Bass for Punk Rock - Suggestions?

[Bump Music]

I gotta rent a bass for a Punk Rock. I was originally gonna rent a Fender P, but other names have been popping up in my search. Such as a Musicman Stingray.

I would be going direct into a Chandler Tg2... maybe I'll get a D/I box so I can use the Chandler's mic line tranformers.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[klaper]

HI,it tries to prove a Sadowski, is compensated than I have never heard.
it is a simple opinion.
Greetings

[True North]

If you have a Guitar Amp plug I would double the track once it's in your daw and add some distortion to the duped tracked than mix both channels to taste.

[absrec]

1.) P-bass or J-bass

2.) A pick

3.) Ampeg SVT through cabinet with 10" speakers

4.) DI

5.) Compress both with dBX 160s.

6.) Blend to taste

-Aaron

[wwittman]

I'd say:
get a GOOD bass for starters

a P bass is fairly 'standard' but I'd take a great 60's almost ANYTHING over a new made in korea P, know what I mean?
There are a LOT of crappy Fenders out there. Far more than great ones.

put brand new round wound, steel strings on it.

I ASSUME the bass player plays with a pick if he's in a punk band

by ALL means, mic a good loud amp with a bit of grit.


DI is probably a waste of a track, but you may want it for your own insecurities <g>

just don't USE it, in the mix.

if you MUST DI, a SansAmp is very decent.

don't over compress... the attack is part of the sound, don't smooth it all out.

add top (like 5k) if you need it, but don't ROLL anything and don't eq the bottom at all; it only makes the note response bumpy and you are better off getting the tone at the AMP, with its tone controls.

Believe it or not, a cranked B-15 with the treble turned up sounds a lot nastier and 'punkier' than an SVT with its barky 10's.
The SVT into the SVT 1x15 cab, or two, on the other hand, sounds great.

dry and close is your friend in punk (on the bass drum AND the bass guitar)

but: attitude counts for more than sonics.



p.s., get the sound out in the room with the player at the source... there's nothing less "punk" attitude than AmpFarm or equiv.
are you a punk, or a computer nerd?

[keithrt99]

p bass, j bass, ric, or stingray. A pick is essential.

[Bump Music]

Originally Posted by absrec

1.) P-bass or J-bass

2.) A pick

3.) Ampeg SVT through cabinet with 10" speakers

4.) DI

5.) Compress both with dBX 160s.

6.) Blend to taste

-Aaron

Thanks! But I don't have the option/facility to use an amp. Wish I could. It has to be D/I. I MAY be able to reamp later... but I doubt it. Prolly just a plugin.

[max cooper]

Punk rock.

Let's assume '70's punk and take new wave out of the equation.

P-Bass or P-Bass.

If you stretch your imagination, you could use a Dan Armstrong.

Sure, there were others, but punk was built on maple board P-basses.

I figure why feck around?

[max cooper]

Originally Posted by wwittman

Believe it or not, a cranked B-15 with the treble turned up sounds a lot nastier and 'punkier' than an SVT with its barky 10's.
The SVT into the SVT 1x15 cab, or two, on the other hand, sounds great.

OTOH, pluggin a P-Bass into a Marshall half stack is always pretty great. Especially if you're running a B-15 as well.

I think the rumbling bark is kinda cool.

[AdamLazlo]

I favor the Musicman basses especially if it's more of a Hardcore sound than Punk. I like really chunky bass tones and the Musicman's have always delivered.

Going direct with a bass isn't my favorite way of recording. The few times I've gone that route I've found myself needing to manipulate it a lot during mixing and usually came up short.

On the other hand I do like a Fender P-Bass as well. It also has more tonal/genre versitility/crossover.

-- Adam Lazlo

[jamroom]

I prefer precisions especially if the bassist isn't really a smooth player.P-basses are very forgiving.Musicmans can be nasty if they are not played well.Too bright and clicky.Especially if they have a mable fretboard.If you do use a musicman try for an old one with a 2 band preamp.The precision should sound good going into the Chandler.I havent used that paticular Chandler but I'll bet it sounds good straight into the front.Be sure to use heavy strings if they tune down,at least 105-45s.

[Kiwiburger]

The Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks" album features DI bass on some tracks. That's defininative 70's punk to me. I have the Classic Albums DVD, and the bonus material has some cool technical stuff about that album. It's more produced than it appears.

[Bump Music]

What would it sound like if I plugged into a bass head and plugged that into an 1176? I've never tried that before.... Can you even do that? Thanks.

[max cooper]

Originally Posted by Kiwiburger

The Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks" album features DI bass on some tracks. That's defininative 70's punk to me. I have the Classic Albums DVD, and the bonus material has some cool technical stuff about that album. It's more produced than it appears.

Love bass D.I. into two mic preamps daisy-chained.

One thing to remember is that rosewood board can be more forgiving than maple.

I used to always use rosewood, but I'm on my first maple P-Bass.

I like Music Man basses, but I'm one of those people who want's everything to stay in the fifties if possible.

[paulbystereo]

P and J / Ampeg fan here. To each his own, but I can not stand a Music Man Stingray for punk. I've tried a million times, but it's just easier to get a P-Bass or Jazz Bass to sit in a mix. The Music Man is too scooped.

As far as compression, dbx 160's are good as are 160x's and 1176's. In addition, I really like a Distressor with a fast attack to take off the pick "clack". And you should definitely concentrate on a good amp tone and just use the DI as a backup plan to reamp if your amp tone doesn't turn out well.

