Pedal for Holly Diver's sound

[Gervais Cote]

Hi gents,

I’m kind of lost with all the pedals available on the market and would need some advice from you.

I’m looking for simple basic pedal that would give me the bass sound we hear in Holy Diver from Dio :





I know the bassist is using a Yamaha bass but my arsenal of basses includes precision and jazz basses and would like to stick to those.

Price is not a major concern but I don’t want a pedal with too many knobs and want something robust and working on 9 VDC.

Thanks in advance !

 

[KevInDaBassment]

P can get you in the territory as well, but I think the J will get closer (IIRC, Jimmy Bain used a Yamaha PJ). Other than the usual studio magic, I'm under the impression it was his active Yamaha PJ and Ampeg SVT doing a lot of the tonal heavy lifting.

Any Ampeg SVT-inspired pedal should get you in the ballpark. I've got an Ibanez SR P/J loaded with DiMarzio Model P/J pickups and Audere 3-band preamp, and another Ibby PJ with EMG PJX pickups. Both of them into a Tech 21 VT Bass DI gets me well into that sound's territory. I'd probably use some fresh SS rounds and a pick as well, my brand of choice is DR, but I can imagine plenty of other SS rounds would do the job (Rotos, Ernie Ball, etc.)

I've also gotten close with the DiMarzio-loaded PJ going into an Idiotbox Blower Box (set quite low on distortion) into a GK 700RB-II. Plenty of different ways to skin this cat, but my simplest suggestion would be your J-bass into a Tech 21 VT Bass pedal of some kind, as they are pretty common on the used market.

 

[ImTheOnlyOne]

"Holly Diver" could have been Dio's Christmas album.
Santa Clause is coming to town / ooooh lookout!

On topic, the most easily I came to that tone was with a PJ Tune bass with DR Sunbeams into some SWR amp.

 

[Gervais Cote]

I have a jazz bass with some Dunlop Marcus Miller super bright s/s rounds and I have a feeling it would fit.

I also have a Tech 21 Geddy Lee YYZ Shape-Shifter Signature SansAm pedal, do you think I would be able to get the sound I want with it ?

 

[Basvarken]

The secret is really in the combination of the Yamaha bass and the hands of Jimmy Bain.

 

[PrestoZoom]

Yamaha BB, bright strings, played with a pick through GK amp or something similar.

 

[Jay2U]

I think I hear some overdrive and some equalising.

 

[songwriter21]

A loud mix helps, too.

 

[Lammchop93]

Bright strings, a GK amp, and a Spector bass get you very close. With what you have, I’d use the jazz with a pick and some bright strings like roto sounds or DR hi beams. It’s a clean tone, so a pedal won’t do much for this.

 

[ImTheOnlyOne]

"Holly Diver" could have been Dio's Christmas album.
Santa Clause is coming to town / ooooh lookout!

On topic, the most easily I came to that tone was with a PJ Tune bass with DR Sunbeams into some SWR amp.

The only pedal in that setup BTW was a Tech21 ParaDriver.

 

[wintremute]

Check out this old thread: jimmy bain bass tone on holy diver album?

 

[ahbradot]

A used Panda Audio Future impact v3 has some crazy cool setting for metal to explore.
I believe there is a way to get you close to “Holy Diver” using it while also incorporating the other suggestions you have received on TB.

I use it just for fun here and there;

 

[Gervais Cote]

A used Panda Audio Future impact v3 has some crazy cool setting for metal to explore.
I believe there is a way to get you close to “Holy Diver” using it while also incorporating the other suggestions you have received on TB.

I use it just for fun here and there;



View attachment 7431943

Wow, that little box sounds crazy !

 

[monsterthompson]

There’s an isolated bass YT video


Sounds bright. I could see a P, fresh rounds, and a direct SansAmp BDDI getting into this territory. If this is an accurate isolation there will be some studio EQ and compression that a single pedal won’t likely provide. The amp and cab will also matter.

 

[monsterthompson]

There’s something about the brightness that reminds me of a Rusty Box.


Which would also put the EAE Greathammer in the running.
Maybe briefly around 2:45. I’ll hunt for other low gain sounds in the demo.


Not an exact copy, there’s some overlap and similarities particularly in the bright top. The higher gain settings are definitely too much.

 

[joelb79]

The Bass: Contrary to popular belief (he used a BB3000 live), the studio bass was a Yamaha BB2000. The key difference is the "reverse-P" pickup orientation, which keeps the D and G strings thick and punch.
The Strings: Fresh roundwounds (likely Rotosound Swing 66s) played with a heavy pick near the bridge for that "metallic" attack.
The Amp: A 1970s Ampeg SVT "Blueline" or "Magnavox" head pushed into a matching 8x10 cabinet.
Signal Path: Bass → Amp → Mic (likely a Neumann U47 or AKG D12) + a clean DI blend.

Jimmy Bain's tone was 90% in his right hand. To match the "Holy Diver" signal, you need to use a thick pick (1.0mm+) and strike the strings right between the P-pickup and the Bridge.

personally, Id be all over my VT Bass on the pedal board getting that SVT sound, playing with a thick 1.0 pick, my PJ bass, 60/40% P/J Blend.

 

[SC Bassboy]

It sounds like he was running though a GK 800RB amplifier. Has that 80's solid state treble sound

 

[jasper383]

 

[joelb79]

Im guaranteeing it was an SVT, the amp of choice for the studio he recorded at Sound City LA. There is also post-production sound on that, so the Compressor they used adds some brightness, ect..

 

[oldcatfish]

I have an older Tech21 VT bass pedal. I can easily get the tone of the isolated track with my brighter sounding P bass, my J bass, or my Sterling Sub bass. Of course, the pedal has to be eq’d differently for each.

Really, it should not be too difficult to get that tone with most basses with newer round wounds, a pick, and any SVT style pedal, or even most of the Tech 21 pedals. I’m not sure about the Geddy pedal though…I haven’t ever played one.