👹The Thrash Bass Kit Buyer's Guide: Finding the Perfect Gear for Your Metal Sound🤯
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can you make a guide for stoner/Doom Metal next?
I came from the thrash school. I saw all 4 of the Big 4 (Overkill should probably get an honorary mention along with Testament and Exodus) back in the day, as well as Slayer on their final tour. I never used a pick, but I definitely scooped my mids, and I still do. And I had active EMGs stuffed in my P bass. And I used Hartke cabs. You called it! It was hard to learn bass lines back then because they were so buried in the mix. You could double the guitars, but players like Cliff Burton were doing some really cool stuff, and it's a shame you can't hear him very well. Tom Araya was cool because he showed this economy of playing, especially with the fast stuff. Great video man. I'm looking forward to seeing more!
What's interesting about Araya was how he started with fingers and evolved to use a pick.
I noticed singing is easier when using a pick. Possibly why he switched?@@SanitysVoid
Years of Decay is such a great record. The guitar tone is sick. Unfortunately it's overlooked.
Hell Awaits definitely has the most audible bass tone of the early Slayer records.
Would love to see one of these for Psychedelic Rock, Prog (either Progressive Rock or Progressive Metal), Southern Rock (kinda like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Bros., etc.), Stoner Rock (Kyuss, Sleep), Traditional Metal (Maiden, Priest, Sabbath, etc.) or even Funk/R&B. Great vid as always, Alfie, cheers and happy holidays from Canda
Happy Holidays Andrew! If I don't speak to you Happy New Year too! Dude, Psychedelic starter pack would be wild! I like it that dude, good call!
@@WhichBass Yeah, I thought it could be interesting and you can talk about early Pink Floyd or Sgt. Pepper’s-era Beatles for psychedelic influences. And thanks, happy holidays to you as well man and happy new year as well
Love this series already. Would be great to see a death metal one in future 🤔
Thanks JOB! Great suggestion! I will see what I can do 🤘
@@WhichBass 🤘🤘
This is the very best description of what equipment you need and what the equipment actually does in order to get a Metal sound I've ever seen. Incredibly well done. Hell, it took me two years and $200 to learn the difference in Fuzz and Distortion (and that distortion effectively turns off the low-end) and you just explain it inside like three minutes. Great stuff.
Thanks Vince, I appreciate it. I'm glad you found it useful and accurate. I'm sorry it took you a few years and some cash to get there but I bet the journey was fun!
@@WhichBass Time of my life.
Thank you for keeping at this. Love your work.
Need to do a rundown on D.D. Verni's rig! He had an epic thrash bass sound.
Co signed
Dude...I think you hit it on the head. The gear I started out with almost 30 years ago was my BC Rich Virgin bass which I put EMGs in, and I switched between fingerstyle and picking...and I used a yellow Tortex. I added a Tube Screamer for that grindy edge, but at the time I ran through a Peavey Mark IV bass head into a Peavey 215 cab. Cut right through 2 guitars and heavy drums!
Cracking coverage of this topic, with excellent attention to detail. Thanks very much for this, mate!
Glad you enjoyed it Eric! I hope it was helpful.
@@WhichBass Informative and entertaining as always :D
Great, instructive, helpful 👍 Excellent job!
I wonder if Burton would have made the jump to different Active basses if he still have been alive
Good question, would Cliff Burton stayed with Aria basses or moved to ESP Basses?
I'm sure he had probably either a foot pedal preamp or modified his guitars to have active preamp that's what I did I put emgs in my 1973 Fender Jazz in the 1980s it was like night and day
Would be using 6 string i think
@Patrick G Interesting, I picture Cliff maybe using a 5 string bass
Awesome video Alfie!!! AND THRASH TILL DEAAAAAATTHHHH!!!! 🤘🤘🤘
Great video man, I wish I had something like that when I first picked my bass up.
I wasn't playing "classic" thrash, I was in a more modern death/black metal band with influences from all over the place. I played around with a lot of different pedals including a gigantic multi-fx abomination. What ended up working out really well for me was an Electroharmonix Deluxe Big Muff. That little big pedal is an absolute monster, and having the hi/low pass options allowed for an almost infinite tonal range with minimum effort. Add that growly BM drive with a discrete blend and you can mold your bass around just about any guitar tone you're having to work with. That pedal is a true one stop shop for metal bass and I'd highly recommend it to anyone playing any type of metal. That's for newbies and pros alike.
