# Thrash bass tone



## Retarded Bassist (Jun 30, 2013)

Hey guys, i need some advice on my bass tone i've been strugling to get the right sound. I'm looking for something like Cliff's tone in Kill 'em All or Trujillo's in Magnetic or St. Anger. 
Any and all sugestions will do


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## cGoEcYk (Jul 4, 2013)

What equipment are you using?

Playing style will be a big part of the tone regardless of gear. Those guys both play aggressively.


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## Veldar (Jul 4, 2013)

For thrash scoop your mids.


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## sear (Jul 4, 2013)

It can be two things. Either you scoop your mids and boost the highs to cut through, or you can do the alternative and boost your upper mids to get a growly tone. Both work, though the latter will give you a more traditional or even death metal tone. Play with a pick or fingers, doesn't really matter, but you will need aggressive attack - fortunately most thrashy basslines aren't too complicated though.


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## Herrick (Jul 7, 2013)

Burton played some sort of modified Rickenbacker on Kill 'Em All. I think it even had a guitar pickup in it or something weird like that. 

I haven't listened to Death Magnetic in a long time but I don't remember Trujillo's bass being audible...so I don't know what he sounds like on that album. I think he played a Warwick Streamer type of bass on Death Magnetic. Never listened to St. Anger.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jul 7, 2013)

For Cliff, you need plenty plenty of mids and a fuzz. EHX makes a bass Big Muff that'll help you there.


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## Qersty (Jul 7, 2013)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> For Cliff, you need plenty plenty of mids and a fuzz. EHX makes a bass Big Muff that'll help you there.



Nah, He only used the fuzz for his lead playing, For whom the bell tolls, Anesthesia, The call of Ktulu etc. His tone is kinda standard overdriven jazz bass (maybe a little bassier since his Rickenbacker had a Gibson Mudbucker in the neck, a stacked Duncan jazz pickup in the middle and a singlecoil sized Duncan humbucker in the bridge where the mute sits. I think he used Mesa 400 amps with Randall 4x12 and 1x15 cabs


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## TemjinStrife (Jul 7, 2013)

A bright overdrive pedal like the VT Bass, BDDI, or one of the modern DarkGlass pedals should get you there.


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## cGoEcYk (Jul 10, 2013)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> For Cliff, you need plenty plenty of mids and a fuzz. EHX makes a bass Big Muff that'll help you there.


Burton's tone was surprisingly fuzzy! You don't hear it in the full mix but check this isolated track- 

He was using a Mesa D180. A 400 or 400+ will get you there with the tiniest difference in voicing. Run 'em hot (super loud in other words) for that kind of tube breakup.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jul 11, 2013)

I could have sworn he probably used a Big Muff for some of his rhythm stuff, since it sounds so fuzzed out. 

And yeah, he was a big fan of Mesa amps. 

But when I think of your usual thrash tone, I don't think of Cliff, to be honest. I think of Frank Bello or D.D. Verni.


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## Qersty (Jul 12, 2013)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> I could have sworn he probably used a Big Muff for some of his rhythm stuff, since it sounds so fuzzed out.



The big muff does not sound like the rythm distortion he uses, it's really over the top scooped "buzzsaw fuzz". I think he used a ts808 sometimes.


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## BadSeed (Jul 12, 2013)

Not sure what Cliff used, but I play in a thrash/crossover hardcore band. What I used for bass is a ts808 clone into a sansamp bddi. The sansamp boosts bass and scoops mids (depending on how you EQ it) but it adds a nice tubey grit to the sound and the ts808 clone tames some of the bass and reintroduces some mids into the sound without taking away the tube warmth the bddi provides. It takes a minute to find the right settings between the two, but when you do, you cut and through and rumble at the same time.


I play a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz into an Ampeg SVT3 for more referrence


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