommend an Aguilar ToneHammer DI pedal.
Growl is a mid notch AND a mid bump. Really.
IMHO and IME, a P-bass does not growl much. A bass with one or more pickups near the bridge will growl if EQ'd and played to do so.
For a pedal that enhances existing growl, I recommend an Aguilar ToneHammer DI pedal.
Last edited:
Are the waters muddy enough yet? My brother and I have come to the conclusion that:
Woof= front pickup of a Gibson EBO, EB-3, Epi Allen Woody, etc.
Bark= Jazz Bass, particularly the bridge pickup
Growl= Stingray, Thunderbird, probably throw the Rickenbacker 4001 in there as well.
Thump= Precision Bass, particularly, but not exclusively with flatwounds.
I don't know what adjective one uses to describe the early Single Coil P bass tone, with flatwounds, of course.
(Think: Dusty Hill, Tres Hombres era.) THAT tone is the Bees Knees. (Or whatever the kids are calling it these days.)
Fellow TBers, what do you call that tone? Your input would be appreciated.
Woof= front pickup of a Gibson EBO, EB-3, Epi Allen Woody, etc.
Bark= Jazz Bass, particularly the bridge pickup
Growl= Stingray, Thunderbird, probably throw the Rickenbacker 4001 in there as well.
Thump= Precision Bass, particularly, but not exclusively with flatwounds.
I don't know what adjective one uses to describe the early Single Coil P bass tone, with flatwounds, of course.
(Think: Dusty Hill, Tres Hombres era.) THAT tone is the Bees Knees. (Or whatever the kids are calling it these days.)
Fellow TBers, what do you call that tone? Your input would be appreciated.
I play a jazz copy and a gk 400rb with a 4x10 cab. The gk growls pretty good but i wanted a tad more. My zoom ms60b did the job. Made my own patch with the svt amp modeler using the 8x10 cab simulator and put thedb compressor in front of the svt modeler, then eq'd the gk flar with drive at noon.
I like the zoom, can make the gk clean for when im using a bit of delay or flanger or can get down right gritty with som of the dirt patches, never have to change any of my amp settings.
I like the zoom, can make the gk clean for when im using a bit of delay or flanger or can get down right gritty with som of the dirt patches, never have to change any of my amp settings.
Funny everyone mentions GK for growl when I usually have to de-emphasize the amps eq to get what I want. Most of my "growl" is my B3K, the Parametric Eq pedal, and my Ric. The GK800 emphasizes all the frequencies I dislike up top. 1k and 4k. I like 2-3k enphasized, and much prefer an old Peavey Mark series' eq. I do love my Eden 210 cab though.
I kind of feel like this maybe should be a sticky so everyone knows what everyone is talking about.
How about "Yarrrrrrrrrr" ?
