andruca

I'm an avid Zoom tweaker and I love copying sounds, but don't have such a thing as Mike Dirnt's tone figured out. Still I'll try my best to "deconstruct" Mike's tone so, regardless of gear, you get the concept, then can figure out your tone on whatever platform. First thing should be identifying the kinda BASS AND PICKUP COMBINATION used. It's usually P bass or neck pickup (if you have 2) for the P bass songs, and IDK what combos he uses on the Gibson G3 (i.e. "Longview"), but still a wide open 2 pickup bass can sorta' fake most of that. P bass is middier by nature. OTOH, more then one pickup in parallel (as wired on most basses with more than 1 pickup) is more scooped, and so does it sound on GD's tunes, not that P bass mids are tamed or they're reinforced on the G3 to compensate, they sound rather "natural", as they are, to me. The other thing is THE WAY HE PLAYS. Be conscious about it, there's no sounding like Mike Dirnt (and many other punk bass players) without a firm and rhythmic motion, hard picking in general. I can't recommend thin picks enough. I mostly use .60mm Tortex Triangles, and occasionally .73mm Tortex Flex Triangles. I prefer the fluidity and also the non-choking punch of thin picks (there's a limited amount of force you can apply to a thin pick before it starts "compressing" you by bending, great for consistency). Look, there's still people asking for holy grial gear to sound like Geddy, while some have been forever able to do that on just any random Jazz Bass. You gotta mean it from the start, from your hands and your bass. Most important part to get a sound you like. Next is some OVERDRIVE. For this I'd start with a SansAmp emulation (what I use the most in my Zooms). Start with EQ flat and gain/blend at 50/50. You might have to do 2 or 3 patches at various gain and blend levels, you'll find quite some gain variety from song to song. The blend control in SansAmps (and most emulations) does a great job making you lo-fi while keeping good (non-cardboard'ish) lowend. The kinda' distortion you want is grainy, but not hissy. Use the SansAmp EQ for correcting that, and overall shaping to the bass tone you aim at. Probably boost a little bass, give yourself some nice punching foundation. Then I'd use COMPRESSION (some more, as rhe SansAmp already compresses some). Nothing shy here. There's MANY compressors in your Zoom. I mostly use the 160comp emulation. Does the work for me. I do a lot of HC/punk with a variety of bass guitars and for that my compression is sorta' "binary", in that I'm either sounding full blast or I'm just not playing 🤣 Hope you get it, just use a high ratio and lower the threshold down to a point where pick attacks stop hurting and overall tone gets fattened a little (re-adjust to such side effect on the SansAmp EQ as needed). Finally, I'd add noise reduction to any overdrive gain patch, also pretty aggressive, as punk is, so you don't sound like a frying pan when not playing. Zoom's own ZNR noise reduction model works great, just set it to monitor instrument input, not all the chain. That (and the time spent tweaking) should be about it. Overdrive could be anything, I've heard anything from a Tube Screamer to a Metal Zone work with the adequate gain for the task and enough EQ and compression. Try different overdrives, theres LOTS of different characters you fan have from the emulations in that pedal. I'm exemplifying based on SansAmp because I'm sure it's in your B1 four, and also because it's one of the easiest to use and get a good basic tone from. Feel free to inquire further if needed. Hope I helped.

I've owned a CV-5 and loved it, except for the fact that despite the J-buckers' and coil tap switches' versatility it couldn't sound like a Jazz Bass. I recently pulled the trigger on a J5 and totally love it. Schecter is awesome quality, and their thin C neck profile is just superb 👍

