Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[donahue]

How do you all reason about string height when it comes to doom/drone? I like to play low but I think it's costing me some sustain on the lowest strings which is a shame because I like this height overall.

Mess around with the saddle height a little bit until you find a happy medium. I like my action stupid low. I set it by feel, but I recently got some measuring tools and found I like it lower than “suggested” settings.

Use the go no-go method. Lower the saddle down with the bass plugged in until it starts to choke off the note and sound like poo then go 1/4 turns up at a time with the saddle screws, trying it until you like the action and sustain. That’s kind of what I do. I always end up with a little fret buzz but I don’t mind

 

[BurtMacklinFBI]

How do you all reason about string height when it comes to doom/drone? I like to play low but I think it's costing me some sustain on the lowest strings which is a shame because I like this height overall.

I keep it low, but not crazy super low. I like just a little hint of fret noise, not enough to choke off the actual note.

 

[bassboysam]

i like my action as low as possible and my necks as straight as possible with almost no relief. but i also play with a very light touch. i don't grip the neck, i let the strap hold the bass in position and use as little force as possible to fret the notes. my thumb on the back of the neck just barely touches, i try to keep my thumb about 1 milimeter away. this keeps my entire left side, from my neck to my fingertips relaxed. it took several months to adjust but now i can never go back to how i used to play.

 

[YawningJorin]

All reasonable! I don't mind the buzz but I do want more sustain. Looked at it a bit more in-depth today and I am for certain too low and will try to get around to adjusting tonight. The fun thing is, it seems the weight of the strings is enough to affect it slightly. So if I'm sitting and playing with poor posture (which I am all too inclined to do), they buzz even more. All the more reason to focus on posture, I guess hahaha

i like my action as low as possible and my necks as straight as possible with almost no relief. but i also play with a very light touch. i don't grip the neck, i let the strap hold the bass in position and use as little force as possible to fret the notes. my thumb on the back of the neck just barely touches, i try to keep my thumb about 1 milimeter away. this keeps my entire left side, from my neck to my fingertips relaxed. it took several months to adjust but now i can never go back to how i used to play.

You're on some next level poopie and I dig that

 

[lucas303]

I'm having a grand ol' time in this thread: Calling all headbangers-Need help completing a playlist project.

Come join the fun.

 

[YawningJorin]

I'm having a grand ol' time in this thread: Calling all headbangers-Need help completing a playlist project.

Come join the fun.

That took a bit too long, I should've been in bed by now. Oh well I like writing

 

[lucas303]

That took a bit too long, I should've been in bed by now. Oh well I like writing

Your post reminded me that I need to listen to more Conan!

 

[YawningJorin]

Your post reminded me that I need to listen to more Conan!

Oh heck yes! You know, I think my life peaked when I saw them live. It was a pretty modest crowd, but it wasn't tiny. Felt like everyone who was there knew what they were there for. When Jon called out the next song as Throne of Fire, I gave a loud woo and he looked at me like "heck yeah this kid knows what's up". Gave him an awkward fistbump after the show. I think that one, Om, and SubRosa were my absolute favourite shows. All magical in their own ways.

 

[Pelham Bleu]

i like my action as low as possible and my necks as straight as possible with almost no relief. but i also play with a very light touch. i don't grip the neck, i let the strap hold the bass in position and use as little force as possible to fret the notes. my thumb on the back of the neck just barely touches, i try to keep my thumb about 1 milimeter away. this keeps my entire left side, from my neck to my fingertips relaxed. it took several months to adjust but now i can never go back to how i used to play.

I'm still choking the life outta my poor neck.

 

[Flamingo21]

How do you all reason about string height when it comes to doom/drone? I like to play low but I think it's costing me some sustain on the lowest strings which is a shame because I like this height overall.

I wonder if "unequal action" is worth trying. As in, slightly higher on the thicker strings to help sustain, lower on the thinner ones.

No idea if this can even be done, I'm a very physical player, so I have high action myself.

 

[lucas303]

I wonder if "unequal action" is worth trying. As in, slightly higher on the thicker strings to help sustain, lower on the thinner ones.

No idea if this can even be done, I'm a very physical player, so I have high action myself.

Definitely possible depending on your bridge.

