• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

vintage tone for thrash metal?

#21
This might sound a bit unliekly, but a Jazz Bass with about 70/30 volume split favouring the front pickup, played hard with a pick and plucked somewhere over the front pickup, can actually sound very Rickenbacker-like if you have a bit of overdrive on the amp settings :).

Of course, I don't know how Skeletonwitch's bassist sounds, so I don't know if it's the tone you're looking for, but I manage to get a fair Bruce Foxton (of The Jam) impersonation out of my old Jazz Bass and Bruce Foxton himself even managed to get his '70s Fender P Bass to sound a lot like his old Ric 4001s, when he switched over to them in around 1981.

Sorry, I've gone off on a tangent haven't I ;)?
 
#22
flipper_gv said:
OH YES THERE IS

Invalid Link Removed

Someone with serious sound editing skills has been able to isolate the bass tone and boost it seriously.

Btw, I'd say a p/j pickup configuration does wonders for trash metal.
Click to expand...

Funny, I've never heard this before. Actually, since the bass pretty much just follows the rhythm guitar I don't see a lot of improvement. As bass players we sometimes get a bit religious about bass being very important in every single style of music, but I really like AJFA even without bass.

Off topic, I actually quit the last metal band I was in because everything was below G and most of my roots were low B, following the downtuned guitars. The guys kept telling me that it was really important, that the walls were shaking and all that, but I really prefer to be able to actually hear what I am playing. An octaver on the rhythm guitar would do my job nicely.

:hiding:

Now Pantera, those are some interesting bass lines.:bassist:
 
#23
jmattbassplaya said:
For the majority of metal bands I can't pick out the bass to save my life - and this is coming from a guy who use to be a huge metalhead.
Click to expand...

It's my favorite genre, but yeah, the production is often terrible in that regard. I consider it a very well mixed metal album if the bass (as well as all other instruments) is easy to hear. There have actually been a few new releases whose mixes I've really liked.
 
#24
You saw a guy play a Rickenbacker, and you want to sound like him. So you're thinking of buying a MIM Fender P-bass w/SD quarter pounders? Huh...?????



The way things usually work when you see someone play a Rickenbacker and you want that sound, you buy a Rickenbacker.
 
#28
WARNING! I'm going to make another Joke! Please don't take this seriously or get your brootal panties in a wad!

The dood may have been playing a Ric on stage but I read on TB that he recorded the album with a P bass with flats and a tort guard.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OOD
#32
Yup, it's more about the settings rather than the bass itself...I play Ibbys SR (through GK or Kustom DE amps) in a thrash band and the sound I get is typical for the genre. Just fiddle more with your bass rig and eventually you will nail it - IMO the most important thing is not to copy someone else's tone, but rather find one that works best for your band. It doesn't matter how good you sound on your own if the band doesn't sound tight overall. It's a game of compromises until you find your band's voice.
 
#35
Nobody said:
WARNING! I'm going to make another Joke! Please don't take this seriously or get your brootal panties in a wad!

The dood may have been playing a Ric on stage but I read on TB that he recorded the album with a P bass with flats and a tort guard.
Click to expand...

LOL
I like u! we could be good friends in TB LOL
thats just purely how things are in TB
Sx/Squier P w/ flats n tort guards!
Like fender is technology, squier is god and sx is the god of god LOL
 
#38
NKBassman said:
I've been nailing a pretty Ric'ish tone lately with my Geddy Lee jazz and some careful EQing, but in all the experimenting I've done over the last year with pickups and whatnot, I think that's about as close as I can get without actually buying a Ric.
Click to expand...

Jazz basses and Rics do intersect on a couple sounds (as each are capable of quite a few sounds, and some of these are similar to each other), but they seem to be not the sounds that I generally use on my Ric.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back