# Distorted bass and pickups?



## Ensanguine (Dec 12, 2010)

Lately I've been plugging in my low end 5 string Aria bass into my Line 6 amp with my guitar's distortion settings and it sounds great! Its really got me interested in heavily distorted bass but there really isn't much info out there on it.

I want to buy a decent mid range neck through 6 string bass to take advantage of that higher string but I'm not sure what to get in order to replicate my great sound with the cheap bass I already have. I'm not sure if I have active pickups or just active electronics, it takes a 12 volt for any matter or no sound comes from the soap bars. 

What would be recommended for great heavy distortion on bass? I'm thinking of getting a LTD B-416SM with active EMGs. 

Also, does anyone know any good bands who use distorted bass other than Type o negative?


----------



## Winspear (Dec 12, 2010)

Ensanguine said:


> Also, does anyone know any good bands who use distorted bass other than Type o negative?



Meshuggah and Nightwish both have great distorted bass tones.


----------



## Ensanguine (Dec 12, 2010)

EtherealEntity said:


> Meshuggah and Nightwish both have great distorted bass tones.



Could you point out some songs and parts from Nightwish? I'm a fan but I can't bring to mind part.


----------



## Winspear (Dec 12, 2010)

Ensanguine said:


> Could you point out some songs and parts from Nightwish? I'm a fan but I can't bring to mind part.



I haven't listented to them in about a year and don't have their discography on this new PC...So I can't really remember. Marco is pretty well known for his tone though  I think most of their newer stuff will have it.


----------



## Lon (Dec 12, 2010)




----------



## TemjinStrife (Dec 12, 2010)

Watch any live Nightwish show and you'll hear Marco grinding away.


----------



## Steve08 (Dec 12, 2010)

I can hardly think of any metal bands in recent years that don't have distortion on their bass tones, or at the very least, a mildly dirty tone (although a lot of name players like Steve DiGiorgio, Alex Webster, Sean Malone and so on usually play clean). It's uncommon for prog metal or tech death most of the time, but that's about it. Even back in the 90s it's distorted a lot, and it's pretty much all over the place in death/metalcore.

As for the actual distortion tone, it depends. Most of the time it'll come from the amp, for example a Sunn 300T/Fender Bassman PRO (pretty much the exact same thing in all but name) or an Ampeg SVT, or some will use a pedal for it, like a Proco RAT or a Tech 21 sansamp.


----------



## Murmel (Dec 12, 2010)

Muse has a pretty sweet distorted bass tone. But that guy has a pedalboard the size of a small country


----------



## LordCashew (Dec 12, 2010)

I think the guy from Mt. Helium gets some pretty sick tone. Heck, even Flyleaf.


----------



## Static Canyon (Dec 12, 2010)

Converge has a sexy-as-hell distorted bass sound. Usually, I'm not too fond of distorted bass, but damn, this just sounds so good.


----------



## LordCashew (Dec 12, 2010)




----------



## LLink2411 (Dec 12, 2010)

Newstead always had a very driven but defined tone in his Metallica days.

Of course Newstead used Alembics, USA Spectors, and later NYC Sadowskys... you cannot get a bad tone out of those Basses (but due to the fact that $3000 is an amazing price for any of those Basses even used, they better bring it).


What I would recommend for a non-boutique price would be either a LTD TA600 or a Fender Jazz Bass of some form through a Fulltone OCD or Xotic Bass BB preamp. You might be looking for something a bit more in the "unlistenable noise" department, but the combination I gave above is a very musical combination that will actually be usable in a band setting.


----------



## Steve08 (Dec 12, 2010)

One of my personal favorite tones would be Colin Marston's:


----------



## Ensanguine (Dec 12, 2010)

Thanks for the suggestion guys but I'm talking about Distortion, not fuzz or drive which is mostly what I am seeing above. Think distorted guitar, then give it the range of a bass. 

I've been trying to record a track to show you what I mean but Cubase has been a pain in the ass today. 

Also, original question, pickups, active, passive, what?


