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pentalarc
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 1:02 am
Posts: 127
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun May 16, 2010 4:34 pm 
 

Hey, y'all.

I play(ed) guitar, baritone guitar, and bass, but have recently become primarily a bassist. Mainly because 1) all of my equipment got destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, so why not start over, and 2) playing bass in my current project (75% southern/NOLA-style sludge, 20% death metal, 5% stoner metal) as one of two bassists. (I'm also the lead vocallist, so I'll be on that sub too)

Thought since I'm just showing up, I'd jump right into the pick/fingers debate and fretted/fretless debate.

Personally, I think that while you can make generalizations about what is best, let's be honest, the truth is what is best for the player, the song, and the style.

I play primarily with my fingers these days, and primarily fretless, but I switch around. A lot of this is from my style, and I think less having to do with the fact that I started out playing guitar and baritone guitar (both of which I've only ever done fretted and 95% of the time, with a pick) But to me, it's a matter of what I'm looking for.

Although I'm primarily a metalhead, I'm influenced by all different styles. After all, if someone is doing something I like, I'm not going to let a little thing like genre stop me from incorporating it. My two biggest influences for bassists are Kevin Rutmanis and Mark Deutrom (both Melvins) and. . .umm. . .Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, primarily because of the "This is my bass, I do what I want with it attitude."

Of course, I don't try or plan to sound like them. I sound like Pentalarc. I've been told I sound most like "the bassist from Eyehategod or Acid King," which is rather difficult when you realize that both of those bands have had a rotating bassist slot for quite some time. Of course, both Rutmanis and Deutrom are part of the Melvins' bassist morgue and Gordon has switch to guitar.

My style is part of the reason for these choices: I'll do just about whatever I want to get the sound I want from my bass. I'll use a slide, hybrid pick, lots of hammer ons and pull offs, I tap and bend like a guitarist, bend with the tip of the slide, bend the strings over the edge of the neck and let them snap back (which has pissed off a lot of people), used a pick to play bass powerchords and full chords (often using my bass as a rhythm guitar during interlude/solos) etc. My main reason for using fretless these days is to make it easier to play microtones, etc.

After all, as far as I'm concerned, with the style I'm doing, and like to do, I'm here to to make frightening, agressive, angry, ugly, painful music, and my current responsibility in that task (besides the vocals) is to do so in the lowest ranges. Same reason when I do vocals, I'll sing, growl, screech, chant, gurgle, scream, or rant as needed to get the sound/message across.

Of course, I'm clearly not the sort who's going to be playing melodic prog, viking power metal, glam metal, or melodic anything any time soon. And if you want to play such, using a pick on a fretted bass with a clean tone and not a double-stop in sight, go for it. I won't follow your "rules," and I certainly don't expect you to follow mine. Right tool for the job is my philosophy.

Of course, if we liked following other people's "rules", we wouldn't be playing metal anyway, would we.

And yes, I am long-winded an opinionated. :-)

Pentalarc

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DoomandHeavy
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2009 7:57 pm
Posts: 222
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Mon May 17, 2010 2:57 pm 
 

Amen to that my brother! Play what you fucking please! I love using both fingerstyle and a pick, and have to get my hands on a new fretless. What's a good passive, unlined, 4 string fretless I could get for maybe $400? Thanks for any help guys!

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OnwardToGolgotha
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:33 pm
Posts: 430
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:41 pm 
 

Can anybody here play Scarified by Racer X?

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pentalarc
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 1:02 am
Posts: 127
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 5:19 am 
 

DoomandHeavy wrote:
Amen to that my brother! Play what you fucking please! I love using both fingerstyle and a pick, and have to get my hands on a new fretless. What's a good passive, unlined, 4 string fretless I could get for maybe $400? Thanks for any help guys!


Don't know. The one that I'm playing right now is borrowed. It's real bottom of the line, a Rouge LX200BF. Cheap as hell, but pretty good, considering. Very comfortable to play, and not a bad sound, maybe a little thinner than I like. I like split coil/humbucker, and this one is split coil/single, which is a lot more common. I was thinking about switching to a one bridge humbucker model, but not sure, I like having options.

I know a lot of people won't agree on this, but I say: haunt the pawnshops. I saw a bass at one the other day, that I really liked the way it played: narrow neck, fast action, strings close together. It was fretted, which I expect, since it's a lot more common, but the main problem for me was that it was two straight single coils.

So my plan is starting to shift towards, get a bass I like the feel of playing, then have someone remove the frets. If it's a split/humbucker, or a single/single, I'll have the bridge pickup pulled and replaced with a humbucker.

