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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

#49,341
While I like rotos, i love chromes. Newish chromes give me some zing if I want it. But generally I am too lazy to change strings all that often.

The jazz build is a full go now. I received the MIM body and despite being 10yo and the ebay seller claiming to have toured quite a bit, it is practically flawless. Came with the Black pg too.

Black MIM body, black pickguard
Brazilian ebony Warmoth neck
Schaller BM tuners (chrome)
Hipshot Kickass bridge (chrome)
DiMarzio model J pickups (creme)

Excited!
 
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#49,342
socialleper said:
String "freshness" is a matter of personal taste and finding what is right for the music.
Personally I'd rather roll off the tone or highs than risk having my strings be uneven. They won't all die at the same rate. Plus they feel grubby when they start to go.
I haven't broken a string in more than a decade. I probably change them every 3-4 months. Back when I was searching for the right strings they wouldn't last a month sometimes just because I bought something new.
My personal taste in bass tone run along the articulate line. I can't stand flats. It sounds like I am playing rubber bands. Unless you are going to push your low mids, flats to me sound like a one way ticket to getting buried behind the guitars.
Click to expand...
Which is pretty much exactly what I do - push my mids.
 
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#49,344
kleinenenten said:
Which is pretty much exactly what I do - push my mids.
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There is a band called Fall of an Empire where the bass player uses the typical Rick, flats, fuzz thing but really makes it work. I can actually hear him because he has those mids really forward. He is one of the few with that combo that, for me, sounds good.
I recently saw a video of Khemmis playing live and the bass player changed his bass. I could finally hear him. When I saw then here in LA I stood right in front of him and could barely make out his playing past the two huge guitar sounds they have.
Gotta use them mids y'all.
When I was playing more of this style I was after a Shane Clark with Bison tone. Gritty with noticeable attack. Where I failed is I don't like using a pick that much. To get that sound you really have to.
 
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#49,345
Mordamir said:
Don't mention that in the main forum. I still can't get over all the people posting about how their strings were 5, 10, or even 20 years old and then talking about how good they sound.
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The only time I've ever changed strings on a bass are:
  1. When I first get a used bass.
  2. If I want that bass' voice but need to temporarily change the tone for a song/ album/ project, i.e. switching out the roundwounds for either tapes or flats. Even then, when I'm done, the original roundwounds go back on.
In 35 years of playing, I've broken LOTS of guitar strings but never a bass string. And I play metal. With a pick.
 
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#49,346
socialleper said:
There is a band called Fall of an Empire where the bass player uses the typical Rick, flats, fuzz thing but really makes it work. I can actually hear him because he has those mids really forward. He is one of the few with that combo that, for me, sounds good.
I recently saw a video of Khemmis playing live and the bass player changed his bass. I could finally hear him. When I saw then here in LA I stood right in front of him and could barely make out his playing past the two huge guitar sounds they have.
Gotta use them mids y'all.
When I was playing more of this style I was after a Shane Clark with Bison tone. Gritty with noticeable attack. Where I failed is I don't like using a pick that much. To get that sound you really have to.
Click to expand...
I’ll have to check them out. Fuzz has been hardest to cut through with my flats, though I’ve got it down now. Took a few fuzzes to fin the right one. Currently I’m debating if I should work on my pick technique as I’m liking my new preamp’s low mids and the pick accentuates the high mids just a bit. One of those “most people wouldn’t notice” changes, I think, but I was digging it the other day.
 
#49,347
Kriegs said:
In 35 years of playing, I've broken LOTS of guitar strings but never a bass string. And I play metal. With a pick.
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I wonder how do people manage to break bass strings. Last time I changed my strings I forgot to bring shears to cut them. I had to use normal scissors and I tell you: THEY WOULD NOT CUT
I think I spent at least 5 minutes on the G (go figure the others...) trying to force those scissors in some weak spot, bending and cutting and bending and cutting... That damn piece of string would not come off!
I still remember cutting the E like a nightmare.
Yet someone can break bass strings simply by playing! :woot::eyebrow:
 
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#49,349
Well, I don't know. Maybe I'm just a loon and beat the shinola (no, obscenity filter, I don't know the difference) out of it.