----------



## Dionysian (Dec 12, 2010)

Most modern metal uses distortion for the bass. while not necessarily directly audible, it really helps the bass cut through naturally. usually the bass is mid-scooped out almost completely to leave room for the guitar's, only serving the purpose of adding in some extra low end. using at least slight distortion on the bass guitar helps it cut through a lot without having to compete with the guitars mid-wise.

a great example is Job for a Cowboy's Ruination album, where the bass is uncommonly present for modern death metal. Listen to To Detonate and Exterminate for an example:



around the 1:00 mark the bass is clearly audible as being distorted.


----------



## Necris (Dec 12, 2010)

I have a project in which distorted bass is the main instrument (no guitars). I use an Ibanez SRX595 with stock pickups tuned AEADG and record direct with a DI Box adding distortion with a freeware distortion vst, usually NickCrow 8505 Lead. For (sub-octave) basslines I use an 8-string galveston bass tuned DBEADGCF.

As for bands that use distorted bass as their main instrument.
 
4-string and 8-string bass. No Guitars.

 
4 string bass, a gibson firebird I believe.


----------



## Ensanguine (Dec 12, 2010)

Finally, Necris, thank you for getting what I was talking about! Great links btw. 

In your opinion, would active or passive pickups be better to achieve a sound like Necromantia? I'm looking to actually play distorted bass, not just use distortion for gain.


----------



## Necris (Dec 12, 2010)

I believe either type of pickup should be able to get you to similar tone.
Just keep experimenting with your distortion settings until you get a sound you like.
and the knobson your bass get a sound that you like.
The pickups in my Ibanez are passives and I think they sound great, I generally use a thicker distortion more along the lines of GTT in the second link, but if I roll it back the gain a bit I can get a similar sound to necromantia.


----------



## TemjinStrife (Dec 12, 2010)

Actives generally feel a little "cleaner" with distortion, but passives have a great "growl" that you can't always get from an active setup.


----------



## signalgrey (Dec 12, 2010)

Cave In and Zozobra and Old Man Gloom


----------



## highlordmugfug (Dec 13, 2010)

signalgrey said:


> Cave In and Zozobra and Old Man Gloom


Here you go.


----------



## LordCashew (Dec 13, 2010)

IIRC this guy uses a two channel setup with a guitar amp distortion on one side and more of a "bass" sound on the other.


----------



## LLink2411 (Dec 13, 2010)

One pedal that finds a happy medium between drive and fuzz that doesn't suck out the Bass fom your signal is the Aguilar Agro pedal.

It is the closest thing I have heard to guitar distortion for bass that keeps all the lows intact.


If you must know though, the Fulltone OCD and Xotic Bass BB do have tones very close to to what you are looking for. The best thing about the Agro pedal for you though is that even calls itself a "distortion" pedal.


----------



## Variant (Dec 15, 2010)

Distortion?

Bass?

In Flames:




Fuckin' tractor tone.




I love Peter's sound.  The culprit, MXR M-80 and some healthy biamping.


----------



## big sal cbk (Dec 15, 2010)

Recently got myself an ibanez PD7 distortion/overdrive pedal from thomann. Sounds pretty sweet with my 7 string bass! Does pretty much whatever you want, has 3 different settings - clean, overdrive and distortion and its also got 2 settings on how much attack you want. Can get anything from a mildly distorted clean attack to an all out Mortician style distortion and everything in between.


----------



## big sal cbk (Dec 15, 2010)

IBANEZ PD7 - Irish International Cyberstore

Here's a link btw


----------



## big sal cbk (Dec 15, 2010)

IBANEZ PD7 - Irish International Cyberstore

Here's a link btw


----------



## ZachTheRipper (Dec 16, 2010)

One of my personal favorite bass tones.