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Rob1
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 453
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 2:30 pm 
 

pentalarc wrote:
DoomandHeavy wrote:
Amen to that my brother! Play what you fucking please! I love using both fingerstyle and a pick, and have to get my hands on a new fretless. What's a good passive, unlined, 4 string fretless I could get for maybe $400? Thanks for any help guys!


Don't know. The one that I'm playing right now is borrowed. It's real bottom of the line, a Rouge LX200BF. Cheap as hell, but pretty good, considering. Very comfortable to play, and not a bad sound, maybe a little thinner than I like. I like split coil/humbucker, and this one is split coil/single, which is a lot more common. I was thinking about switching to a one bridge humbucker model, but not sure, I like having options.

I know a lot of people won't agree on this, but I say: haunt the pawnshops. I saw a bass at one the other day, that I really liked the way it played: narrow neck, fast action, strings close together. It was fretted, which I expect, since it's a lot more common, but the main problem for me was that it was two straight single coils.

So my plan is starting to shift towards, get a bass I like the feel of playing, then have someone remove the frets. If it's a split/humbucker, or a single/single, I'll have the bridge pickup pulled and replaced with a humbucker.


Another option is not to remove the frets but to sand them down to the point that they are level with the fretboard. This will also give you fretlines.

Most fretless basses sport a harder wood for the the fretboard compared to their fretted cousins to better stand the wear of the strings hitting them.

Another point is that removing frets isn't very difficult but the gap has to be filled with some material that doesn't shrink too much or doesn't get compressed too easily. Else the stiffness of the neck is in compromise and your neck may get to be hollow after some time (a matter of months!).

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The_GanStan
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 4:36 pm
Posts: 4
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Tue May 18, 2010 5:00 pm 
 

sup everyone, first time writer.

ive been playin bass for about half a year, right now, i just have a semi-crappy rogue lx200b, since this was my first guitar, i wasnt to picky on gettin something for a lot of money, but i must give this guitar props for being rather good quality for only being 100 bucks, but im soon going to in the market for upgrading, probably to a 5 string. im thinking about getting it this summer, but i wouldnt mind waiting a bit to get better at my 4 string, which is what im leaning toward.

my question is, should i get a 5 string? is it way different then a regular 4 string? any suggestions would be very helpful as later this year i might be recording a demo w/ some friends of mine. so thanks for your help.

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Rob1
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 453
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 2:35 am 
 

The_GanStan wrote:
sup everyone, first time writer.

ive been playin bass for about half a year, right now, i just have a semi-crappy rogue lx200b, since this was my first guitar, i wasnt to picky on gettin something for a lot of money, but i must give this guitar props for being rather good quality for only being 100 bucks, but im soon going to in the market for upgrading, probably to a 5 string. im thinking about getting it this summer, but i wouldnt mind waiting a bit to get better at my 4 string, which is what im leaning toward.

my question is, should i get a 5 string? is it way different then a regular 4 string? any suggestions would be very helpful as later this year i might be recording a demo w/ some friends of mine. so thanks for your help.

The idea of getting better at the 4 string first isn't a bad one but if you are thinking of upgrading to a 5 string you could just as well go ahead.
A five string differs from a 4 string in two things (aside from the obviuos one):
1 the added range
2 The positional playing.

The first is very easy to see for adding an extra string makes your sonic range grow.
The second means that because of the added string it is easier to play certain combinations of notes from the same position e.g. without having to shift your fretting hand. This makes playing a 5 string easier (in my opinion) than playing a 4 string. Don't forget, however, that shifting your fretting hand a lot seems real impressive to the audience when performing.

This is why someone who plays very difficult things in roughly the same positions is seen by most of the audience as someone who plays easy things whereas someone who shifts alot is percieved as a very technical player.

Of course you have to decide for yourself but when you are already thinking of getting a 5 string somewhere in the future this would be a good time as well!

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The_GanStan
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 4:36 pm
Posts: 4
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 11:31 am 
 

thanks for the help, i think ill get more in tune with my 4 string for a couple more months, probably til july or august, then snag a 5 string, how i need help on finding a bass that is right for me. nothing over $750 if anyone wants to help, i was thinking about getting one of these

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Schecter-Gu ... 1147992.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-SRA3 ... 1480521.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-SR70 ... 1480508.gc

as i said in the previous post, i havent been playing for that long, so any help would be much appreciated.

