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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

what's going on at 8:39? that sounds wicked awesome

Green Rhino with the drive all the way down and the vol all the way up into the muff into the preamp. It sounds super gnarly.

I should be getting a 250 together here in a day or two and I'll do something better documenting settings and see how it sounds. I think tube screamers into a muff is also pretty awesome as well. Only issue I found is it gets kind of hard to handle at higher volumes with out a noise gate. Sounds wicked though...
 
Been thinking about the “new to me” gear I’ve got in the past few weeks. I think I’m going to take the 400rbiii with my GK 212 neo and run it with the original 400RB and my Basson 210 cab in stereo. Haven’t decided if I want to run a wet/dry or just a true stereo rig yet, but I’m going to toy around with the idea tomorrow night. I’ve only got a Dittox2 as far as a signal splitter right now. I guess I’ll need to invest in an ABY box soon though. It’s always something else needed..... lol
 
Green Rhino with the drive all the way down and the vol all the way up into the muff into the preamp. It sounds super gnarly.

Kinda does the HM-2/chainsaw sound. I like that cutting, high end, square wave distortion grit. Been meaning to dig out a few things and try stacking them with the Arion Metal Master. Not like I can really run them in the whitebread surf trio *sigh*

But after hearing your noodle samples I splurged on a cheapo Yamaha 5 string. I swore off 5 strings years ago, what's the matter with me.

(goes and looks at craigslist for stoner/doom band postings)
 
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Kinda does the HM-2/chainsaw sound. I like that cutting, high end, square wave distortion sound. Been meaning to dig out a few things and try stacking them with the Arion Metal Master. Not like I can really run them in the whitebread surf trio *sigh*

But after hearing your noodle samples I splurged on a cheapo Yamaha 5 string. I swore off 5 strings years ago, what's the matter with me.

(goes and looks at craigslist for stoner/doom band postings)
Ahhhh! Why’d you have to say it was HM-2ish? Now I’ll have to listen again, get another Green Rhino, 37 more boutique TS clones, and run them all into my Pharaoh Supreme...
 
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I'll have to get something up later (prob once I finish this next batch of pedals) with better sound quality. And like. pics of the settings. And you know, not my terrible playing, hah.

Kinda does the HM-2/chainsaw sound. I like that cutting, high end, square wave distortion grit. Been meaning to dig out a few things and try stacking them with the Arion Metal Master. Not like I can really run them in the whitebread surf trio *sigh*

But after hearing your noodle samples I splurged on a cheapo Yamaha 5 string. I swore off 5 strings years ago, what's the matter with me.

(goes and looks at craigslist for stoner/doom band postings)

Good luck, I've had zero luck getting anything going around here the past few months. Lots of auditions that didn't go anywhere or anything. And like, thats after showing up and learning some bands original stuff and all that, so idfk. Could it just because I suck? dunno.
I'm prob going try to find a jazz band or something if I can't dig up anything heavy soon.

I'm pretty happy with the 5'er in drop A so far. I've pretty much only played this bass since I got.

Ahhhh! Why’d you have to say it was HM-2ish? Now I’ll have to listen again, get another Green Rhino, 37 more boutique TS clones, and run them all into my Pharaoh Supreme...

It was super beastly through a big cab but kind of hard to manage without a noise gate and it went into feedback land super quick. Sounded awesome though... I'm sorry for your ears in advance. I've kind of come to the conclusion I'm more of a light distortion, heavy overdrive sort of gal and not so much with fuzz, so the GR does ok with that and all the midrange I tend to favor/eq in.

On a totally different, but related note...
I've thought about making something like a tube screamer or something super similar that is just for doing the "TS" overdrive Vol up/distortion down thing to drive another pedal or a gain stage, and like maxing the vol and adding a pot for tone and having the distortion all the way down and hard-wiring that way.

Not sure it'd sound good or what, but I might breadboard one to see what happens.
 
Turning into a fun project. The new panavice and soldering iron are making this pretty fun. I questioned buying a hundred dollar pcb vice but itd been nice.
20190930_190146.jpg
 
Good luck, I've had zero luck getting anything going around here the past few months. Lots of auditions that didn't go anywhere or anything. And like, thats after showing up and learning some bands original stuff and all that, so idfk. Could it just because I suck? dunno.
I'm prob going try to find a jazz band or something if I can't dig up anything heavy soon.