I'd also recommend using modular speaker cabs, as you can easily fit your sound to the venue you're playing. I had a 1x15, 2x10 and 2x12, and like that Big Muff, it allowed me to easily mold my sound whether it was recording, practice, or gigging from house shows to dive bars to mid-size clubs and everything in between with ease.
You're right I eventually got a solid state Ampeg 1500 watt then I was playing through the 810 cabinet in my second band the thing I really like about that if they tried to turn me down on the PA there was a override volume on the back
It's like you went back in time and wrote down everything I had in my bedroom in the mid 80s. 😂
Lmao blast from the past huh?! That's really good to know I was close then! Thanks Scott!
Any discussion about Thrash Metal bassists and not mentioning the band OVERKILL or their founding member and bassist DD Verni is purely disrespectful to the genre and the man!
Spot on with the EMGs! I've found that they can help us to cover any genre of music we want, when dialed in and balanced with the amps.
There's a reason they are the best!
@@WhichBass My beloved modded Squier Jazz concurs!
Good video, explains much 👍
You killed it, per usual!
Thank you Jason! I appreciate that, I hope you enjoyed it!
For metal musicians, recording an audible, musical bass tone that sits well in a mix between the guitar and kick drum at fast tempos can be a difficult challenge.
This video is full of great, concise information to help solve that problem. *From the bottom of my heart, thank you for this video.*
As a metal guitarist for 28 years who also dabbles in bass when recording, I know a lot about the bass but do not play it enough to get into great detail regarding best practices for complex topics like bi-amping, EQ'ing, pickup configurations, dynamic EQs, multiband compression, etc.
So again, this video has been very helpful for us guitarists who also play bass, or, as I like to think of us, amateur bassists.
As a fan of the thrash genre since the mid 80s, I would disagree on a few minor points:
1) *EMG active pickups did not seem to come into vogue for thrash metal guitars and basses until around 1988 and Metallica's "And Justice for All" album.* Metallica's endorsement alone arguably made EMG pickups and Mesa Boogie amplifiers into the powerhouses they are in all genres of metal today. By the early 90s, EMG and Mesa Boogie were everywhere in metal and hard rock circles.
Seymour Duncan's Blackout line of active pickups tends to sound fuller than 9 volt EMGs, but this can be fixed with the 24 Volt Mod for EMG pickups, which makes EMG's classic designs once again competitive with newer pickup models. In my experience, the 24 Volt Mod does this by fattening the sound, improving dynamics, and speeding up transients without losing articulation.
*Prior to 1988 or so, thrash metal bands used a variety of passive pickup designs, often paired with boosted Marshall JCM800 amps.* DiMarzio seemed popular in the late 70s/early 80s. Their bass pickups seem to have a somewhat harsh, overwound, low mid forward, clacky quality to my ear. As the 80s progressed, DiMarzio seemed to decline in popularity except for virtuoso artists like Paul Gilbert, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani. To this day, DiMarzio seems to offer less variety in their bass pickup line than other manufacturers in their lack of soapbar and extended range oriented pickups.
Seymour Duncan had their passive Basslines series, mainly the SPB3/SJB3 Quarter Pound pickups. I find these to be extremely dark and mid scooped pickups better used for bass heavy styles like hip hop and funk than metal. While overwound pickups have more output, they also tend to sound darker unless used with ceramic magnets, and this darkness can give them a lot of low end that has to be rolled off in post.
2) *A good reason to use BC Rich basses over other manufacturers for thrash is they have retained the somewhat rare dual P bass with its traditional staggering.* Dual P basses seem to be a niche thing for bassists, but I like them for situations when a PJ lacks thickness and soapbars are too thick. I do not like reverse stagger P shapes like those offered by Charvel, ESP, and others because I think this introduces low mid frequencies that are problematic for metal.
3) *In metal there seems to be a struggle between a vintage mid forward (Marshall) and modern mid scooped (Mesa Boogie) sound. We can further separate these into vintage/warm/clean bass and modern/bright/distorted "clank" bass.* Both styles are equally valid. Choice of gear will depend upon how your style of metal treats the midrange. A word of caution: scooping mids causes things to disappear in the mix, and boosting mids tends to muddy a mix in my experience.
