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Metal bass players thread


Iron1

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7 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

Like Hayseed Dixie ?

Possibly - a joking reference to the blues brothers movie

 

i saw hayseed Dixie on their first uk tour and mid-gig they paid tribute to their (local, Nottingham) promoter as the “only guy with the cojones to take a risk on them as an unknown quantity” which I thought very humble, and very grateful of them 

Edited by Geek99
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21 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

We've got a slightly unusual sound...

20210608_123645.jpg

 

Slightly unusual is awesome. I've been in metal bands since the 80s and it seems these days 90% of the new stuff all sounds the same. Unusual is original. 

And, tell me more about the other two in this pic. Can't tell if that's a Gibson or an Epi, but it look gorgeous. And, is the other one an SR of some sort? 

21 hours ago, Doctor J said:

I've been playing metal for a long time, among other things. Current favourites are this Blade B4 and Hamer Chaparral. The amp, since the early 2000's, has been an ABM with a compact 2x10 and 1x15.

763A723A-7BF5-448B-BDF9-7A2D23ED1907.thumb.jpeg.0bf6137945044c8630dad3c0a4f6f0a3.jpeg

Gorgeous Hamer! 

15 hours ago, MHMSWC#03 said:

I play nothing but metal.

I bought the JS2 Spectra last summer but really, have no gear to speak of. I have a little practise amp and a second hand Boss tuning pedal. I do have a virtually soundproof room for practising in though.

 

js2.jpg

 

How do you like the Jackson? I almost bought one before getting my Yamaha, but the store clerk was a tool, so I went elsewhere and landed the TRBX instead. 

Speaking of, after some great recommendations on here, I put some Entwistle Neo pups in it and they sound massive. Still tone fiddling a bit, but here's where I am right now with it: 

 

 

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I used to be part of a very poppy female-fronted metal band, but we haven't done anything in almost 5 years. When our lead singer had her 4th child, her family life became so demanding she unfortunately had very little time left for our band. She has 5 now, and it's become a fulltime job! And then our lead guitarist left to pursue an academic career in chemistry at Oxford University for 3 years. He now lives in Barcelona and has little desire to come back to the Netherlands unless he can find a good position at a university as a teacher or (assistant) professor. It was fun while it lasted though, and we're still good friends!

The 3 remaining members (the other guitarist, the drummer and me) are now more or less permanent substitutes in a doom metal project of our drummer's brother. It's a one-man project, but when he plays live we're the first guys he calls :)

Here's my old band playing live on Dutch national radio a few years ago (2013, just after releasing our first and only album, between 1:00 and 4:00 nighttime so probably for 5 listeners at best :lol:). I play my lefty Warwick Streamer LX5, which has been my main axe for most of my time in that band. I play it through an Ampeg SVP-PRO 19" tube preamp, straight into the mixer. Live, this was usually my setup too. No effects, and if there was an amp on stage I would only use it for personal monitoring. That Ampeg preamp was one of my best bass-related purchases ever, I love it! It's basically the preamp section of the SVT-2 Pro in a 1HE package, with a great built-in DI. In this video I use a pick, but I mostly play fingerstyle. The backing vocals and keys come from our live backing track, we never played live with a real keyboardist. 

 

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My old metal band from a few years ago with a song wot I wrote.

During the studio sesh, I foolishly left the bass solo until last meaning my fingers were shot, so it's not exactly how I played it live. I never had a problem getting 'attack' being a finger player.

Basses, always one of my Shukers. Live, depended on the gig, but usually a tuner > distortion > BDI21 > PA.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Iron1 said:

 

And, tell me more about the other two in this pic. Can't tell if that's a Gibson or an Epi, but it look gorgeous. And, is the other one an SR of some sort? 

The Thunderbird is an Epiphone Vintage Pro. I really like this bass, it's got a huge tone and it's beautifully finished for a £600 far eastern bass. I actually went to PMT to buy a Gibson but they let me try the Epi and I preferred it. 

The other one is an Ibanez SR300 EB. I don't really play it much these days. I love the neck on it and it plays really nice but lacks punch. I did put it up for sale but couldn't even get £150 for it so it just hangs there now. I might give it to my daughter, she's getting better than me now.

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15 hours ago, Chaosanator said:

I'd recommend Flight of Icarus or Stranger in a Strange Land as good places to start with Maiden gallops. Those songs are a little slower so they may help build up speed. The more popular songs like Run to the Hills and the Trooper are a bit faster...

Ha I've been learning The Trooper for MONTHS. Run to the Hills is another one I keep coming back to - fooled by how easy the tab seemed... Not as clever as I look, am I?!

I can play Wasted Years though.

1 hour ago, Iron1 said:

How do you like the Jackson? I almost bought one before getting my Yamaha, but the store clerk was a tool, so I went elsewhere and landed the TRBX instead. 

 

 

Other than the KCC, I have nothing to compare it to. But the Jackson is lighter and the neck is more slender, which were two boxes I really needed to tick. The KCC is clunky in comparison and not as smooth in feel or tone. 24 frets also a plus for egotistical rockstar aspirations.

