I’m pretty good at dialing in a guitar tone … but bass … nah!

HomespunEffects

HomespunEffects

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Man, I just can’t seem to dial in decent bass tones. I guess I just never had to do it.

I always loved those 80s bi-amp bass tones but i just can’t seem to achieve good results for recording. I also like those honky funk bass tones … i don’t even know what to call them.

I don’t know what to ask because i have no starting point having never done it. I watched some HX Stomp videos for bass but they are all farty sounding.

Can anyone offer a starting point for me? I’ve got a bass with the P-J pickup setup if that matters.
 
It seems that the sound I’m looking for has that basketball sound. Like when you put your ear on a basketball and smack the basketball. Like a bouncy, clanky thing that i don’t have a word for.
 
Last edited:
HomespunEffects said:
It seems that the sound I’m looking for has that basketball sound. Like when you put your ear on a basketball and snack the basketball. Like a bouncy, clanky thing that i don’t have a word for.
Click to expand...

Have you tried not using an amp?

I would start with an empty preset on your Stomp, just the P pickup on your bass, and use a pick. Listen to that tone and then start to add things that your ear tells you to add (maybe some EQ or a comp).

If that isn’t getting you where you want to be next thing I’d do is try an amp but no speaker cab. The GK800 might be a good place to start
 
Gotcha - I have not messed with the HX Stomp but I've played about a million gigs using a variety of Sansamp Bass Drivers and recorded a ton using multiple inputs to build a bass sound. You might be onto something with the bi-amp idea, but if possible I would try blending a sound inside your HX Stomp that has the clean bass sound with maybe some fast, subtle compression, and then a dirtier amp model (cranked Ampeg B15 or SVT seems to work for most stuff). The idea is to get clean low end and definition from the DI sound, then texture and character from the distorted amp sound, plus some distortion on the signal seems to help it blend into an overall band mix better to me. The blend ratio is going to depend on the sound you're going for, and honestly that goes for the pickups on your bass too, which is a huge factor - the Duran Duran track is going to be way cleaner and favor the bridge pickup a lot more than the Haunted song, and Def Lep somewhere in the (vast) middle.
 
Fishbulb said:
Gotcha - I have not messed with the HX Stomp but I've played about a million gigs using a variety of Sansamp Bass Drivers and recorded a ton using multiple inputs to build a bass sound. You might be onto something with the bi-amp idea, but if possible I would try blending a sound inside your HX Stomp that has the clean bass sound with maybe some fast, subtle compression, and then a dirtier amp model (cranked Ampeg B15 or SVT seems to work for most stuff). The idea is to get clean low end and definition from the DI sound, then texture and character from the distorted amp sound, plus some distortion on the signal seems to help it blend into an overall band mix better to me. The blend ratio is going to depend on the sound you're going for, and honestly that goes for the pickups on your bass too, which is a huge factor - the Duran Duran track is going to be way cleaner and favor the bridge pickup a lot more than the Haunted song, and Def Lep somewhere in the (vast) middle.
Click to expand...
I went with a Deluxe Comp before the split. Then a Crossover split at 250HZ. Then a Del Sol 300 (Sunn Coliseum 300) on the low end and a Dripman (Fender Bassman) on the high end. I added a PlastiChorus after the Bassman. I've not even tried a cabinet yet and it sounds much nicer than what I'd previously come up with. Thanks for the tips.
 
Find a bass player whose tone you dig, see what gear they use, replicate it as best as possible in your Stomp.
 
HomespunEffects said:
This is exactly the bass tone that I’m after:
Click to expand...

A lot of it could be mixing.

Like others have said use treble. I think we like the same bass tones and for my recording to get the clank I wanted I use an ampeg preamp pedal into some random tonex sim that I can't recall and VERY loose strings.

Probably not recommended but I do feel the accidental loose strings helped the sound.

I also saw you posted the Haunted. I'm unsure the year of that album or who recorded it but I do know Ola likes to use 2 bass tracks. One clean, one very filthy and unlistenable on its own but blends them together.

Again, I think a lot of the times the album tones were hear come more down to mixing.
 
Kinda like this? There's a span of tones you've posted so I'm going closest to what I'm familiar with-



That's using a bi-amp setup, Ampeg in the Fractal with a Darkglass dirt pedal in front of it, but I also tracked a DI and put CLA-Waves on it, just turned it on without touching anything, it adds an overall bass/treble/compression/subbass/chorus subtly.

But the biggest thing; if your bass doesn't sound like that hitting the strings unplugged, there's only so much EQ is going to help. New strings go a LONG way. There's also some fret buzz in there, which is pretty common with heavier guitar tones. On guitars it can be annoying but with metal/distorted tones it works out ok.
 
DrewJD82 said:
Kinda like this? There's a span of tones you've posted so I'm going closest to what I'm familiar with-



That's using a bi-amp setup, Ampeg in the Fractal with a Darkglass dirt pedal in front of it, but I also tracked a DI and put CLA-Waves on it, just turned it on without touching anything, it adds an overall bass/treble/compression/subbass/chorus subtly.

But the biggest thing; if your bass doesn't sound like that hitting the strings unplugged, there's only so much EQ is going to help. New strings go a LONG way. There's also some fret buzz in there, which is pretty common with heavier guitar tones. On guitars it can be annoying but with metal/distorted tones it works out ok.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that’s pretty close to what I’m after. Maybe a bit much on the distortion. Maybe the crossover point a bit lower as well.

Thanks.
 
HomespunEffects said:
Yeah, that’s pretty close to what I’m after. Maybe a bit much on the distortion. Maybe the crossover point a bit lower as well.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

That’s the cool thing about utilizing 2 different tracks for the same part, you can fine tune the amount of dirt/clean. It’s precisely how I get bass tracks to sit in a mix.
 
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