4) *I do not think metal bass requires active or high output passive pickups. This is because lower output passive pickups retain clarity/warmth and can be boosted by the amp/EQ'ed in post. Active pickups can often sound like a sampled bass.* I currently use 62 Fender Original reissue P/J pickups with vintage specs. I find the Fenders to be very clear and even and use them as a reference tone for other pickups. EMG HZ pickups are also sleeper pickups in that they sound like the active versions but are quieter and slightly warmer. The HZs offer more value in 4 conductor plus ground guitar versions that can use diverse wiring options while split/parallel active EMGs often require special models or accessories.
To my ear, the best of both worlds between active and passive bass pickups might be Bartolini pickups, which are some of the brightest and most articulate passive bass pickups I have ever heard. That said, like DiMarzios, Bartolinis are an acquired taste.
5) *The section about the variety of sounds of soapbar pickups is spot on.* Soapbar pickups seem to be where the industry as a whole is going, especially for 5+ string models. Coil geometry can vary widely within that soapbar housing, so there will be a lot of variety in sounds. Generally, I prefer a genuine P or J shape vs. an emulated coil shape in a soapbar housing. In my experience soapbars due to their smaller size are also not a substitute for large Stingray style bass pickups.
Soapbars really seem to shine with manufacturers like Bartolini who have a variety of wiring options from one pickup. However, it seems experimenting with coils is more of a guitarist thing than with modern bassists. Bassists from the 60s and 70s seemed more interested in out of phase/series/split/parallel sounds from pickups.
6) *Newer optical pickup designs from companies like Willcox Guitars with their Lightwave system may be a great option for technical death metal bass and other styles where the bass is more virtuosic and up front.* With Lightwave there is no magnetic pickup drag on the string and a built in piezo bridge pickup brings out pick articulation. This makes the Lightwave bass ideal for fretless/flatwound string metal that depends upon clarity, sustain, and legato playing. Willcox also makes an excellent optical acoustic system that is very clean and avoids much of the bad tone produced by amplified acoustic guitars.
7) *When in doubt, you can't go wrong with a Sansamp as a DI.* A lot of newer gear has come along since the Sansamp, but I find I love the sound of their products, especially when a warm, clean, yet articulate bass sound is required.
8) *Ultimately the problem in metal generally is how to precisely dial in the midrange. This is an art and a science. Extreme scooping or pushing the mids both cause problems.* Further, something that sounds great alone may sound terrible in a mix and vice versa. *Often isolated 80s thrash metal bass tones sound terrible, but they served to glue together the mix.* The should be kept in mind when dialing in your tones.
Sorry for the length but I hope this helped. *Thank you again for the great content.*
Can't wait! Cheers from France!
Thanks Peter! Looking forward to you watching it on Friday!
First decent bass I had back in the day, (..and I am 'of the era'), was a metallic blue Charvel 3B through a Marshall Dynamic Bass System head and a 2x15" cab that looked like a 4x12...did me proud for a good few years, and a definite step up from my Marlin Sidewinder/Laney Linebacker 30 setup ☺️
Oooff those Charvels look awesome. Sounds like a killer setup!
Excellent video Alphie 👍
Thank you Modulus! Glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve got myself a Rat and a Tech 21 driver pedal, I may be getting a new spector Euro 4lx soon. Maybe I’ll have fun with this idea
Don't be afraid to use a passive single coil bass in thrash. My shout is to dump a set of SJB-3 into it and play through something clean like Hartke, Eden or Gallien Krueger. You'll find that with the tone wide open, the midrange grind actually works really, really well in this context and should be investigated further.
Back at that time, Had a charvel 2b /aria pro Z and ada mb1/ soundcraftsmen amp, peavy cabs, did me proud in those days. I wanted the ampeg setup but coudnt afford it at that time.
Nice Video again. Would Love to See one With nu Metal because it IS one of my Favorite Genres and IT would be cool to know what the Bass Players used there
Ibanez 5string, tech 21,black muff, cb bass wah, and ampeg amp..
You are the official Bass Historian in my book.
Justin you flatter me dude, thank you so much ♥
Great job Alfie! I'd say though that while active basses have more of a pushed sound and generally more Rockin" (If that's a term) Passive basses are great too because they offer more dynamic range for slower stuff, as well as a more flat sound. Which can help you shape your tone easier with less knobs.
Thanks Beese! That's a good point. As I'm sure you know, all basses active or passive are tools to be used for the right song.
I absolutely LOVED the Dean Markley SS Helix strings.... So of course they went bye-bye... There are some I guess still out there on the internut...
EMGs.... OMG! I remember EVERYBODY saying "Put EMGs in that bass!" or "I am getting some EMGs for it.".
