Searching for dat tight, thick bass tone

[waroftheancients]

Bass noob here. School me.

I'm a guitarist that is putting together a home studio to record my various music projects and I'm searching for the perfect bass to buy for recording. I have a few questions concerning bass tonal characteristics:

Bass wood: Which is the best bass guitar woods for that tight, thick sound? Does it even really matter like it does with guitar?

Pickups: I'm thinking of going with an active set. Can anyone steer me in the right direction? I plan on recording all different types of metal, from black metal to progressive/djent type shits.

Any recommendations on basses I should check out? Brands? I don't want to spend more than $1000 on the bass.

I don't need any advice on amps, because I plan on running through a D/I / AxeFxII.

 

[cGoEcYk]

I think the easiest way to accomplish what you are looking for is to use multiband compression in the mix.

 

[waroftheancients]

I understand. But I'm looking for a baseline of what to shoot for in a bass. Some basses will be more tight and focused than others. That's where you guys come in.

 

[MrSleepwalker]

You can't go wrong with Fender JB if u are looking for an universal bass under 1k

 

[Winspear]

Ibanez BTB imo but I don't know if they come under 1k. Can't really go wrong with a nice Ibby Soundgear either

 

[will_shred]

IMO Ibanez basses are wonderful. The necks are amazing, they sound fantastic, and the prices are right.

I honestly don't believe that the woods really make a noticable difference in sound it's all personal preference of looks and weight. Some pieces of wood might resonate better than others, but it has very little to do with the species.

Inb4 this becomes a tonewood thread.

 

[shanejohnson02]

I'm in the same boat as you, and I've been playing around with different things. Here's what I've found so far:

Ibanez and Fender make awesome cheap-ish basses that sound great recorded.

Direct recording is the way to go with bass

Pickups without an active EQ are easier to dial in (not as many options) for us n00bs.

Right now I'm running my Ibanez SRX390 through a pair of Sansamp RBIs, one set thin, nasty and dirty and the other set fat and punchy. The combination sounds really good IMO. I'm going to swap the humbuckers it has for an EMG J-set I think (The ones that come in HB-size covers).

 

[MF_Kitten]

Ibanez basses are fantastic, even the cheap ones. Alder, Mahogany, and different types of Ash, are all good woods for basses. The necks are usually maple, which is good anyway.

 

[Metal_Webb]

If you want a tight tone, make sure you've strung that puppy up with plenty of tension. The tighter a string is the more "bassy" the string will sound. About 50 lb of tension on the lower strings and 40 lb on the higher ones would be a good starting point.

 

[waroftheancients]

Thanks for all the suggestions people. If anyone else wants to throw in their two cents, by all means, learn me somethin.

 

[Winspear]

If you want a tight tone, make sure you've strung that puppy up with plenty of tension. The tighter a string is the more "bassy" the string will sound. About 50 lb of tension on the lower strings and 40 lb on the higher ones would be a good starting point.

This. I find 45lb balanced the best. But yeah.

+1 for the DI being the way to go too. I have a Darkglass B7k and it is quite literally all I will ever need.

 

[waroftheancients]

This. I find 45lb balanced the best. But yeah.

+1 for the DI being the way to go too. I have a Darkglass B7k and it is quite literally all I will ever need.

Do you run signal > Darkglass > D/I? Been meaning to get some clarifications on this.

 

[Winspear]

I'm only studio recording, so I'm running the output to my interface. I do sometimes blend a bit of cab sim on in the recording software to add a little low end and tame the distorted highs but it's not entirely necessary (i.e. it would sound fine direct through a full range PA system at a venue).

The pedal has an XLR output and a jack output for Wet. It also has a jack output for dry which is nice.

I have the Dry jack hooked up to my interface DI/HiZ input. This is true bypass. Basically bass>interface.
I have the Wet XLR run into a Mic Preamp on my interface.

At this point the Wet is generally distorted and I blend that with the DI from the bass.
Again not necessary, but it sounds more awesome blending it with an actual clean tone from the pedal. So I go ahead and reamp that true bypass DI through the pedal, this time with the gain down.

I now have in the software 3 tracks - natural bass, clean B7k, dirty B7k. At that point the natural bass track isn't really needed and is muted and saved incase I wish to reamp again to change the tone. Typically dirty is lacking in low end for clarity whereas clean is round and full. Good blend.

