The Know Your Bass Player series dissects popular bass rigs, going through their gear, the style and the techniques that they use to get their sound.
As a bass player and a sound engineer myself, I am fascinated by bass rig rundowns and learning about the instruments and gear out there that create music. I created this channel to explore this world and find out how the little things like an amplifier, string type or effect can change a musician’s style and affect a composition.
If you consider yourself a gear nerd (like me!) and want to know all the little details of the best bass players, join me each month where we look at a new bass player and figure out their secrets.
************** Contact ************** My name is Alfie Williams, a list of show notes can be found at www.knowyourbassplayer.co.uk
You can contact me via the comments or Tweet me @AlfiewilliamsUK *****
Bill Ward refused, because the band were going to fuck him. They could dig Ronnie Dip up, tie him to a cross, and he would STILL sound better than that vegetable Jon ever did.
Being a Peavey artist, I don't know why he didn't use Trace Elliot Amps and cabs. They match the Type O'Negative color scheme, and after 2005, were owned by Peavey.
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 🎸👍
I had an uncle that played bass, when they would practice, he would let me sit on his bass guitar amp. The room is so crowded. That was the only place I could be. I chose to become a bass player. I loved the feel of the instrument. I was heartbroken when I heard about Neil’s passing.
To everyones comments about the P Bass, I got one a few years ago and it made me rethink how I play bass. The way it responds to articulation, how to set the tone knob and the kinds of tones you can get out of it with just your fingers is unique and not like any other bass. When I first got it I didn't think it was very versatile, a few years in its one of the most versatile instruments I own.
Should I buy compressor? I use Line6 Stomp (comp + microtubes b7k) but sustain fades quickly, I think compressor would help. Any good recommendations and how to set it up? Also, its on ESP LTD AP-4 Black metal bass and Markbass Littlemark IV
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.*
Thankee for your video. Been visiting one of these basses at a local guitar shop but no one could explain the knobs and pre amp to me. Your video cleared that up. I had no idea it even had a push/pull know for active/passive. You gave a real nice explanation. I did not buy it....yet!
Is the Mtv UK special video footage actually from Viva Zwei Overdrive(i think its 1999?),i want to find what bass he used on that show,and the footage seems to be from it.
This is a two-year-old video, yet its current title says 2024. This is a shitty move, and I've come only to say this: There is a button in each video thumbnails that drops down a list of options; one of those is "do not recommend this channel to me again". I click it, and I urge others to do the same, when channels engage in bad practices like this.
While I agree with some of the negatives you listed for the violin bass, you could at least give mention to its light weight and playability. That's important to many people.
You can make your delay as a flanger if it has modulation and a time repeat as low as 1-5 mili seconds. Increase the feedback. Phaser is another underrated pedal that mimics others.
Very enjoyable content! Lots of information and everybody who wants to become a better bassman should listen to this. You provided so much stuff to dig further into the art.
Excellent job! Thanks so much, I love my barefaced bass cabs. When you see a bass wizard with monster tone and can play literally any bass gear he desires, what he chooses we should keep an eye out...or ear out I should say for
While the Slither video features the AJB-58, his current Aerodyne is the now discontinued Fender Frank Bello Signature Jazz Bass with its neck replaced with one of Duff's custom-shaped all-black Jazz Special necks. Pretty rad Frankenbass. I wish Duff and Fender would release that one, as I prefer the all-black necks.
Nice Review!!! I plan on getting one very soon, but the jazz bass. I plan on changing the pickups. Do you think the audere preamp could help? I enjoy bass that has bottom or thump!!! Yes I'm getting it just on the Looks!!!! Thk you.
You do great research & present things well. You should not limit your scope to bass guitars, or even any instrument. Bicycles, motorcycles, concert venues, ... The sky is the limit! ✨
I DID MORE DIGGING AND INBETWEEN HIM SWITCHING TO ALL AMPEG AFTER ALL SWR..HE HAD AN SWR STEREO POWER AMP 800 RUNNING BOTH CHANNELS INTO A AMPEG PREAMP THE SVT IIP I BELIEVE ITS CALLED, HE ALSO USED A BRIGHT GREEN BOSS PHASER PEDAL IN EARLY RAGE, ALSO IN THE FIRST AUDIOSLAVE TOUR HE USED A JHS JIM DUNLOP OCTAVE FUZZ WITH THE VOLUME ALL THE WAY UP AND THE OCTAFUZZ ALL THE WAY OFF, THAT PEDAL WITH THAT SETTING HAS AN INSANE TIMMY C SOUND , HMM I THINK THATS ALL I CAN ADD , I FOUND SOME OF THIS OUT BY WATCHING OLD LIVE VIDEO AND SLOWING THEM DOWN , THEN ZOOMING AND PAUSING ON A 65 INCH TV, I THINK THATS ALL IM 100 % POSITIVE ON, THX FOR THE REST ...CHEERS