- Overdrive - Spot on and the Tech 21... Very good choice! Very versatile IMO And the compressor - AMEN!
I hope the Blue Steel strings' construction has improved over time. I tried them way back when, had a negative experience with them, and returned to the best and most versatile strings ever, those being Rotosound RS66LE long scale, heaviest gauge available.
I too am a fan of the RS66's, they work really well.
I dig the blue steels. They seem to stay decently bright longer than rotos and are also a little smoother feeling. I like the Rotosounds too though. The beautiful thing about music is that anybody can have their own approach and make it work for them
For strings I like DR. Tech21 is a good preamp for overdrive. I like to keep my mids tho. Nothing wrong with passive electronics also. They can do it.
the old sansamp bass driver had a little mid scoop unless you cut back treb and bass
@@aidenn0de0evil01 Yeah i think they make one with a midsweep. If i were in a band I'd get something like a 12 band eq to pair with it and tweak the sound to suit the band. Scooping mids can sound good in some scenarios but if the guitars do it as well, you can vanish in the mix.
Rickenbacker does thrash really well, I’ve achieved the thrash bass tone with a stock 4003
This I need to hear! Good call.
Try Grindcore bass kit, next time! Cheers! 🤘
Dingwall->rat variant->orange ad200->Barefaced 6×10 is my rig for all things heavy
an episode of Death Metal whould be interesting
also know your bass player about Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) and Tom Angleripper (Sodom)
Good call Freddy! Alex is one of the most requested players on the channel I would love to cover him soon.
Hey, u should make a video like this but for Nu metal! I think that its one of the metal genres with most intresting bass sound
Agreed with overdrive in preference to distortion for bass.
It's the only way to do it IMO!
@@WhichBass We know that Cliff rolled that way, and that's good enough for me. It bears out very well in my bass rig, as we've touched on before :)
On the distortion note.. an electro harmonix switchblade you can use any distortion guitar or not to blend in a clean tone to maintain the low end clarity while having the distortion blazing
A/B Switchers are a great call! Could be tricky for beginners but I like it!
@Which Bass this one is special because you can blend in clean tone with them.
Dave ellefson is thrash bass to me. Cliff was more musically inclined to be straight thrash to me. I didnt become a gear snob until a few years ago so i got a neck thru jackson bass that is a 80s style so its perfect lol. I do not like active electronics anymore just becuase batteries suck and your amp has a eq so your bass doesnt need one. I like vintage style gear and you can do anything on anything if you have a brain. I never use a pick and sound like steve harris if i want to. Ive always had a 4x10 or1x15 or both with my solid state or hybrid head. After a couple years of giging i went to two 2x10 cabs. I might get a 1x15 orange cab if i get the money for one but the 2x10 i have sound big as a 4x10. I havent gotten to gig in a while but i will most likely have a fender 50s p or 60s j, microtubes ultra preamp/di, my bugera 2x10 cabs, and my fender bassman 500 head if i dont buy a orange terror bass head
Hey good buddy, I'd love to see you cover Mike Inez and the Grunge era gear.
Hey Ian, thanks for the suggestions! I'll see what I can do 😎
Could you clarify why one should shy away from signature string sets?
Should a compressor be placed before or after the overdrive?
For thrash I use passive pickups 5str Ibanez with sh*t ton of distortion (cranked Darkglass ADAM or MammothVST). Am I sick? :D
Sick?! No no no, unusual, perhaps 😁. No, really, remember this is a starter kit. Sounds like you nailed your sound. Well done!
Ay...you should do a know your bass player video on Sir Robert Deleo. With special attention to his early 2000's rig.
Great suggestion thanks Dustin!
MERRY CHRISTMAS ALFIE
Merry Christmas Mark! Great to see you in the comments as always.
J bass, EMG pickups, Ampeg SVT, distorsion
You should do a nu metal bass starter kit
That's fine well and good. But I've found that running my stingray through a digitech death metal into the GK backline 600 with 4 x 10 cab has a lot of tonal similarities to cliffs rig. But there's literally it wrong answer
I'm glad you have something that works for you! Sounds like you have moved away from the beginner zone!
why do you need all these guitars in the same frequensy , make your own sound , splitt the signal high and low , distort the high and have the low clean, so what kind of splitting pedals should you use ?
Out of all thrash bands, the ones that had the best bass that comes to mind are Exodus, Overkill and Sodom. Now, Sodom...had the most aggressive sounding bass of all thrash bands.
Good call!
