Bass Guitar tone

[davidcortese]

hey my band is recording bass right now and the guitar we are using is a fender american precision bass and was wondering how to get an aggresive bass sound like in this video at 1:00 any help would be appreciated

 

[oroinvictus]

Start with a sansamp bass driver pedal/emulation (TSE BOD, pod farm has one I believe).

 

[davidcortese]

i have but it doesn't seem to sound that great :/ i wanna clean metallic sorta sound like the sound of the actual string vibrating idk how to explain it

 

[oz_golf]

maybe it is because of your bass guitar. new string ?

 

[oroinvictus]

New strings are a must in getting the bass clank.

 

[GTanguay]

I know what youy mean by that kinda metallic sound.. I'm on the same boat as you in the search of this kind of bass tone! I'm working my ass off pretty much everyday to try to even get near this tone but I'm still far from it.. I use LTD D5 - Radial J48 - Presonus FSP - Pod Farm.. Strings are getting old but even with some tracks that were recorded when the strings we're brand new doesnt seem to work.. any tips on post processing would be appreciated here! I usualy split the signal in 2 tracks one for the low end and one for the mid/high both crossfading at aproximatly 200hz..

 

[davidcortese]

i just put on new string 3 days ago so thats not a problem

 

[Tommy Evans]

I got really close to this specific bass tone the other day by using Zombass and some post processing.

 

[davidcortese]

I got really close to this specific bass tone the other day by using Zombass and some post processing.

care to elaborate??

 

[ahjteam]

We got that style of bass guitar tone when we were recording with Sinking Charlie... Needs brand new strings, then we used Boss NS2 for noise removal, then in the loop we used Tech21 BDDI + BBE Sonic Stomp, then we went to the clean channel on Mesa Dual Recto to Marshall 4x12 cabinet to Neumann U47fet. You really need to crank the treble/presence up on all of those.

 

[oz_golf]

i just put on new string 3 days ago so thats not a problem

Maybe, it's because the way you play it. VERY IMPORTANT how you hit the strings and how you tune your bass

 

[jENK]

The player has a lot to do with this type of sound. The best bass sounds I've ever recorded come from the musician attacking the bass correctly. A good quality bass helps as does the amp and cab. Using a Sansamp is a must! I record both D.I. and cab.

 

[Goodfellas453]

two ways i know of getting a nice metal "ching" type of bass sound, both require jazz bass with literally brand new strings( 3 DAYS IS TOO OLD) then the first way is to DI that bass with a countryman then throw it into Uad nigel card, or use a sansamp bass driver DI(the plugin doesnt do it justice) you can instantly hear the tone you want while tracking

 

[Tommy Evans]

care to elaborate??

Zoll preset. I used the Waves JJP Bass plugin to bring out the 'southern ness' then some Surgical EQ to blend it to the kick and guitars.

 

[GTanguay]

I got really close to this specific bass tone the other day by using Zombass and some post processing.

Did you use the kontakt version ? does it come with wav files?
I have kontak player 4 only.. so unliscenced nkis doesnt work :/

 

[Tommy Evans]

I just downloaded the Kontakt 5 player for free on their website. Zombass works great on it. No wavs though. Only bad things is there a timeout thing in K5. So you'll have to keep re-uploading zombass into K5 every 15 minutes.

 

[GTanguay]

Sweet! Thanks for the hint!

 

[DK92]

Don't know if its been said, but Uad Nigel is killer on a good bass, pro steel strings are a must for the clank, can snag a had card for fairly cheap on ebay

 

[droppedrecords]

Also the right string gauge helps. Look up a chart and use your scale length, string number and tuning to work out the best set for you.
Circle K strings. More flex.
Shipping has been reduced as well so check them out.

ALSO if you record bass in the same octave as the guitars then it makes it a lot brighter!

Do both octaves if you have the money for the strings

 

[Danielmarcoulis]

It also really depends on what you are using to record. Pod Farm or live amp?