Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[lucas303]

On tonight's episode of "THAT'S Been The Problem This WHOLE TIME!?!?!?!?" we have power supply issues. For the past 3ish (?) years I've had a random hum in one of my amps. Only one, and it would go away sporadically. Typically, if it showed up, it would show up within a few minutes of the amp being turned on and slowly get louder until the amp "popped", at which point the hum would be gone and the cycle would repeat.

I narrowed it down to the pedal board, and figured it was the power supply. After downsizing a bunch of other boards, I realized I had some extra power supplies and swapped them out. That solved it. Looking at the two power supplies, they were identical. So I thought more and more, and figured it out - the power supply was fine - but one of them had the extra lead of wire wrapped in a rubber band, and the other was wrapped in a metal twist tie. The metal twist tie had the noise. I swapped it with a rubber band, and the noise was gone! So far, after about 30 minutes of keeping everything on idling as I did other things, there was no new noise. For reference, while playing today the amp popped twice in about 15 minutes. So I'm hopeful it's all figure out now! I've always heard that coiling long wires can cause noise in the signal, but never seen it before. That's all I can think of that caused this issue - the coil of the wires and the wire tie being wrapped around all those coils must have caused the noise in a similar way. Odd - but it seems to be fine now, so I'm happy.

In other news, I'm loving the new practice routine. Got my calluses back, and am feeling much more confident in my playing. My wife even got me an Iron Maiden guitar tab book for V-Day! Time to get the bass one and get to work!

So far, I've got the following songs down in the past two weeks (all of which I had mostly learned in the past, but have now re-learned and tightened up). New songs to come in the next few weeks!

Metallica:
Seek and Destroy
Creeping Death
Whiplash
For Whom The Bell Tolls

Kreator:
Black Sun

New songs coming up are going to be some Sabbath, Maiden, maybe Priest. We'll see. Probably finish up Seasons in the Abyss as well, since I've got that pretty much down already. Anyway, been a great few weeks, and my routine is working for me. I'm thinking I may spend my weekends learning the bulk of a new song, and then the following week focusing on tightening up the parts I'm struggling with. Hopefully it keeps me focused. Pumped!

Sounds like you're kicking ass and taking names!

 

[kleinenenten]

Sounds like you're kicking ass and taking names!

Trying to! Just been one of those things lately. I was in a funk for a LOOONG time. Determined to get out of it. I have all of this stuff that I LOVE doing, but I wasn't doing any of it. Just spent my free time watching TV and drinking a few beers every night. Got tired of it, and am ready to get back at it with my bass and guitar. Loving every minute so far, and my wife even told me she's happy to listen to me practice since now I'm adding things to the repertoire instead of endlessly noodling the same riffs.

 

[El_Charro]

This made me hit Google images to try and find it. I found several images that come close to your description, but none with the "more beer" text. But I see what you mean.
View attachment 4582163

Lzzy Hale is the one that got me into the Explorer shape:
View attachment 4582162

———————————-
Lol-Hetfield REALLY loves his Explorers…

That kind of got going on the Justice tour and never really went away…And I feel like it is practically “mandatory “ that he play Sad But True on a black Explorer at this point…

Side note: One of the poster flags I have in my rehearsal space is his white explorer from the Justice tour when it was sporting the “Eet F***” label…

LOVE that look on g**tars, but I could never quite get on board with that shape for a bass…

I tried out one of the cheaper ESP/LTD Streams for a bit, but I:

1) Felt like a poser bc that’s what my favorite musician plays and
2) Felt like the body was weirdly attached to the neck

I haven’t tried a full on Explorer shaped bass, but that particular body felt odd to me for some reason…

Random follow up question to the group-Why does a Les Paul shaped body not commonly appear on basses???

I know they are out there bc I’ve Googled it-I just find it a bit odd that the Les Paul body shape is so popular for g**tar players but seems more unicorn like when it comes to basses…

Thanks! \m/

 

[scabpicker]

LOVE that look on g**tars, but I could never quite get on board with that shape for a bass…

Heeheheh, my singer had an Explorer for a bit. His experience with it made me decide that it would be an extravagance to even have a guitar with that shape, much less to use it regularly. The case was as big as the case for my Thunderbird, and that thing's huge. A guitar has no right whatsoever being that large.

Yeah, I still want one, though.

 

[Flamingo21]

Creating a bass with the Explorer shape is tricky, esthetically speaking. Somehow it can easily end up weird.

All Gibson Explorers have been 32" which I think makes it easier. For my Explorer build I bought a 34" neck, and I spent many hours staring at drawings, photos, and mockups. Trying to get it right.

Should come together in a month.

