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Nailbomb Bass sound

B

Barry O Connor

Apr 30, 2020
46
24
Ireland
#1
I'm a complete novice when it comes to getting different sounds and setting up as I have almost exclusively played at home and was wondering would anyone have an idea of how to get close to the grindy distorted sound of the bass in the song Cockroaches by Nailbomb best heard at 2:25 into the song.

Apologies if this is the wrong forum for this question.

 
#3
Two channels - Clean & dirty. You NEED to get a pedal with a clean blend built-in or get a dedicated blend pedal. I would start looking at Darkglass pedals and you will likely get a tone very close to the Nailbomb bass tone.
Darkglass

Go on youtube and listen to product demos for Darkglass! There are LOTS of videos for Darkglass products.

If I were trying to achieve this tone, I would use the Blender V3 to blend a full channel of clean and the 2nd channel is a Tech21 PSA 2.0. Would it sound exact? No, but it would sound good to my ears.
Another way to go: Blender V3 : Wounded Paw, Bass and Guitar Effects and Blenders

Since you are new to this world of bass tones, let me give you the BEST piece of advice I can give you. Don't get hung up on the exact distortion tone you hear in the recording. Getting close to the tone SHOULD be your goal and will keep your sanity. The recorded tone is what worked best in the recording situation and may not work well in a live situation. Lastly, the clean channel is MAJORLY important. Distortion boxes will clip off the low end and parts of the low midrange that help you sit in the mix properly.
 
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#4
Thanks for your reply that's very helpful. I'm not actually that new to effects but hav no experience or idea how to get different sounds from what I've got. I can only really play at low volumes at home so it's hard to experiment. I actually have an OBNE signal blender to do what you are describing and also have a cat tail, blower box and green Russian big muff but hav never got remotely close to this sound. I like the sound of the darkglass pedals and hav been looking at an alpha omega for a while.
Would you be suggesting the tech 21 over a darkglass pedal if I hav the signal blender?
 
#5
I agree with Gearhead17 on everything he said and I would add that pre and post EQ on the dirt channel can also change tone considerable. A lowcut pre distortion will improve definition and a highcut post distortion will remove unpleasant and 'small-sounding' sizzle. This is especially important if you are not using a nice loud sounding amp/cab combi that would normally remove unwanted top end.
 
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#7
Even a Boss Metalzone could work. Google 'metalzone on bass' and you could be surprised how many players like the filth of that pedal! When processed as mentioned above this pedal can sit really well in the mix :bassist:
 
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#8
BEADist said:
I agree with Gearhead17 on everything he said and I would add that pre and post EQ on the dirt channel can also change tone considerable. A lowcut pre distortion will improve definition and a highcut post distortion will remove unpleasant and 'small-sounding' sizzle. This is especially important if you are not using a nice loud sounding amp/cab combi that would normally remove unwanted top end.
Click to expand...
Sorry I'm not 100% sure uf I get you. Do you mean have an eq pedal before the distortion and one after within that loop of the blender pedal? Sorry if that's a stupid question and thanks for your replies.
 
#10
Baltimore Sonic Research Institute
IMG_20220530_211952895.jpg

Blendable dry signal with 100Hz HPF applied. $249.00

There is a bunch of goodness before the extreme, too!
 

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