Mr. Foxen Posted January 10, 2009 Posted January 10, 2009 If you were having a bass made, or making a bass, or picking one out, what properties give a 'growly' sound. I tried this with punch, and the answers were fairly contrary. See how this one goes. Quote
Kev Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 humbuckers? close together pickups? pickups nearer bridge than the neck?? Guessing really, but i imagine they might be valid points... Quote
Guest Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 Neck wood could be one factor, Warwicks are often described as having growl in abundance and feature hard dense woods such as wegne and laminate construction. This also gives a very stiff neck ( My dolphin suffered from too little neck bow when using .100's) so perhaps the stiffness of the neck is more of a factor than the material, perhaps people with experiance of carbon necks might shed some light on this. Quote
Kiwi Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 its a black art. there are probably quite a few different ways to achieve it by balancing the various tonal characters of materials, pickups, construction, hardware, electronics etc. Usually it starts with the wood and either a choice of species or a combination of species that gives rise to a prominent mid-peak somewhere between 250 and 600 Hz. the reason why its a black art is because wood is such an inconsistent material so for a manufacturer to produce consistently growly instruments is a bit of an accomplishment. Quote
Guest Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 [quote]a prominent mid-peak somewhere between 250 and 600 Hz.[/quote] Sounds about right,With my iAmp a boost around 400hz helped bring out the growl Quote
Born 2B Mild Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 +1 for the humbucker. It's not the only reason, but it boosts your chances with all the other elements. Quote
SS73 Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 [quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='376610' date='Jan 11 2009, 09:34 AM']+1 for the humbucker. It's not the only reason, but it boosts your chances with all the other elements.[/quote] plus perhaps a straight thru neck for an uninterupted vibration path, Badass bridge to get the tone into the body and good tuners too, add a nice lead, some valves............. Quote
Bassmanc Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='376523' date='Jan 10 2009, 11:35 PM']If you were having a bass made, or making a bass, or picking one out, what properties give a 'growly' sound. I tried this with punch, and the answers were fairly contrary. See how this one goes.[/quote] These terms are a little subjective, but a growly sound might simply be attributed to a little bit of overdrive (so an active bass might help - or a valve preamp in your rig) or it could just be a question of EQ, boosting low mids would add a degree of 'aggression' to a bass sound. I suggest you try a bass you know well through a good graphic equaliser and see what difference each slider makes. However, the growliest bass I ever owned was a rick 4001 (and that had single pole pickup!) Quote
Kev Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 [quote name='steve-norris' post='376558' date='Jan 11 2009, 12:51 AM']Neck wood could be one factor, Warwicks are often described as having growl in abundance and feature hard dense woods such as wegne and laminate construction. This also gives a very stiff neck ( My dolphin suffered from too little neck bow when using .100's) so perhaps the stiffness of the neck is more of a factor than the material, perhaps people with experiance of carbon necks might shed some light on this.[/quote] My stingray has more growl with its carbon neck than it did with its maple neck Quote
Delberthot Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 My Warmoth is really growly and that only has a single, single coil pickup. As far as I am aware, the combination of Mahogany for the body, Wenge for the neck, a hot pickup, having a valve preamp running high and digging in when playing makes my bass growl. 2 of the growliest basses other than this one that I have owned have had mahogany bodies- Epi Thunderbird & 30th Anniversary Stingray I'm a big fan of mahogany Quote
silverfoxnik Posted January 11, 2009 Posted January 11, 2009 [quote name='Prosebass' post='376736' date='Jan 11 2009, 01:04 PM']Witchcraft......[/quote] That confirms it then!! I always thought that the luthier's craft was somewhat close to being a practitioner of the black arts!! Quote
ped Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 [quote name='silverfoxnik' post='377178' date='Jan 11 2009, 09:32 PM']That confirms it then!! I always thought that the luthier's craft was somewhat close to being a practitioner of the black arts!![/quote] Plus the one! Quote
Mr. Foxen Posted February 20, 2009 Author Posted February 20, 2009 Stuck second 1/4 pounder in the neck position on my mockingbird now. That is very growly too, through two valve amps. Bit too growly for the clean parts. Might record them on my p bass. Then try not to have a happy smile when I kick in the drive live, cause smiling is not Doom. Quote
Monz Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 Just to throw my 2p into the mix... My corvette had two MEC jazz pick ups in a Swamp ash body with Ovangkol and Wenge neck and fingerboard - Very Growly My Stingray has one Humbucking pick up bass wood body with maple and rosewood neck and fingerboard - Velvet smooth Go figure! Quote
rjb Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 It's mostly down to wood combinations as far as I'm concerned. Quote
xilddx Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 My Vette $$ is very growly, my Hohner Pro Jack Custom was also very growly. I suppose a firm definition of [b]Growly [/b]is required. What frequencies, or absence thereof, are the main factors in what we perceive as [b]Growl[/b]. I firmly believe growl is only possible with roundwound strings. I might put some flats on the Vette and see if it can still growl. Quote
budget bassist Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 [quote name='Monz' post='415185' date='Feb 20 2009, 12:22 PM']My Stingray has one Humbucking pick up bass wood body with maple and rosewood neck and fingerboard - Velvet smooth Go figure![/quote] Basswood body? Either ash or alder depending on the year/finish Bongo = basswood though Quote
Monz Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 [quote name='budget bassist' post='415531' date='Feb 20 2009, 04:32 PM']Basswood body? Either ash or alder depending on the year/finish Bongo = basswood though[/quote] You are right of course... anyway nothing spectacular wood wise Can you tell what my next bass is going to be yet? Quote
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 I used my new setup for my first get together with drummer &new guitarist on tuesday. I use Aguilar AG500 plus DB112 (NO TWEETER) The bass I was using was my Steiney xm2 custom version with split pick ups(not 2x humbuckers). It sounded very growly . No effects or anything. I did't realise it till next day but, all knobs were dead centre with gain turned 3 quarters up. Master was only turned up a little bit. I played a gig about 2 or 3 years ago in front of a deaf dog,( Fred)and he did growl .... Quote
Lfalex v1.1 Posted February 26, 2009 Posted February 26, 2009 I think the use of stiff (though not necessarily dense) materials, especially in the neck, is a contirbutory factor. Dare I suggest that string choice plays a part, too. (I'm thinking of DR strings in particular) Not so sure about the Humbucking pick-up question, though. Quote
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