 

[Kawai2g4b]

———————————-
Lol-Hetfield REALLY loves his Explorers…

That kind of got going on the Justice tour and never really went away…And I feel like it is practically “mandatory “ that he play Sad But True on a black Explorer at this point…

Side note: One of the poster flags I have in my rehearsal space is his white explorer from the Justice tour when it was sporting the “Eet F***” label…

LOVE that look on g**tars, but I could never quite get on board with that shape for a bass…

I tried out one of the cheaper ESP/LTD Streams for a bit, but I:

1) Felt like a poser bc that’s what my favorite musician plays and
2) Felt like the body was weirdly attached to the neck

I haven’t tried a full on Explorer shaped bass, but that particular body felt odd to me for some reason…

Random follow up question to the group-Why does a Les Paul shaped body not commonly appear on basses???

I know they are out there bc I’ve Googled it-I just find it a bit odd that the Les Paul body shape is so popular for g**tar players but seems more unicorn like when it comes to basses…

Thanks! \m/

Concerning the Les Paul body on a bass: unless you are getting a short scale model, the neck dive on most basses with that body style is brutal.

 

[Deleted member 132197]

So, who's using a octaver on their board with doom/stoner?

Last month I put a OC-3 on my board and it's great fun. I haven't found any use for it yet with my band.

 

[NNNN]

Creating a bass with the Explorer shape is tricky, esthetically speaking.

Explorers are so long I wouldn't think the shape would have to change much for a bass. The ones that are weird translations to bass are the Jackson Warrior (and the similar BC Rich Stealth) because the neck-to-bridge area is so short to begin with. Example:

The BC Rich Ironbird bass has a little block that sticks out just to hold the bridge. Kinda weird but it helps preserve the proportions and I think it's a better solution overall.

 

[br1qbat]

As far as garish shapes go, I'm a sucker for a BC Rich Warlock. Ergonomically pretty good too.

 

[lucas303]

The Ironbird makes me think of Jo Bench

 

[thombo]

Not as unique as explorers and icemen, but here are my two less traditional bass looks.
Washburn Wing Series for the Ian Miller vibes (Kowloon Walled City). I believe the Vulture and the Scavenger are the two models. A local dude in Pale Horse/Pale Rider uses one and it smokes!

BC Rich Eagle Bass (Derek Small's vibes)

 

[themarshall]

Those BC Riches remind me of Maceo Parker’s bass player in the 1990’s. (Jerome Preston, not Skeet Curtis or Vincent Henry). I know the pointier models are supposed to be “metal”, but the hippie samitches are pretty funky.

 

[Flamingo21]

Washburn Wing Series

That's a beauty!

 

[Flamingo21]

Explorers are so long I wouldn't think the shape would have to change much for a bass.

From a functional standpoint you are right, of course. The problem I run into is an esthetic one. To illustrate what I mean, here's Lzzy Hale:

The hind part of the body is impressive looking. (I'm referring to the guitar.) It's big, it flares out, it's accentuated by its whiteness, and... it's almost empty. Now as soon as you use that body shape for a bass, the bridge goes further back, comprising the impressiveness.

Here's my Awful Example:

I feel, in this case, that that good looking hind part of the body has gone completely sour. This is the esthetic I sought to avoid. And so, designing my Explorer became a balancing act.

All very subjective, of course.

 

[Andsvara]

Oh boy, it's blue!

But wait ... now it's all red and angry!


I'm happy and experimenting with Ownhammer Impules Responses.

 

[Andsvara]

All very subjective, of course.

Now I can't unsee it, but you are right.

 

[cornfarmer]

Not as unique as explorers and icemen, but here are my two less traditional bass looks.
Washburn Wing Series for the Ian Miller vibes (Kowloon Walled City). I believe the Vulture and the Scavenger are the two models. A local dude in Pale Horse/Pale Rider uses one and it smokes!
View attachment 4585639

BC Rich Eagle Bass (Derek Small's vibes)
View attachment 4585640

You have fine tastes. My very first bass was a Lotus L760 which was a copy of that Washburn. Let's continue in that direction. If I ever find one of these (the middle or right one) for cheap I'll probably snag it.

Here's a Dan Armstrong knock-off I made a little better for cornfarmer jr. if he decides to pick up the hobby.

And one of the best sounding ones in my stash. Because the pickup is basically a flipped p-bass pickup, it kind of blows my p-bass out of the water.

 

[Deleted member 132197]

You have fine tastes. My very first bass was a Lotus L760 which was a copy of that Washburn. Let's continue in that direction. If I ever find one of these (the middle or right one) for cheap I'll probably snag it.

View attachment 4585891

Here's a Dan Armstrong knock-off I made a little better for cornfarmer jr. if he decides to pick up the hobby.

View attachment 4585892

And one of the best sounding ones in my stash. Because the pickup is basically a flipped p-bass pickup, it kind of blows my p-bass out of the water.

View attachment 4585893

damn, that black one is beautiful!

I love these SG-ish basses.

My main one is also SG-ish, but a hollow body

@instrumentalist, I like the mock up! Only the positions of the knobs is still a bit off.

 

[cornfarmer]

i.e. Explorer ergonomics, for a brief moment I used one of the newer Ibanez Destroyers in an old band and it handled just fine.

 

[Flamingo21]

@instrumentalist, I like the mock up! Only the positions of the knobs is still a bit off.

I'm sorry, what mock up are you referring to?