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Traver
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:10 am
Posts: 165
Location: Denmark
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 11:51 am 
 

Adding an extra string only grants you five extra notes to be played, and really, the main advantage gained from getting extra strings is allowing you to more easily play without moving your hands all over the place. If you just want a bigger range, downtuning would be a lot easier.

Also, 5- and 6-strings are NOT harder to play than a 4-string. It may take some time getting used to, but so will a 4-string, and if you're daft enough to be confused by an extra string or two, you can just focus on the 4 normal ones.

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Rob1
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 453
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2010 2:10 pm 
 

The_GanStan wrote:
thanks for the help, i think ill get more in tune with my 4 string for a couple more months, probably til july or august, then snag a 5 string, how i need help on finding a bass that is right for me. nothing over $750 if anyone wants to help, i was thinking about getting one of these

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Schecter-Gu ... 1147992.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-SRA3 ... 1480521.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-SR70 ... 1480508.gc

as i said in the previous post, i havent been playing for that long, so any help would be much appreciated.


The Scheckter would have my preference since it is the only one of the three that has a 35" scale length. I find that the low B is (too) sloppy on basses with a 34" scale length.

That is also the reason why I wouldnt just tune down a 4 string to reach low B or something like that. I have tried that in the past but after some months of playing like that I decided to switch the strings for the lowest 4 of a 5 string set to get the desired string tension and clarity!

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pentalarc
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 1:02 am
Posts: 127
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 1:58 am 
 

I'm about to buy a new (for me) bass. Here are the current frontrunners, and I'm looking to see if anyone has had any experience with these, and can recommend one.

1) Epiphone Goth Thunderbird: Why the goth? Because I get a better body wood and a better neck wood, for a lower price than the regular Epiphone Thunderbird. Yeah, that vintage sunburst is a lot cooler, but I won't pay for looks if I can avoid it.

2) Peavey Foundation Fretless: The pickups are capped soapbars, but I think they're both single coil. I'd rather splits and/or humbuckers, but I can always upgrade later. This one is already fretless, so I wouldn't have to have the frets pulled, and it's cheaper.

Anybody played either of these before and can give an opinion? The style I'm going ot be playing is southern sludge with death metal and a few stoner metal elements. The basses I used to own were an Epiphone GIII Reverse and a Stienberger Spirit XT-2, if you want to compare.

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Orr
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:55 pm
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 2:13 pm 
 

Traver wrote:
Also, 5- and 6-strings are NOT harder to play than a 4-string. It may take some time getting used to, but so will a 4-string, and if you're daft enough to be confused by an extra string or two, you can just focus on the 4 normal ones.


The hardest thing about switching to 5- or 6-strings would be getting used to neck thickness or string spacing. Otherwise, it's super-easy. The tuning doesn't even change (4ths all the way up) so you just repeat the same patterns you already know over and over.

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Rob1
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 453
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 2:41 am 
 

Orr wrote:
Traver wrote:
Also, 5- and 6-strings are NOT harder to play than a 4-string. It may take some time getting used to, but so will a 4-string, and if you're daft enough to be confused by an extra string or two, you can just focus on the 4 normal ones.


The hardest thing about switching to 5- or 6-strings would be getting used to neck thickness or string spacing. Otherwise, it's super-easy. The tuning doesn't even change (4ths all the way up) so you just repeat the same patterns you already know over and over.

Once you've learned that you almost never want to touch a 4 string again. It seems so limited compared to a 5 or 6 string!

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Traver
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:10 am
Posts: 165
Location: Denmark
PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2010 4:33 am 
 

Orr wrote:
The hardest thing about switching to 5- or 6-strings would be getting used to neck thickness or string spacing. Otherwise, it's super-easy. The tuning doesn't even change (4ths all the way up) so you just repeat the same patterns you already know over and over.


That is true if you're switching to a 5- or 6-string from a 4-string, but people who are just starting out will find a 4-string just as hard to play as a 5- or 6-string. And even if you are switching, it shouldn't take long to adjust (took me about a week personally). Not trying to start an argument or anything, it seems like we basically agree, just wanted to mention it.

Also, you can get 6-strings with the same string spacing as on 4-strings.

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OnwardToGolgotha
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:33 pm
Posts: 430
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2010 1:48 pm 
 

pentalarc wrote:
I'm about to buy a new (for me) bass. Here are the current frontrunners, and I'm looking to see if anyone has had any experience with these, and can recommend one.

1) Epiphone Goth Thunderbird

Holy fuck no. Thunderbirds have no fret access past the 16th fret, massive neck dive, and shitty, muddy electronics. Don't bother buying one.

