# To distort or to not Distort...



## BlindingLight7 (Feb 11, 2010)

My band currently has 1 guitarist(me), 1 bassist.


Our rhythm guitarist keeps flaking out, so we decided to let him go.


Most of my leads are over heavier parts of songs, so we thought about distorting the bass so it's like another guitar but lower...good idea or no?

I'll provide more details if needed


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## Origin (Feb 11, 2010)

I've heard bands where it works great, bands where it works shitty...  sometimes just fuzzy bass is a good compromise, but all out distortion could work.

What kind of band are you guys?


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## TomAwesome (Feb 11, 2010)

Adding gain to a bass can make it sound bigger and fill more space, but work with it around the idea of a distorted/bigger bass and not a guitar.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Feb 11, 2010)

I always thought a metal band with distorted bass and distorted guitar, but treating itl ike two guitars would be cool.


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## Andii (Feb 11, 2010)

Do eet! A peavey 6505/5150 or a podx3 on the big bottom model works great. Distortion on bass sounds huge. My favorite examples are Meshuggah, Beneath the Massacre's Dydtopia album and After the Burial's Rareform.

Pod X3


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## BlindingLight7 (Feb 11, 2010)

The first one made me jizz..i like, i like


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## Harry (Feb 11, 2010)

I frequently use distorted bass guitars in my recordings.
Sometimes it's not necessary, but when I'm doing extreme metal I ALWAYS use distorted bass, along with 2 other tracks of bass guitar which are cleaner.


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## signalgrey (Feb 11, 2010)

i used to have a good pedal to help accentuate and be the rhythm guitarist too. 

i say do it. be as dynamic as possible.

no reason why you can just turn it off when you need to.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Feb 11, 2010)

Harry said:


> I frequently use distorted bass guitars in my recordings.
> Sometimes it's not necessary, but when I'm doing extreme metal I ALWAYS use distorted bass, along with 2 other tracks of bass guitar which are cleaner.


 Mixing the clean signal back in keeps the low end and sounds bigger/thicker.


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## Andii (Feb 11, 2010)

All_¥our_Bass;1853727 said:


> Mixing the clean signal back in keeps the low end and sounds bigger/thicker.



I have got to try that out.


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## Ewoks (Feb 12, 2010)

I think you should do it! Distorted bass sounds really cool if done right.
Get an Electro Harmonix Bass Big Muff or something, although i think it's more on the "fuzzy" side it sounds great.


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## MF_Kitten (Feb 12, 2010)

on my pod x3, i usually have one tone layer with a big bottom amp for distorted bass, and then a second layer with the sub dub amp model just for the low end. then i remove the low end from the distorted sound, and so the low end is totally clean and tight, while the highs and mids and all that are distorted. it sounds great!


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## BlindingLight7 (Feb 12, 2010)

Our bassist has a Cheap Bsss Effect Module that we're going to mess around with, just to see if fuzz/distortion even sounds good before we do anything expensive, you know what I mean? We should be able to get something decent out of the pedal he has for a practice.


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## EliNoPants (Feb 16, 2010)

the Big Muff will KILL your low end...a good cheap compromise pedal is the Boss ODB-3, it's got a blend knob, so you can get your clean and distorted tone coming through at once, i run that with a chorus pedal after it, which also has a blend knob, so i essentially wind up with 4 tones coming through one stack, clean, chorus, distorted, distorted with chorus...the fucker sounds massive


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## Nats (Feb 16, 2010)

i can never get a good distorted tone when i try it for bass, but i do love the sound so definitely go for it.


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## knuckle_head (Feb 16, 2010)

All_¥our_Bass;1853727 said:


> Mixing the clean signal back in keeps the low end and sounds bigger/thicker.



^^^ This


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## vampiregenocide (Feb 16, 2010)

I never realised Meshuggah used distortion on the bass until a while ago, its all sounds soo tight. I guess if it is done well it lends itself to he tone.


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## Variant (Feb 17, 2010)

All_¥our_Bass;1853727 said:


> Mixing the clean signal back in keeps the low end and sounds bigger/thicker.



Thirded!  Biamp (or even triamp)... it's the right way to have a dirty bass sound.


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## TemjinStrife (Feb 17, 2010)

Variant said:


> Thirded!  Biamp (or even triamp)... it's the right way to have a dirty bass sound.





I've been having a lot of fun with the Rick-O-Sound on my Rickenbacker 4003... run one pickup to my stepdad's '72 Dual Showman/2x15 rig with a Tubescreamer out front set to annihilate; run the other pickup into my Eden WT400/2x12 for solid, clear low end.

It sounds _almost_ glorious enough to justify the hernia that would result if I tried to bring said rig anywhere


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## knuckle_head (Feb 17, 2010)

Look up a band named Clatter out of Missouri - her rig is amazing


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## Guitarwizard (Feb 17, 2010)

I've had the best results by mixing a distorted signal together with the clean one.
By doing that, you don't loos the really low lows that tend to get lost wenn it's distorted too much..


