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Suggested Basses for Metal Subgenres

#61
Death Metal: - That new Gibson short scale that everyone hates

Doom Metal: - Daisy Rock - Daisy Bass

Drone Metal: - A theremin through an analog octaver

Grindcore: - a banjo bass or a Rogue Resonator Bass

Metalcore: - A reverse LP 5 string

Melodic Death Metal: - a Hofner beatle bass

Nu Metal: - A hofner Beatle Bass

Post Metal: - An Epiphone Beatle Bass

Prog Metal: - A candy apple red Steinberger

Sludge Metal: - A candy apple Red Steinberger

Stoner Metal: - too stoned to matter

Thrash Metal: - A didjereedoo
 
#65
Honestly, I think there are a few things that could qualify something as a good bass for "metal" depending on what requirements are common in most metal bands...

Many metal guitarists tune down, past drop D in many cases. Instead of having to tune your bass down and worrying about string tension and such, I would say a 5 string bass would be a worthwhile attribute to add as something that would make playing metal easier on the bassist. Now people have different taste on sound, and what sounds best in their opinion, concerning the genre. Active single coils, soapbars, and humbucking pickups tend to sound best for 5'ers to my ears. So here's my rundown on what would make the "best bass for metal".

- 5 Strings (not NECESSARY, but helpful because of tuning down being a common theme in many metal genres)
- Some strong pickups that do the low-b justice, this however can boil down to taste


I do realize that Cliff Burton owned a Ric and my description is completely opposite of that bass, but again..this is a rather broad question you are asking.
 
#66
VanillaThundah said:
I do realize that Cliff Burton owned a Ric and my description is completely opposite of that bass, but again..this is a rather broad question you are asking.
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I was hoping to narrow it down, again, by subgenres. Some require more cutting mids. Some require more booming lows. Some require distortion, others less so. For example, in Doom you might be playing some pretty low notes, so you'd want something with good string tension and pickups that handle distortion at substandard tuning.

So again, I was hoping subgenre specificity would narrow down answers.
 
#67
Ray Salamon said:
I was wondering how long it would take for one of the metal haters to show up. Took longer than I expected.
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Man you see, you got to have TONE. Is it a fender, cause if your looking at the headstock and those sweet six letters aren't written on the headstock you might as well go home boy.

You see when i'm on stage with my boys at the jam nights playing mustang sally for the 922987215th time i have to look and SOUND good, boy. You stupid kids and your head banging and ripped jeans don't know how it is, what real music is that makes those 45 year old cougars shake their butts. And you know what i do after a gig cause my tone and sound and SOUL? I go out on my Harley and watch all of dem pretty ladies look at me, yah i'm a badass. I'm also a dentist.




only time i've ever seen a bigger sausage fest then a metal show was at an old man blues jam.
 
#68
KingCrimson said:
You stupid kids and your head banging and ripped jeans don't know how it is, what real music is
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bill_cosby_2.jpg

"The kids, they listen to the rap music. That gives them the brain damage. With the hippin and the hoppin and the bippin and the boppin, so they don't know what the jazz is all about! You see, jazz is like jello pudding. No, actually its more like Kodak film. No, actually jazz is like the New Coke. It'll be around forever. That reminds me of when I played stickball in the streets of Philadelphia back in 1957. Now listen to the jazz and eat the puddin'.”
 
#69

Death Metal, Grindcore, Metalcore, Melodic Death Metal: I would recommend a narrow-to-medium-spaced 5-string with two powerful soapbars-- speed is important here. Ibanez SR 5's would work well, as would NS Spector, MTD Kingston, the Schecter Stiletto series, and most Warwicks.

For an amplifier, I would definitely go solid-state MOSFET and a pair of 4x10 cabs-- again, we are going for tight, punchy, and percussive. Any of the David brands (SWR, Eden, DNA) should work well, as would GK or a host of others.

Nu Metal: Same as above, unless you integrate some slap technique, in which case a wider string spacing, such as Ibanez BTB or MTD USA (I personally prefer a wider string spacing for slap).


Doom Metal, Drone Metal, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal: I'd take the Geezer Butler approach-- Precision bass with hotter pickups (Rio Grande "Muy Grande" or SD "Quarter Pounder" come to mind), although a T-bird, Rickenbacker or a Warwick Star bass could work as well.