If I were playing live I'd be perfectly happy using it into the PA. However can be risky to rely on that at a small venue as an unknown band so I'd carry an amp too. I guess I'd run the XLR out Wet to the soundboard and the true bypass out to my amp so my Stage rig is really just the amp so I've got it if necessary.

It sounds like in your post you are asking about if I use a DI box. That is not necessary because a DI box is for going from guitar instrument level to balanced mic level to run to a soundboard. The XLR output on the pedal is exactly that. A HI-Z input on an audio interface also serves the same purpose. You only need a DI box to run into an XLR Mic Preamp from instrument level.

 

[theoctopus]

I now have in the software 3 tracks - natural bass, clean B7k, dirty B7k.

Triple tracking bass is a pretty common approach. I usually run my first track through my Radial JDI, the second through my Aguilar DB680, and the third through my Aguilar DB680 into my AFX2 with high pass/low pass filters to be able to apply OD to the higher frequencies and EQ the high/low differently. Sometimes I throw an IR in to the third signal path if I'm feeling fancy.

 

[iron blast]

alot of people dig Ibanez basses they work and are cheap I've owned 3 but in my experience nothing has came close to the sound of my warwicks I personally say try to snag a used German Warwick or a Spector bass they are abit higher end and don't feel like toys

 

[simonXsludge]

I can also vote for Ibanez basses, the ATK line particularly.

The bassist in my band has two ATK 5-strings (Standard and Premium), a Soundgear Prestige and two BTBs (Prestige and Standard). The stock pickups and snappy sound of the ATK blows his other basses out of the water with ease. Those are loaded with a selection of Bartolini and EMG pickups. In the studio, we always ended up using his cheap ATK305 over all his other basses.

He has recently received the Premium ATK and it's a lot nicer in appearance and quality, but the cheaper ATK305 sounds just as good. I have just bought a used ATK700 myself and love it. My first attempt of recording a bass with the Kemper was with the ATK and it literally took 15 minutes to dial in a killer tone.

https://soundcloud.com/sludgestudios/kemper-ibanez-atk700

I'm not super fond of the ATK's look and prefer the playability of the Soundgear line, but I'd still chose an ATK over all the other Ibby basses for recording. I'd recommend getting one with a maple board, though. The cheaper models have rosewood fetboards now.

Hope that helps.

 

[waroftheancients]

I can also vote for Ibanez basses, the ATK line particularly.

The bassist in my band has two ATK 5-strings (Standard and Premium), a Soundgear Prestige and two BTBs (Prestige and Standard). The stock pickups and snappy sound of the ATK blows his other basses out of the water with ease. Those are loaded with a selection of Bartolini and EMG pickups. In the studio, we always ended up using his cheap ATK305 over all his other basses.

He has recently received the Premium ATK and it's a lot nicer in appearance and quality, but the cheaper ATK305 sounds just as good. I have just bought a used ATK700 myself and love it. My first attempt of recording a bass with the Kemper was with the ATK and it literally took 15 minutes to dial in a killer tone.

https://soundcloud.com/sludgestudios/kemper-ibanez-atk700

I'm not super fond of the ATK's look and prefer the playability of the Soundgear line, but I'd still chose an ATK over all the other Ibby basses for recording. I'd recommend getting one with a maple board, though. The cheaper models have rosewood fetboards now.

Hope that helps.

DAT TONE. Sounds really good dude. I will have to look into it.

 

[dax21]

I don't really think that's a fair representation of ATK sound. The recording is scooped as ...., whereas ATKs are fairly middy.

For 1k? Warwick > Spector > Ibanez, in that order. Go used. As far as Ibanez goes, I prefer BTBs over SRs, because SRs are simply too hifi and scooped for my taste, but to each its own. Warwicks and Spectors will have way more character than Ibby, with better build quality too.

 

[waroftheancients]

EDIT: Nevermind. I'm an idiot.

 

[simonXsludge]

I don't really think that's a fair representation of ATK sound. The recording is scooped as ...., whereas ATKs are fairly middy.

It's one sound the ATK is capable of, so how is this not a "fair" representation of exactly that?!