Now dangit, you guys don't suck. It's hard to do a band, though. My last 2 (maybe 4 depending on your standards of what defines a "band" vs. "folks screwing around") bands were the doing of my drummer, who I met in an earlier (woah, so much earlier) band that got started when a friend and I spotted the same genius without a band on separate occasions and approached them to create a band (yeah, convoluted, but that's as close as I can get in a paragraph - and on preview: this motherscratcher is gonna be long).

Either way, my point is: The guy just creates good bands. He does the necessary work to figure it out. I don't really know how he does it other than he works every goddamn angle he can to create the band he wants. The surf rock band we were in was the result of him and the beating of going through all the people who will respond to a CL ad. He got it 3/4 of the way there before he contacted me, but everyone hated the bassist they had ended up with. He hadn't played with me in around a decade, but in desperation sent me a "Tell me you want to be the bass player in my surf rock band" message. I happily asked "When's practice?", because I wasn't doing anything, and he rocks as a drummer. The guitarist he got from CL was the best guitarist I've ever played with, and one of the nicest band members. He did however move back to California before our record returned from the plant. We played a few shows after that, but not many. So, I probably have half a run left. PM me your address if you want a bitchin' surf rock record. I may even get off my tuckus and send ya one for free! I swear it'll be a rare gem someday, we got played on WFMU!!!! :bassist::smug:

Seriously, I have a few boxes left, it's a good record, and I'm sick of lookin' at them. PM me if ya want one. Offer good as long as I'm alive and have the gumption to re-use the mailers I buy other people's records in. Warning: it is a weirdo 10-inch EP, but it' 33 rpm.


So, when that guitarist moved back to California, I got to see how my drummer actually operated when he formed a band. He had always formed good bands who eventually got booked at good clubs before they broke up. I had always just found the folks I knew who were interested, taught someone to play guitar or bass and found a drummer of some sort, and came up with whatever band sprung from that - almost competent, spectacularly crazy, or just plain bland.

He started with casting a specific net. He talked to a few guitarists before trying to bring a new one in. The guys he brought in were pretty well respected, but neither of us got along with them*, so he scratched the surf band at that point. That magic was gone without that guitarist anyway, and those guys weren't close to him. At that point he just contacted pretty much anyone he knew looking for people who were interested in "nasty, dark, rock". We probably went through at least 10 different folks being in the band while they figured out whether it was something they wanted to do. We sounded like we were going to be a cross between the Melvins, Crash Worship, and Little Richard at one point. I was stoked. But then a guitarist and a drummer left, other folks shifted around, and we eventually ended up a straight 4-piece rock band, with the standard rock load out of: bass, gits/vox, lead gits, and drums before we finally even came up with a name, much less a show. With that config and the guitarists not willing to detune it's hard to not voice it like a "rock band", even though we're an odd "rock band". So, I can play with as much drive as I like until I piss off 50% of the band, or it's too much for my tastes. I really use the drummer as a gauge. If he thinks it doesn't fit, I've probably gone too far. The guitarists can be guitarists and whine that they can't step on their fuzz or distortion without disappearing. Get a better distortion sound, then (and you know what...they do!)

Nah, my point isn't to encourage you to engage in watersports with your guitarists - I really am a caring, sensitive bass player, and listen to their concerns. Sometimes I adjust my EQ in accordance with their requests. Occasionally I shut the silly thing off or even roll the volume down. We work it out. My point is that the band started as a surf band (or as a noise/punk band if you want to go back decades to my first "good" band with this drummer), but it was a lot of work and changing of expectations to get it to the sloppy, recreational (nowhere near breaking even) but somehow somewhat popular state it's in now. It's a shitload of fun, and as long as I can sell three guys on a song**, it's in the set.



*And yeah, he did the "dirty work" of telling them no, we're still looking. He's a LOT better at that than I. I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of "Welcome to Dumpsville: Population You". The guy's a great drummer, and he knows how to be polite, and firm. This footnote is sounding a lot dirtier than I intended. Ok, I'll try to save it with this: Drummers are weird offshoots of humanity in the same way that philosophy majors are weird offshoots of humanity. This drummer was once a philosophy major, and that makes him well suited for his job. Ok, I'll stop rambling.