I'd start with the cheap. All you hear in these clips is recorded with a Zoom MS-60B (it's a review, just linking the sound demo points), probably 60€ used. It can do SansAmp (has an emulation from factory), it can do Darkglass (a blendable RAT emulation fakes it nicely, further Zoom generations have a specific Darkglass emulation I definitely like a lot less than this -sounds BOXY-). I plug into any amp/PA/interface with these tones and they just work. My "clean" SansAmp tone, what I use for anything fingerstyle/slap... My overdriven SansAmp (Ampeg'ish) tone, what I usually use for picked punk/HC or heavy handed fingerstyle... My Darkglass tone, what I use for modern metal, almost exclusively with a pick... I've always found it EASY to copy any tone with Zoom's MultiStomp/B3/B1on/B1Xon generation. Just to give you an example, I've been happy with GumaDRIVE (B3K clone) pedal for a couple weeks after building it with my bro. That was until I took about 15min to have both units side by side and cloned the tone with a Zoom. I've used the GumaDRIVE for recording only eversince. Zooms can simply sound any way you like, there's MANY flavors of each effect to choose from (specially when it comes to overdrives), and effects that need it have a blend parameters to mix in uneffected signal. It's ultra flexible. You just need to know what you want and understand enough not to just randomly move knobs (and also be familiar/comfortable with tweaking, not for everybody, I know). There is a bass Metal Zone emulation on Zooms too, if you'd like to explore what Danny Sapko suggests here (somewhat effective, but original tone is more fuzzy -I like it less-, but you can also get that from a Zoom)...

True. I own the same bass (5 string also). It's comfortable to play despite the thick neck. I've played the 4 string RockBasses on several occasions, don't know the specs but it seemed like regular 19mm spacing to me. Thing is the Star Bass is probably not the best example of acoustic/hollow sounding bass the OP is asking for. It's Jazz Bass'ish, but fatter, not that much hollow honk. Still, can definitely get in the beatlesque ballpark on flats (the shorter 32" scale 4 string is better at that). It reacts like a solid body too (no microphonics or feedback) and also the feel is more that of a solid body bass (a solid maple block runs all along the center of the body). One with MASSIVE sustain BTW. I got mine because I gave up dealing with the unpredictability of ABGs/semihollows in different spaces for my occasional amplified acoustic gigs. I can more then fake it now with the Star Bass' looks while having proper performance, with a tone that still totally cuts it for acoustic gigs. Not the purest of approaches to "acoustic" gigs, I know I'm cheating 😅

I LIKE IT! Does that Aguilar have 4 wires? I still think that bass would give you much more if coil tapped. Just got back my Ibanez ATK 405 (MIK, MM+J too) and I've yet to find a bass that's better at both the all open Jazz tone and the Musicman tone (with some EQing). FYI, the ATK pickup is about 1cm closer to the bridge than a Musicman's. IME, if you have a humbucker combined with a single coil you NEED a coil tap. I.e., I'm really surprised Sire didn't think of a coil tap for the humbuckers in Z series basses. A deal breaker for me (and the reason why Z7s can't do a plain Jazz tone). I'll be following. I'd love to hear how your VMM sounds just playing with the VVT and that humbucker fixed in series 👍

I've just bought back the only bass I've ever regretted selling, 2001 MIK Ibanez ATK-405. Sound samples from back in the day. Will definitely do some review/samples video soon. EDIT: adding "review" video...

Sorry to threadsurrect. I was looking for alternatives to replace my usual Warwick Red NICKELS (not to be confused with their ugly steels), as dead new string occurence (usually the E string) has lately become more frequent. I must make clear I started to buy these 'cause they're cheap, but I've also been a Slinky's and Magma endorser, and I'd place these Red Nickels in between, definitely better than Ernie Balls (I hate the prolongued "half dead" zone they enter shortly after new), just not as nice as old Magmas I used (one of the finest string brands I've ever used). I really prefer the Warwick Red Nickels to most top name brands. They LAST, with proper tone, AND brightness, way more than average. I've just tried these Legacy strings and, OMG, do they suck. They come "pre-dead". I mean you can tell they're not dead, but they're dark sounding and it just takes them a few hours of playing to go from there to properly certified dead. Killing strings has never been of particular concern to me, as my hands don't sweat. But these JUST DIE RIDICULOUSLY FAST, no matter what. They're also too stiff. I've opened two 5 string sets so far. Still have two more and a 4 string set in stock, which I'll probably never use. They're shockingly bad for "rebranded Rotosounds" (which I doubt they are despite some users' claims, unless Rotosound is going sideways, badly, IDK, haven't bought Rotos recently). Only thing I like about these Legacys is the minimal packaging, this is how all strings should be packed. That's about my review 😢