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pentalarc
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 1:02 am
Posts: 127
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:10 pm 
 

OnwardToGolgotha wrote:
pentalarc wrote:
I'm about to buy a new (for me) bass. Here are the current frontrunners, and I'm looking to see if anyone has had any experience with these, and can recommend one.

1) Epiphone Goth Thunderbird

Holy fuck no. Thunderbirds have no fret access past the 16th fret, massive neck dive, and shitty, muddy electronics. Don't bother buying one.


Got outbid at the last moment anyway. I had tested one out in a music store, and I actually thought it had a pretty good sound. I figured I could change the strap button if the neck dive was too bad.

Right now, I'm looking at/bidding on a Peavey Foundation that someone replaced the pickups with some warmer/better/more powerful ones. It's fretted, but I'll get the frets removed later. Right now, I have to get *something*. It probably fits pretty well, I used to primarily play Peaveys, and always liked them.

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Ipsen
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:34 pm
Posts: 1
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:59 pm 
 

Hello just came on to check this thread out.

Just checking, I have been playing bass avidly for roughly 5 years and have developed a new style of 4 finger playing for faster songs of which picking is not adequate.

Any one else use this technique?

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Rob1
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 453
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sat Jun 12, 2010 11:40 am 
 

Ipsen wrote:
Hello just came on to check this thread out.

Just checking, I have been playing bass avidly for roughly 5 years and have developed a new style of 4 finger playing for faster songs of which picking is not adequate.

Any one else use this technique?

I don't use it but there some others that stray here from time to time that do.
It shows that good ideas will always come up where ever people are.
It is also a technique used by flamenco guitar players!

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GVOLTT
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:33 pm
Posts: 454
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 12:59 pm 
 

Okay, looking to get off my ass and be a little more productive to a new hobby. I've wanted to learn how to play the bass for awhile now. I know everyone learns at different paces, but how long would you guys say it takes to learn bass well enough to get basic skills and play a few songs myself, assuming I put in about average practice time but nonetheless determined? Maybe even so as far to play in a death metal band, but I don't want to get my hopes up too soon just yet...

For the record, I guess I want to get a 5-string bass, but if I should start off with a 4-string or something, just let me know.
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Rob1
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 453
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:34 pm 
 

GVOLTT wrote:
Okay, looking to get off my ass and be a little more productive to a new hobby. I've wanted to learn how to play the bass for awhile now. I know everyone learns at different paces, but how long would you guys say it takes to learn bass well enough to get basic skills and play a few songs myself, assuming I put in about average practice time but nonetheless determined? Maybe even so as far to play in a death metal band, but I don't want to get my hopes up too soon just yet...

For the record, I guess I want to get a 5-string bass, but if I should start off with a 4-string or something, just let me know.

Playing songs can be done as easily as in one month's time. Depending on how dificult the songs are, of course. Evil Dead by Deatrh is very simple, you only need the speed for that one.
Leprosy is somewhat more difficult just as Dawn of the Angry by Morbid Angel. If you manage to pick up some tabulature of the songs you want to play and practise really well by playing along with the songs you might get to play quite impressively in just a half year's time.
Apart from that there is no shame in practicing scales and fingering as well.

In the end it all depends on your wants and needs!

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Raki
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2007 7:24 am
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 9:38 am 
 

hi everyone

so i'm playing bass since about 2.5 years but it seems to me that i'm not getting better. one year ago i bought a guitar and started to play guitar a little bit und very soon i improved alot.
i played in a thrash/death metal band with easy parts but i left them recently.
now i wanna form a death metal band, write some songs on guitar but in the end, i want to play the bass in that band. the problem is: i can't play very fast, 16s are only possible at a speed of 150 bpm. i even tried to play with a pick, but it sounds muddy. i allways try to play stuff like (the easy parts of) dying fetus, morbid angel and stuff like that, but i just don't improve my skills...

has anyone of you an idea how i could improve my skills, especially speed and precision?

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Rob1
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 453
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:23 am 
 

Raki wrote:
hi everyone

so i'm playing bass since about 2.5 years but it seems to me that i'm not getting better. one year ago i bought a guitar and started to play guitar a little bit und very soon i improved alot.
i played in a thrash/death metal band with easy parts but i left them recently.
now i wanna form a death metal band, write some songs on guitar but in the end, i want to play the bass in that band. the problem is: i can't play very fast, 16s are only possible at a speed of 150 bpm. i even tried to play with a pick, but it sounds muddy. i allways try to play stuff like (the easy parts of) dying fetus, morbid angel and stuff like that, but i just don't improve my skills...

has anyone of you an idea how i could improve my skills, especially speed and precision?