**Yeah, I've got lots of written and half written songs I'll never sell them on, but I have a habit of writing straight-up country songs that I know I'm not really going to sell them on, and straight up noise, or de-tuned metal riffs. Really gotta try to start a side project suitable for any of those, but as I said, bands are hard.


TL;DR: Try to be nice, step on your fuzz, try to play with as many folks as you can, and show up to practice on time. Bring weed, if appropriate. Oh, and I'm giving away 10" of black surf rock vinyl. First come, first serve.
 
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Been thinking about the “new to me” gear I’ve got in the past few weeks. I think I’m going to take the 400rbiii with my GK 212 neo and run it with the original 400RB and my Basson 210 cab in stereo. Haven’t decided if I want to run a wet/dry or just a true stereo rig yet, but I’m going to toy around with the idea tomorrow night. I’ve only got a Dittox2 as far as a signal splitter right now. I guess I’ll need to invest in an ABY box soon though. It’s always something else needed..... lol

I always love an excuse to post a picture of my setup. After trying stereo and wet dry, wet/dry is where it’s at. Being able to distort the crap out of the guitar head and run the deep switch on the svt is amazing. All the gnarly sound I could ever want and tons of low end. All the effects run through the Randall with a heavy mid boosted tone that cuts and still has the boom.

90616E60-8D5C-4EB5-B0B2-BCD7CC377A90.jpeg
 
Now dangit, you guys don't suck. It's hard to do a band, though. My last 2 (maybe 4 depending on your standards of what defines a "band" vs. "folks screwing around") bands were the doing of my drummer, who I met in an earlier (woah, so much earlier) band that got started when a friend and I spotted the same genius without a band on separate occasions and approached them to create a band (yeah, convoluted, but that's as close as I can get in a paragraph - and on preview: this motherscratcher is gonna be long).

used to be stuff here, etc etc etc etc.... it was long. - j

TL;DR: Try to be nice, step on your fuzz, try to play with as many folks as you can, and show up to practice on time. Bring weed, if appropriate. Oh, and I'm giving away 10" of black surf rock vinyl. First come, first serve.



Cornfarmer prob meshes with people a lot better musically than I do! At least what I've heard of him play. I'm still very inexperienced with playing out with people doing metal stuff which has been a bit of a challenge. Most of my experience is from blues and jazz jams where I'm just hanging out with the drummer playing quarter notes.

I prob could have been a bit more clear, but I was more referencing that the scene for metal, stoner/doom and generally heavy stuff around the Bay Area is either somewhat light. Or at least feels that way.
Or I just don't know how to find it(Also very likely, because people are hard).

Anyways, I'll prob take you up on one of those pressed copies. I have a riding buddy who's huge into surf rock and I suspect it'll be totally something he's interested in.
 
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Good luck, I've had zero luck getting anything going around here the past few months. Lots of auditions that didn't go anywhere or anything. And like, thats after showing up and learning some bands original stuff and all that, so idfk. Could it just because I suck? dunno.
:atoz:
That djenty/jazzy band seemed promising!
Anyways your playing is not bad at all IMO, finding a satisfying band is not that easy... but don't give up! You know who I'm playing with? A guy who didn't even know how to play drums, he just started learning when we started the band. This, or I would have been still looking for a drummer by now :roflmao: Seems crazy but it worked fine in the end
 
I always love an excuse to post a picture of my setup. After trying stereo and wet dry, wet/dry is where it’s at. Being able to distort the crap out of the guitar head and run the deep switch on the svt is amazing. All the gnarly sound I could ever want and tons of low end. All the effects run through the Randall with a heavy mid boosted tone that cuts and still has the boom.

View attachment 3553454
Badass setup!
 