I've posted a lot, just search. Only recently I've decided enough Turdtolini scam is enough, and started flaming them this abundantly, whenever the subject comes up. No need for others to repeat my expensive mistakes 🤣

My last set of USA Barts (P452J quad coils) are absolutely dead crap too, as all Bartolinis I've ever played, no exception (100% my bad, terrible choice). Just DEAD compared to anything I'd remotely consider normal. Anybody wanna buy them? I'd be OK with recovering just half of the almost 500€ I spent getting them from the US, just PM me 👍

I might come out as BITTER. Sorry for that. Thing is I DEFINITELY AM, after spending a lot of money in the fraud over the years. My only advice is: AVOID BARTOLINIS AT ALL COSTS. They simply ignore how to manufacture pickups that don't sound dead. I've owned many, including the P452Js set I put in my 1005MS (the drop that broke the camel's back), and haven't owned nor played even one that's even been acceptable to me. The alnico Wilkinsons (under 3D printer covers) I have on now in my EHB are bizarrely better than those Bart quad coils, so yes, they're THAT BAD. Not dumping any more BIG money only to have instruments sound POORER and more generic. HUGE pile of decades long hype. My apologies to all snobs. Told ya' I'm bitter, sorry.

I'm still confused as per Zooms' guts. I own several G/MS/on generation devices. All have the same effects and sound the same. I own a B1Xfour too (following generation AFAIK). Are the newer B6/B2four/MS+ the same generation processor as the B1four/B3n? Effect parameters look like so (just don't get me started about the para-EQ going from 2-band to 1, I don't get such loss of functionality). I've been forever struggling to make my B1Xfour sound as "full" as my old Multistomps/on/B3. It both sounds more "lo-fi" and also "genericizes" the tone of my basses, meaning their character gets diluted in comparison with, i.e., my old MS-60B. That's why I want to know if tone is the same on newer models. I'm really interested in an MS-60B+, but if tone is similar to that of the B1four/Xfour I would pass, and patiently wait for the next gen (my duty as a decades long Zoom fanboy).

It's all mounted in 2 PCBs (one for every row of knobs). In my case the main con was knobs where too close to the strings, terrible for picking (which I sometimes do). I desoldered both volume pots to move them down, out of the way of my picking. Came out great. I think changing to a volume+blend config (instead of 2 x volume) shouldn't be complicated nor expensive.

IF you're considering the Jazz route and/or Sire, check the MarkBass Gloxy GV5. I changed my Sire V3 for one of those and couldn't be happier. No Sire I've played (mostly V7s and V3s) plays nor sounds like it. It's a pretty classic sounding '70s spaced JB, minus the offset body, with an active onboard that can be switched off. Neck is a skinny C profile and it takes less digging to get wild/growly than Sires. You should be able to get one for 400£ used.

Is it too off the charts to ask for some sound clip? It'd be easy to judge the kind of "jazzbassness" that particular instrument brings listening to a simple clean sample of both pickups plus each on their own.

I strongly hate the tone of 2 pickups too damm close together. Systematically ruins every bass for me. I know it's the "modern" standard for many. I just can't stand it. I think this is still a higher value than Ibanez's 2 cheapest EHB options (1005/1205), at least these don't come with Turdtolinis (a "standard" I couldn't care less about, after much money spent on their dead sounding crap). Pickup distance (or lack thereof) aside, those pickups sound open and normal. I wish somebody just made a headless fanned fret Jazz Bass, which just sounded like so (NORMAL decent pickups), no need to reinvent the nasal tin sounding wheel (nor the dark dead one). Closest I got was putting Wilkinson alnico Jazz pickups in my EHB1005MS as far apart as cavities will allow. Best that EHB has ever sounded, by far (moreso coming from the stock BH2s and some -also Darktolini- P452Js, a totally useless burning of a lot of money). Still pickup distances are WRONG on the EHB1005MS too. I love the bass but pickup position and pickup type choice are WEAK. Guess Leo got that right first time too. IDK, I like "modern" basses as per functionality and ergonomics. Just hate the sound choices manufacturers make for most of them.