----------



## Iron Batus (Dec 17, 2010)

i used to use a really cheap digitech stompbox on my fender pbass with a duncan 'quarter pounder' SBP-3 pickup in it. ive noticed that when it comes to any bass effects, they tend to sound better and be more noticable on a brighter tone, even moreso just playing in a higher register. the sbp is a pbass pickup i know, but i have a dean with knockoff emg active soapbars, and it sounded really good with that too, so my opinion is as long as your tone is naturally bright and audible, almost any stompbox should be versatile enough to crunch your way to happiness


----------



## highlordmugfug (Dec 17, 2010)

LordIronSpatula said:


> IIRC this guy uses a two channel setup with a guitar amp distortion on one side and more of a "bass" sound on the other.



It says on the youtube page that he used a PodX3


----------



## Gitte (Dec 17, 2010)

Definetily check out "Karnivool - Simple Boy"


----------



## LordCashew (Dec 18, 2010)

highlordmugfug said:


> It says on the youtube page that he used a PodX3



Oh yeah, that's right. That way he could get parallel tones internally.



Gitte said:


> Definetily check out "Karnivool - Simple Boy"





Just found out about these guys a few days ago, really digging them. I'm surprised I haven't heard more about them.


----------



## Gitte (Dec 18, 2010)

just saw them in berlin on the 6th.. crazy!! crazy!! crazy!!


----------



## SirMyghin (Dec 19, 2010)

Variant said:


> Fuckin' tractor tone.
> 
> 
> 
> I love Peter's sound.  The culprit, MXR M-80 and some healthy biamping.



Having used and sold that pedal I must say I could not get a good distorted sound out of it. Good thing I had primarily bought it for the boost in a band setting, however even that with the paired EQ made me rage.


----------



## Andii (Dec 19, 2010)

LordIronSpatula said:


> IIRC this guy uses a two channel setup with a guitar amp distortion on one side and more of a "bass" sound on the other.






highlordmugfug said:


> It says on the youtube page that he used a PodX3





LordIronSpatula said:


> Oh yeah, that's right. That way he could get parallel tones internally.



On recapture I recorded Jim with just a distortion patch on the X3. 

The newer ones I used the dual tone feature and had the "sub dub" down low in the mix. 

Here is one I used the dual tones on:



Jim's bass has the stock J style pickups in it and an active preamp. It's a douglas from Rondo music. He modded the headstock and body. He was using the center position to make the two pickups one massive humbucker because those are single coils.

I like single coils hands down for distortion. They are much clearer in the distortion and tighter for clean.


----------



## josh pelican (Dec 19, 2010)

Depending on the pedal, I would go with passive electronics. Passive electronics work better in my opinion.

I had a Catalinbread SFT and it sounded bad with my basses. I sold it to Nick (eventhetrees) and it sounded amazing with his passive bass. One bass was a Spector with EMG HZ pickups. EMGs are really high output and I find a lot of distortions sound bad with them. Maybe that's just me. I'm not a distortion fan, I'm more of a fuzz head.

If you get something like an Aguilar AGRO, it sounds amazing with any bass. I can go from a little bit of tube fuzz to full-on destruction and every note is 100% clear.


----------



## Ensanguine (Dec 22, 2010)

@Andii

I use a similar idea with dual tone, one clean, one distorted, except using a pick, generally for faster play. 

So right now I'm torn between getting this:

Ibanez BTB576FM





or a Schecter Stiletto Studio 6





I like the look of the Ibanez better but I haven't tried it with distortion. The bassist in my band plays a Stiletto S 5 and I know it sounds great through distortion, so I'm kind of torn.


----------



## TemjinStrife (Dec 22, 2010)

I'd go for the Stiletto Studio myself. That's pretty much my favorite non-Dingwall bass that I've ever played, and every one I've tried has sounded absolutely fantastic.


----------



## Andii (Dec 23, 2010)

Ensanguine said:


> @Andii
> 
> I use a similar idea with dual tone, one clean, one distorted, except using a pick, generally for faster play.
> 
> ...



I own a BTB and it is really good. It plays like a high end instrument and it's nearly perfect. I doubt the Schecter could live up to the quality of the BTB.

The BTB series have one thing wrong with them though: the pickup routes. If you want to swap the pickups in those it's hard to even figure out what your options are or if there are any. 

Something with EMG routes will leave you with a ton of choices from a myriad of manufacturers. 

