Hi Leute!

Do you have any idea how to get a similar bass guitar sound, like......

I want to use amp sim vsts on my computer. I thought I should use a bass sim vst and a fuzz. But I think this sound isn't just a fuzz theres much more going on. I think I need more distortion plugins who can shape the sound in the right direction. I just don't know that much about distortion so I thought you can help me thanks!

I think the original band just used broken or shitty amps.

I just love how that band just uses bass as a lead instrument, and I want so make experiments in that direction.... But my bass skills are even more questionable than my guitar skills xD

 

I think bridge pickup => Ram's Head Big Muff => Valvestate 8100 with cranked reverb knob => EQ bump at ~2200hz should get you close. I tried with the Scarbee Rickenbacker in Kontakt, audiority VS8100 (default cab, default gain channel) and that sounded reasonable to me.

 

Bridge pickup, new strings, play with pick. Scoop the mids or just give it more highs so it sounds clanky as fuck, then add some sort of distorion to taste, i don't think this is fuzz though, it's too bright and not buzzy enough, i'd pick something more like a traditional distortion or a crancked amp. There's also some stereo thing going on, the signal is probably split into different amps or EQ's.

For actual examples just search for "clanky" or "modern" metal bass and you'll find what you need, or at least something in the ballpark.

 

Thank you! I think it should be easy to replicate your tips in my DAW. I have a Precision Bass and a Thunderbird (both affordable copys of the real thing), do you know which bass might suit better? I have no idea, to be honest. The Thunderbird should handle distortion better, but the Precision has a much brighter sound.

 

The one with less noise, probably the thunderbird.

 

@mk_96 Do you think I can get a similar tone for guitar with my amp, a RAT and an overdrive pedal?

 

Sure. As long as you have a way of boosting the highs or scooping the mids you should get a decent result, which you'll probably be doing in the amp itself anyway (and in the mix).

I wouldn't use both at the same time because noise and because too much distortion does weird things to the attack. Try one at a time and see what works best.

 

Definately capture going through the Rat to the amp as well as any in the box choice that you try, it could add thrill when it comes time to mixing for creative reasons, ie, doubling while panning. You can always reamp from the clean signal to record the amp and you could also send to your amp chain the distorted in the box sound to see what madness might come from that!

 

Eric Valentine covered the DFA 1979 bass sound he recorded for Nomad in great detail in one of his old YT vids. It's now been moved to his paywall site but it's only $1: https://audionautinstitute.com/videos?video_id=86

The setup is pretty crazy with two massive bass speaker boxes pointed directly at one another and mic'ed. IIRC there are 4-5 different bass channels and a complex pedal chain.

 

Oof sounds a little too expensive and complex for me right now.

Oh thanks for the mixing tips @Lois Lane and @mk_96 ! But I think my amp sound will not be recorded, because I guess plugins work better for recording (I just have no mics to take up amps hahahaha). I mostly asked for amp or pedal settings for playing live.

yeah my amp is a modeling amp, so I should have many options to edit the sounds. I have a Line 6 Catalyst 100 btw. But if I play live and don't want to use the smartphone editing app. Should I maybe get an EQ-Pedal? Sorry I'm just really clueless with guitar FX haha. I'm more of a keys guy and mostly played acoustic guitar for the last years. I only started to play electric guitar again since august last year haha, because a friend of mine wants to build an indie/punk band xD Hmmm maybe I should make a new thread for the most essential guitar FX.... Right now I have a Behringer Superfuzz, a Moer compressor (because somehow a compressor wasn't included in the modeling app for the amp), a Harley Benton Rat clone and a Harley Benton overdrive (MiniStomp Dr. D), and I want to get a Wah pedal, a metal distortion pedal (joyo dark flame) and a Zoom MS70-CDR+ (because I love reverse reverb and this pedal is really common in Shoegaze music). I guess I don't really need more pedals right now, because of the modeling stuff in my amp.

 

So i found this the other day:

I'm not a fan of DFA or anything but i'll try to describe this based on what the dude is saying and personal experience:

1-Wha pedal: Don't know how important this is for DFA, but i doubt it's enabled all the time. I'd say optional.

2-DI Box: This one looks fancy but it's just sending pre-filtered clean bass to the PA. You should probably get one, since you're using a guitar amp and the low frequencies may be lacking in some scenarios, you can compensate for that running a DI signal in parallel (at least for recording and live gigs). That said, it's common practice for sound guys to have one ready for this purpose, so if you're playing live you can probably just ask for one, if it's not already set up.

3-Graphic EQ: that one looks like it's for tone shaping, mostly boosting the 1k-4k area and attenuating the whole signal but all of that is going to depend on the sound of your bass and how it plays with the amp or other pedals. May not be necessary, specially since your pedals have some degree of tone and level controls, also i see a "voice" control on one which...idk what the fuck that does but sounds like built in EQ shapes or something. Though it's always good to have an EQ pedal around, so if you can afford something like it, go for it.

4-Delay: Totally optional

5-A/B switch: Not necessary, it's just to switch between bass and a synth.

6-Stereo chorus: Optional...kinda. It's there to send the same signal to two amps while adding some movement between them, but you may want some chorusing anyway even if you're using just one amp. You could try your amp's built in chorus for this and see if you like the result, just be aware that in this scenario the chorus is pre-overdrive, and depending on where you're geting your drive from (pedals or amp) your amp's chorus might be on a different place in the chain. There's something to experiment with, just try not to overdo it or you'll loose some of the power.

7-POG and KFK: Optional, they are ocassional effects and go to one amp only.

8-AMPS: two amps here, both working together (as in there's no switching between them), both overdriven and EQ'd, going through different cabs and mics.

ANYWAYS...reducing that to a setup like yours it would be something like this: Bass, DI box, EQ pedal (if necessary), pedal (preferably overdrive, but you be the judge), AMP. You could also experiment using the AMP's gain instead of pedals.

I think that was for that specific record, not a regular thing.

 

Last edited: May 1, 2026 at 12:50 AM

Bass + RAT (filter open for more highs)