 

 

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20 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

The Thunderbird is an Epiphone Vintage Pro. I really like this bass, it's got a huge tone and it's beautifully finished for a £600 far eastern bass. I actually went to PMT to buy a Gibson but they let me try the Epi and I preferred it. 

The other one is an Ibanez SR300 EB. I don't really play it much these days. I love the neck on it and it plays really nice but lacks punch. I did put it up for sale but couldn't even get £150 for it so it just hangs there now. I might give it to my daughter, she's getting better than me now.

I definitely have a weakness for T-Birds. Some day I'll get one. Glad you love yours. Not sure how true this is, but I've always heard the only difference in a lot of Epi/Gibs is the hardware. So, with QC all over the map these days, it's easy to believe you found an Episode that's better than the Gibson equivalent. 

19 hours ago, MHMSWC#03 said:

 

Other than the KCC, I have nothing to compare it to. But the Jackson is lighter and the neck is more slender, which were two boxes I really needed to tick. The KCC is clunky in comparison and not as smooth in feel or tone. 24 frets also a plus for egotistical rockstar aspirations.

 

 

The lightness and neck feel were definitely appealing with the Spectra I checked out. I played 5 or 6 basses that day from different brands and lines and it played the best. Glad you like yours! 

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1 hour ago, Iron1 said:

I definitely have a weakness for T-Birds. Some day I'll get one. Glad you love yours. Not sure how true this is, but I've always heard the only difference in a lot of Epi/Gibs is the hardware. So, with QC all over the map these days, it's easy to believe you found an Episode that's better than the Gibson equivalent. 

The Epiphone has a 7 piece neck instead of Gibsons 9 piece. I have no idea what difference that makes. The body is the same and the pickups and hardware are different but Epiphone use decent quality hardware. 

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I had an Epiphone T Bird as I couldn't justify paying for a Gibson. I was very underwhelmed by it and found it under powered and nothing special sounding. I sold it off pretty quickly. I have since heard that the Epiphone Vintage Pro is a much nicer prospect. Is this true? I don't want to go buying another and find it sounds disappointing too. I would love a genuine Gibson but the money being asked is stupid if you ask me.

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On 20/06/2021 at 19:49, MHMSWC#03 said:

I play nothing but metal. Mostly Maiden and Megadeth, which I use a pick for but lately I’ve been getting hung up on my wrist position and picking technique to the point of overthinking it and probably making it worse. Sometimes I have a crack at whatever metal track tab gets suggested on YT. Kreator tabs seem very hard to come by online, I find.

I warm up to 80’s (guilty pleasure) rock like Whitesnake, Def Leppard etc which I play using finger picking. Am currently trying to develop my finger picking to three fingers so I can switch with the Maiden tunes but it’s going to take some time and practice to build up the finger strength (all things I am often short on). With the pick I've got the attack but with the fingers I've got the speed so it's a work in progress ...

I bought the JS2 Spectra last summer but really, have no gear to speak of. I have a little practise amp and a second hand Boss tuning pedal. I do have a virtually soundproof room for practising in though.

The background photo on my profile of the Jackson is a picture I took myself at a David Ellefson gig in London a couple of years ago. I went out for a drink with him afterwards.

 

I would never thought that Kreator was known in the UK.  Kreator reminds me my teenage years.

As for the picking technique, I am the other way. I can't pick fast with a pick on a bass. I tried some fast Megadeath lines to get the sound but my picking is very inconsistent. 

Also shame, David was booted out Dave. I think they may struggle to replace him.

 

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I've played metal (among other things) on and off for nearly 30 years, everything from hard rock to pretty brutal death metal. Heading closer to djent type stuff more recently but most time spent on what somebody else described as "melancholy metal" - Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema, Katatonia type stuff. My previous band released a pretty decent album 11 or so years ago with ex-paradise lost drummer Lee Morris and Jens Bogren producing (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Mhb2Peo_VtXjbkDJX1M9w).

Things looked to be going pretty well, decent reviews, etc. Then the singer disappeared up his own derrière with ridiculous self promotion antics and everything stopped dead at that point... 

Gear wise I've played pretty much everything going over the last 20 odd years but my signature shows pretty much where I'm at now - Vigier leading the pack at the minute. Ridiculously good bass. Still love my ACGs to death, and really I'm a dyed-in-the-wool P-bass guy and have too many basses, but it's a nice problem to have...

Rig-wise, after being an Ashdown fan for the longest time, I moved on to an Orange Terror which is probably my fav head of all time, but with no gigging band for the last few years my rig is kind of up in the air. Lots of nice gear knocking around. I'd love an oldschool Trace Elliot SMX rig after playing through one in a rehearsal room last year. Maybe a cull is required to enable that to happen...

