Modern bass or Jaguar for Doom/Stoner/Sludge

[Wakizashis]

Hi guys,
I am user of modern SRX400/BTB470 basses and I wanna ask if I could sound good with these modern basses for Doom/stoner/Sludge type of music. I like obviously Electric Wizard and similar "happy" stuff but used to play in black metal band only recently. I have found used Fender Jaguar (MIM I guess) which I dig a look a lot with P/J pup config and kinda thinking if should I pull a trigger if it will sound more genuine. Also some tip for some cheap fuzz is welcome. I have only MT-2 from the time I had only a guitar which is not ideal I guess. Using some "refrigerator" Ampeg with solid state head of same brand. Thanks for your opinions.

 

[JohnArnson]

My guess would be that the Jaguar with a P/J configuration would do the best job for your application.

And the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone is actually a great pedal, despite it's general reputation of being a crap pedal, you just need to spend some time dialing in the very powerful EQ that it features (boosting the low mids some and cutting a bit of the highs is the key here), which is what most people fail to do.

Dialed in right you ought to be able to get a good tone out of it, even if something like a Boss LS-2 to blend in some clean signal would to be preferred, and something like the Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz, which is a clone of the now discontinued Boss FZ-2, which again is based on the classic Univox Superfuzz octave fuzz circuit, would be a better option for a dirt pedal for what you want to do.

Don't be fooled by the cheap Behringer, it sounds absolutely amazing on bass and would be perfect for your application, even if it might not be of the most sturdy build quality.

In the meantime the MT-2 ought to be able to do a decent job though, giving you take time to adjust it just right.

The Behringer HM300 Heavy Metal, which is a clone of the now discontinued Boss HM-2, is worth to consider as well.

 

[Wakizashis]

My guess would be that the Jaguar with a P/J configuration would do the best job for your application.

And the Boss MT-2 Metal Zone is actually a great pedal, despite it's general reputation of being a crap pedal, you just need to spend some time dialing in the very powerful EQ that it features, which is what most people fail to do.

Dialed in right you ought to be able to get a good tone out of it, even if something like a Boss LS-2 to blend in some clean signal would to be preferred, and something like the Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz, which is a Boss FZ-2 clone, which again is based on the clasic Univox Superfuzz octave fuzz would be a better option for a dirt pedal for what you want to do.

Don't be fooled by the cheap Behringer, it sounds absolutely amazing on bass and would be perfect for your application, even if it might not be of the most sturdy build quality.

In the meantime the MT-2 ought to be able to do a decent job though, giving you take time to adjust it just right.

Hello, thanks for the response,

yeah, it would be P/J jaguar, but not sure If should I buy that or new lens for camera, hehe. Would be using the Ibanez basses that much different soundwise or worse for the genre? I guess the shorter scale of Jaguar would make a difference in vibration and thicker strings could be used for massive tone, but no idea practically. Thanks for the pedal tips. I have to agree, while MT 2 might be too digital to many, I loved it after tweaking. I will check the Behringer Fuzz for sure.

 

[JohnArnson]

Hello, thanks for the response,

yeah, it would be P/J jaguar, but not sure If should I buy that or new lens for camera, hehe. Would be using the Ibanez basses that much different soundwise or worse for the genre? I guess the shorter scale of Jaguar would make a difference in vibration and thicker strings could be used for massive tone, but no idea practically. Thanks for the pedal tips. I have to agree, while MT 2 might be too digital to many, I loved it after tweaking. I will check the Behringer Fuzz for sure.

The MT-2 is fully analog, but does have a reputation for sounding like a box of angry bees with a lot of high end fizz, though, as said, this is mostly due to people failing to understand the very powerful EQ section that it features, boosting the low mids some, cutting out a bit of the highs, and applying the drive moderately is the key here.

My guess is that a P/J configuration would be best suited for this type of music, yes, and the shorter scale will actually give you a bit more fundamentals and bit less harmonic content, which means it will sound darker than a regular 34" scale with the same set of strings, just remember to take into consideration that you will need thicker string gauge to get proper string tension on the shorter scale.

@Wakizashis Just added a comment on your bass choice as well.

 

[Wakizashis]

The MT-2 is fully analog, but does have a reputation for sounding like an angry box of bees with a lot of high end hiss, though, as said, this is mostly due to people failing to understand the very powerful EQ section that it features, boosting the low mids some and cutting out a bit of the highs is the key here.

My guess is that a P/J configuration would be best suited for this type of music, yes, and the shorter scale will actually give you a bit more fundamentals and bit less harmonic content, which means it will sound darker than a regular 34" scale with the same set of strings, just remember to take into consideration that you will need thicker string gauge to get proper tension of the strings on the shorter scale.

@Wakizashis Just added a comment on your bass choice as well.

Jup, checked, thanks a lot. Decisions Decisions. Wont have cash for a Ric, so this might be very nice appealing alternative, tho I kinda miss neck through design which I loved on my BTB.

 

[JohnArnson]

Here's a good demo of how the Metal Zone can sound on bass adjusted right:


And here's 2 demos of the Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz:



Personally I prefer how the Super Fuzz sounds in the first demo using mode 1, compared to the scooped mids of mode 2 in the second demo, your preferences might be different, but as far as I am concerned it sounds just about perfect for the type of music you want to play.

 

[Wakizashis]

From the postet videos I would say I kinda liked mostly the MT-2, but might be the groove thing + the guitar involved.

 

[JohnArnson]

From the postet videos I would say I kinda liked mostly the MT-2, but might be the groove thing + the guitar involved.

In that case, as said, I think you might be able to get in the ballpark of the tone in that demo by boosting the Mid knob some, with the Mid Freq knob set somewhere around the lower mids, the High knob turned down just slightly to cut out some high end fizz, and then apply Drive and Low to your taste, but be careful not to apply too much of these two in order for your tone not to get too fizzy and loose too much definition and articulation from the amount of gain, and for it not to get too muddy from the amount of lows, again resulting in lost definition and articulation.

I'd say you probably should keep the Low knob around the 12 o'clock position, either just cutting or boosting it slightly, and shouldn't go past the 12 o'clock position on the Drive knob, and probably will get best results with the Drive turned down even lower.

Generally with this pedal a little gets you a long way, and even slight adjustments can take your tone from crappy to great, which is why so many fail to adjust it right and blame it on the quality of the pedal.

So be patient when you adjust your drive tone with your Metal Zone.

@Wakizashis Edited this post to include a bit more advice on how to set the Low and Drive knob on your Metal Zone. Mind this is just a guideline though, based on my personal preferences, you might find you like it differently.

 

[Sean89sl]

My fren play in a Electric Wizard influenced band with BTB 5er and sounds good.

I myself play in a stoner rock band as well with Ibanez TMB100 with Dimarzio PJ.

 

[Wakizashis]

Hello guys,
after some time, but here it is. Keeping my BTB and sending SRX to the world (hopefully). I got rid of BTB at first, but then started to miss it, so got it back. Now i have bought cheap Joyo Woodoo Octave Fuzz (guitarist has the same and i could try) and I was really happy. For decent fuzz I go only about 5 % 10 % of the effect, but when wanna slay and for our black metal (Drummer is not happy at all about the unclean sound), I dial it about 25 % and 40 %. Very happy about decision. Liked your posts before, but thanking you big time now as well.