As a side suggestion, try an Eden 410XLT (or 210XLT) cab as an alternative to an SVT cab, it's got a growlier mid range that suits punk bass quite well.

[mltamisin]

Go with a Music Man bass. Can't go wrong with that.

[dlmorley]

For something aggresive as opposed to deep, a Rickenbacker can be great...

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally Posted by dlmorley

For something aggresive as opposed to deep, a Rickenbacker can be great...

Seconded.


I've worked with a lot of punk bands over the years & I've seen far more Ricks then P-basses...

Music Mans too...then maybe the Jazz bass.

Hardly EVER a "P" unless it's a PB&J on whole wheat or rye.

[chetatkinsdiet]

[quote=wwittman;943450]I'd say:
get a GOOD bass for starters


Believe it or not, a cranked B-15 with the treble turned up sounds a lot nastier and 'punkier' than an SVT with its barky 10's.
The SVT into the SVT 1x15 cab, or two, on the other hand, sounds great.


As Walt Says....but I'll take it a step further....

A B15 always sounds better than the larger SVT counterpart. If you need the volume, get the SVT....if not, then a B15 is the best sounding bass amp period.


m

[chetatkinsdiet]

Should we get a definition of "punk" from the original poster? To me that means Pistols, Clash, Damned, Buzzcocks, etc. To him, it could mean something totally different.

A P-Bass into an Ampeg is the punk sound for 76-80 punk. When recording punk bass just ask yourself what Dee Dee would have used?

m

[Bump Music]

Thanks to everyone for your help. I decided on a USA Fender P, with Sansamp.

I can split the signal and get direct output from the Sansamp and decide later how or if to blend them.

I had to make sure Sansamp was all analog before making my decision.

Thanks again, and I'll post a sample when I finish tracking.

[drundall]

Originally Posted by Jay Kahrs

Seconded.


I've worked with a lot of punk bands over the years & I've seen far more Ricks then P-basses...

Music Mans too...then maybe the Jazz bass.

Hardly EVER a "P" unless it's a PB&J on whole wheat or rye.

Hmmm, we use MOSTLY P basses over here. Must be an east coast/west coast thing.

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally Posted by chetatkinsdiet

A P-Bass into an Ampeg is the punk sound for 76-80 punk. When recording punk bass just ask yourself what Dee Dee would have used?

Probably a P-bass or Rick into something tube & LOUD.


Maybe he'd have used a Guild or whuddever into a PV rig if he was a broke ass kid.

That's kinda punk.

[RoundBadge]

rent an older P-bass or J or both and experiment.....
your TG DI is fine..i use a variety of comps depending on the player/track..160,1176,etc.

If your gonna DI only, try the New Ampeg AMP plug in..its about $200 bucks.
..it saved my ass the other day when the real goddamnn B-15 blew up.
It has B-15,SVT,B500,emulations which are damn good..rreally handy little plugin.

[KrisNY]

Fender P or J bass - no question. Don't **** around.

[KrisNY]

Originally Posted by RoundBadge

If your gonna DI only, try the New Ampeg AMP plug in..its about $200 bucks.
..it saved my ass the other day when the real goddamnn B-15 blew up.
It has B-15,SVT,B500,emulations which are damn good..rreally handy little plugin.

Second that. The Ampeg SVX plugin is AWESOME. Made a kid who can't afford a real B-15 very happy. It's also cool that you can mic up any cab you want with a U87, 421, RE20, SM57, etc. Awesome plug.

[BlakeMcKibben]

I just got done recording some hardcore/punk, and the lead guitar player wanted to dub the bass in. I set him up with a american P-bass into my Sansamp RBI(mids dropped & bass up) straight into my germanium with thick button(tg-2 will be similar). double compressed with dbx 160x's 2:1(a lot) then inf:1(a little). I thought it filled nicely, and stayed out of the way of the guitars. Here it is, opening track on my myspace http://www.myspace.com/crcblake

[softwareguy]

I don't doubt that it can work, but I have a really hard time imagining Dee Dee, Simonon or Viscious playing a Ric.

Music Mans just drive me crazy when they are played with a pick. YMMV

[John Suitcase]

I think 'punk' is too general a term. Are we talking Black Flag? Minor Threat? What about stuff like Descendents, that has a very active bassline?

For me, most 'punk' stuff is more west coast: All, Bad Religion, etc. I like a DI bass ok, I usually compress it pretty hard, roll out some 400k, but boost 800k a lot. If there's a decent amp, I like to mic it from a couple feet back, using an RE20, and mix that with the DI. I usually would delay the DI by 2 or 3 milliseconds in that situation.

Of course, we could be talking Hard Core, in which case, most players want it deep and scooped, so there's nothing left but rumble and a little high end.

I'd say P-Bass, SVT 8x10, take a DI and mic the cab with the RE20. Don't be afraid to compress, and I really find the voice of the bass is around 800hz, in most cases...

[max cooper]

Originally Posted by John Suitcase

I think 'punk' is too general a term. Are we talking Black Flag? Minor Threat? What about stuff like Descendents, that has a very active bassline?

For me, most 'punk' stuff is more west coast: All, Bad Religion

BR is definitely 'pop' to me.

Minor Threat, I could get excited about!

{moshmoshmosh} oi!