Physics behind "growl"

[Koshchei]

Growl in a fretted bass is a controlled mechanical buzz of the strings on the frets. It's not created by the pickups. To get a nice even growl, the fretwork needs to be accurately leveled, and the action needs to be set at just the right height to work with the players' plucking style. You need to find the point where there's no buzz when you pluck lightly, and the buzzing comes in as you increase the power of your plucking. And you have to learn to work with it, to control the amount of buzzing. Listen to Geddy Lee, he's a master of growl. He puts in the amount of growl he wants on individual notes, where he wants it.

Making a fretted bass growl is very much like making a fretless bass Mwah. It's mostly mechanical, with the setup and your finger skill.

Now, the sound of the growl (or Mwah) can be adjusted by your choice of pickup design, pickup position, and strings. Bright roundwounds and a bridge pickup can make the growl bright and buzz-like. Flatwounds, a neck pickup, low EQ boost, etc. can make the growl deep and warmer and softer. Almost like a Mwah. It's your choice of what you want your growl to sound like.

What basses have the "best" growl? I dunno. The ones that are set up and played well. Any bass can be made to growl, as long as the frets are leveled and it's set up well, and you learn the playing technique. The tone of the growl is your choice.

Exactly this! Brilliant explanation!

 

[Lardass5000]

After 2 decades of repairing and refinishing Warwicks, and having personally owned dozens, I can assure you...
...its not the frets!

 

[RGerhart]

Hmm, interesting. A few folks have mentioned fret buzz, and "controlled" fret buzz, which I never really considered as part of the "growl" sound/description.

To me, growl is that bridge pickup sound in just the right spot; plucking hand right over the pick up or possibly between the pup and the bridge, and digging in with the strings. No fret buzz, but a decidedly prominent emphasis in the 250 - 400 Hz range, with a slightly subdued top end.

 

[Lardass5000]

First of all; not all Warwicks have "that Warwick growl". I have seen several customers essentially neuter their instruments with their choices of 'upgrades'. A great and repeated example is people who installed an Aguilar OBP3 preamp then wonder where there "Warwick growl" went.

"...well it went in whatever garbage can you threw it in"

It has ZERO to do with frets.
The Warwick sound is simply an expressed resonance resulting from the sum of its parts.

 

[scuzzy]

i think we should define the following...

• grind
• grunt
• growl

 

[Swings]

After 2 decades of repairing and refinishing Warwicks, and having personally owned dozens, I can assure you...
...its not the frets!
View attachment 5026933

If i could ever afford another Warwick, a fretless would be my instant pick.
That’s a fine specimen you have in the pic- what year? It’s like a blonde version of my 2001 thumb5 BO.

 

[alex1fly]

Mids & playing technique

 

[scott sinner]

The pickup placement is the main component IMO. I've wondered if the brass frets also contribute assuming the bass is set up to buzz a bit.

FWIW I have a passive swamp ash German Corvette and it still has the Warwick growl so I'm not convinced body wood and the preamp are the main contributors to that sound. I would also agree the MEC pickups sound nothing like pickups in any Fender I've heard. They're pretty unique sounding.

I do think the brass frets have a sound. I had found a RockBass Corvette in great shape and have had a German Corvette. While they did have some other different components, focusing in on the sound of the fret buzz, I did feel like it made a difference.

I also have a passive Corvette Taranis and it is growly as hell.

 

[Dincrest]

I think a component in "growl" is dense, darker colored hardwoods. My old Warwick Corvette Standard has a bubinga body with a bolt-on wenge neck. The growl felt auto-tuned with the stock MEC electronics, but when I had a luthier swap it out for Duncan STK-J2s and a passive VVT control setup, the growl came to life! It was deeper and more organic. Felt like "real" growl.

My 2018 LTD D-5 has a merbau body (that's a dense heavy wood often used for temple doors in southern India) and a maple-mahogany thru-neck. With a set of DR steel Lo-Riders, the thing has the most aggressive beast-growling metal tone, especially when I play with a light touch. That bass kinda reminds me of that old Warwick, but a little smoother. (It has the stock ESP soapbars and a 3-band preamp. I want to have the preamp gutted, making it a fully passive bass).

Those were easily my growliest basses. And I remember seeing a friend's band play around 2006-2007, he had an Ibanez Soundgear with a dark wood top and it got a massive growl.