with y'all on difficulty finding people to play with. was rather active in the local scene from 2009-2013 paying in hardcore/post hardcore/powerviolence bands but with increased alcohol consumption i became increasingly erractic and difficult to be around until i disappeared and eventually got sober
played in a non-gigging classic rock covers band with a couple of old dudes for awhile, which gave me the confidence that i can actually play. have been paying in churches for a few years now. having a regular gig and actually practicing my playing and confidence has improved immensely, more in 4 years than the previous 2 decades (imagine that! getting drunk on my couch buying a bunch of gear with dreams of making it big offered little to no improvement while actually playing my bass has!)
really if i could just find a drummer i could record some demos and i could throw a rock and find a guitarist

anyway that was long but it sounds like some of us are in similar situations
 
with y'all on difficulty finding people to play with. was rather active in the local scene from 2009-2013 paying in hardcore/post hardcore/powerviolence bands but with increased alcohol consumption i became increasingly erractic and difficult to be around until i disappeared and eventually got sober
played in a non-gigging classic rock covers band with a couple of old dudes for awhile, which gave me the confidence that i can actually play. have been paying in churches for a few years now. having a regular gig and actually practicing my playing and confidence has improved immensely, more in 4 years than the previous 2 decades (imagine that! getting drunk on my couch buying a bunch of gear with dreams of making it big offered little to no improvement while actually playing my bass has!)
really if i could just find a drummer i could record some demos and i could throw a rock and find a guitarist

anyway that was long but it sounds like some of us are in similar situations
Congrats on your sobriety. And good luck finding a drummer! Make some tunes and share them with us.
 
One of my clones is here! The other, Behringer's HM-2 clone, is being delivered later today.

This is the Soul Food with the "Meat & 3" mod. It's a Klon Centaur clone. The mods add a 3-way switch that allows you to choose between the stock Soul Food circuit, an Open Drive circuit or the Original Klon germanium circuit. JHS also added the Meat knob, which is essentially a Bass control. This allows for a darker, richer guitar tone (the stock Soul Food gets pretty thin when you push the drive & treble past past the 60-70% range)... it also allows us bassists to really take advantage of the Klon sound. I've tried the Bass Soul Food and, to me, it repeated the Soul Food's thinning of the tone as the drive got higher. The Meat knob should take care of that. I'll find out tonight!

Over the next few nights, I'll be spending some time recording & posting sound samples of the different OD/Fuzz/ Distortion pedals that I use :thumbsup:
upload_2019-10-1_12-11-16.png
 
:atoz:
That djenty/jazzy band seemed promising!
Anyways your playing is not bad at all IMO, finding a satisfying band is not that easy... but don't give up! You know who I'm playing with? A guy who didn't even know how to play drums, he just started learning when we started the band. This, or I would have been still looking for a drummer by now :roflmao: Seems crazy but it worked fine in the end

I though so too... oh well. They really wanted someone who played with a pick for some reason and had this weird idea about 32nd notes being a thing possible on a bass guitar at the tempos that we were playing at... oh well. I got on great with one of the guitar players and its still a good experience and getting to learn and play new stuff!

Its kind of fun working with someone new and building up that skill and being able to suck a lot while learning can be a lot of fun.


with y'all on difficulty finding people to play with. was rather active in the local scene from 2009-2013 paying in hardcore/post hardcore/powerviolence bands but with increased alcohol consumption i became increasingly erractic and difficult to be around until i disappeared and eventually got sober
played in a non-gigging classic rock covers band with a couple of old dudes for awhile, which gave me the confidence that i can actually play. have been paying in churches for a few years now. having a regular gig and actually practicing my playing and confidence has improved immensely, more in 4 years than the previous 2 decades (imagine that! getting drunk on my couch buying a bunch of gear with dreams of making it big offered little to no improvement while actually playing my bass has!)
really if i could just find a drummer i could record some demos and i could throw a rock and find a guitarist

anyway that was long but it sounds like some of us are in similar situations

Totally. I do a ton of practice by myself but playing with a regular group has been a challenge because of career/fam/kiddo/school/etc. A lot of us here tend to give the P&W guys a ton of crap, but they have regular steady gigs and are getting out there so they're doing something right.

Also grats on getting some of that ish cleaned up, its hard man. I'm over 2yrs sober and its a challenge, worth it but a challenge. Wife is a huge stoner and still drinks so keeping stuff out of the house is kind of a challenge sometimes but manageable. Its made a huge difference in being able to manage my mental health which while it isn't great, is less bad than it used to be.

I Just write, record, play, BS. We all get there in the end.
 
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Took me a looong time to fill out our power trio, and I took on vox because vocalists are even weirder than drummers. Haha.

I've been playing with the guitarist for about a year, took 4ish months to find him, and we went thru 4 or 5 drummer auditions, and one drummer as a member before we found our 'forever' drummer about 6 months ago. Its quite a slog!