I’m proud to own a Yamaha BB!
Nice! They are great basses.
The best kept secret in bass. I love mine.
Do sludge bass or groove bass starter kit.
Great suggestion thanks Conrad.
Can't go wrong with an MXR Bass Compressor!
Good call!
@@WhichBass Some players prefer the Dyna Comp. I use that for guitar.
What are scooped mids?
So on a stereo, car stereo or amplifier you have what is called an equalizer, which means you can add or subtract specific aspects of what you hear. On many stereos you will have 3-band: bass, midrange, and treble. You can boost or subtract. This feature is also common on basses with active electronics.
Some stereos like the elaborate Technics stereo, and some amps, they have as many as 12 bands that allow you to adjust with even greater precision.
A "scoop" is when you make the 12-band look like a valley, with the bass and treble emphasized, and the mids brought down. It is a popular sound for slap bass and metal guitar also, and some metal bassists do it. This creates a darker and menacing tone but the downside is it can get lost in the mix.
Can I ask why you say to stay away from signature string sets?
Because they are more tailored towards the sounds of specific players as well as sometimes weird gauges.
@@Farewelltokingz True, but that doesn't nessessarily sound like a bad thing per se.
need a death metal one
Do a doom metal one pls
Great suggestion thanks Tyler!
🤘🍻🤘
Why thrash when you can have your cake and eat it too with crossover Punk and thrash 😎🤟 Sodom, Whiplash good old school thrash and also thanks for the tips 🎸👍
EXCITER never seems to get any recognition.
🤘🤘
Haha love it Sontv!
What are the Big 4 in English Heavy Metal?
That list has to include Iron Maiden and Judas Priest 🤘
Motörhead, Judas Priest, Maiden, and Diamond head if we are talking about NWOBHM
How ya Alfie, with you guys in a minute.
Hey Brian! Good to see you in the comments. Merry Christmas to you and yours and all the best for the new year!
@@WhichBass Cheers fella, and the very best regards to you and yours for Christmas and the holidays. See you over next year.
Spector or a Jazz bass
Which genres are you considering next for this series?
12:26 using a precision, yeah, you're wrong.
I can only afford a Fender Rumble 40🎸
Why are there no mention of the German thrash band?
Maybe I'll make a German Thrash Bass Starter Kit. Would that work?! 😛
@@WhichBass well of course that would work, I would love to see that 😁
Pardon my horrible spelling.
Still waiting for that video on German Thrash.🤘
I'm only going to disagree with your opinion on the Rickenbacker. Not only did Cliff have one but Lemmy used Rickenbacker almost exclusively.
Al Cisneros
Great suggestion thanks RnR!
Armored Saint lmao
Damn... No mention of the kings of crossover. D.R.I. smh....
Aahh sounds like you're way out of the beginner zone in that case!
Uh... Exodus is very pronounced soundwise, i have never had any difficulties to hear the bass.
Perhaps you have better speakers than I then 🤣
Maybe actually put together and play the rigs your conceptualizing in this new series. C'mon, you know you can do it.
Oh sure I could do it ... Can't afford it though 😎
Not mentioning D.D. Verni of OVERKILL shows your lack of knowledge
Absolutely spot on with this video. I have often said Thrash and heavy music do not need a bass player just more low end on the guitars. The frequency space is so controlled by the guitars, it's no wonder there are very few proficient bass players in that genre. Thrash is where beginning bass players start their journey, but seldom stay.
Good call Juarez. While I agree with the sentiment, it would be a pretty sad state of affairs if you have some dude with a 7 string guitar "playing the bass parts". Gross! They still need a bassist and Thrash players should do better!
And Justice For All shouldn’t count as thrash lol.
How come?
Many UNFACTUAL words by this author in this video.. Just sayin.
Back in that era, TUBES were not that expensive. I Lived, gigged and toured that era. Rock, Metal and pop gigs..I still do the same thing years later. This video is more FEELINGS and internet folk lore that it is factual or real world. Poor research this time. Just telling ya..So Much MISINFORMATION in this video too
Billy Sheehan does NOT just hold down the low end as in RnB and he has a .110 on his "E" string. Lets not forget Steve Harris of Iron Maiden uses FLATWOUNDS
Kirk, take a deep breath. Ok good! Say it with me ... It's a starter kit 🤣
Avoid pointy basses they look cool if ur 15 .
Hot take!
Where’s DD? Obviously the best of thrash players
Good call! Will see what I can do.