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Recommendations for a new bass

V

Verlathor

Guest
May 12, 2013
18
0
#1
Hello everyone. I hope this post is full of enough information to not incite rage from the long-dwellers.

Anyway, I'm looking into getting a new bass. I'm mainly interested in going active with the pickups, but I realise that's something I can modify after market. I'm mostly interested in this for my doom metal band. I'm looking in the region of £500 (~$750) as a budget.

I like a thick, solid bottom end that isn't flabby but sustains the fundamental frequency of a note well and consistently across the lower register, especially the E string, that cuts through a band with heavily driven, downtuned guitar and orchestral/synth backing tracks. I usually play in a spectrum of between slightly driven to medium drive as a tone, don't tend to go into fuzz, don't do fully clean. I'm not too fussed about looks, though I would like it to look kind of 'metal' (vague though I realise that is as a description.)

My current rig is the following:

Marshall Jackhammer (for the bulk of the drive, this is toggled on and off) -> Darkglass B3K (for tone shaping and the standard blended 'crunch') -> Behringer BDI (Which I'm looking to change for a tech21 bass driver at some point, this mainly provides a bass, treble and level boost, I keep the drive set as low as it can go) -> PA

OR

The above but into an Ashdown MAG600 -> Ampeg 410 HLF.

I realise that I've probably been too specific but the main things to consider are:

-Doom metal
-Solid bottom end
-Handles low to medium drive well
-£500 budget

So with all the above taken into account, can anyone recommend some basses to look into? I'm not sure where to start.

Thanks guys!
 
#3
Any active 4-string (or 5-string for that matter) can do what you want. Find one in your budget and go play it. Buying used will get you a lot more quality for your money. I highly recommend either a Lakland 44-01 or 44-02. The 5-string versions are also fine instruments.

If you want a passive bass, it is pretty hard to go wrong with a Jazz or a P-bass, though a used MIA model will probably be a little above your £500 budget. If a metal look matters a lot to you, good luck with that. Don't listen with your eyes.
 
#5
Thanks guys, that's useful already. I already own a P-bass, but I want a second bass that does something different. As for looks, it's really the least important thing, but how things look on stage is a part of my band's...thing, so it's worth considering. And I don't mind going over budget by up to £100 if it's really that good.

As for tone, that's kind of difficult to pin down because I find the bass is usually just the thrummy part in a metal mix and the actual tone is hard to discern without a solo part, and I don't know if the bass tones I like would necessarily work for a doom band. Examples of tones I like...Lacuna Coil's Karmacode album, Nightwish's three most recent albums, Draconian's most recent might be the most relevant.
 
#6
I think an Ibanez or ESP LTD would probably work, too. I think the bass tones you posted would work for doom. They seem to be more shaped by effects than anything. I think a Darkglass and a compression pedal would do you more good for your tonal goals, but, most of those tones are also made with a bridge pickup/neck pickup blend. The new Yamaha TRBX 304/504, Schecter Raiden, ESP LTD B-204/D-4, Jackson Dave Elefson, or Ibanez SR 374/5 are all within your budget and would fulfill your tonal goals.
 
#7
That's fair enough. I hate to be a time waster, but I tried out an Ibanez Ergodyne 710 at practice today that happened to be sitting around the shop attached to the rehearsal rooms and it's pretty much got the sound I want. So I've gone ahead and gotten that'un. Doesn't have the active pickup, but it does have an active EQ and an A/B test showed me that it has a lot more of what I want than my P-bass. Plus it looks sufficiently disturbing, which is a plus.

Thanks for the recommendations though, guys. I will refer back to this thread when the time for bass number 3 comes up!
 

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