I'm putting my soundclick in my signature where you can hear the BTB 776(with distortion of course) in a mix.

BLADAM:
http://www.soundclick.com/AxonSoundworks


----------



## Hemi-Powered Drone (Dec 23, 2010)

Three words,
Cliff Fucking Burton.



He pretty much pioneered the distorted bass and lead bass style.

RIP

In his Ric, he used a Gibson EB pickup in the neck, and a Fender Jazz in the bridge. you might also want to try the Aria CB model, his pseudo-sig.

Though if your looking at the Stiletto, I would reccomend to look at the Schecter Riot 6. The body shape is beautiful, you can get it with a beautiful wenge top on a swamp ash body, and it has to be one of the most comfortable things I have ever played.


----------



## Ensanguine (Dec 26, 2010)

dragonblade629 said:


> Though if your looking at the Stiletto, I would reccomend to look at the Schecter Riot 6. The body shape is beautiful, you can get it with a beautiful wenge top on a swamp ash body, and it has to be one of the most comfortable things I have ever played.



What's the deal with the Riot 6 not being available barely anywhere?? I agree, it looks great but I don't like to idea of having to buy it online from some unknown vendor.


----------



## DLG (Jan 4, 2011)

so what's the verdict on distortion pedals?

I want to get one end all be all. Meshuggah/In Flames, style.

so what does everyone recommend. If you didn't have to think about price or value. 

EBS? MXR M-8? ibanez PD7? Tech 21 sansamp?

I'm on active pickups. A custom bass with two emgs and a fender american delux jazz bass. 

And I'm planning on buying an SVT this year, you can also hear my band, and recommend based on the style. http://www.myspace.com/draconic


----------



## josh pelican (Jan 4, 2011)

I can do Meshuggah quite nicely on my AGRO.


----------



## DLG (Jan 5, 2011)

first search I did I saw the dude from dub trio endorsing it. win. 

sounds great.


----------



## Eric Christian (Jan 6, 2011)

Bone Ritual has some good distorted bass.


----------



## balkanfuture (Jan 30, 2011)

distorted bass with additional effects...cool band


----------



## balkanfuture (Jan 30, 2011)

distorted bass...


----------



## HaMMerHeD (Jan 31, 2011)

Here's a pretty good video of Dick's sound from Meshuggah. He primarily uses Line6 effects processors....and of course Warwick basses.


----------



## josh pelican (Jan 31, 2011)

MORS on Myspace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads


----------



## Variant (Jan 31, 2011)

Eric Christian said:


> Bone Ritual has some good distorted bass.




 I actually like that bass sound a lot, the rest I can pass on. Any idea what gear/settings he uses?


----------



## nephilymbass (Feb 6, 2011)

I still think Evil Empire had the best distortion tone. I've tried a bunch of stuff myself. Never with happy results. I guess it would be different if we could run two or three channels of bass live, but I can't and every pedal I've tried sucks low end bad


----------



## No More People (Mar 30, 2011)

I've got a side band called Neanderthawl where I play my distorted bass along to some drum loops. To hear the song, you can copy and paste the following URL http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24580224/neanderthawl.mp3


----------



## josh pelican (Mar 30, 2011)

Really? You know Neanderthal is a pretty big band in the powerviolence world, seeing as how it's one of Eric's (Man of the Bastard) many side projects. They've been around for many years.


----------



## Alekke (Mar 31, 2011)

Line 6 POD or SansAmp PSA. 

That's what meshuggah and napalm death use.


----------



## signalgrey (Mar 31, 2011)

Static Canyon said:


> Converge has a sexy-as-hell distorted bass sound. Usually, I'm not too fond of distorted bass, but damn, this just sounds so good.




he uses a Thunderverb 200 smart move actually.


----------



## Alekke (Mar 31, 2011)

we also distort bass tracks always. for example:

Ibanez SR505 - Bartolini + V-amp pro bass (bass solo 1:19)
MP3 Player SoundClick



Yamaha TRB 1005 - stock + Line6 POD Pro bass (begining)


----------