 

[Lardass5000]

If i could ever afford another Warwick, a fretless would be my instant pick.
That’s a fine specimen you have in the pic- what year? It’s like a blonde version of my 2001 thumb5 BO.

That is a 2002 Ovangkol B.O. I recently sold it. I had 2 up on the TB classifieds.
They both sold immediately.
Definitely the good Thumb basses are among the best basses on the planet

 

[Lardass5000]

I think a component in "growl" is dense, darker colored hardwoods. My old Warwick Corvette Standard has a bubinga body with a bolt-on wenge neck. The growl felt auto-tuned with the stock MEC electronics, but when I had a luthier swap it out for Duncan STK-J2s and a passive VVT control setup, the growl came to life! It was deeper and more organic. Felt like "real" growl.

My 2018 LTD D-5 has a merbau body (that's a dense heavy wood often used for temple doors in southern India) and a maple-mahogany thru-neck. With a set of DR steel Lo-Riders, the thing has the most aggressive beast-growling metal tone, especially when I play with a light touch. That bass kinda reminds me of that old Warwick, but a little smoother. (It has the stock ESP soapbars and a 3-band preamp. I want to have the preamp gutted, making it a fully passive bass).

Those were easily my growliest basses. And I remember seeing a friend's band play around 2006-2007, he had an Ibanez Soundgear with a dark wood top and it got a massive growl.

I agree. I always say that people that dont believe in the tonewood concept have never owned a Martin or a Warwick.
I have an old Corvette 5 (wenge/bubinga) that sounds truly incredible. I put a Lusithand dual filter preamp in it and it just kicked the growl into 5th gear. This bass can emulate ANY other bass.
This goes to show that it is all about harnessing and targeting RESONANT PEAKS.

 

[Lardass5000]

When you command the RESONANT FOCUS of an instrument you influence the observed sound/tonal perception.

 

[Lardass5000]

Thats why a P Bass doesnt sound like a Warwick. Its not cuz of my "fingers or outboard gear or frets" etc.
Unless you somehow alter its Dominant Resonant Focus it will only sound like the sum of what it is.

 

[KevInDaBassment]

I do miss the tone of my Warwick a lot...but I don't miss the hand cramps at all

 

[JRA]

i get plenty of "growl" with my J-bass (parts), and i don't have any other ax that comes close to rendering the same "growl" sound. since it's fretless, i can deduce that it has nothing to do with strings-on-frets. i attribute all of it to pickup placement and the noisy, single-coil pickups themselves.

edit: i play rounds and that seems to contribute as well, now an then.

 

[tlc1976]

It looks like many of you have a completely different defintion of growl than me. This "controlled fret fret buzz" others have mentioned is what I would personally refer to as "grind". Fret buzz has nothing to do with "growl" in MY mind...

To me growl is the nasal tone you get from boosting around 800 Hz and maybe cut some lows. Jazz Bass with bridge pickup soloed into an Ampeg SVT with an 8x10 is pretty much my definition of growl. It's far too nasal sounding for MY taste but a classic tone nonetheless. Jaco is probably the first bass player I think of when someone mentions "growl". Not a lot of fret buzz going on there (for VERY obvious reasons). Have I gotten it completely wrong all these years? Do most of you REALLY refer to fret buzz as "growl"? It would certainly explain a couple of the endless discussions I've had around here...

This too is my idea of what growl is. IMO the epitome of growl is Paul Denman’s Stingray on Sade’s “Paradise”. Or the Warwick Thumb sound. Or a lot of low frequency mwah on a fretless when played over the 24th position, at least IME. Like on Black Velvet, yes it was a keyboard but AFAIK the samples were from a real fretless.

 

[BigThumps]

Thats why a P Bass doesnt sound like a Warwick. Its not cuz of my "fingers or outboard gear or frets" etc.
Unless you somehow alter its Dominant Resonant Focus it will only sound like the sum of what it is.

Is there a program/utility/device that you can use to assist with this?

 

[Lowbrow]

A function of one cat's proximity to a new cat.

 

[Lardass5000]

Is there a program/utility/device that you can use to assist with this?

Is there a program/utility/device that you can use to assist with this?

An instruments resonant focus is the sum of its parts. Like the example I gave of a customer who "upgraded" to an Aguilar preamp and wanted to know where their growl went.
Pickups/strings/neck density/preamp--it all plays a role as a 'sum of parts'.

 

[Lardass5000]

Of course architecture (layout) and materials (magnets/wood) round out the tone equation.