As for amps, I would definitely take a look at an Ampeg SVT, or some vintage Sunn or Acoustic rigs. Tubes aren't necessary, but they definitely add to the vibe.


Post Metal, Prog Metal: Honestly, I don't know what these are.


Thrash Metal: This is my genre (although I also do some NWOBHM)-- I personally play a P-bass with a hot pickup and stainless round-wounds (I play fingerstyle), although a Musicman Stingray or G&L bass could work just as well, as would a hot-rodded Jazz bass (I think both Frank Bello and Jason Newstead went that route, if I'm not mistaken). My own next Thrash bass will likely be an Aria Pro II SB, albeit primarily for sentimental reasons.

For amps, I am personally considering a Genz-Benz Streamliner 600 through their NEOX-212 cab, although I would also consider (as budget dictates) a tube amp with modern tone-shaping controls, such as Fender's Bassman 300 Pro, Ashdown's BTA-400 or the Laney Nexus Tube (which I really like, since it has both tube and FET pre-amp channels), or a hybrid head, such as an Ashdown ABM or Trace Elliot.


Anyway, those are my thoughts on this topic. Whether my recommendations will remain the same when the music landscape changes, I have no idea.
 
#72
calypsocoral302 said:

Death Metal, Grindcore, Metalcore, Melodic Death Metal: I would recommend a narrow-to-medium-spaced 5-string with two powerful soapbars-- speed is important here. Ibanez SR 5's would work well, as would NS Spector, MTD Kingston, the Schecter Stiletto series, and most Warwicks.

For an amplifier, I would definitely go solid-state MOSFET and a pair of 4x10 cabs-- again, we are going for tight, punchy, and percussive. Any of the David brands (SWR, Eden, DNA) should work well, as would GK or a host of others.


Doom Metal, Drone Metal, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal: I'd take the Geezer Butler approach-- Precision bass with hotter pickups (Rio Grande "Muy Grande" or SD "Quarter Pounder" come to mind), although a T-bird, Rickenbacker or a Warwick Star bass could work as well.

As for amps, I would definitely take a look at an Ampeg SVT, or some vintage Sunn or Acoustic rigs. Tubes aren't necessary, but they definitely add to the vibe.
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I do use an SR505 and it is very tight and punchy. So I agree with that suggestion.

Regarding your Geezer Butler suggestion, I just picked up the VM TB bass, (which has an extremely high output mudbucker) and I will be shortly trying out your suggestion :)

Thanks for the advice.
 
#73
Legattabass said:
I was hoping to narrow it down, again, by subgenres. Some require more cutting mids. Some require more booming lows. Some require distortion, others less so. For example, in Doom you might be playing some pretty low notes, so you'd want something with good string tension and pickups that handle distortion at substandard tuning.

So again, I was hoping subgenre specificity would narrow down answers.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, but even if you go by subgenres you're still going to have variation in what the bassist in that band feels suits the sound of the band. An example of something unexpected that works in the band would be David J Haskins from Bauhaus. A foundational goth rock band with a bassist who was more a fan of dub and reggae basslines than anything. He played a fretless p-bass strung with flatwounds and used a pick exclusively...in all fairness though, it was a solid black bass ;)

As far as differentiation goes in tone, I think when you subtract the importance of your amp and cab it really gets you nowhere. A Warwick Thumb BO 5'er played through a Peavey MAXbass 1x10 combo is probably not going to "cut it" for metal.

This would also boil down to preconceived notions of what is needed for the bass in that genre to fit into it's sound. As I noted before about David J, I wonder how common the perception would be that his gear epitomized what you need for goth rock.
 
#79
Legattabass said:
Regarding your Geezer Butler suggestion, I just picked up the VM TB bass, (which has an extremely high output mudbucker) and I will be shortly trying out your suggestion :)
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If, by "VM TB" bass you mean the Squire Vintage Modified Tele Bass (nothing personal-- I just hate abbreviations), then yeah, I think your pick is valid. If I'm not mistaken, I think I remember reading somewhere that John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin had a Tele bass in his arsenal.

I would just be careful not to cut off too much treble with the Tone control-- round and fat seems to be the Tele bass' game, but Metal requires a certain amount of "bite" in order to cut through the thick layers of crunchy guitar that you will, no doubt, have to compete with.
 

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