Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out
- Thread starter Korladis
- Start date
Jex Thoth, Windhand, Witch Mountain.
Ugh, up all night with a sick kitten. I think he developed an allergy to his food, was throwing up which caused him to be dehydrated and possibly hypoglycemic. He went from barely contained ball of energy to super lethargic and weak. I think he's on the mend now, he's up and eating the wet food I got him. Going to take a couple of hours of PTO to be sure he's alright before going to work. Tired.
Practiced as a 3 piece last night, not super productive but fun. I kind of miss the power trio format sometimes.
Well wishes for your kitty Jan.
On vacation I got to diddle a Kawai
. I can see why he dug them so much. I never even plugged it in but it just felt right, super comfy. It was a five string with jazz bass pickups. I almost bought it but couldn't get past the gold hardware though and slightly modern looks. The tension on the b string was killer, no flop at all. Maybe I should of bought it and swapped to black hardware, if it was natural finish I would have. Kind of want a five string especially one with such nice tension on the B string.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
On vacation I got to diddle a Kawai
. I can see why he dug them so much. I never even plugged it in but it just felt right, super comfy. It was a five string with jazz bass pickups. I almost bought it but couldn't get past the gold hardware though and slightly modern looks. The tension on the b string was killer, no flop at all. Maybe I should of bought it and swapped to black hardware, if it was natural finish I would have. Kind of want a five string especially one with such nice tension on the B string.[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I'm pondering my next bass purchase and wanted to pick some brains. My current project has some doom and stoner elements but occasionally pick up the pace a little bit. We have two tunings, CGCF and BEADG. I've managed to find some basses that work pretty good with the drop C tuning, but the B tuning is really causing a problem for me. I'm having a heck of a time finding either a 5 string with the right combination of warmth and articulation, or a 4 string I don't care about destroying the nut on to put a .125 or .130 set on.
I watched a bunch of live performances of bands I like (Cathedral [With the Dead], Sword, Electric Wizard, Sleep, Death Penalty, Vintage Caravan) and it seems like ALL anyone uses is Fender P & Js, and Ricks. What's up with that? Is it because they look old and retro? If its for the tone, aren't there a million other P and J basses in the world? I almost never seen doom\stoner\sludge bands using 5 string basses, so do they just bore out the nut and use the heaviest part of a 5 string set?
I watched a bunch of live performances of bands I like (Cathedral [With the Dead], Sword, Electric Wizard, Sleep, Death Penalty, Vintage Caravan) and it seems like ALL anyone uses is Fender P & Js, and Ricks. What's up with that? Is it because they look old and retro? If its for the tone, aren't there a million other P and J basses in the world? I almost never seen doom\stoner\sludge bands using 5 string basses, so do they just bore out the nut and use the heaviest part of a 5 string set?
@socialleper I brought my old Squier P out of retirement for BEAD as an experiment and have been pleased with it. I upgraded the bridge to a BAII and put in EMG Geezer Butler's. For strings, I just used a five-string set and dropped the G. The old Squier neck took some extra tweaking to get it to handle the added tension, but it's held up pretty well. The B has good tension, and does well at A#, too.
I think a T-bird could do BEAD well, too, but would probably need a different bridge than the raised three-point version. That's just a hunch, really.
I think a T-bird could do BEAD well, too, but would probably need a different bridge than the raised three-point version. That's just a hunch, really.
I'm going to sell off at least 1 55-02 to pay for something. I'd like to try to keep it as close to $1k as possible. Of course if there is some incredible value out there that's perfect for this style that's cheap, I'm all ears.
If you find a used NG-2, I would say taking the jump in to the Dingwall pool might be of interest. Best B string I have ever heard. Yes the combustions are the "cheap" models, but I have owned a Z1 which is a top tier, a Afterburner I which is a middle tier, and a combustion, and in all cases, the B is amazing.
Aren't old BAIIs hard to come by these days? Did you think about the Omega bridge at all? I don't know if it is close to the same thing, but it looks like it.
I have an old POS Kramer Aerostar I could try that with. I thought the GB pickups might be a little hot and was thinking more like a SPB3 or Steve Harris sig pickups. The bass is truly ugly though.
I play in drop Bb with a 30" short scale jag bass. I use a la Bella deep talking custom set with a .128(?) B string.
I've also used a bronco with a set of .105 e standard roto ss 66's and it worked too for B tuning, the brightness of the strings counterbalanced the flop.
It is easy to find fender parts that's partly why I'm a fan of the style.
Last edited:
I've heard that about them, and I've tried the Ibanez fanned fret bass.
There are tons of 35" scale basses out there, or evolved setups like the Dingwall that seem to get ignored by Doom\Stoner players. Why is that?
Or even just brands outside of Fender. I can't recall ever seeing a band in this style with a G&L,Lakland, Sadowsky, or even a Yamaha BB bass.
The "full scale" Dingwalls are 37", so you get a LOT of B string to work with. The "short" scale Dingwalls, the Super J and P, are 35".
I would say it is availability and budget. They are not easy to pick up in stores around the globe. They dont fit the "image" of vintage gear or rediscovered Japanese shop builds. Not that there is anything wront with vintage sunn/Ampeg amps and a 64 P bass or grabber/etc. But I am not tied to image.
Are flats popular in the style because they are a little stiffer or becausr they deaden the attack of the notes?
Two fold in my opinion.
- They dont have as much of that harsh mid content that doesnt play well with od/distortion/effects
- They have a little more tension which helps with drop/low tuning.
I like flats but i find in general they don't work well with most effects. Put running a P-bass with flats straight into an SVT is pretty awesome.
@socialleper You can find BAIIs on Reverb, TB classifieds and eBay pretty easily. Used or NIB.
For me it's just they dont really go bad, so I just buy a set and never worry.
Certain stuff sounds better some worse with flats.
I've made it clear I'm strictly a bedroom rockstar, so my opinion doesn't carry the right weight but if you ask me, flats sound fuller and heavier with fuzz/OD, although I can see how they don't work with envelope filters and the like nearly as much.
I've been meaning to pickup a Chrome B string and convert my Blacktop Jazz to BEAD, not that I really know how to file a nut so I was hoping it'd all just serendipitously work out in the end.
I've been meaning to pickup a Chrome B string and convert my Blacktop Jazz to BEAD, not that I really know how to file a nut so I was hoping it'd all just serendipitously work out in the end.
If it works, why fix it? That, combined with the aesthetic of the classic Fender shapes, probably explains their general dominance. I'm surprised by Jazz basses only because I'd think a P or P/J has more heavy in it than the Jazz, but then I've never been a fan of the two J's I had.
The Ric, on the other hand, is probably there as much as tradition as it is because of it's sound. I don't know why Rics are "metal," other than maybe Lemmy and Cliff Burton, but they simply are. I've never owned one or so much as touched one.
Less tension with BEAD than EADG. Thicker strings mean less tension, so B is significantly looser than G.
First show for my Frequency Therapy went freqqin great!!! See what i did there? 20 mins is a really long time when just standing up there diddling some knobs, Hah. I went full scale for the first time ever, 3 amps and 5 cabs. Rockmaster into 610 and 412 for highs, vulcan into 215 for mids and booster through the 810 and folowd 18 for lows. I did some effect separation, like my EQ and blue box went just to the lows rig. But then my delay and reverbs went to everything, which kinda muddied things more than I woulda liked. Think I may separate things a little bit more next time. Like keep the modulation out of the lows, to get the almost beat like oscillations to stay clear. But of course no one noticed anything wrong anyway haha. Super fun cant wait to book my next one.
