How to Get the PERFECT Bass Tone
???? My full beginner bass course: https://yeah.bassbuzz.com/perfect-tone
Want bass tone like Geddy? or Flea? or Jamerson? Here’s why your sound isn’t cutting it, and how to make it *perfect*.
If you’re struggling to get the perfect bass tone, that sounds as good as your favorite bassist… you’re not alone.
When I was starting out, I didn’t really even know what bass tone was. And I was so focused on learning technique, theory, and playing songs, I had no idea if my tone was any good or not.
Sometimes it felt like my tone was super locked in, and I felt confident with my playing and had fun. Other times my tone just felt “off”, I didn’t know how to fix it, and… it was frustrating and kinda embarrassing.
In this video, I’m gonna teach you all the stuff I wish someone had taught me in my first year of playing:
– Mastering the “5 dwarves” of bass tone
– How James Jamerson mastered the art of mud
– How to ditch that annoying *honk* sound
– Why too much boom can ruin Tool songs
– How to actually HEAR your bass in the mix
– How Nolly gets those clanky Periphery sounds
You read all the way through this video description… you must really like bass lessons. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next one – https://yeah.bassbuzz.com/subscribe
#BassTone #BassBuzz
#PERFECT #Bass #Tone
Originally posted by UCeD9_tDVA1wvqv1IF9QyP-A at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-77UU4ZzG4c
Favorite bass tone of all time – go!
Note – sorry the frequency spectrum graphics are hard to read, Youtube compressed the visuals a bit too hard. I will hunt a better EQ plugin for future videos, in the meantime turn up your screen brightness and pray to the Dwarfs. ❤️
This is undoubtedly the most helpful bass video I've ever watched. EQ has been a total blindspot to me and I've never found anything/anybody who describes it well. Thank you!
Hi Josh,
thanks for the great video, your explanation is really helpful.
One small criticism though: it would have been even more helpful, if you would have used slightly more visible lines in the frequency-display below. I was hardly able to see the frequency peaks as the line was so thin and there was so little contrast to the background colour.
Once again though: thanks.
0:28 cuz you’re playing a jazz BEHS????
This video has been a game changer for me. Thanks Josh!
Also, I'd love it if you made your own frequency dwarves T-shirt with your versions of the dwarves. They're hilarious!
I can barely hear your example
If I get a Darkglass, can I use it with my Fender Rumble, but just turn off EQ effects on the Rumble? Sorry if this is a dumb question. ????
I'll be honest here… here we go… I spent so much money on all of these pedals and effects…. it got ridiculous. I have been having a crap time trying to reign in my tone. I unplugged ALL the hipass, lowpass, DI, effects, etc etc… I cut ALL my eq on my ashdown amp, then started bringing up one by one and BOOM. Great tone.I think some other people may say "i watched the video, I still can't get it right!" and they may have TOO MUCH going on in their signal chain. That has been my experierce. From now no, I am letting the bass preamp and my amplifier handle my tone. I'm not going to toy with a bunch of pedals (same goes for plug ins). OK, thats my two cents. Great video.
Brilliant
OMG, this is wonderful!! Thank you!
Now do one for guitar!
Was gonna say Edgy the Dwarf would probably be my BFF in terms of getting that DD Verni (Overkill) tone and Honky would be the one to hang with if I want that Monstrosity Imperial Doom sound that Mark Van Erp got on there. Alex Webster had that on Cannibal Corpse’s the bleeding and B. War of Marduk DEFINITELY had Honky on his side on the Marduk Opus Nocturne album. The mids were totally cranked to make up for the shrill guitar tone of Morgan on that album so he was like a second guitar almost.
This is good EQ advice even if you're not mixing just a bass. Thanks for the tips!
Thank you Man!????
I've been playing bass for 26 years now, 20 years of those also on upright bass, and I've never seen or heard a better, more accurate and helpful way of dialing in and finding my bass tone. I tried this at rehearsal today and it was amazing. Thank you so much and keep it up, mate!
Cheers!
Thank you so much for this video and all the work you put in! It really helps.
I think you should sell the shirt.
What do you do if you play in a covers band and play lots of different styles of music? Asking for a friend ????
