It punches you in the chest, and flaps your trouser legs. It’s the thump that moves the rump.

A bass player forms the connective tissue between the drummer and the rest of the instruments, standing with one foot in the rhythmic and the other in the melodic.

The drummer may make you tap your feet, but the bass player makes you leave your seat.

In fact, a killer bass sound is essential to popular music.

The importance of bass

Now, I’m not saying this just because I’m a bass player myself! Take five minutes and think of as many songs as you can that made it into the charts that didn’t have a prominent bass line.

Could you think of one? When Doves Cry by Prince is the only one I got!

So let’s explore the diversity of tones that the bass family of instruments can produce.

From London Calling to Hysteria to Carwash there is a huge number of tracks that rely on a unique bass sound for a killer hook.

This series will be a little different to most of the bass articles you might have read in the past because I’m focusing on tone rather than technique.

Series Overview

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Missed part one? Catch up here.

Last time around we talked about the basics of amplifier distortion: What it is, where it came from and what it sounds like. Now it’s time to discuss the non-amp distortion gizmos out there that claim to be able to replicate the dirty sound of amplifier crunch. Bold claim! Can they do it? Let’s find out.

First, we need to define a few terms so that you aren’t flying blind! We have already established the 3 primary distortion-creating sections of an amp:

1. The pre-amp, consisting of the pre-amp tubes
2. The power amp consisting of the power tubes
3. Power tube compression and drive.

The basic functions of these 3 sections are as follows:

Pre-amp

This is where the input signal is shaped, EQ’d (most of the time – but there are exceptions!), and distorted to various degrees. Since this is the first stage only, pre-amp-only distortion is described as being raspy, over-compressed (due to the particular characteristics of the pre-amp tubes), and thin sounding in general.

Power amp

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Missed the start of the series? Catch up here.

Ahh, it’s time for all things filth! Overdrive, distortion, fuzz, soft clipping, hard clipping, and limitless other descriptions to describe one of the most dramatic sound effects ever!

If dynamics effects are to claim the prize of being the most controversial and misunderstood effects; then the coveted prize for most popular, certainly (and with no competition) goes to anything that has the words ‘overdrive’, ‘distortion’, ‘fuzz’, or any variant in its descriptive moniker! While originally intended for guitar players (you’ll understand once you learn the history of this effect), no other effect has been so widespread throughout all of music production. Everything from vocals to drums, keyboards, and everything in between has been distorted, overdriven or fuzzed up at one time or another.

I’ll move it one step further. Distortion (unless otherwise specified, for simplicity I’ll refer to this topic generally as “distortion” from now on) actually makes up about 85-90% of the effects market. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that occasionally I use a made up expressive term like “cajillion” to make a point about enormous quantity; BUT, concerning distortion, no such exaggeration is needed – as there are thousands (and I mean that literally) of distortion devices being produced right at this moment.

I’ll bet that you, reading this right now, have at least a few distortion effects lying around!

I know that I certainly own… well… let’s just skip that number for now! Put it this way: I will never again make fun of, or criticize my girlfriend’s penchant for owning innumerable pairs of shoes!

However you slice it, distortion is the big card game in town and everyone wants a seat at the table; either as a consumer, or an opportunist manufacturer who boasts about delivering a new spin to all things crunch!

Why distort your signal?

Now on to more pertinent queries. Why on earth would you want to purposely distort a signal? After all, aren’t we taught by Hi-Fi manufacturers that the lower the signal distortion the better? Why the exception here?

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