roonjuice Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I am very close to pulling the trigger on an alpher, and I want this mofo to have the most growly, ballsy tone achievable.. I already have a very good idea of how I want it to look, but what pick ups woods etc are gonna give the best sustain and clarity? Start your engines........ Cheers! R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikhay77 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Mmm, passive or active? You say clarity and growly? Single coils best I suppose,get some overwound/hot pickups,around 9/10k and if you want growl use 1k pots,woods dont make a tremendous amount of difference tbh,more pups and electronics. Theres a start!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Maybe a maple body, wenge neck and fretboard with a single ceramic humbucker in the MM position with a passive tone. I reckon that would growl like a beast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Though, that said, in your position I'd just ask Alpher's advice and buy what they said - luthiers are the experts in their field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 I was about to start making suggestions but realised that I would just be describing a NT Warwick thumb - but you've got one of them! I think your challenge needs to be - growliest bass ever, that you can also dial other sounds out of! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 [quote name='Graham' timestamp='1407218097' post='2518376'] Though, that said, in your position I'd just ask Alpher's advice and buy what they said - luthiers are the experts in their field. [/quote] This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 The growliest bass I've heard is my Wishbass. It has a Kent Armstrong MM style humbucker. Its got a good punch to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukeward2004 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 The growliest bass Ive ever heard is my Streamer Stage 2 - even more so than my P Nut or LX5. Thumb NT 5 is also a right growly beast. I would say a neck through construction for the sustain, Jazz bass single coils with a decent 3 band preamp WITH MID control, Wenge fretboard, and I think the afzelia body on my SS2 helps give it that angry growl too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Yeah I'd also go for wenge in the neck - bags of mids from my Cort B4FL that has a 5-piece wenge/rosewoood laminate neck bolted to a swamp ash body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reversebird Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) For me a new pair of £20 Artec soapbars 13.5k rehoused into Thunderbird chrome covers, attached to 500k pots and a 0.33 paper in oil cap. Growls like a Tbird should for around £60.00 all in. The best Kent Armstrong pickups are not the Far East ones (although they are value for money) the ones you want are the ones hand made by Kent in Ashford Kent, where you can talk to him and have the pickups acoustically adjusted to sound exactly like the sound in your head and reasonably priced. That's the way forward if you can't find "that" sound off the shelf :-)) Edited August 5, 2014 by Reversebird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reversebird Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) . Edited August 5, 2014 by Reversebird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roonjuice Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) This is awesome stuff, thank you!!! Exactly what I'm looking for. Keep it coming guys! What pre? Brass nut? Bridge? Edited August 5, 2014 by roonjuice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Funnily enough, when I split the coils on my MM-style pickup (in a kinda compromise position in my other Shuker) it sounds much more growly in the single coil position. I'd say an active EQ with mid-freq control (like the John Easy U-Retro, tho other types are available) is very important for finding just the right mids to push, too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) The ceramic mm pup but with a series, parallel or single coil switch, so a pre 2008 post 1993 stingray five then Edited August 5, 2014 by stingrayPete1977 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerster135 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Neck: Maple Body: Maple Aguilar OBP-3 pre. Find a good sweet-spot and stick a Bartolini M4 pickup there. That is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 Growl is such a loose term as it means so many different things to different people - to me, growl is a Precision or Rick being driven hard (think Live at Leeds or early Rush), whereas to some people growl is the back pickup of a Jazz bass. To me that's burp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 [quote name='roonjuice' timestamp='1407239649' post='2518612'] This is awesome stuff, thank you!!! Exactly what I'm looking for. Keep it coming guys! What pre? Brass nut? Bridge? [/quote] Why are you asking us? Surely that's a part of what you are paying your luthier for - to advise you on the best way to get the sound, feel and look that you are after. IMO if your luthier isn't doing this for you, then you have the wrong one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reversebird Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) [quote] name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1407242539' post='2518663'] Growl is such a loose term as it means so many different things to different people - to me, growl is a Precision or Rick being driven hard (think Live at Leeds or early Rush), whereas to some people growl is the back pickup of a Jazz bass. To me that's burp. [/quote] I agree, to me it's Bruce Foxton with a Rickenbacker going through a valve Marshall head and 2x15 cab. I have also heard some quite cheap and basic guitars going through decent amps that have "that" sound. I think you have to set some parameters. The sound your looking for is only in your head and it's a growl into a clean none EQ'd amp that is solid state or valve ? Active or Passive pickups, single coil, humbucker, light / heavy gauge strings, Hi mass bridge in chrome, nickel, aluminium, Thru body stringing, bone, brass, graphite nut, do you play with fingers or a pick ? the list is endless. In my opinion nearly all basses (and I've played most of the common ones on the market) can be made to sound like other basses with the use of some the amazing pedals now available and a decent amp with a decent EQ. Plus the advice being given here although helpful and gives a grounding for known attributes in guitar and pickup make up ie maple is brighter than rosewood, active EQ gives far more control over sound than passive etc is pretty useless to you because it's "that" sound in their heads not "that" sound in your head. I gave up looking for my Utopia because I've probably had it perfect two or three times over the last 25 years but due to listening to and playing varied music the sound I thought I liked changed. Hence the reason why amateurs and professional alike have a few (or many) basses they keep revisiting. I like threads like this makes you think about "your sound" and how your peers preceive theirs. Good luck with your search. Edited August 5, 2014 by Reversebird Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1407247281' post='2518719'] Why are you asking us? Surely that's a part of what you are paying your luthier for - to advise you on the best way to get the sound, feel and look that you are after. IMO if your luthier isn't doing this for you, then you have the wrong one. [/quote] I expect it's mostly for conversation It also means that the OP may come across info that they and the luthier may not have considered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roonjuice Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) I was just throwing the question out there for shits and giggles, and to ask in the best place know:) I have chosen alpher over many prospective luthiers, I considered lull, sadowsky and shuker amongst others, and having been to the sadowsky work shop NYC, and actually playing jj burnells shuker p (which is the most aggressive, resonant bass I think I have ever had the privilege to play) I am going alpher. Outstanding build quality Chris lives 10 miles from me (easy to go for a pint etc) I dig the alpher design. Just need to pull the trigger now hence this thread just kinda topping and tailing for me! Edited August 5, 2014 by roonjuice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roonjuice Posted August 5, 2014 Author Share Posted August 5, 2014 (edited) [quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1407241972' post='2518651'] Neck: Maple Body: Maple Aguilar OBP-3 pre. Find a good sweet-spot and stick a Bartolini M4 pickup there. That is all. [/quote] I got a modulus with the ob3 and barts which should be grrrrrrrrrrrrr heaven, but to my ears just sounds "pleasant". Go figure! Edited August 5, 2014 by roonjuice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerster135 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 [quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1407242539' post='2518663'] Growl is such a loose term as it means so many different things to different people - to me, growl is a Precision or Rick being driven hard (think Live at Leeds or early Rush)[/quote] See, to me that's "clank"!... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 [quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1407249545' post='2518757'] See, to me that's "clank"!... [/quote] Clank and Growl make easy bedfellows! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 [quote name='bakerster135' timestamp='1407249545' post='2518757'] See, to me that's "clank"!... [/quote] +1 and the Gibson Gripper beats them both for it IMO yet they were never as popular?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted August 5, 2014 Share Posted August 5, 2014 [quote name='Graham' timestamp='1407218097' post='2518376'] Though, that said, in your position I'd just ask Alpher's advice and buy what they said - luthiers are the experts in their field. [/quote] Exactly what I was about to add Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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