Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

[kleinenenten]

Meh. Who gives a sh*t how someone else likes their setup? If you enjoy the way it plays/sounds/feels, that’s what matters. The reality is that even using pro setups as a benchmark is not going to yield consistent results. Some people like their strings way off the board so they can dig in hard and get zero noise. Some people like it so they breathe on their strings and they vibrate. Then there's everything in between. Do what works for you and gets the desired playability/results. If you're struggling with relief/action/nut slots/pickup height then maybe its worth taking to a tech to have them help you get everything to a point you like. My suggestion if you go that route is talk to them about it and take measurements for relief, saddle heights, pickup height, etc. That way you can use that as a frame of reference the next time you do a setup yourself...

We talked about it, and he made it lower than he typically does for me. It works well. He's never said that his way was the only way, but did say that if I needed anything adjusted to just bring it back and he'd tweak it free of charge. Given that he's only about 5 minutes away, it was little to gamble. And it all worked out in the end. I'm happy with the results. And I will definitely use this as a guideline for my own setups in the future.

 

[NNNN]

You, my friend, ARE missing out.

iiiiiiinteresting. So far all the 5-string short scale flats I can find are stainless, but I've got stainless round wounds on one of my basses right now and it's not bad. DR, Dunlop, and LaBella make sets that fit, and the LaBellas are both the cheapest and have the fattest B at 128, so that's probably what I'll get for my next set.

 

[kleinenenten]

iiiiiiinteresting. So far all the 5-string short scale flats I can find are stainless, but I've got stainless round wounds on one of my basses right now and it's not bad. DR, Dunlop, and LaBella make sets that fit, and the LaBellas are both the cheapest and have the fattest B at 128, so that's probably what I'll get for my next set.

For what it's worth, I'm an odd duck in pretty much every way. So don't go buying them solely on my account. But I did love them for all sorts of stuff once I got my dirt dialed in. Just took a bit of patience.

 

[NNNN]

So don't go buying them solely on my account.

Ha, that's fair. We'll see- now I'm curious.

 

[Novarocker]

I have entered Michigan

Did you get some obligatory pastys? There's some awesome brew places in the UP and Northern Mich. Did you end up going the Sault and see the Soo Locks?

My wife wants to get an RV one day in the distant future and travel the country. We'll see what happens. Hopefully a better experience than what you're describing!

Mine wants to do the same but start earlier. Only caveat I gave her is no RV. I'm game for trailer campers and camper vans, but not an RV, 5th wheeler, or anything long enough it should be one of those two. Love to do shorter trips with the kids, get a feel for it. I love tent camping though.

I've been obsessing about both pedals at one time or another, so please report back when you''ve played with them

Any specifics you're curious about with the Atreides?

I was thinking of D'Addario's since I love my Chromes. I used to do Slinkys, but it's been probably 10-15 years since I've bought them... I vaguely remember thinking they were almost too bright with no bass, and then just died quickly? It's been a while. But I DO love my Chromes, so I figured I'd give D'Addario rounds a shot too. I'd be getting the 45-130 set, which is closest size-wise to my Chromes. I figure that if I've never had a professional setup done in over 20 years of playing bass, I should give it a go. Can't hurt, and this guy's prices are fantastic since it's just something he does in his free time. Which is substantial as far as I can tell. I think he's retired?

A lot of people say the same about Slinkys and I tend to think you're right. Somehow they seem to last well enough for me that I just replaced em 1-2x a year when I was playing and gigging regularly. I'd sweat like crazy too and never wiped em off. I think they lose that extra zing real quick but they keep that worn in sound for a while before they go dead. I'd just turn up my treble a couple notches once the zing died down.

Granted, I've been using nothing but the cobalt flats and the worn slinkys I've had for the last few years. Mostly the flats. I need to try chromes, I have some D'Addario half rounds to try as well.

Always seemed to me like flats and dirt don't mix. Or flats and any kind of heavy music for that matter. I know the modern metal tone is stainless strings and as much clank as you can get, which is gonna be too bright for doom, but flats are so far on the other end of the spectrum that a fuzz pedal wouldn't know what to do with itself. Then again, I always max out the tone knobs on by basses and (usually) pedals. Maybe I'm missing out.

