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Your Distortion Sounds (NIN)

P

poppinsmac

Aug 10, 2007
372
2
#1
First off - massive, massive fan. You are one of my bass heros and am very much inspired by you.

Now for the question. I play a wide range of stuff, from funk, to blues, to motown, to metal, to backing for a rap artist.
I have (in my mind) great clean tones, but I have a really hard time getting good overdrives and distortions.
After seeing you live with Nine Inch Nails (in Winnipeg) I was blown away by your tones. Probably not exactly the kind of tones I will use, but still I am very curious as to how you get some of them.

My current bass is from Warmoth - alder body, canary/ebony neck with a Fralin single coil P and a music man pickup in it, which I throw into a MarkBass LittleMark II.
I am thinking about picking up a Fender Bassman. My neighbour has a Bassman 50, which was fairly close to what I am after, but not quite there.

One last question, unrelated to distortion. When I saw you play, I think I remember you playing a Jaguar style bass, but with a P/J setup (on Survivalism, if I remember right...). Is this a Fender, or custom built? What kind of P pickup is in there? If it is custom, what kind of pre, if any, do you use?
I ask because I have long wanted to have a bass with that setup, but never seen or heard of one.
 
#4
Jag is custom shop, yes. P pickup is american standard.

In brief, in case it's difficult to search for, tones in NIN live rig are an amalgam of:

SansAmp GT2
SansAmp VT Bass
Depth Charge
B:assmaster
Prunes & Custard
one or two others that I will keep on the DL.

Sans Amp PSA1.1
Palmer speaker simulator

Thanks for complements!

Best,
JMJ
 
#7
Alright, coming back to this. After looking up some stuff, I think I am missing something.

If I understand, your signal chain looks like this:
Bass > effects > solid state preamp > speaker simulator

So my first question is what does a speaker simulator do? I mean, obviously it "simulates a speaker" but couldn't that just be done with a bit of EQing for basically the same effect?
Why not use real speakers? Is it a convenience thing, or do you prefer the sound of this?
Does Robin have a cab back stage or does he use a simulator to?
Also, no power amp? Do you not need one with the way the speaker simulator works?

I was also surprised by your use of a solid state pre instead of a tube amp. Same question as above - convenience or sound preference with NIN?

Sorry about the big list of questions again - I'm very curious about this. I have read about speaker simulators before but never talked to somebody who has used them or understood why.
 
#8
Speaker simulators like a Palmer do some clever processing, not just EQ, to truly emulate a great cabinet sound. It really does sound great. Not sure if EQ alone would do the same thing.

I don't use "real speakers" because we're playing on enormous stages with big production, and I'd need 2-4 SVT sized cabs behind me in order to hear it along with my in-ear monitors. I have a subwoofer nearby, and it's all I need. Might add cabs, but for the Lights in the Sky tour, it wasn't workable staging-wise.

I use a "solid state" preamp because there are no tube preamps which have the programmability of a Sans Amp PSA1.1

Best,
Justin
 
#9
Hi Justin,...

Firstly want to say that i saw NIN live last night at soundwave in adelaide,... show absolutely blew me away (and yes, didn't recognise you till Trent introduced you cos of the missing fro!) very much loved the chaotic creativity you guys did and the mixed it with crazy things like stand up bass and synth for the mellower songs!

quick follow up question on this if I may?

I noticed you have a tendency to use passive basses, do you find that these work better with your distortions and chaint etc? Some of the sounds you created,... it was chaotic noise in the most awesome form pretty much the only way I can explain it!
I know in general NIN has a tendency to be overly bass situated and in your face distortion / synth sounds but was there ever any discussion about any parts being too in your face or (an awesome one) being told to be MORE in your face?

Thanks once again for putting on an awesome show with the band and hope the rest of the tour goes well!

Tim
 
#10
Hello,

Thank you, I'm glad you liked the show. I thought it was a really good, if chaotic. The two go hand in hand, sometimes, of course.

Anyway: yes: I find that passive basses give me more dynamic expression with my hands. Also, as NIN started up, I tried a bunch of passive instruments vs. active, and the pedals just sounded better and more responsive.

Best,
JMJ
 

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