Bass distorsion, again

[Sly]

I am searching for a raw and agressive bass distorsion for studio use. Something very grainy in the mids.
I usually split the signal between a "clean" DI, a "clean" amp and an agressive distortion (keeping only the 350-2,5/3 Khz band which is interesting, slight boost at 700-800 Hz for the growling).
I tried out the MXR Bass DI which was good in the mids (take care with the buzzy high mids/highs you absolutely need to cut). I'm interested.
Any other idea ? I don't want to use Amplitube or any amp sim because it usually sound "flat".
Think In Flames, Raised Fist, It Dies Today... bass sounds

 

[26]

Why not reamp through an amp?
btw, i work exactly the same way, and after comparing some amp sims, i get the best results with.......amplitube.

 

[Sly]

I did try to reamp through a JCM800+Randall cab but there were too much buzzy highs too. Maybe do I have to try with a bass cab ?
The MXR sounds good but you need to use filters to get rid of frequencies you don't want.

 

[M13]

I use this i think its to make that dirty sound on the bass. i will post a soundclip, soon.

http://www.mio.co.za/article.php?cat=&id=102

 

[26]

a little bit uncommon, but you could try to cut some highs on the signal itself before sending it to an amp/amp sim.

 

[ILLBYDESIGN]

I also use an amp or sim for distortion (mids/highs) and a duplicated track for all the low end. I use sansamp di'ed into revalver and as well as an eq'd/compressed clean track, which so far sounds great my drop A tuning.

I recently brought the Boss bass overdrive £64, but haven't recorded with it yet, it's sounding great at rehearsal nice deep growl. Maybe i bit fizzy, but eq fixes that!

http://www.bossus.com/index.asp?pg=1&tmp=28 - check the demo's

I thought the MXR Bass DI sounded terrible in the shop, like a fuzzy fart.

 

[Katau]

If you have access to a Tech21 PSA-1, it should provide what you're looking for. It has dual outputs, so one can go DI and the other to an amp. Of course, adding a compressor in there will also help.

 

[Sly]

Thanks for all the inputs !
The PSA-1 is definitely an option, but it's a bit over my budget and it seems to have A LOTS of options that I won't really need for the sound I'm searching. I use a Morley tripler that can route the signal to 3 amps/DI simultaneously, so splitting the signal is not an issue.

What about the Sansamp Bass Driver DI ? I heard great things about it, but I don't know if it can produce than kind of sound with extreme settings ?

 

[2012]

sansamp RBI or EH bassballs

 

[JBroll]

I'm really enjoying the ProCo RAT. I have much less time under my belt with this stuff, but I really like the 'throat' that the RAT brings to the table. It's got an interesting design that leaves lower notes less distorted and compressed while hitting mids and highs harder, so it can be clear and articulate all across the board while still having that grind in the sound.

I picked one up after seeing the DVD that came with The Haunted's album The Dead Eye - their bassist used one of those in his rig, and I had heard about plenty of people using those boxes before, so I decided to give one a shot. I don't even feel the need for a separate DI track for lows because there's enough coming through with this thing, even with enough distortion to keep an even growl going through.

Doc from Backmask recommended the BDDI and the MXR M-80 when I asked earlier on their forum. I'll get one or both of those when I have some income.

Jeff

 

[Razorjack]

Arch Enemy at Bloodstock was ProCo RAT into a BSS DI to FOH, the big Marshall VBA was for onstage volume. As JBroll said, it manages to give a nice grind without destroying the bottom end (unlike the BDDI imo).

 

[Emdprodukt]

Allmost every band was using a Sansamp Para Driver at "Wacken" on stage.
Our bassplayer just got it and it allmost blew his amp.
Don't know how it sounds recorded with it's XLR out, though.

 

[Mood Bender]

I'm really enjoying the ProCo RAT.

are you referring to the RAT 2?

any clips?

 

[Sly]

After having looked all around, I found out that the sound I'm looking for can be achieved with the following :

Tech21 XXL bass disto/OD
MXR Bass DI
Sansamp RBI / Bass Driver / PSA-1

Sounds like the Boss ODB-3 could do it, but it's a bit synthetic to my ears.

 

[vespiz]

Have any of you tried the Hughes & Kettner Warp pedal?
That sounds brutal on bass! Haven't (yet) tried to record with it, though...

 

[egan.]

The aguilar agro is worth a look. Live the rat and the BDDI seem to show up most often IME.