Been logging plenty of hours jamming on old Metallica. Haven't gotten to the Sabbath I requested the other day (Letters From Earth), but I'll try and get to it tomorrow when I'm off work. As far as trying to play "Solitude", I'm afraid I can't do that one as I'm definitely not able to read sheet music. My apologies to whoever (and apologies for forgetting who it was!) was hoping I could look at that, because that's about ALL I can do...
Anyway - loving the new practice routine, and I've been adding a new song to the repertoire every week so far. Managed to get two in this week! Whiplash is rather simple and pretty much 100% now, and I've been jamming The Four Horsemen hard the last two days and am about 95% there (just gotta tighten up a few small things, and the bass section under the solo is almost solo-ish itself, so I've just improvised one - I'll get there one day!). Thinking I may try Phantom Lord tomorrow, if Letters From Earth doesn't pan out. Feeling accomplished and competent as a bassist like I haven't in years, and in many ways I feel like I'm starting over. My fingertips hurt like a complete novice, if that's any indication about how much serious practice I've had the last few years. Some findings, most of which are old news, but worth re-stating:
1. The most obvious - bedroom tone rarely works in a mix. As I've been woodshedding, I've also been tweaking my dirt. Outside of the mix, my bass tone sounds terrible to me. Far louder than clean, plenty of treble bite, and seemingly fewer lows. But in the mix it's amazing. Again, old news, but I'm really feeling I need to say this for my own benefit and maybe for someone else who is struggling with their tone as well. I LOVED my solo tone, but jamming along with songs has shown that it doesn't fit. It's been great to HEAR my tone in a mix.
2. Lots of dirt is good - but so is plenty of clean lows. In playing with my pedals, lower gain seems to be good for the bedroom, but then gets lost in the heavy mix as it's just too bass-heavy. I suppose "lost" is a misnomer - it's there, but blends too well, and that's NOT my goal. Simply cranking the gain makes it get lost as well, as then the bass is often too reduced to work in the mix. So I've had to find a way to add plenty of gain and bite without sacrificing the fundamental. For my Iron Pig, that means plenty on the gain, tone, and attack knobs (2:00ish on gain and tone, max attack), as well as a hefty amount of clean blended in (11:00-11:30ish). For the Pharaoh Supreme, it means lower pre and fuzz controls (about 10:30ish each) and plenty of volume (noonish) with the tone all the way down and hi's all the way up. For the PD7, it's bass at just past noon, treble at 3:00, gain at 11:00ish, volume to taste, with attack off and OD mode engaged. Just enough treble to cut, bass to fill it in, and enough compression to jump out of the mix. It just plain works! And speaking of which...
3. My modded Pork Loin KILLS it! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but my Pork Loin is the absolute best drive pedal I've ever played. It just works in all situations. From lower gain applications to all sorts of heavy metal, whenever I turn this on, it's audible, clear, and has just the right tone for anything. I don't even change settings - I've had the identical settings for the past 5 years at least. My desert island drive, no doubt.
4. My Pharaoh Supreme and Iron Pig sound noticeably different out of the mix, but incredibly similar in the mix. Didn't expect this at all. The biggest difference in the mix is the hi-mid clank of the Iron Pig versus the low-mid thump of the Pharaoh. Not sure if it's the inherent nature of Rat versus Muff, but I'm enjoying both tones greatly.
5. I'm definitely a fingerstyle player. I can use a pick, but fingerstyle just feels right. I'll still probably learn most of this stuff with a pick as I like the ability to change my tone and the versatility it opens up, but definitely prefer fingers.
Finally - many thanks to my wife for putting up with all this nonsense! I've played more the past few weeks than I have in can't remember how long. Couldn't do that without her support. And thanks to all of you for reading my long, rambling posts! Feeling great as a bass player and person lately, and want to share it with some like-minded folks who will get it.
