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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

No kidding huh? How thick did you have to go, like 130? My current band is in Bb standard so I still have doubts it could go that low, even if I wanted to.



Hahaha on your first bass no less! Doomer from the get go I see.



I asked the guy why it was priced so low and he told me he sold a Guild JSB-II to a working musician that didn't have the cash to pay for it at the time so he gave him this to cover it partially. Neck is supposedly in good shape, truss rod fully functioning. Could use a setup he says as the action is a bit high around the 12th fret, but if I'm playing some heavy dub then I prefer it a bit high.

And yeah I'd have a hard time modding this that much, I've never had a true vintage instrument. My oldest is a '92 P bass hah!

Probably pick it up this Saturday, hard not to at that price. Thanks for the responses folks!
It was a 5 string set. Forgot the manufacturer, but yes 5 string short scale flats exist. Lol
 
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No kidding huh? How thick did you have to go, like 130? My current band is in Bb standard so I still have doubts it could go that low, even if I wanted to.



Hahaha on your first bass no less! Doomer from the get go I see.



I asked the guy why it was priced so low and he told me he sold a Guild JSB-II to a working musician that didn't have the cash to pay for it at the time so he gave him this to cover it partially. Neck is supposedly in good shape, truss rod fully functioning. Could use a setup he says as the action is a bit high around the 12th fret, but if I'm playing some heavy dub then I prefer it a bit high.

And yeah I'd have a hard time modding this that much, I've never had a true vintage instrument. My oldest is a '92 P bass hah!

Probably pick it up this Saturday, hard not to at that price. Thanks for the responses folks!

That Guild is rad! I bet it’ll make a killer dub reggae sound. I’ve seen old videos of Robbie Shakespeare playing similar instruments with Peter Tosh’s band.

In my experience, it’s hard to get short scale basses to cut through a mix once you start tuning down more than a whole step. Low C# is probably as low as I’d go with a 30” scale.
 
I've done D on a short scale and C# on a 32". You can get similar tension as a long scale but you'll need to find heavier gauge strings. That looks badass though.



That's awesome, makes sense in some way. Always liked his tone. It was great in hawkwind too.

Anyone hear any news about the waza HM-2? If it's not limited release I'm tempted. Never used any of the waza series but have heard great things. Hopefully it's legit news.
There's an FB group for it. It devolved into typical FB nonsense quickly with memes and outrageous stuff in general, but the head guy at Boss makes the occasional update. It was cool that they set the page up to get feedback/ideas from the public. Kind of like how James Brown used to do with Amptweaker. I'll likely pick one up, though maybe not new. We'll see. I have a decent collection of HM-2s, and I can see this being added.
 
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I love me some HM-2.
Speaking of dirt. I haven't been around much in a few years. Have any cool fuzz pedals come out? Like interesting stuff? Not more rat or muff clones.
I'm solidly in the muff camp, and love my Pharaoh Supreme and Swollen Pickle (which has recently ousted the former as my favorite), but the DOD Carcosa is pretty fantastic. A Maestro FZ-1S derivative. Not sure how long you've been out, but it's been out a few years. I also love the Iron Pig, which is Earthbound's Rat. I love it because it doesn't have to sound like a Rat. Incredibly versatile. Other than that, I don't really do much fuzz, and certainly nothing too terribly new or different. I'll stick with my standard muff tones. Most other fuzz tones just don't sound very good to me. Of course, that's just me.
 
I'm solidly in the muff camp, and love my Pharaoh Supreme and Swollen Pickle (which has recently ousted the former as my favorite), but the DOD Carcosa is pretty fantastic. A Maestro FZ-1S derivative. Not sure how long you've been out, but it's been out a few years. I also love the Iron Pig, which is Earthbound's Rat. I love it because it doesn't have to sound like a Rat. Incredibly versatile. Other than that, I don't really do much fuzz, and certainly nothing too terribly new or different. I'll stick with my standard muff tones. Most other fuzz tones just don't sound very good to me. Of course, that's just me.

Ahh cool. Yeah the Carcosa was probably the last thing I remember coming out. Bought one used on Reverb then the guy refunded me. So I never got it.
There's a Pharaoh "Supreme"? Cool. I picked up a Pharaoh 8 years ago. Gave it to my guitarist. I've gone through some muffs. I always prefer them on guitar. Except for that Green Muff I had. Should have kept that one. Still need to check out the Iron Pig at some point. I do love Rats on bass.
I know I came to the conclusion years ago I preferred good heavy OD to fuzz, usually. I still love my Fuzzrocious Demon King, also got that 8 years ago. Which can do some fuzz stuff. Also the momentary feedback is super useful.
Just wanted to see if there was any new hot TB item that everyone is drooling over. haha
 
Ahh cool. Yeah the Carcosa was probably the last thing I remember coming out. Bought one used on Reverb then the guy refunded me. So I never got it.
There's a Pharaoh "Supreme"? Cool. I picked up a Pharaoh 8 years ago. Gave it to my guitarist. I've gone through some muffs. I always prefer them on guitar. Except for that Green Muff I had. Should have kept that one. Still need to check out the Iron Pig at some point. I do love Rats on bass.
I know I came to the conclusion years ago I preferred good heavy OD to fuzz, usually. I still love my Fuzzrocious Demon King, also got that 8 years ago. Which can do some fuzz stuff. Also the momentary feedback is super useful.
Just wanted to see if there was any new hot TB item that everyone is drooling over. haha
I'm not the one to keep up with the latest thing - I usually get the stuff used a few months/years down the road. The Pharaoh Supreme is basically the Pharaoh with 3 more clipping diodes and a variable input gain instead of just hi/lo. It's likely the most versatile muff, if you have the patience to dial it in. I'm not sure I like Rats on bass, but as a pedal colelctor of sorts, I keep that one in case I "need" a Rat tone since it's by far the best one I've tried, including the Dunwich Volt Thrower.
 
