Where do I look for that dark, deep tone?

[TinIndian]

When I think of the tone your describing I think of a Gibson EB-0 bass or one along that line with the Neck Pick Up right at the end of the fretboard.
That should give you what your after.

 

[bassfacer22]

This thread was hilarious.. Quickly read through the 3 pages only to see everybody said different things as usual and some really good advice and suggestions and then some just ...

I went through the -searching for the tone in my head- phase.. and while I never actually achieved what I had in my head, I did finally realize it boils down to you going to the store (hopefully a good store, not guitar center..) and trying the basses each one after the other.. then you hear the crappy ones from the good ones..

it doesnt matter what strings/pickups at this point.. find the bass that sounds good from the beginning.. stock level good.. then upgrade that for even more perfectness..

Take your Cort and start playing it then switch to another bass.. you will easily find the one you may want and the ones that justify that you actually have a better bass etc.. if you don't eventually find a bass you like, (usually because the store you went to doesn't have enough stock) then perfect, keep your cort and try new strings and pickups.. but you'll always want that "deeper" tone..

The Classic old vintage Fender bass is probably what you are trying to describe. That is afterall where the classic "bass sound" came from..

I ended up at many stores and finally one in Seattle (which apparently recently closed!) called Bass Northwest and tried tons of Electric basses.. Fender/Warwick/Lakland/G&L and more etc.. even some weird prototype bass that god knows what it was..

I heard the difference and played them all through a T.C. Electronics amp and cab 8x10 if I remember correctly.. Then I finally got to a bass called "Roscoe"

it had Bartolini pickups and the sound of the bass sounded like a bass from the beginning.. Meaning I didn't have to E.Q. or push the bass knob up or down.. etc..

take note of that..

play basses and find the "tone" in your head..simple. ha.
good luck..

 

[jd56hawk]

To make this a little clearer, I can say that I went to a guitar shop once to try stuff out, and this Firebird knocked me out of my seat - but for the life of me I don't remember what kind of firebird it was! Is there anything specific about them that I should look for?

Thank you

If you mean Thunderbird, your search is over.
Epiphone Thunderbird Classic IV Pro

Epiphone Thunderbird Pro IV

The Classic comes with Gibson pickups and its every bit as good as its Gibson big brothers at 1/3 the price.
The Pro IV is active...I had flatwounds on mine and the tone was ominous!
Best sounding active bass I've ever played.
$550 new, but I've seen very good used ones for less.

 

[mojomike001]

Use flatwound strings. LaBellas are especially good for a deep, dark tone.
Use a bass that has a pickup that's not too far from the neck.
Pluck the strings close to the neck.
Roll the tone down as needed.

 

[MobileHolmes]

Bass you have, bass up, treble down, pickup balance toward the neck pickup , pluck notes over the end of the fingerboard. Cost: nothing
Mnext step, flats

 

[hover]

OP be aware your preferred "bedroom tone" (when playing solo) doesn't always work when playing with others. Dark tone can get lost in the mix pretty quick, no matter how much you like it when by yourself. It took me a while to learn to appreciate my band tone when the band wasn't around...

You missed the part in the OP where he said he wanted to be felt more than heard in the mix.

To the OP, there's some good and some bad, subjective advice already given here in this thread (edit for clarity: not necessarily in the quote above), and surely you could view what I'm to add as one or the other, but here goes...

Roll your tone off. Don't use flats if you're looking for long sustain. Raise your action a tad to help kill the decay. Learn good pluck hand / fretting skills to maintain note duration.
DO look into hard knee compression to aid in the sustain, but also to even out the tone, and boost the fundamentals consistently.

Possibly octave pedals as well.

YMMV.

 

[engedi1]

I have played a million basses and I actually agree with those who post about Gibson for a darker tone. Something about those humbuckers are dark and less distinct than most other pickups. its not my thing, but you may like it. Thunderbirds, especially the Epi ones are super neck divey though, so watch out for that.

 

[static0verdrive]

You missed the part in the OP where he said he wanted to be felt more than heard in the mix.

Oops yes I did, thanks for that (and sorry OP). I stand by my posts though - still valid info, and info is useful whether to abide by or avoid it

 

[engedi1]

You missed the part in the OP where he said he wanted to be felt more than heard in the mix.


YMMV.

He'll get over this soon enough... then he'll be posted about how to 'cut through the mix' lol.

 

[the yeti]

Hello everyone.

