Crushing bass tone with guitar amp sim?

[bkit13]

I've recently gotten hold of the Neural DSP Darkglass plugin, and suffice to say I'm pretty damn happy with the result; my Fender GL Jazz bass sounds epic through it. My only issue is that it seems pretty difficult to get much "Grind-y" top end out of it. I've heard people saying on numerous occasions that guitar amps are good for that, but I've never been able to dial it in myself without everything becoming very messy. If anyone has any pointers on how best to go about this it'd be much appreciated, cheers!

 

[budda]

Grindy? Fuzz it.

 

[shnizzle]

in my experience the bass guitar itself and how you use it also has a lot to do with that grindy top end. fresh strings also go a long way, so you don´t lose all the high range overtones.

guitar amp plugins can help. but you shouldn´t overly distort it. keep it the distortion a bit more mellow so the sound stays a bit more defined. the choice of amp sim and cab impulse alos have a big impact. it´s usually not just one simple thing that will help you get what you want. dialing in tones takes a lot of experimentation and trial and error.

 

[GunpointMetal]

Run two instances of the plugin into each other. Seriously. One of the gnarliest bass tones I've ever heard was The Last Ten Seconds of Life and dude was running the Darkglass pedal into the Darkglass head.

 

[budda]

Also try a jcm800 sim. We used that + the svt on "let the silence stay where it was".

Try using pedals before your interface too.

 

[GunpointMetal]

Also try a jcm800 sim. We used that + the svt on "let the silence stay where it was".

Try using pedals before your interface too.

We ended up not using it, but the 800 and the 2204 MOD in Helix Native both added some nice, compressed dirt to a bass tone on our most recent recording when I was getting things set-up. A little more gritty than our bassist was comfortable with, but I thought it sounded heavy AF.

 

[thrashinbatman]

It's better to use a lighter distortion if grind is what you're after. Going for a straight high-gain head style tone will result in an obnoxious, indecipherable mess of a sound. Something like a Tube Screamer, or a JCM800 like Gunpoint said is probably better. Blend it in low with your clean tone to get that grindy goodness.

 

[GunpointMetal]

It's better to use a lighter distortion if grind is what you're after. Going for a straight high-gain head style tone will result in an obnoxious, indecipherable mess of a sound. Something like a Tube Screamer, or a JCM800 like Gunpoint said is probably better. Blend it in low with your clean tone to get that grindy goodness.

I like to blend both if it works for the overall sound. One heavy distortion, maybe even with a boost, mid-scooped, blended in with the clean low-end track and a just-distorted "grind" tone.

 

[Masoo2]

imo the darkglass stuff doesn't nail that metalcore/hardcore-esque grindy top end that's easily audible in mixes from guys like Brian Hood (ie: ERRA - Augment)

I'd recommend a guitar amp track as well, but filter out the low end ***before*** the amp and then do some major post-amp/cab processing to ensure it's grindy but not too harsh