Growly Bass

[awjoe]

I want a more growly bass sound than I can get from my instrument and amp when I record. Can you suggest a pedal that growls?

[resistorman]

Do you mean hungry stomach growl or ravening beast growl

[wdsteele]

MXR have a Bass Octave pedal with that very control , the Tech 21 Sansamp range can also give a few interesting options.

If a more processed sound is acceptable then some of the new synth pedals from Source Audio , Boss and Keeley might assist.

I use an Eventide H9 occasionally , one of the synth presets dialled back If I remember correctly.

[awjoe]

Do you mean hungry stomach growl or ravening beast growl

Bass growl isn't lions and tigers or tummies. It's more delicious.

[awjoe]

MXR have a Bass Octave pedal with that very control , the Tech 21 Sansamp range can also give a few interesting options.

If a more processed sound is acceptable then some of the new synth pedals from Source Audio , Boss and Keeley might assist.

I use an Eventide H9 occasionally , one of the synth presets dialled back If I remember correctly.

Lots and lots of kit to consider. I'm new to all this. I think I'll go down to my local purveyor with the same question I've put here and try some stuff out. I'll start with your MXR suggestion and explore from there. Thanks.

[Mangrove]

I feel you on the thirst for growlers. The best luck I've had is with a Mesa Subway DI into Neve-ish pres (aggro comps won't hurt, either). Pushing and adjusting the respective levels then becomes the game, which in itself is fun as all get-out if you're inclined. It's a give and take to be sure. However, I'm nowhere close to the end-all on the subject. Maybe this will help: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-many ... owl-4.html

[Sam Spoons]

Growly bass makes me think of fretless, can't describe it in words but a bit like the growl builds after the onset of the note then fades away leaving the pure tone for the decay phase. Lovely (and very cool)

[The Bunk]

Not sure if this is the way you'd want to go about it (you mention "recording" as opposed to playing live) but the Izotope Alloy 2 plug-in has a bass setting called "Growling Bass". And it growls.

[jaminem]

Best way to get a growly bass, is to use something with beefy mids...like a Warwick....
Ive had good success with the Tech 21q VT Bass as well..

[N i g e l]

Growly bass makes me think of Jean-Jacques Burnel in the Stranglers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Burnel

I use the Si-Bass guitar plugin [free with cakewalk] which growls emulating a p-bass with bass& treble boosted, mid cut & some drive and compression.
Wikipedia suggests distortion and ripped speakers but I prefer a cleaner growl.

uTube is quite good for "How do I get an xxxxxx sound" tutorials.

[The Bunk]

There's a great bit in Mark Radcliffe's "Showbusiness" book when he's talking about how a bass player should sound; not, he thinks, like Mark King whose playing "sounds like a lorry load of wet fish being dumped backstage" but should be more like "a working concrete mixer full of bricks". I don't think Alloy 2 has such a setting.

[Martin Walker]

...and there was I naively thinking about bass wah pedals (what do I know about growling anyway )

Anyway, here's an example with some background info:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gXzxKIyy4Y

Martin

[SecretSam]

Best way to get a growly bass, is to use something with beefy mids...like a Warwick....
Ive had good success with the Tech 21q VT Bass as well..

+1 for the legendary Warwick growl. If you have 1500 to 2000 pounds to spend. (Avoid the el cheapo Rockbass series.)

Rather more economic is the old Boss OC2 octave pedal.

Better still, both.

[ore_terra]

My band’s bassist just got an EHX batallion. Growls quite good and comes with a very useful blend knob

[awjoe]

I feel you on the thirst for growlers. The best luck I've had is with a Mesa Subway DI into Neve-ish pres (aggro comps won't hurt, either). Pushing and adjusting the respective levels then becomes the game, which in itself is fun as all get-out if you're inclined. It's a give and take to be sure. However, I'm nowhere close to the end-all on the subject. Maybe this will help: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-many ... owl-4.html

Yes, useful - thanks. Pretty much covers all the variables, I think. I'm thinking I can make a start just by playing with the mids settings on the rig I've got now. Happiness is having a likely direction to explore.

[BJG145]

+1 for the legendary Warwick growl. If you have 1500 to 2000 pounds to spend.

I jammed for a short while with a bass player who had a Warwick. It growled like anything. I never saw my Washburn quite the same after that.

Still working on the £2K.

[awjoe]

Not sure if this is the way you'd want to go about it (you mention "recording" as opposed to playing live) but the Izotope Alloy 2 plug-in has a bass setting called "Growling Bass". And it growls.

Well, the reason I asked about pedals was that these days I try to get as close to the sound I want going in, but I guess a plugin would be quieter than a pedal. Izotope don't make Alloy 2 anymore, but I can explore. Thanks for the idea.

[manwilde]

Last mont I purchased Studiodevil´s "Virtual Bass Amp" (see SOS review https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/studio-devil-virtual-bass-amp) directly from their website for something like 60€. While I´m no expert at all, it seems to me like an excellent starting point...

[awjoe]

Good idea. Cheers.

[CS70]

Play the bass line with your electric guitar, with the right amount of crunch, and apply a pitch shifter to bring it an octave lower. LPF to taste.

[adrian_k]

Turns out I can get a bit of a growl going with this thing: Dr J Sparrow bass driver and DI. I guess it's the Joyo version of the SansAmp.

I bought it for a project, delivery was delayed and I completed the project without using it. Your question made me wonder about it, so thanks!

Turn up the Low, Drive almost but not quite to max (most of the effect is in the last 1/4), dial in some harmonics, using the neck pickup on an old Yamaha RBX bass.

Mind you, one man's growl is another's fart (you can get that effect too without too much effort).

[BigRedX]

As a bass player myself, I think "growly" is one of those useless non-adjectives when it comes to describing sounds.

You best bet is to post some sound clips of how your bass sounds now compared with an example of how you would like it to sound off a record or CD.

If I was going to make suggestions blind (deaf?) I'd say you need valve-style distortion and a relative boost of the upper mids. Have a listen to some of the isolated bass tracks that can be found on YouTube and you will be surprised how much distortion is on the bass even when in the mix it sounds "clean". This can be a problem when trying out amps and effects in the shop, as it is almost impossible to make a meaningful decision about how the bass sounds on its own compared with how it's going to sound in the mix.

[SecretSam]

Mind you, one man's growl is another's fart (you can get that effect too without too much effort).

... depending on how carefully you chose your speaker cab.

I find that a happy morning in the store playing loud bottom B sorts out the wheat from the chaff.

And has the advantage of torturing the sales staff: it's irritating, but the prospect of a large sale means they just have to suck it up. Gets revenge for all those times they were snotty to keen teenagers just starting out. Yes, Macaris, I'm looking at you.

[VTypeV4]

+1 on a Warwick - I've had mine for 20 years..

'Growl' is quite a loose term but if I need a bit of 'grit' I've found recording through a valve pre (pick your own flavour - Fender, Ampeg, Mesa etc) then a dose of Sansamp into an hard driven 1176 compressor can work quite well..

[mellowsouls]

Growl makes me think of pickup placement. P-bass position not so much, but chuck a J/bridge in to the mix and that will get it there. In my opinion. Your “growl” might sound different to my “growl”.