I'm using a thumb pick, which are pretty much the thickest plastic picks that can be had, and I do dig in quite hard at times. I've only broken strings on fender style basses with Fender style tailpieces that are standard scale, IIRC. I've never broken a string on a short scale bass, never on a three-point style Gibson (single piece and with saddles), and I've broken more strings with my current band than I did in the 25 years before combined - on bass. We'll see how easy it is for me to break strings on the Thunderbird with it's claw/tune-o-matic setup*. In my on-and-off guitar career (I swear, I always applied for bass and was drafted for guitar), I was always murder on strings, and a backup guitar was necessary. When I was a kid and playing in my room, I usually used my fingers, and broke a string about every year and a half.

Now, my last band was a surf rock band, and there I was generally minimizing attack a lot of the time. I think I broke one string in 4 years of shows with those guys. It was a style of music that just didn't call for the same level of dig-in dynamics that the current band does. After one gig with the current band where I was transposing the whole show up an octave due to losing the E, and the backup bass was out in the car - I have consistently brought the backup in and had it ready, and I've used it several times. I'm thankful, because my bringing and needing it has convinced my guitarists to at least bring one backup between them, saving a few shows. But, I still rarely break a string in practice, I usually break them at shows. Go figure.


*Had the first couple of practices with the T-bird, and it will get its first show this weekend. It's generally been a hit. There's some criticism that it sounds a bit muddy on the 2-3 songs I actually play chords on when compared to both the P-basses and Jazz that I usually play with these guys, but not really a problem for live shows. It rocks pretty hard on everything else.

Oh, and ETA: I've become a flatwound through a lot of gain lover in recent years, they have just the right amount of high end for my ear. I always push the low mids when I have an eq that will allow it. On my SB300, the spot I like is with the frequency on about 2 and the level on 7-8.
 
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#49,350
kleinenenten said:
I actively dislike the zing of rounds. Been using the same sets of flats in my basses for 6 or 7 years now, I think. Tried rounds again about a year ago, just to see how it felt again. Nope, still not for me. I have no intention of changing the strings unless one breaks. Love my Chromes. They have just enough highs without getting lost in “guitar territory” for me. That was one of the reasons I got flats in the first place - my bass got lost in the mix no matter what I did. Flats instantly solved that for me.
Click to expand...

That's one thing that kinda surprised me about flats. I push mids all day and to see how much more focused the tone is with flats blew my mind. Especially on my jazz, really leveled out the scooped tone of both pups on.

I like most kinds of strings, just a lot of rounds can be too bright at first.
 
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#49,351
Noriced my GK 800rb is acting a little off. Thete is a ghosting fuzzy [almost like a bad speaker] on higher frequencies. Sort of a high band fuzz/fizz like a fizzy fuzz pedal with the clean blend about all clean.

If I turn off the highs on the amp, it goes away. I've tried other cabs/amps and was able to pinpoint it being the GK.

It is an old amp, so I know I really should get a cap job. Any ideas on the ghosting fizziness?
 
#49,352
br1qbat said:
Noriced my GK 800rb is acting a little off. Thete is a ghosting fuzzy [almost like a bad speaker] on higher frequencies. Sort of a high band fuzz/fizz like a fizzy fuzz pedal with the clean blend about all clean.

If I turn off the highs on the amp, it goes away. I've tried other cabs/amps and was able to pinpoint it being the GK.

It is an old amp, so I know I really should get a cap job. Any ideas on the ghosting fizziness?
Click to expand...
Have you asked in the GK thread? There are some gurus there who know those amps in and out. They were helping with my recent amp/cab issues.

Random observance: we’re on page 2468. Who DO we appreciate?
 
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