Edited by Bigwan
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10 hours ago, Bolo said:

I replaced my old EB stingray5 with a custom built flying V model my guitarist made for me http://cellarguitars.com/index.php/celcellar-v

image.thumb.png.7bf9bb4762a39446a7ea643f5cdc56f6.png

Wow, that's gorgeous!

26 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

I've played metal (among other things) on and off for nearly 30 years, everything from hard rock to pretty brutal death metal. Heading closer to djent type stuff more recently but most time spent on what somebody else described as "melancholy metal" - Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema, Katatonia type stuff. My previous band released a pretty decent album 11 or so years ago with ex-paradise lost drummer Lee Morris and Jens Bogren producing (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Mhb2Peo_VtXjbkDJX1M9w).

Things looked to be going pretty well, decent reviews, etc. Then the singer disappeared up his own derrière with ridiculous self promotion antics and everything stopped dead at that point... 

Gear wise I've played pretty much everything going over the last 20 odd years but my signature shows pretty much where I'm at now - Vigier leading the pack at the minute. Ridiculously good bass. Still love my ACGs to death, and really I'm a dyed-in-the-wool P-bass guy and have too many basses, but it's a nice problem to have...

Rig-wise, after being an Ashdown fan for the longest time, I moved on to an Orange Terror which is probably my fav head of all time, but with no gigging band for the last few years my rig is kind of up in the air. Lots of nice gear knocking around. I'd love an oldschool Trace Elliot SMX rig after playing through one in a rehearsal room last year. Maybe a cull is required to enable that to happen...

Checked out the tracks - great bass tone. The few I listened to were a little sleepy for me, but overall very cool stuff. Bummer it was yet another promising band killed by ego. I'm sort of in the same place but further down the road. Did albums and tours and what not back in the 90s, and now I just do the one man band thing with lots of cull/gear churn to rekindle novelty. 

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Metal or Hard Rock - you decide....

My band Soldato released these 3 songs last year.  I trialled a load of different gear and I've found and settled on Spector basses to work best for me.

Signal Chain on these is a Spector Euro > Tech 21 DP-3X > GK Fusion 800 > BF BB2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG_20200902_170411.jpg.0b2e9ee10a1c4b0753f286d398269b75.jpg

Edited by bagsieblue
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2 hours ago, bagsieblue said:

Metal or Hard Rock - you decide....

My band Soldato released these 3 songs last year.  I trialled a load of different gear and I've found and settled on Spector basses to work best for me.

Signal Chain on these is a Spector Euro > Tech 21 DP-3X > GK Fusion 800 > BF BB2.

I was looking at Spector (Euro and forte) recently, had wanted ads up for Dingwalls, Spectors and Vigier (had previously had a Dingwall D-roc 5 standard on order from Bassdirect, but car issues forced cancellation of that - then some funds magically became available!), but the Vigier came up first and I have to say I'm really impressed it. I'll own a Spector some day though!

Can't fault your rig - BIG fan of the dUg!

Edited by Bigwan
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4 hours ago, Iron1 said:

Checked out the tracks - great bass tone. 

That was an education! Really talented guy called Dave Castillo recorded the bass at Ghost Ward studios in Stockholm. 4 tracks. My US P bass, to 2 tracks, first was a straight DI and second was through a sansamp BDDI plugin with Dave's default settings in protools, then the clean DI was reamped through a rat into a traynor head and 8x8 cab with 2 different mics for the remaining 2 tracks.

I don't think he'd ever recorded a straight P bass before - "Everybody turns up with Warwicks and pointy ESPs" - he was like a kid in a sweet shop! Sat so well with the guitars and drums with very little work. 

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8 hours ago, SH73 said:

I would never thought that Kreator was known in the UK.  Kreator reminds me my teenage years.

As for the picking technique, I am the other way. I can't pick fast with a pick on a bass. I tried some fast Megadeath lines to get the sound but my picking is very inconsistent. 

Also shame, David was booted out Dave. I think they may struggle to replace him.

 

No way! Kreator have toured the UK loads, have seen them quite a few times here.

My Megadeth picking is probably inconsistent too, I'm in it for the love not the talent 🤣 What Megadeth songs do you play?

There is an Ellefson thread in Off Topic if you would like to join us in our mocking. Sorry, what I meant was solidarity for our fallen brother in metal.

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8 minutes ago, SH73 said:

No, originally  from Europe, but living in the UK majority of my life so didn't think bands like Kreator,  Halloween, Running Wild would be popular in UK.

Scorpions did.

 

Kreator were supposed to be headlining the Bloodstock festival this August (UK). Can't see that going ahead though.

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9 minutes ago, SH73 said:

so didn't think bands like Kreator,  Halloween, Running Wild would be popular in UK.

It doesn't matter what obscure band you think of. If you turn up to one of their gigs there is usually a large crowd.

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41 minutes ago, SH73 said:

No, originally  from Europe, but living in the UK majority of my life so didn't think bands like Kreator,  Halloween, Running Wild would be popular in UK.

Scorpions did.

 

Helloween opened Donnington in 1988 😈

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