What @kleinenenten said. Flats have subdued harmonics and more punch, they actually work phenomenal with dirt, just differently. The throaty roar of flats with dirt is awesome and the punch they maintain.

 

[kleinenenten]

I love tent camping though.

Granted, I've been using nothing but the cobalt flats and the worn slinkys I've had for the last few years. Mostly the flats. I need to try chromes, I have some D'Addario half rounds to try as well.

What @kleinenenten said. Flats have subdued harmonics and more punch, they actually work phenomenal with dirt, just differently. The throaty roar of flats with dirt is awesome and the punch they maintain.

All of this, yes! Old boy scout here, LOVE tent camping, and I'm glad that the past few years I've finally managed to get my "city girl" of a wife into it as well. And now that I'm in charge of camping, I love even more since I can bring all of my fun gear like Dutch ovens, a nice big tent, cots... Love it!

If you ever try Chromes, I'd be interested in your take on them vs. the Cobalt Flats. I was going to try them if I could find them, but they weren't in stock. I hear they're zingier than Chromes, but still sound like flats with the lows, which sounds like my absolute perfect string. Need to try them out some time - maybe I'll put them on a different bass of mine that I've had a few years and never changed the strings!

Throaty roar nails the flats + dirt combo. I will say, I do miss that a bit from this bass, but I'm also really enjoying the new rounds and the clarity from them. Like you mentioned, I have an active bass, and with the new preamp it has a mids switch. I flipped it to low mids yesterday, and while it wasn't quite as throaty as the flats, it gave a little bit more punch to the mix. I liked it. Definitely think that will be my "stock" tone while these strings are on the bass.

 

[ConfoundedBridg]

Been Hammock camping a little bit recently. I much prefer it to sleeping on the ground lol, and it's lighter

 

[Deleted member 132197]

Any specifics you're curious about with the Atreides?

no idea I just remember being quite interested in the pedal when it came out.

Talking about flats, I really like (love) the TI Jazz flats. They are awesome and work great with dirt.​

 

[Deleted member 132197]

We just released our first EP!

 

[Nekomata]

Bloodmoon (Converge, Chelsea Wolfe, Stephen Brodsky & Ben Chisholm), Philharmonie Haarlem (Haarlem, Netherlands), 30 June 2022.

 

[Deleted member 132197]

Bloodmoon (Converge, Chelsea Wolfe, Stephen Brodsky & Ben Chisholm), Philharmonie Haarlem (Haarlem, Netherlands), 30 June 2022.

ooh, how was it? I wanted to go, but couldn't convince anybody to join me and then I forgot about it

 

[Nekomata]

ooh, how was it?

Impressive (especially when the sound got dialled in)! It was nice to 'catch up', since I hadn't seen their 'legendary' Roadburn 2016 performance. Since then they've put out their album, which like a lot.

It was a bit odd that the show was seated. That turned out to be a whim of the promotor, rather than the band's preference.

 

[cornfarmer]

Did you get some obligatory pastys? There's some awesome brew places in the UP and Northern Mich. Did you end up going the Sault and see the Soo Locks?

Yes yes and yes. Between dealing with RV repairs and catching the coof (probably from the RV) it basically made the trip a living nightmare for me. In a little while the PTSD will wear off and I'll start remembering the good parts

 

[kleinenenten]

Atreides update: now that I have a bass with an active/passive option, I threw the Atreides back on for a bit and tried it with a "passive" bass. Definitely more usable that way. Still plenty weird, but the already sensitive controls on the pedal are less sensitive, and it's not as glitchy and weird. So my 1st usable piece of advice with this pedal (besides patience, which I feel like is necessary with almost every Way Huge pedal with all their tweakability) is that it seems to prefer passive basses. The active setting just overloaded everything. While the passive setting definitely had its share of odd tones, I could use more of each slider and could see how others would use them, even if I don't. Next, I"ll need to try thing thing on guitar and see what I think.

And happy 4th, fellow Yanks!

 

[Nekomata]

Bliss.

Warm and supple like overcooked vegetables.

 

[rutrho]

Rawr, Haven't been around these parts in a spell... work has been kicking my ass for a good while now, so less time to shitpost on forums, or even practice all that much. It's been a bummer to say the least.