Practice with a metronome! First you do a certain sequence at 50 BPM when it goes flawless you step up to 100 BPM and so on.
This way you will improve your speed, precision and durability.

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Critical_Madness
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2006 4:58 am
Posts: 13
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 4:56 pm 
 

Rickenbacker basses are very desirable for metal and heavier forms of music... Why aren't Rickenbacker guitars used as frequently as their basses in metal?

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OnwardToGolgotha
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:33 pm
Posts: 430
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 10:53 pm 
 

Critical_Madness wrote:
Rickenbacker basses are very desirable for metal and heavier forms of music... Why aren't Rickenbacker guitars used as frequently as their basses in metal?
For one thing, they really aren't. They are ridiculously bright, very focused on the upper mids and treble. The only thing they are really good for is distorted mid-heavy playing like Cliff Burton or Lemmy. The guitars aren't used because most of them are semi-hollow and all of them have pickups far too weak for metal.

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vashts80
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 12:09 pm
Posts: 789
PostPosted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 3:21 am 
 

"Severed Survival", "Human", and plenty of other albums with non-distorted Rickenbacker bass would like to disagree with you.

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Rob1
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 453
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:31 am 
 

vashts80 wrote:
"Severed Survival", "Human", and plenty of other albums with non-distorted Rickenbacker bass would like to disagree with you.

Human (by Death I presume) is played on no Rickenbacker whatsoever. Steve DoGiorgio plays fretless custom basses and certainly no Rick at that time!

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vashts80
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 12:09 pm
Posts: 789
PostPosted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 8:18 pm 
 

"So to fill in a few more blanks: In 1991 there was almost no digital recording going on yet. We did that album all on 2" Otari 24 track reel-to-reel analog tape. There was only talk of digital coming around in the form of ADAT. I used the black Ric on the whole album, but this time no chorus or flange, only a bit of my own compression (which would make you think it would be even easier to bring out the bass with less poppy transients). "

Directly from Steve's mouth, here

The first album he used a fretless on was Individual Thought Patterns, I believe. Everything before that was done with his Rics.

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Rob1
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 453
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:39 am 
 

vashts80 wrote:
"So to fill in a few more blanks: In 1991 there was almost no digital recording going on yet. We did that album all on 2" Otari 24 track reel-to-reel analog tape. There was only talk of digital coming around in the form of ADAT. I used the black Ric on the whole album, but this time no chorus or flange, only a bit of my own compression (which would make you think it would be even easier to bring out the bass with less poppy transients). "

Directly from Steve's mouth, here

The first album he used a fretless on was Individual Thought Patterns, I believe. Everything before that was done with his Rics.

Excuse me. I stand fully corrected. I was under the impression that he already played custom fretless at that time!

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infinitenexus
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:35 am
Posts: 1895
PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:18 pm 
 

Raki wrote:
hi everyone

so i'm playing bass since about 2.5 years but it seems to me that i'm not getting better. one year ago i bought a guitar and started to play guitar a little bit und very soon i improved alot.
i played in a thrash/death metal band with easy parts but i left them recently.
now i wanna form a death metal band, write some songs on guitar but in the end, i want to play the bass in that band. the problem is: i can't play very fast, 16s are only possible at a speed of 150 bpm. i even tried to play with a pick, but it sounds muddy. i allways try to play stuff like (the easy parts of) dying fetus, morbid angel and stuff like that, but i just don't improve my skills...

has anyone of you an idea how i could improve my skills, especially speed and precision?


Learn some old slayer and metallica songs. Metallica especially is good for working on the initial speed, and slayer will take over at higher speeds. Most of their riffs, especially old metallica, are pretty simple, too.
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Ashes of Mankind <-- death/thrash

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Corporeal_Jigsore
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 6:04 am
Posts: 159
Location: Kazakhstan
PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 1:35 pm 
 

Hey forum, I have a question: if I don't have any very heavy-gauge strings available, is it possible to buy a 5-string set and use the 4 lower strings on my 4-string bass if I want to tune low, like B or C? Would they fit into the bridge?
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Rob1
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Oct 12, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 453
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:09 am 
 

Corporeal_Jigsore wrote:
Hey forum, I have a question: if I don't have any very heavy-gauge strings available, is it possible to buy a 5-string set and use the 4 lower strings on my 4-string bass if I want to tune low, like B or C? Would they fit into the bridge?

