Any bassists using AF3?

utkanos

utkanos

Member
I've been using my AF3 for bass, I am always curious how folks are using their Fractal gear with bass guitars!

My current setup is bass -> 1176 (cali76 pedal) -> AF3.

I will attach a preset I made next time I'm near it, but I've basically created a dual path setup with DI+ slight compression+EQ shaping to shave off high end on one path and then one amp path using the Bass 400 that has compression and EQ shaping as well to tame out the low end. Basic biamp type thing, but it works really well! I have any distortion (rarely used) on the amp path, so it doesn't clobber the low end.

I am especially curious for any folks using the SV Bass (SVT) amp how you've shaped your tone. I am still chasing a bit more midrange growl. If anyone has presets to share or tips to discuss I'd love to check them out
 
I play punk/hardcore mostly, so take that for what it's worth.

My most-used patch is bass into front of axe, a slight compression, then split to two amps. one is an svt with a slight crunch on it into a 1x15 cab. EQ'd for low and low-mids, with a little hi-mid. other is a bassman with a 1x8 (i think, maybe 1x6?) covering the mids and highs. Run all my crunch/distortion/reverb/slapback through the bassman. Nice thing about the Axe is you can use all the guitar gear without any fuss as long as you're attentive to what's getting cut out and making up for it elsewhere.

If you're looking for mid range growl, definitely check out the darkglass b7k drive model, but there are a number of guitar-centric drive pedals that I got cool tones out of.
 
negativefx said:
I play punk/hardcore mostly, so take that for what it's worth.

My most-used patch is bass into front of axe, a slight compression, then split to two amps. one is an svt with a slight crunch on it into a 1x15 cab. EQ'd for low and low-mids, with a little hi-mid. other is a bassman with a 1x8 (i think, maybe 1x6?) covering the mids and highs. Run all my crunch/distortion/reverb/slapback through the bassman. Nice thing about the Axe is you can use all the guitar gear without any fuss as long as you're attentive to what's getting cut out and making up for it elsewhere.

If you're looking for mid range growl, definitely check out the darkglass b7k drive model, but there are a number of guitar-centric drive pedals that I got cool tones out of.
Click to expand...

great idea on the drive! I want that with clean tones, but I can likely set it as a boost and still get the colour without the grit.

I am surprised at the cab sizes, I hadn't thought to experiment with a smaller diameter speaker like that. I use a combination of 10s and a 15 for more low end currently.

I'd love to check out one of your patches at some point if you'd like to share. Thanks for the reply!


I do play mostly clean fingerstyle, but I'd love to nail something like this tone (the repetitive verse bass line): https://songwhip.com/mansur-brown/edge

It has a touch of bite when you dig in to it
 
The past several pro bass players I've worked with are using the Austin Buddy bass presets pack. I think Danny Miranda (Queen, BOC, Meatloaf) may have even officially endorsed that product.

Also, I can't say officially because it's a 3rd party, but there should be some nice new bass DynaCabs coming soon.
 
utkanos said:
I'd love to check out one of your patches at some point if you'd like to share. Thanks for the reply!
Click to expand...

I shy away from sharing patches, not because I don't want people to steal my tones, but because I find they rarely sound the same between two players, instruments, rooms, etc. I play a P+J bass with custom wound pickups that have higher output than normal, and I live in the realm of smashing the front end of amps when I dig in to get some sag on the back end. I pick really really hard on bass which is kind of counter to what is 'normal'. (When I switch over to guitar, I frequently bust a string or two before I remember to chill out a bit.) Unless you're on a similar setup with terrible mechanics like me, it's not really going to come across.
 
negativefx said:
I shy away from sharing patches, not because I don't want people to steal my tones, but because I find they rarely sound the same between two players, instruments, rooms, etc. I play a P+J bass with custom wound pickups that have higher output than normal, and I live in the realm of smashing the front end of amps when I dig in to get some sag on the back end. I pick really really hard on bass which is kind of counter to what is 'normal'. (When I switch over to guitar, I frequently bust a string or two before I remember to chill out a bit.) Unless you're on a similar setup with terrible mechanics like me, it's not really going to come across.
Click to expand...

Yeah fair enough, and that's been my experience too but generally it's a good starting place to tweak from. I basically do this with every preset I download here lol. I'll try building something based on your description. I also am using a P+J custom higher output set, but we have very different playing styles so I understand what you mean
 
Admin M@ said:
The past several pro bass players I've worked with are using the Austin Buddy bass presets pack. I think Danny Miranda (Queen, BOC, Meatloaf) may have even officially endorsed that product.

Also, I can't say officially because it's a 3rd party, but there should be some nice new bass DynaCabs coming soon.
Click to expand...

