Teh Awesomes

[Notesurfer]

I just found this the other day and it makes me happy. *downloads drummer into subconscious*

[niff]

lordy. that drummer knows what the hell he's doing. guitarist is a bit messy but, cool. bassist as a sweet tone and is playing exactly what fits the music.. reminds me a lot of russian circles.

that reminds me, due to the limited availability of good gear in NZ, i am soooo looking forward to the new MXR el grande bass fuzz. cheap, and according to the guys who went to NAMM this year, pros who i'd trust recommendations from without even hearing what i was buying, said it was one of the best bass fuzzes they'd heard in years. i'm stoked. i need a good fuzz, my sansamp GT2 is more like a harsh distortion and i only really use it for guitar - same with my russian big muff. i want a smoother, but at the same time crunchy fuzz like in that video. have a feeling he was using a cranked little big muff or a fulltone bassdrive/any other bass modded tubescreamer clone in that video though.

[Notesurfer]

His distortion is decent, but I still don't hold with bass distortion. It turns the bass into another guitar, which (to me) seems redundant. If the bass doesn't occupy a certain place in the soundscape then it feels weird to me. Look at the way Cliff Burton (metallica bassist) played bass - sure he was talented/proficient/etc and so on, but when I listen to him play bass it just sounds like a low guitar to me.

I don't really know what to attribute this bias to - perhaps extensive exposure to double-basses and jazz/classical music? Whatev d-:

EDIT: I should probably clarify by noting that these views only apply to what I like to play. I'll listen to someone using the above techniques, I'm just hesitant to use them myself because I feel like it infringes on my groove somewhat.

Also Russian Circles rules. \m/

[N3B]

that bass chap seems to play a bunch of cords (and uses a pick).

[niff]

he's doing a couple chords and some fast pentatonic-ish runs, and keeps a real tight rhythm section. pretty cool.

i like bass distortion. especially if there is no rhythm guitar present at all. with technology progressing as it is, you still get the low fundamental bass harmonics but you also get some mid/high harmonics that give it that edgy crunch to make it seem aggressive as hell.

as much as i liked cliff's bassplaying, in songs, most of the time he used the distortion wrooong. back in those days bass pedals weren't super popular, so he used a low end sucker of a distortion (nobody knows what, and don't say russian BM, they weren't invented then and everybody overlooks that) and an even more low end sucking wah. i should know, i have the exact same model. but the distortions, overdrives and fuzzes these days are brilliant. holds the low end, mid crunch, and some highs to give it a nice tone if you feel like it. aggressive as hell, while still being a bass.

and if you still don't like it, blend the out of it. half distorted, half clean if you like even. i could swear the guy from russian circles did that but he just runs a sanford and sonny bluebeard in front of a fulltone fatboost.

but i must agree it doesn't suit for funky/grooving bassplaying at all. i hammer out my riffs in the music i play predominantly and bass overdrive fits perfectly.