I bought a Broughton HPF & LPF pedal….fantastic sound quality, i can't hear any colouring of tone…it's HPF is from 25Hz – 190Hz & the LPF 330Hz – 20KHz…great for pulling in a low sounding 5 string or even with 4 string bass's it is very useable for holding Tubby back & getting rid of Sibilant is easy…it uses 2nd order 12db per octave filters on both the HPF & LPF….good build quality as well as a gain level/boost pot…i use it on my guitars ,bass's & keyboards…it will aid most instruments…outputs at 100ohms with true by-passing, 9v – 24v power input, i run it at 18v, no 24v on my power supply…i reccomend this for bass players as it gives you more control over the top & bottom end ,good for speaker protection,not letting too heavy a bass signal that at high volume could burn out a voice coil of 1 or more of your bass speakers…on bass i use the HPF between 30Hz – 80Hz & the LPF between 1.5kHz – 5kHz depending on room or venue & 4 or 5 string bass, with 12db per octave filters it runs of just right, nice & smooth….a great pedal for bass, guitar or any instrument….
I use HPFs, 1 x -36db per oct pre set at 28hz, and a variable -12 db per oct around 65 hz. 4 band eq on Aguilar AG700, i can push bass (hpfs handle the sub flabby) then cut lower mid (250hz ) hi mid, and treble flat. I use Labella flats, on a gibson short scale. Believe it ir not, i play in a gigging 3 piece, playing he Hendrix, Cream, Free, ect.
great video ..well explained…❤ from ireland.
This is an awesome video! It’s all about what’s right for the song. Whether a player, producer, or mix/mastering engineer. Well done ????????
Ah, so edgy the dwarf is the reason i dislike djent tones lol. Its so metallic, it starts sounding like a VST
If you have an amp with a three knob EQ you can either turn up one knob or turn down the other two. If you want a smooth low end instead of turning up the bass knob and making in boomy, turn down the mid and high knobs. Also where you pluck the stings makes a huge difference to your tone. Brighter if you pluck near the bridge, rounder if you pluck near the neck.
Take my like dude, great vid
What about the bass in Indonesian music called keroncong music?
I paid for all the bass knob and im gonna use all the bass knob dammit
The pauses during the 'hard parts' at 15:42 tho ???? comedy gold!
Fieldy uses only two dwarfs.
Love this!
i just wanted to say that i absolutely love the montage
I try to explain to my buds that the knobs don’t have to be cranked… but NOOOO, knobs get cranked.
After 40 years of playing I can honestly say: it‘s eq – ing only. Every bass or amp is meaningless. You can get your desired sound with everything (almost). Just learn how to dial a eq (which isn‘t as easy as everyone thinks).
I have to admit, I came with low expectations and was eagerly surprised.
Great video and I love the technical details and anti-gas approach.
It is indeed not very mentioned on the Internet and I appreciate there's a good video showing it
Great information and presentation of such. High quality all around. And, as always, quite entertaining. Thanks!
AW-SO-ME !
For years, I've used an LMB-3 pedal, and it works great for tone in being able to manage those dwarves from getting out of control. It's also great for as a booster for solo's
Do you have any recommendations to get the 5th string to have a good solid tone? Mine always sounds muddy in comparison to the rest of my strings and only seems to have any real punch when the strings are fresh. For context, I'm playing an ESP LTD F-155DX, 35in scale with D'Addario ProSteels Custom Lights (40-100) with a 120 for the 5th, an EMG 40DCX in the bridge and a 40CSX in the neck with the BQS Pre-Amp and Hipshot Ultra-Lite tuners (probably matter least to the tone, if at all). That runs into a few different pedals, but my Darkglass Hyper Luminal Compressor into my Microtubes X Ultra are probably the only two that matter to the tone. Those run into an Ampeg Portaflex 350 head connected to an Acoustic BN210 cabinet, and then all my playing is finger style with low action, striking downward towards the neck (looking for that Overkill tone without a pick). I know that is a lot of info that means nothing without having it in person or on video to hear, but I hope someone has some advice or just likes my setup and wants to talk more about it. I've been in a rut of not playing for a few months now and I really want to get out of it.
How do I get the shirt
This is GOLD! Thanx Josh!
Hi. I watched some videos from you and they were really great content. I now want to start into the bass world. What bass do you recommend for metal (preferrable a swiss army knife bass if i also want to try out other genres) Want to spend around 600. I have already 2 years guitar expierience, just for the record 🙂
10:08 its mind, then fingers haha ????
This is probably the most comprehensive instruction video on setting up my Darkglass I have found so far lol
The fact that buy mode music from Sims 1 made the cut here makes me very happy