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## Variant (Feb 18, 2010)

TemjinStrife said:


> I've been having a lot of fun with the Rick-O-Sound on my Rickenbacker 4003... run one pickup to my stepdad's '72 Dual Showman/2x15 rig with a Tubescreamer out front set to annihilate; run the other pickup into my Eden WT400/2x12 for solid, clear low end.
> 
> It sounds _almost_ glorious enough to justify the hernia that would result if I tried to bring said rig anywhere



     

Some of the best bass sounds on record are:

Splitter A)-----> compressor ----> Eden, clean, mainly-high passed
Splitter B)-----> RAT ------> Ampeg SVT, dirty, mainly-low passed


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## Bloody_Inferno (Feb 18, 2010)

Harry said:


> I frequently use distorted bass guitars in my recordings.
> Sometimes it's not necessary, but when I'm doing extreme metal I ALWAYS use distorted bass, along with 2 other tracks of bass guitar which are cleaner.





All_¥our_Bass;1853727 said:


> Mixing the clean signal back in keeps the low end and sounds bigger/thicker.



Fifth + 

Plus all my favorite bassists do this too. Geddy Lee, Justin Chancellor, Troy Saunders...

In fact I did it for this band:

Vitruvian Man on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

Also, Howard Benson also mentioned something about doubling bass (distorted and/or clean) with an Organ bass sound to fatten things up. IIRC, he did this on the P.O.D albums.


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## FacelessUnknown (Feb 22, 2010)

MF_Kitten said:


> on my pod x3, i usually have one tone layer with a big bottom amp for distorted bass, and then a second layer with the sub dub amp model just for the low end. then i remove the low end from the distorted sound, and so the low end is totally clean and tight, while the highs and mids and all that are distorted. it sounds great!



Point me in the right direction for these settings, sir!!

I have been wanting to buy pedal to get some heavy sounds but i have no idea what i would get. I think that i would need a better amp first lol (GK backline)


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## Nats (Feb 22, 2010)

i downloaded PSP vintage warmer or whatever it's called over the weekend. just by using the stock preset for bass i got such a great distorted sound (for me anyway). i'm gonna keep playing around with its settings, but stock it sounds awesome. then mixed in with my high passed clean bass track i feel like i finally nailed a good recorded bass tone


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## All_¥our_Bass (Feb 22, 2010)

In addition to the low end being preserved with a clean blend, you also don't loose all your transients(string noise, the sound of the attack you use on the string, etc.) this adds a good deal of clarity that would otherwise be lost.


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## josh pelican (Feb 24, 2010)

Look into Bluebeard, Earthbound Supercollider, or Attack Goat.


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## metalmachine (Feb 27, 2010)

distorted bass is the bees knees in heavu music. just guitar though if its a bad distortion it will sound like crap


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## Spinedriver (Feb 28, 2010)

knuckle_head said:


> Look up a band named Clatter out of Missouri - her rig is amazing



Last time I heard, she was using both an SWR rig and a Mesa Rectifier live. 

As for myself, I used to run a Deucetone Rat and/or an Ibanez PD-7 Phat Hed into a Sansamp Bass Driver and it sounded pretty sweet.

Since then however, I've switched to guitar and now back to bass and the MarkBass LMII head I have doesn't respond to distortion pedals very well, not even a Pod. 

The best I've been able to manage is running a Danelectro Od into a Tech 21 VT Bass pedal and I must say it sounds damn good. If I had the money to do it, I'd love to get a "rig setup like John Campbell from Lamb Of God (you can hear the recorded bass tone on the Wrath 'studio experience' cd) and it sounds phenomenal. It's the perfect example of the 'clean/distorted' blend some of you have been describing.

I did manage to get a decent tone out of my Pod XT and VT Bass pedal on a track we just recorded. I just wish I could get the same tone live. 

Before The Fallen on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

ps: it's the one called "New Implements Of War"


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## Nats (Feb 28, 2010)

Spinedriver said:


> Last time I heard, she was using both an SWR rig and a Mesa Rectifier live.
> 
> As for myself, I used to run a Deucetone Rat and/or an Ibanez PD-7 Phat Hed into a Sansamp Bass Driver and it sounded pretty sweet.
> 
> ...



you've had the Bass Driver DI and the VT Bass? what's the differences between the 2? i'm looking into a pedal and it's either between those 2 or the MXR 80


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## Spinedriver (Feb 28, 2010)

Nats said:


> you've had the Bass Driver DI and the VT Bass? what's the differences between the 2? i'm looking into a pedal and it's either between those 2 or the MXR 80



The main differences are that:

1) the BDDI has an XLR out on it as well as Presence and Blend knobs.

2) The VT is just a regular stompbox with no XLR* and although it has no blend, it does have a 'Character' knob that can make extraordinary differences with just a small tweak. That and the 'drive' has substantially more gain than the Bass Driver.

* In a couple of months, Tech 21 will be releasing the programmable version that will store 6 (I think) settings, it'll have an XLR out, 2 inputs and an fx loop.

So if you're going to be using as a DI box, you'd be best to get either the BDDI or the new version (which' ll cost more). As for tone flexibility, the VT is miles ahead. Just do either a Youtube search (there are tons of samples), or check out the TalkBass forum as there are a ton of threads about it.

