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"Modern metal" sound/EQ help

Fender05

Fender05

Oct 20, 2008
148
120
Indianapolis
#1
If this is the wrong section, i apologise. My thinking is it will be an effect that will get me where I'm trying to go, but if this needs moved, we can do that

Hey guys, so I'm having a hell of a time trying to get that "Nolly", modern metal sound, as in this video here.

I have all the ingredients.

Dingwall Combustion
Mesa M6-head
Eden D410XLT-cab

Board (in order) - polytune 3, mxr bass comp, micro pog, EQD Monarch, SansAmp DI, TC Electronic Sentry. I also have a B7K Ultra, but it's not hooked up, as I'll explain below.

So, I've tried different pedal orders, I've tried different EQs, everything I can think of, and I'm still unhappy with the B7K. When I use it, it just makes everything midrangy and honky. There's no clarity or fullness, just a ton of mids, and a lot of emptiness in the bass and treble.

What am I missing? I know theres no magic formula, everyones fingers sound different, blah blah blah. But point me in the right direction. My new band is almost dying for the type of tone, and I'm nowhere close.

Sorry for the long, winding post. I hope this makes sense to someone. Thanks in advance
 
#2
If you arent open to changing gear, put the B7K first in your chain, after the tuner. Don't run the B7K with the SansAmp.
If you decide to get a Helix, there are patches out there that will get you where you need to be.
Rock on.
 
#3
I prefer modulation after drive.
The Sans Amp should be at the end if you are using it for a DI. If you are using it for drive, I would say skip it and fine tune the B7K, or get a B7K Ultra where you can tweak the mid freqs.
I don't know if Eden cabs are the way to go. Maybe something in a Mesa or GK?

As I build my DIY studio, I have learned that recorded tone and live tone are very different. Even live DI tone if very different. A lot of the detailed high end character we bass players like gets all garbled once our signal hits a speaker, and starts bouncing around a room, competing with guitar and drums.
It is why so many bass players in heavier music are ditching rigs for DIs/Sims and an IEM set up. Sadly, that setup isn't something I can do because of the rubbish 6-bands, venue don't give a F, shows I play.
 
#4
I think you're stacking a lot gain in your signal chain, which may lead it to sounding mid range. I would just start with the your bass and amp to try and and get as close to that Nolly sound as possible. To my ears, his sound is scooped mids. So scoop the mids on the amp. Next add in the Compressor. Use heavy compression. Then add the either the Sansamp or the B7K, and keep scooping mids. You shouldn't need both. I'm gonna say add which ever preamp you use, before the compressor. But experiment after as well. So, Combustion > Preamp > Compressor > M6, should get you most of the way there. I would ditch the Monarch, and you shouldn't need the Sentry, unless you have a high gain sound.
 
#5
Krisfield said:
I think you're stacking a lot gain in your signal chain, which may lead it to sounding mid range. I would just start with the your bass and amp to try and and get as close to that Nolly sound as possible. To my ears, his sound is scooped mids. So scoop the mids on the amp. Next add in the Compressor. Use heavy compression. Then add the either the Sansamp or the B7K, and keep scooping mids. You shouldn't need both. I'm gonna say add which ever preamp you use, before the compressor. But experiment after as well. So, Combustion > Preamp > Compressor > M6, should get you most of the way there. I would ditch the Monarch, and you shouldn't need the Sentry, unless you have a high gain sound.
Click to expand...

I don't have much more to add but a note, the Sansamp Bass DI is known to already have an inherently mid scooped character, so if OP end up using that it might not be necessary to scoop out the mids even more with the amp's EQ.
 
#6
I would try setting the amp flat, unplugging all the pedals, and just run the B7K to get a baseline tone, then add back the other pedals one at a time as needed.

It's hard to imagine the B7K not delivering a modern meta tone.
 

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