I have done that before I had a 5 string bass so it shouldn't pose any problems. Just make sure to adapt the intonation of the bridge for it will probably be set for the standard 4 string strings!

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Traver
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:10 am
Posts: 165
Location: Denmark
PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 4:37 pm 
 

Corporeal_Jigsore wrote:
Hey forum, I have a question: if I don't have any very heavy-gauge strings available, is it possible to buy a 5-string set and use the 4 lower strings on my 4-string bass if I want to tune low, like B or C? Would they fit into the bridge?


This is a very common thing to do, so yes. You'll probably need to adjust a few things here and there, though, but go for it.

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infinitenexus
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:35 am
Posts: 1895
PostPosted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:17 pm 
 

Quick stupid question, should be an easy one and I'm sure I already know the answer, but better to know than wonder. The differences between a humbucker and a single coil on a bass - is it comparable to the same on a standard guitar? Will the humbucker provide more output, a thicker, heavier sound, and mayhap slightly less top end? I'm trying to get closer to that "Grand Magus" bass tone, and I think a humbucker is a requirement.
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bfernandez
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:20 pm
Posts: 203
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 3:06 pm 
 

pentalarc wrote:
OnwardToGolgotha wrote:
pentalarc wrote:
I'm about to buy a new (for me) bass. Here are the current frontrunners, and I'm looking to see if anyone has had any experience with these, and can recommend one.

1) Epiphone Goth Thunderbird

Holy fuck no. Thunderbirds have no fret access past the 16th fret, massive neck dive, and shitty, muddy electronics. Don't bother buying one.


Got outbid at the last moment anyway. I had tested one out in a music store, and I actually thought it had a pretty good sound. I figured I could change the strap button if the neck dive was too bad.

Right now, I'm looking at/bidding on a Peavey Foundation that someone replaced the pickups with some warmer/better/more powerful ones. It's fretted, but I'll get the frets removed later. Right now, I have to get *something*. It probably fits pretty well, I used to primarily play Peaveys, and always liked them.


Only been playing for two years, but I don't like Epiphones or Peavys, you might dig them though. Currently I use an Ibanez 5 String but I don't like the thinness of the neck and the tone is too "warm" for me (although it is pretty good) so I'm going to get a Sterling by Music Man Ray 35 5 String. I'd actually like to hear you're band. I'm not in a band because I don't know any metalheads.

Oh by the way Jesus was a Molester man.
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orionmetalhead
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Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 9:54 am
Posts: 2327
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 11:37 pm 
 

I don't know if this has been talked about but has anyone used the DR - DDT strings in a drop tuning yet? I need to tune down to C-standard. There seems to be a lot of good feedback about these strings.

Also, would I be better going with the .055 set or .065 set?
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nurmengard
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:13 pm
Posts: 49
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 4:20 am 
 

OnwardToGolgotha wrote:
Can anybody here play Scarified by Racer X?
My brother can play the whole thing on guitar. Hasn't for a while now though so I don't know if he still remembers most of it. I can play the intro riff on bass but haven't been playing much bass for a while.

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OnwardToGolgotha
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Apr 24, 2010 11:33 pm
Posts: 430
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 9:27 pm 
 

orionmetalhead wrote:
I don't know if this has been talked about but has anyone used the DR - DDT strings in a drop tuning yet? I need to tune down to C-standard. There seems to be a lot of good feedback about these strings.

Also, would I be better going with the .055 set or .065 set?

The .055s would be fine, unless you like really high tension.
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overkill666
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:43 pm
Posts: 1358
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
PostPosted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 12:15 pm 
 

Ok, so I'm looking at these amps right now.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-U ... 1152848.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gallien-Kru ... 1474943.gc

I was wondering if anyone had experience with these? What would be the better investment? I'm looking for something that will get me into the mix at practices, perhaps some gigging too. As for the Behringer, I'd have to have advice for picking out a head for it. Any thoughts?
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mattp
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Jun 11, 2006 9:57 pm
Posts: 2437
PostPosted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 1:09 pm 
 

overkill666 wrote:
Any thoughts?


Definitely do NOT waste your money on the Behringer.
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overkill666
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2007 12:43 pm
Posts: 1358
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
PostPosted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 1:59 pm 
 

mattp wrote:
overkill666 wrote:
Any thoughts?


Definitely do NOT waste your money on the Behringer.


Thanks. I'd rather not waste my money hehe. How's the GK look?
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