As for the MXR, I've never tried it but for some reason, I've never been impressed by any of MXR's drive pedals (guitar or bass). I've heard samples of both the M80 and the Blowtorch but wasn't impressed in the least.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_be9GSlt_eQ

Personally though, you can't go wrong with the VT. The 'character' knob gives you such a wide range of shaping options, whereas the BDDI just has basic eq knobs and you can set how much clean you want to mix with the BD's tone. That and with the new version (as I mentioned earlier) it'll have an XLR out if it's really important.


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## swayman (Mar 27, 2010)

BlindingLight7 said:


> My band currently has 1 guitarist(me), 1 bassist.
> 
> 
> Our rhythm guitarist keeps flaking out, so we decided to let him go.
> ...



IMO it depends on where about the distortion sits. When it sit's too high in the tone it can be annoying, but again it depends on the guitar tone.

It'll stand out to you if it's gonna work or not dude, you'll know straight away if it's working or not. Try it out. Maybe if your bassist has the option to punch on the distortion when you're doing a lead or something.


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## sevenstringj (Mar 29, 2010)

Andii said:


>




I came.


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## Andii (Mar 29, 2010)

sevenstringj said:


> I came.



Since then I started using two tones at once and added a bass heavy clean tone under that tone. I think it sounds much smoother and fuller, maybe even meaner. 

Distortion starts at 2:23:


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## velvetkevorkian (Mar 29, 2010)

Definitely made of win


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## polydeathsphere (Mar 30, 2010)

DO IT. but concentrate on getting a good distortion that works in the mix. not just any distortion works, in my band of the same instrumentation, i actually use a guitar distortion pedal and have been tweaking it to sit well with his guitar. it need to sound good layered so it can feel full, while also needing a distinct tone of its own. 

I'd say try some things out but its not 100% necessary, it does make things HUGE when it works out tho


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## sami (Mar 30, 2010)

Andii said:


> Distortion starts at 2:23:


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## S-O (Mar 30, 2010)

Harry said:


> I frequently use distorted bass guitars in my recordings.
> Sometimes it's not necessary, but when I'm doing extreme metal I ALWAYS use distorted bass, along with 2 other tracks of bass guitar which are cleaner.



This again.


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## the unbearable (May 3, 2010)

i used to play with a guy who played a very scooped tone. i used a pretty mid-heavy j-bass tone with an odb-3 mixed about 50-50 and it CRUSHED on heavy parts.


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## Jogeta (Jun 27, 2010)

I went to Download Festival this year and was paying very close attention to Them Crooked Vultures.
The bass player had a pretty distorted tone, and in my opinion everything sounded "right" when the guitarist was playing lead parts!

I can't say the same for my band up to this point however; when it's shred time I feel VERY sonically exposed! 

Gonna work on adding some dirt to the low end as of the next practise \m/


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## BrutalExorcist (Jun 27, 2010)

Works for Amy Humphrey of Clatter. I'm not sure how metal one would call them, but it's pretty heavy.


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## Razorgrin (Jun 27, 2010)

I played fill-in bass for a metalcore outfit for about a month and I always played distorted. I will admit at least half the reason I did so was for pinch harmonics. We were the openers on New Year's Eve; the bassists for the following bands came over after our set and told me that was the silliest but most metal thing they'd ever seen.


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## josh pelican (Jun 28, 2010)

I am pretty partial to the Catalinbread SFT pedal. You get nice tube fuzz without losing your low end. It sounds pretty fucking doomy, too.



If you don't like this pedal, there's something wrong with you... or you don't like sludge.

... which means there's something wrong with you.


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## Konfyouzd (Jun 28, 2010)

I don't see why not. Just make sure it doesn't sound like a processed fart.


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## Andromalia (Jun 28, 2010)

Was discussing this exact subject with a pal during hellfest, who has a good number of recordings under his belt and once opened for Napalm Death in Paris. His opinion was: take your DI, reamp it twice, once for your "regular" bass sound, the other through a _guitar _amp for saturation. Mix to taste. As long as you're not doing funky slaps any guitar amp should handle this, mileage will vary depending on amp, of course.

Otherwise I'm surprised nobody talked about Lemmy in a bass saturation topic.


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## josh pelican (Jun 28, 2010)

Andromalia said:


> I'm surprised nobody talked about Lemmy in a bass saturation topic.



That's because talking about religion is a touchy subject to some...


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## Razorgrin (Jun 29, 2010)

josh pelican said:


> That's because talking about religion is a touchy subject to some...


Who would win in a fight between Lemmy and God?


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## josh pelican (Jun 29, 2010)

TRICK QUESTION.

Lemmy is God.


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## Razorgrin (Jun 29, 2010)

josh pelican said:


> TRICK QUESTION.
> 
> Lemmy is God.


+1 because that movie is great.


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## BrutalExorcist (Jun 29, 2010)

Forgot to mention Joe Preston with his solo project Thrones. No guitar, but I imagine the concept would work.


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