Great to know, thank you! That's been generally the thing I want to play with the most when tone shaping lately so I'm looking forward to that :cool:
 
utkanos said:
I've been using my AF3 for bass, I am always curious how folks are using their Fractal gear with bass guitars!

My current setup is bass -> 1176 (cali76 pedal) -> AF3.

I will attach a preset I made next time I'm near it, but I've basically created a dual path setup with DI+ slight compression+EQ shaping to shave off high end on one path and then one amp path using the Bass 400 that has compression and EQ shaping as well to tame out the low end. Basic biamp type thing, but it works really well! I have any distortion (rarely used) on the amp path, so it doesn't clobber the low end.

I am especially curious for any folks using the SV Bass (SVT) amp how you've shaped your tone. I am still chasing a bit more midrange growl. If anyone has presets to share or tips to discuss I'd love to check them out
Click to expand...
I sorta do the same as you. [Dual path].
At first I was splitting the signal into two, sending one path to a bass amp &.cab, the other path into the Tube Pre.
I would turn down the bass on the amp and treble on the Tube Pre, a bit clumsy!

What I do now, is use the Crossover block to split the signal into the low bass [Tube Pre] and higher stuff [amp]. It could probably be done using 2 Filter blocks instead.
I got the idea from the Geddy Sansamp pedal.
When I overdrive or distort, I only do it on the 'higher' path.
It's probably still a bit clumsy though!
 
+1 on the Austinbuddy bass presets. You’ll save yourself a lot of experimenting.
Thanks
Pauly
 
On this topic any advice for setting up a nice growly bass synth tone, I am using an FM3 with @austinbuddy’s presets. I don’t have much experience with synth pedals and the like so any advice is helpful.
 
With bass I'm more of the mantra that less is more, often opting for a DI tone with a compressor and a drive pedal. I may run that through an IR or a tube preamp as well. I'm generally not a fan of heavily distorted bass tones for rock or metal though. I also play using my fingers most of the time rather than a pick.
 
I just recorded a record with the III, the engineer (and myself) have never heard a better recorded bass tone. Honestly, I play a lot of slap and rhythmic stuff and the tone is punchy, clean, and in your face. Havent even done anything to it yet, so cant wait to get the guitars/horns/keys tracked and start mixing...

My bass preset is extremely complex, because I am a kitchen sink guy and one preset I can play all genres, including all of Les crazy tones with different distortions, delays, modulations, etc.

The KEY for my preset is I use a compressor up front, with sidechain, THEN a multiband to tame any low thump or high clicks. Run that into the blackglass, an eq, then any time modulation/effects, into the SVT. Secret sauce is Dr Bonkers 4x10 mesa IRs. Gamechangers. The stock IRs never got me all the way "there".

Good luck!
 
Feflicker said:
I just recorded a record with the III, the engineer (and myself) have never heard a better recorded bass tone. Honestly, I play a lot of slap and rhythmic stuff and the tone is punchy, clean, and in your face. Havent even done anything to it yet, so cant wait to get the guitars/horns/keys tracked and start mixing...

My bass preset is extremely complex, because I am a kitchen sink guy and one preset I can play all genres, including all of Les crazy tones with different distortions, delays, modulations, etc.

The KEY for my preset is I use a compressor up front, with sidechain, THEN a multiband to tame any low thump or high clicks. Run that into the blackglass, an eq, then any time modulation/effects, into the SVT. Secret sauce is Dr Bonkers 4x10 mesa IRs. Gamechangers. The stock IRs never got me all the way "there".

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Are you side chaining to the kick? IN the axe? I'm curious as to why you didn't handle that ITB, or do you side chain live as well?
 
Feflicker said:
I just recorded a record with the III, the engineer (and myself) have never heard a better recorded bass tone. Honestly, I play a lot of slap and rhythmic stuff and the tone is punchy, clean, and in your face. Havent even done anything to it yet, so cant wait to get the guitars/horns/keys tracked and start mixing...

My bass preset is extremely complex, because I am a kitchen sink guy and one preset I can play all genres, including all of Les crazy tones with different distortions, delays, modulations, etc.

The KEY for my preset is I use a compressor up front, with sidechain, THEN a multiband to tame any low thump or high clicks. Run that into the blackglass, an eq, then any time modulation/effects, into the SVT. Secret sauce is Dr Bonkers 4x10 mesa IRs. Gamechangers. The stock IRs never got me all the way "there".

Good luck!
Click to expand...
do you mind sharing your preset?

My setup is two paths, one DI with some comp and freq shaping (keeping lows, ditching highs) and then an Amp block/cab path, comp and EQ cutting out the low freqs, then combining into a single output. I've got a bunch of IRs already.

I've attached mine here. This is dialed in for slightly higher output p-bass pickup/j pickup and flats.
 

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