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Is my bass the limiting factor?
- Thread starter MassacreBass
- Start date
Bass doesn't really matter. Fresh strings 100% do. Preferably steel ones. You just don't get the highs you need from old strings.
I've heard this from a metal player:
Question - "What bass is best for metal?"
Mr Metal - "Yes"
Aside from technique, auxiliary hardware and strings, your setup should be considered.
You'll want a pretty straight neck, so that more aggressive playing gets some fret grind.
It's mentioned in the truss rod setup video by Dingwall, somewhere around 3:50:
Aside from that, you can get more grit by playing closer to the the bridge.
Question - "What bass is best for metal?"
Mr Metal - "Yes"
Aside from technique, auxiliary hardware and strings, your setup should be considered.
You'll want a pretty straight neck, so that more aggressive playing gets some fret grind.
It's mentioned in the truss rod setup video by Dingwall, somewhere around 3:50:
Aside from that, you can get more grit by playing closer to the the bridge.
On TB, asking if "your bass is the limiting factor" is a very loaded question and usually a cover for "can I buy something else?" Of course, the answer is always yes. Not sure of the specific tone you're chasing, but outside of some very unique tones (like a 12 string with octave strings), effects can make almost any bass sound like anything you would want it to.
Nonsense. To give two extremely high profile players using Darkglass pedals and arriving and wildly different extremes; Amos Heller, and Nolly Getgood. Their applications for Darkglass products sound exceedingly different. They're just tools for tone shaping. They only make things sound the same if you dial them in to do so. If that's a problem it's user error and not anything inherent to the pedals themselves.
I think the Darkglass stuff definitely imparts sonic characteristics, especially with driven high end, that people really love. I enjoyed owning a few myself. No matter which bass I used, there was that tone available via the pedal. Not using their pedals anymore, after a different sound but love their 2x12 cab to death.
Which pedal? The B series sounds nothing like the VMT series which sounds nothing like the AO series, which sounds nothing like the X series. Admittedly I hear a fair bit of overlap between the B and the X pedals, but the end result is still different. Include the Harmonic Booster , and even excluding the compressors that's nine gain-based pedals you'd have a hard time making sound like each other.
My experience has been primarily with Fender Jazz basses although my budget 5-string with dual pickups reacts the same way. If your bass has both a neck and a bridge pickup, dig into the strings directly over the bridge pickup and it should growl just fine. My first Jazz was a 1965 Jazz that I bought in 1966 and I discovered that more by accident than anything else. It was stolen in 1976 and in 1985 I bought my '82 Jazz with the all-maple neck and the 70's pickup spacing of 4" center to center. That pickup spacing puts the bridge pickup just shy of 1/2" closer to the bridge than the 60's and current spacing of 3.6" center to center. My '82 with the 70's pickup spacing and all-maple neck is noticeably brighter sounding than my '65 was and has better sustain to boot. It does growl more easily than my '65 did.
I run both volume knobs all the way up as well as turning the tone control all the way up. If you use an active bass, you may be able to just boost the treble until you like what you hear. My Jazz has the original pickups in it and my 5-string has the Jazz pickup in the neck position with large diameter poles and the double-bar humbucker, again with large diameter pole magnets in the bridge position. I generally run my 5-string in passive mode to avoid gain and level changes when I pull it out for a song, and I turn the pickup blend slightly towards the bridge pickup to get a good sound in passive mode. Digging into the strings above the bridge pickup instead of softly plucking them is what will generate the growl.
FYI, I use Eden and DNA amps, which have a clean, warm sound and a nice growl similar to your Eden Navigator preamp. If you want to add distortion or overdrive to that sound you'll need a pedal. But using that technique with my Jazz and my Eden and DNA amps will make it growl all night long. Give it a try and see if that helps.
The point is, that that is the point of pedals in general. They all have their own voicing, and impart it when in use. Some more than others. The tongue in cheek original quote was just a generalization about a certain type of sound associated with that company. Despite making all kinds of stuff, I think it's safe to say we all know the sound he was alluding to, which the company is known for.
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Yeah it was a joke and I'm sorry if any users were offended. I know they make a wide variety of pedals but there is a signature sound they seem to be known for. I saw someone play a Carl Thompson through one of them and it sounded indistinguishable from other players.
I think most of us got it, but it is also valid to play devil's advocate on topics too. Makes for good conversation/ reflection. I was kind of afraid the DG cab being voiced for aggressive top end, and the tweet definitely is capable of it but the cab is surprisingly hi-fi.
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