 

[Novarocker]

Yeah to be honest I think I do just that with my heavier strings. I play real heavy with my right, but go between choking and a light touch on my left

 

[Novarocker]

Eh who am I kidding I got heavy hands all around most the time...at least with my fingers.

 

[Flamingo21]

There's a thread going on at the moment about why metal guitarists detune. It makes me wonder: how do you deal with this as a bassist? Do you detune by the same interval? Do you not detune at all?

And mostly: if you detune, why? Because you want those extra low notes? Because you're supposed to be an octave lower than the guitars? Or because it makes communication easier?

 

[kleinenenten]

I bought a 5 string to NOT detune. Never had a guitarist try and go lower than B standard. I once had my friend from HS try to convince me to play Korn, but I only had a 4 string then, and tuning it to A would have been terrible. Also, I’m not a Korn fan...

As for communication, I get that. I played with someone a few years ago who would only play Drop D. He only followed the finger patterns of the other members. Anything he wrote sounded fine, because we accommodated him and I would figure out the correct notes. But if I or the other guitarist wrote it, it sounded terrible because he played identical frets with a different tuning. He didn’t get why things just didn’t sound right. It seemed to make him think that he was a great player, because “his” songs sounded great, while ours sucked. Of course, that’s because we were playing the right notes, and he wasn’t...

 

[bassboysam]

There's a thread going on at the moment about why metal guitarists detune. It makes me wonder: how do you deal with this as a bassist? Do you detune by the same interval? Do you not detune at all?




And mostly: if you detune, why? Because you want those extra low notes? Because you're supposed to be an octave lower than the guitars? Or because it makes communication easier?

typically i'll tune the same as the guitar to a certain degree. we have 4 different basic tunings.
Eb standard and drop Db
Db standard and drop B.

for those i tune the same as the guitar. some song where we use the Eb/drop Db guitars the guitar will drop down further to Bb or even Ab. i don't bother following the guitar in those cases. i'll stick with Eb standard and play a lot in the same octave as the guitar. we make it work and has become part of our "signature". there are lots of parts where the bass ends up being in a higher octave relative to the guitar. i find this helps keep the mud to a minimum, and i don't need fancy amps and cabs or basses to handle to lower frequency demands of low tuning.

as to why we have 6 tunings for an instrumental band? mostly because it keeps us from playing everything in the same key, also it gives variety in terms of tones and textures which again for an instrumental band, adds some varierty and interest. at least we think it does.

 

[br1qbat]

Both I and the guitarist tune to C standard. We like the open C

 

[bassboysam]

here are some examples.

guitar in drop Bb, bass in Eb.


bass and guitar in Db standard


bass and guitar in Eb standard



guitar in drop Ab, bass in Eb


bass and guitar in Db with drop B.

 

[oZZma]

There's a thread going on at the moment about why metal guitarists detune. It makes me wonder: how do you deal with this as a bassist? Do you detune by the same interval? Do you not detune at all?

And mostly: if you detune, why? Because you want those extra low notes? Because you're supposed to be an octave lower than the guitars? Or because it makes communication easier?

I don't communicate with anyone.

 

[YawningJorin]

I don't play with a band right now and when I did we just played in E standard, so take me with a grain of salt: I don't think there's any real issue tuning down to B or even A to match guitar. It's easy to get ahold of strings and five string instruments are almost as ubiquitous as four strings. However, if your guitarist is going lower, you'll run into trouble with strings (custom, expensive), instruments (bridge and saddle filing on the lower strings), and amplification (cabs generally not designed for that range) if you want to match. So I'd strongly urge anyone whose guitarist insists on playing that low to consider tuning a fifth lower. It'll make for cooler harmony anyway

For my own stuff I have tuned to F0 recently. I was in F# but this allows me to play along with Conan and puts me a fifth below my other bass. I also just find C to be a sweet tuning for guitar so when I get one, I'll tune it to that. Cello is also in C and ooh I'm picking mine up in less than a week now!!!

Edit since I have the reading comprehension of someone who skims texts at best and you asked about why: timbre and groove. I write bass first and my tuning is not really the result of a guitarist, at least for as long as I play alone . I find that the lower I go the more the percussive it gets. Most of the standard range doesn't have that smooth bass range where the notes have motion without clear melody. Distorted low tones are also what gives me life so there is that.