The upside is gigs are picking up around the bay area again, so we should have a couple instrumental shows lined up soon with similar themed bands at least. So on that front been thinking about what to do bass wise, keep on with the fretless (after it gets some new tuners and some more love) or switch over to a dingwall.... choices choices, lol.

Stay heavy everyone!

 

[Novarocker]

Great to see ya round @rutrho, for whatever reason seems like since covid everyone's lives have been jam packed.

no idea I just remember being quite interested in the pedal when it came out.

Talking about flats, I really like (love) the TI Jazz flats. They are awesome and work great with dirt.​

One day I'll try Jazz flats, I just gotta.

The Atreides is wild, fun, tame-able in some ways, but just truly fun. @kleinenenten is nailing a lot of what I've found.

Yes yes and yes. Between dealing with RV repairs and catching the coof (probably from the RV) it basically made the trip a living nightmare for me. In a little while the PTSD will wear off and I'll start remembering the good parts

Hahaha don't blame ya one bit. Good on ya! Besides hitting all the awesome nature bits, you nailed some of the great parts of MI. Takes a hell of a lot of balls to do that in an RV, especially one that's not just broke in and new. And with a young one/family instead of a bunch of buddies.

Atreides update: now that I have a bass with an active/passive option, I threw the Atreides back on for a bit and tried it with a "passive" bass. Definitely more usable that way. Still plenty weird, but the already sensitive controls on the pedal are less sensitive, and it's not as glitchy and weird. So my 1st usable piece of advice with this pedal (besides patience, which I feel like is necessary with almost every Way Huge pedal with all their tweakability) is that it seems to prefer passive basses. The active setting just overloaded everything. While the passive setting definitely had its share of odd tones, I could use more of each slider and could see how others would use them, even if I don't. Next, I"ll need to try thing thing on guitar and see what I think.

And happy 4th, fellow Yanks!

Sorry I couldn't get back right when ya got it to save a some time. I found out about the octave setting before I got it and gave the 2 oct a quick go with the pedal already opened up and made the switch almost immediately. I can see the possible benefit of the 2 oct with guitar maybe.

What I have done for regular use, because I dig both the octave and no octave sound, is leave the octave all the way off and just use my octave pedal to punch in the deep sounds. It works even better that way IMO, but isn't a necessity.

I don't have an active bass, but I know what ya mean about signal strength. It doesn't take much, and I dig the unbridled nature it has, I've noticed it gets wicked cool sounds that can be semi predictable and controllable to a point where it's totally usable.

All in all for me, it's one of those that I might be able to get close to that sound with a mix of other pedals, but how all the effects mesh and work together is a keeper for me.

 

[kleinenenten]

What I have done for regular use, because I dig both the octave and no octave sound, is leave the octave all the way off and just use my octave pedal to punch in the deep sounds. It works even better that way IMO, but isn't a necessity.

I don't have an active bass, but I know what ya mean about signal strength. It doesn't take much, and I dig the unbridled nature it has, I've noticed it gets wicked cool sounds that can be semi predictable and controllable to a point where it's totally usable.

All in all for me, it's one of those that I might be able to get close to that sound with a mix of other pedals, but how all the effects mesh and work together is a keeper for me.

Pretty much exactly what I've found. It's not quite 100% predictable, and you definitely have to play to the pedal more than any other pedal I've ever had, but there are some really cool tones in it that I'll never get any other way. For that alone, I'll hold onto it. And using a separate octave in small doses is a fantastic idea! May have to give that a shot. Wonder how it would handle a Meatbox...

 

[Andsvara]

After 6 months of learning new songs for my first gig I had to get myself something nice.

 

[Novarocker]

Acoustic is fun to piddle around on throughout the house and whatnot.

Pretty much exactly what I've found. It's not quite 100% predictable, and you definitely have to play to the pedal more than any other pedal I've ever had, but there are some really cool tones in it that I'll never get any other way. For that alone, I'll hold onto it. And using a separate octave in small doses is a fantastic idea! May have to give that a shot. Wonder how it would handle a Meatbox...

Worked well with mine if I recall right. I think it gave a slight volume bump which help accentuate the octave addition.