Metal Bassists

[kaba7a]

What's Joe Lester, then?

He's the Michael Manring of metal ))))

 

[Low Bow]

This guy has inspired me very very much. Some of you might remember him... His name is/was Rob alias Zodiakironfist. You will find him on Youtube. I like everything he did. Very talented guy who unfortunatelly died few years ago. Strong straight forward playing with attitude we all should have. Take a look his videos and you'll see how he ENJOYED (what should be most important thing) playin his Rickenbacker 4001 (and Schecter) I think he invented whole LivingRoomRockGod- thing
Maybe he was member of this forum.. I dont know..
Rest in peace Rob!

He's not reason for my bass playing, but huge influence anyway.

I love bass guitar tone. Simple as that. Thats why I chose bass instead of guitar. Kiss is reason for my metal path

 

[Killer Of Giants]

I've heard of them before, can't say I'm a big fan of the mixing, despite the bass-forwardness. It kind of gets into an opposite problem of losing a lot of heaviness from the guitars. That said, they're clearly stellar musicians, especially the bassist.

[ grew up in Connecticut that's where Fates warning started. Saw many of there shows back there!
OK I am going to throw out another CT band Anyone out there like Obsession?

 

[Obese Chess]

Second and final audition for a very big local metal band on Sunday. Metalcore with melodic hardcore and progressive elements. Brutal for an old-school punk player like me, especially trying to nail those 8th-note triplets at 200bpm.

Wish me luck.

 

[Killer Of Giants]

I've heard of them before, can't say I'm a big fan of the mixing, despite the bass-forwardness. It kind of gets into an opposite problem of losing a lot of heaviness from the guitars. That said, they're clearly stellar musicians, especially the bassist.

Nice Track! Now it all depends on what version of Obsession you listened to, There was the eighties version which I really like, The first was an EP called Marshall Law that could have been mixed better, then came a LP called Scarred For Life the one I like the most is Scarred For Life, the band broke up recently came back with a new lineup The songs are good. Mike Vescera Vocalist moved on to play with Yngwie Malmsteen and Loudness... Obsession has reformed a few years ago with a new line up check it out!

 

[xUptheIronsx]

[ grew up in Connecticut that's where Fates warning started. Saw many of there shows back there!
OK I am going to throw out another CT band Anyone out there like Obsession?

Fates Warning is my 3rd most favorite band behind Rush and Iron Maiden! I would have loved to have seen them in clubs etc. Igot to see them on tours from No Exit through Disconnected. I will have to check out Obsession.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Into metal??? You can check out free samples of our latest EP here. Let me know what you think

Red Sky Constellation - EP by Nephilym
Link Removed

 

[Stoom]

I find that my style of playing is a bit of blend of the styles I like listening to and have learnt. I started listening/learning Metallica and the riffs I was coming up with sounded very Metallicary. I've become a bit bored playing those sort of basslines and now I tend to lean more towards doomy riffs with a bit of Black Sabbath/Electric Wizard influence. I'm also influenced by Twiggy Ramirez's a lot, I like the raw and dirty sound on Antichrist Superstar and some of the less metally and groovier sounds on Mechanical Animals. I like Tool but I'm not really into the heavily technical and theorical stuff.

 

[Obese Chess]

Second and final audition for a very big local metal band on Sunday. Metalcore with melodic hardcore and progressive elements. Brutal for an old-school punk player like me, especially trying to nail those 8th-note triplets at 200bpm.

Wish me luck.

Nailed it. The value of showing up and doing the work.

Out of ten audition-ers (auditionees?) total who expressed interest, two of us showed up. I was the only one who had bothered to learn the setlist. The other guy was just a kid so it happens, but he was a little fuzzy on the two songs he did learn.

Show up and do the work. Just like my dad always said.

 

[Korladis]

The Metal scene has changed so dramatically, I am still stuck in the eighties lol, not the hair metal but the good poopie like Maiden Priest Ozzy and many more no disrespect to you drop tuners but this is what I grew up on.. steve harris and geezer butler taught me how to move my fingers fast without haveing to use a pick!

There's always been some down tuning in metal. Started with Black Sabbath, after all. I tend to like low tunings for slow kinds of metal, and E standard or not much below that for stuff that tends to be faster. Maybe that's weird, I don't know.

Indeed the change is huge!
Of course if it wasn't for guys like Ian Hill, Geezer Butler and Steve Harris there would be no Rex Brown, Dave Ellefson, Cliff Burton, Alex Webster...
I'm stuck there too (early 80s/90s), i'm not the biggest fan of the super low tuned multiscale extended range bands even though i'm pretty tolerant and open for different styles...I don't use the pick either as i love the feeling of when my fingers touch the nickle strings, and of course i love the tone produced when using my bare fingers

Most bassists I've seen in doom metal use pretty standard basses, even if they're tuned low. Fender Precisions and Jazzes, Rickenbackers, Gibson T-birds, the occaskional Warwick and so forth.

If i'm not mistaken death metal bands were the first to take seriously low tuning as a game changer, i think of Amorphis, Asphyx, Carcass, in addition to Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse who used 7 string guitars back in the day! And you are absolutely right about the gear which couldn't cope with what the guitarists tried to achieve at the time! Today there are crazy tight and clear amplifiers that can take 8 string guitars like a charm! But i admit that the lower it gets the more it bugs me ))) that is just me though...

Death metal bands adopted low tunings (after the vocal style, interestingly... early death metal was often not much below E standard), but Black Sabbath had already been using low tunings for a decade.

A lot of stoner/doom bands use lower tunings that might be more your speed. Less growling and break downs.
Are you familiar with High On Fire, The Sword or Cathedral?

Good recommendations. Electric Wizard, especially Come, My Fanatics through Dopethrone has some great stuff, too.

 

[Killer Of Giants]

There's always been some down tuning in metal. Started with Black Sabbath, after all. I tend to like low tunings for slow kinds of metal, and E standard or not much below that for stuff that tends to be faster. Maybe that's weird, I don't know.


Most bassists I've seen in doom metal use pretty standard basses, even if they're tuned low. Fender Precisions and Jazzes, Rickenbackers, Gibson T-birds, the occaskional Warwick and so forth.


Death metal bands adopted low tunings (after the vocal style, interestingly... early death metal was often not much below E standard), but Black Sabbath had already been using low tunings for a decade.


Good recommendations. Electric Wizard, especially Come, My Fanatics through Dopethrone has some great stuff, too.

Yeah Geezers tunings have been ever evolving listen to the 13 album Great album but wow!

 

[Obese Chess]

Okay guys, I've hit a snag.

My band tunes to drop-A and currently I am using an Ibanez that just can't hang with drop-A, at least not how I have it set up. There's one song where the main riff is a descending scale, ending like so:

G----------------------|
D----------------------|
A---10-9--------------|
E---------10-12-------|
A----------------10-12|

No matter what I do, I can't nail that last 10-12 on the low A without bending the poopie out of the string. That whole scale is bookended by 16th note triplets on the 7th fret, so it's a bit of a dance. The song is at about 188bpm.

Anyone have any tips for NOT BENDING THAT STRING until my Dingwall shows up? I just can't nail it at tempo no matter how long or intently I woodshop that riff. Similar issue with this riff is jumping from that 7th fret up to the 10th on the high A while keeping the low string quiet. I'm usually very good at muting my strings but I just can't even begin to think of how to nail this one.

The good news is this is the only riff in the set list that's given me any trouble.