So, probably something like a passive P-bass? But which one?

Thank you

Hi.

P's are pretty much all the same. Get the one you like.

You're welcome.

 

[engedi1]

Hi.

P's are pretty much all the same. Get the one you like.

You're welcome.

yes. This is totally true, with the exception of 70's P's that used a ceramic pickup instead of alnico. But I doubt he is shelling out for a vintage. A new Mexican P will do just fine.

 

[Wallace320]

The MK-1s don't align with the typical Bartolini tone profile.

Check out the Cort B4, Ibanez SR500, and Lakland 44-01; they all have the Bartolinis and the trebly-tone.

Find one of them that allows you to bypass the preamp and you'll hear a VERY bright baseline tone profile.

Lots of people like that brightness, but not the OP.

Infact Artisan and Lakland all allow passive operation, and the somewhat overall brightness you can hear when in passive mode has much more to do with maple top (A4) or ash bodies (B4 and 44-01)

Cheer,
Wallace

 

[Nev375]

The dark tones don't come from amp. It comes from wood (and pickups). You should search for bass with darker woods. Wenge for example. I played some cort, 500$ price, has wenge neck with rosewood fingerboard, it had the darkest tone I've ever heard, deep to. But I like my tone clear and round.
Google it up, dark woods = darker tone. Why do you think maple fingerboard is making clearer sound than rosewood? You need more dark woods to get more darker tone. I know that warwick makes basses with wenge neck and wenge fingerboard, or something like that. Look that up.
And again, amp had NOTHING to do with the tone. It is just (as the name says) an amplifier. It amplifies sounds.
I'm fan of flat eq and even eq bypass, and I can hear my tone on almost any amp. Whether i play without or with amp, I get same tone. So the biggest factor is wood, after that pickups and strings, I know that bartolini has some darker bassier pickups,look that up too. And I don't like them just because of that good luck

That's the most entertaining post I've read on here in a while. Good Job! I loved it!

 

[inthebassclef]

One bass for that: Pedulla Thunderbass

 

[itsalljustaride]

One bass for that: Pedulla Thunderbass

Obviously the pattern here is that the bass has the have the word "Thunder" in the name. "Thunderbass", "Thunderbird".

 

[inthebassclef]

Obviously the pattern here is that the bass has the have the word "Thunder" in the name. "Thunderbass", "Thunderbird".

touche

 

[Klondike]

Hope your journey is going well. In the event you decide on a Thunderbird come join is in the Thunderbird club. Doesnt matter if its an Epi or Gibson. We are all friendly and everyone is helpfull and will always encorage you to get another bird, no matter the make or model. Thunderbirds have a tendancy to choose their owner. Hope you pick up the ine that fits you.

Btw - i have three birds...

 

[Nev375]

Darkstar pickups in an all Ebony bass with DR Black Beauties and black hadware perhaps?

 

[HolmeBass]

1) My experience ha been that an acoustic bass guitar with flatwounds produces a somewhat unfocused, tubby sound. For deep & dark, I suggest nylon tapewounds.

2) The "octave thing" to me suggests one type of dead spot, specifically the type where shortly after the note is plucked the fundamental diminishes or disappears entirely and only the harmonics continue to ring. Never heard of this happening on the open E, though. It's more of a G-string affliction.

This happened from the get-go, with new strings. I suspected my amp, but when I tried it on other amps it was the same effect.



1. So you suggest it's only the strings? I'm using the acoustic only to practice, so I'm asking for my electric.

2. Yes, this is exactly what happens. On my guitar though, it happens on all strings, and felt the most on the E (probably because it's the note with the worst sustain).

I have to agree the loss of sustain through diminishing to the first harmonic is pretty odd on the open E. I have found it to usually be an issue on fretted notes between 3rd through 7th fret on the G string, depending on the bass, or less commonly, on the D string. For you to have the bad luck to draw two basses like that is truly unfortunate. This does not sound like the fault of the amp at all, and while different strings may help, it is most likely an unfortunate property of the resonance frequency of the necks on those two basses.

So I think getting a nice price point Pbass, a MIM or a Squier, and putting your flats from your acoustic on it is probably a pretty good place to start. Or a nice price point Jazz bass and favor the bridge pickup. But as many will tell you, it is hard to go wrong with a P bass.

 

[engedi1]

Darkstar pickups in an all Ebony bass with DR Black Beauties and black hadware perhaps?

Nice tort guard on that bass..