Growly Bass

[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”.

[BillB]

Bass guitar Growl makes me think of Chris Squire's Rickenbacker sound, which basically drove Yes through the decades. I met someone on the train (years ago) who claimed to know him and his sound, and said it wasn't just down to the Rick, but the whole recording/performance chain, which no doubt is true. Having said that, when I think of other Rick players (e.g. Jean-Jacques Burnell, Helmut Hattler) they do have a raunchy sound.

Faced with your ambition, I would be playing with overdrive (dialled back) and EQ pedals to see what comes of it. Even quite cheap gear can make quite a difference. I spent an evening trying to get my (cheap) Peavey bass to sound 'better' through my (very cheap) Behringer Bass V-Amp, and got a result I was happy with. I have yet to do the same with some better Boss and Korg multi-effects that I have acquired more recently, but I am sure that it is there for the asking.

[Sam Spoons]

Bass guitar Growl makes me think of Chris Squire's Rickenbacker sound, which basically drove Yes through the decades. I met someone on the train (years ago) who claimed to know him and his sound, and said it wasn't just down to the Rick, but the whole recording/performance chain, which no doubt is true.

I seem to recall Chris Squire saying in an interview that he could get all the same sounds and more from a Fender Jazz but he the Rick had that look.

[BillB]

...but he the Rick had that look.

Yeah, Ricks just look growly

Subject to a pools/lottery win (unlikely as I don't do either) a Rick will probably be one of those unrealised lifelong dreams.

[Sam Spoons]

Well, console yourself with the fact that you can

get all the same sounds and more from a Fender Jazz

[Drew Stephenson]

I actually used my new kit bass the other night and got quite a nice growly sound out of it by just running through an Art pre-amp and then putting it though my usual DAW bass template (which splits the signal at 300Hz and adds a cab sim to the top half).

[Fishnish]

Bass guitar Growl makes me think of Chris Squire's Rickenbacker sound, which basically drove Yes through the decades. I met someone on the train (years ago) who claimed to know him and his sound, and said it wasn't just down to the Rick, but the whole recording/performance chain, which no doubt is true. Having said that, when I think of other Rick players (e.g. Jean-Jacques Burnell, Helmut Hattler) they do have a raunchy sound.

.......................

Squire was an early adopter of the bi amped bass rig. He put a stereo output on his (mono) RM Rick and sent one channel to a Marshall head, with a Maestro fuzz box and a tremolo pedal. Over the years the other side went to various Dual showmans, Sunn Colosseums or SVTs to put the weight beneath the growl.

Squire maintained that on those early 70s Yes records, producer Eddie Offord used a Urei 1176 for the bass tracks, and that was pretty much it.

There's a whole forum dedicated to all things Squire on RickResource, much of it discusses his setups and techniques, with intersting contributions from his long-time tech and various others who knew and worked on his gear. It should be considered required reading for any serious student of that particular flavour of growly bass.

http://www.rickresource.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=20

I also found this article in Sound on Sound a little while back very useful when aiming for these sort of bass sounds. It's written aimed at Cubase users, but the processes described would be easily transferable to most setups

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques ... ctric-bass

[BillB]

Thanks, Fishnish, for that little goldmine of information.

[awjoe]

I spent an evening trying to get my (cheap) Peavey bass to sound 'better' through my (very cheap) Behringer Bass V-Amp, and got a result I was happy with.

Did you get anywhere near that delicious bass on the Yes tune?

[awjoe]

Squire was an early adopter of the bi amped bass rig. He put a stereo output on his (mono) RM Rick and sent one channel to a Marshall head, with a Maestro fuzz box and a tremolo pedal. Over the years the other side went to various Dual showmans, Sunn Colosseums or SVTs to put the weight beneath the growl.

Squire maintained that on those early 70s Yes records, producer Eddie Offord used a Urei 1176 for the bass tracks, and that was pretty much it.

There's a whole forum dedicated to all things Squire on RickResource, much of it discusses his setups and techniques, with intersting contributions from his long-time tech and various others who knew and worked on his gear. It should be considered required reading for any serious student of that particular flavour of growly bass.

http://www.rickresource.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=20

I also found this article in Sound on Sound a little while back very useful when aiming for these sort of bass sounds. It's written aimed at Cubase users, but the processes described would be easily transferable to most setups

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques ... ctric-bass

Pretty much exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks very much for taking the time.

[BillB]

I spent an evening trying to get my (cheap) Peavey bass to sound 'better' through my (very cheap) Behringer Bass V-Amp, and got a result I was happy with.

Did you get anywhere near that delicious bass on the Yes tune?

Ha, I could never get anywhere near sounding like the legend that is Chris Squire, but there was a definite improvement in tone compared to ‘clean’.
I have small, achievable ambitions