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I don't think I mentioned it here, but I picked up a Boss HM-3 recently, basically on a whim. But I'm really liking it a lot. Much like modern darkglass sounds, I felt the PD-7 is quite "batteries included" in its approach. It sounds like a PD-7 and it sounds good as is, but it doesn't lend itself to stacking as well as I'd have liked it to. At least not from my cursory testing, maybe I should give it more time. On the other hand, the HM-2, while very straightforward in its use, is anything but transparent and it feels really hard to find heavier settings where it adds interesting colour that amounts to more than just simple distortion without turning into its iconic, certainly cool, but ultimately not for me chainsaw setting. The HM-3 does have a similar colour to its EQ, but it's far less exaggerated and lends itself to stacking with my Burning Sunn better. The amount of coloring I get from it is delightful because it hits a really nice spot where its noticeable but doesn't take over the overall tone of the Burning Sunn. So I can add some extra heavy tone when I like without turning it into an entirely different tone from what I'm normally at. It gets a very nice vibe to it that makes me think Satan Worshipping Doom and Revengeance.
 
I
Ahh cool. Yeah the Carcosa was probably the last thing I remember coming out. Bought one used on Reverb then the guy refunded me. So I never got it.
There's a Pharaoh "Supreme"? Cool. I picked up a Pharaoh 8 years ago. Gave it to my guitarist. I've gone through some muffs. I always prefer them on guitar. Except for that Green Muff I had. Should have kept that one. Still need to check out the Iron Pig at some point. I do love Rats on bass.
I know I came to the conclusion years ago I preferred good heavy OD to fuzz, usually. I still love my Fuzzrocious Demon King, also got that 8 years ago. Which can do some fuzz stuff. Also the momentary feedback is super useful.
Just wanted to see if there was any new hot TB item that everyone is drooling over. haha
I had the momentary feedback on another Fuzzrocious pedal and it DIDN'T work unless I used the pedal alone (not in chain with anything else).
 
How many tunings do you guys think is a feasible amount to have on hand? I have 4 basses (and 4 guitars) and want to tune them all differently to have a bass/guitar matching set for writing stuff. Right now, the basses/guitars are split evenly between extended range (5 string basses and 7 string guitars) and standard range instruments. Ideally, this would also allow me to learn various other songs easier as well. Here's what I'm thinking, and these three are pretty set for me:

Standard - 5 string bass and 7 string guitar - obvious reasons. Most stuff is in standard, and this will give me the heaviness of the lower ranges and still allow most other things to be played.

Dropped 1/2 step - 5 string bass and 7 string guitar - some of my favorite bands use this, and it's just different enough that I like it. The lower strings don't get too floppy, either, which is good.

Dropped Whole Step - 4 string bass and 6 string guitar - another favorite band, but also, the more I play this tuning, the more I really like it. Seems a little looser, but not muddy, and it's really growing on me

4th Tuning - 4 string bass and 6 string guitar - not really sure what to do with it. Drop D? It's common, but really only one band I can think of that I like (Rammstein) uses it, and I feel for their occasional song, I'll retune. I'm a huge fan of old Swedish death metal, both melodic and not, and know that Drop C tuning is common there. I feel that will be really loose on a 4 string. Should I buy a 5 string set and get rid of the G? Would tuning a "Low B" to "C" (as well as tightening the other strings too) add extra tension on the neck and possibly harm the guitar/bass?

TL:DR - What's an idea for a usable tuning to learn (and write) plenty of heavy stuff besides standard, dropped 1/2 step, and dropped 1 whole step?
 
TL:DR - What's an idea for a usable tuning to learn (and write) plenty of heavy stuff besides standard, dropped 1/2 step, and dropped 1 whole step?
All fifths for power-chord galore all over the neck and very spaced-out voicings! You can drop the bottom string ten whole steps to to make the standard power chord shape an octave instead. Maybe add a fifth between that second and third string so the standard octave'd power chord becomes... the same power chord but voiced like the harmonic series. Just having a flat out octave between the bottom two strings would be cool too, I imagine.
 
Drop C tuning is common there. (...) Should I buy a 5 string set and get rid of the G? Would tuning a "Low B" to "C" (as well as tightening the other strings too) add extra tension on the neck and possibly harm the guitar/bass?
I wouldn't recommend using a regular 5 set minus the top string for drop C. Tuning the B string to C is feasible, but you're tuning the other strings up three semitones, I think that's too much, but I'll admit I never tried this.

I have two somewhat related questions: I'm setting up s bass for Stoner, it'll be in D Standard. Do I need heavy gauges like 50-110, or will a normal 40-100 work?

My other question: can you play Stoner on flatwounds?
 
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