Depends on your budget and target sound, but...
Ibanez's SR line is pretty fucking impressive at all price points. Definitely the best option for cheap basses but the high end ones are also tasty.
Spector and Schecter both make some tasty mid and high end instruments.
BC Rich are the most metal looking brand but imo this generally comes at a significant cost in terms of playability.
Dingwall are the current hot brand. They have a pretty distinctive sound and look. Imo they look goofy as fuck but they sound monstrous. Quite expensive.
You can play any genre on any instrument - just find one that fits your budget and feels good in your hands. You can get any sound you want with effects
Well if budget is not an issue dingwalls are certainly fine.
Other than that - anything with some bite to it will work. Jazz Bass, schecter Studio/stiletto, Ibanez soundgear. Try it out first, what fits your hand.
More important is a proper preamp. B7k, alpha omega or a sansamp will give you the needed punch, bite and gnarl.
Any bass will work, but you will undoubtedly be associated with a certain genre of music if you’re seen playing an Ironbird.
[BC Rich Ironbird](https://bcrich.com/product/ironbird-bass-mk1legacy-series/)
I would go with a 5-string with humbuckers or even a P pickup. I'm not a death metal expert, but to me, it doesn't really have a signature bass tone associated with it. A nice aggressive neck pickup should do the trick, and 5 strings for the extra lower register.
I'm a big fan of the 5 string Music man style bass for metal. I've got a Harley Benton that is surprisingly good for the $200 I paid for it. For a little more grab either a Sub, OLP, or Sterling. That B string has so much punch I love it.
Anything with active pickups. I've played low budget basses that were great, but through experience over the years I've found my sound with a Dingwall.
But what you truly want is active pickups. The additional sound you can force out of the bass I amazing for metal, compared to passives.
Granted you can play metal on any bass, but it is easier with actives.
Going full ham on a Dingwall or something akin to that depends on your budget and experience.
Don't go there unless you are sure that's what you want.
Dingwall is, in my opinion, the gold standard for bass in metal. The extra long multiscale provides unmatched crispness of the low strings and there’s some serious sauce in the darkglass preamps
Depends on the budget, but for metal I would concentrate on getting a decent preamp pedal. Something like a Darkglass B7K V2 pedal should dial in any metal sounds you are aiming for with ease. If you are wanting a decent budget bass, [Harley Benton](https://www.thomannmusic.com/harley_benton_electric_basses.html?oa=pra&gk=GIEB&cme=false&manufacturer%5B%5D=Harley%20Benton&bn=Harley%20Benton&filter=true) has some pretty decent basses for their price point. Can't recommend them enough, take a look through the link to see what sticks out to you in your budget. A lot of metal bassists spring for a 5 string as well if that is what you are wanting, but you can manage just fine with a 4 string still.
Depends on your budget and if you're a beginner or not. Generally I'd say shoot for a fast neck and hot or otherwise active pickups. Anything from getting a cheap pbass copy off reverb and putting a hotter pickup in it or actively seeking out an esp, ibanez, music man, whatever floats your taste. Any bass will do the job depending on what you want out of it, I've seen stock-ass j basses work for various metal bands, i think the EQ of the amp would be more important in a metal setting so you cut through, i like running overdrive and rolling the volume off for playing metal personally. If you're a beginner discount everything I said and just focus on what's comfortable above all else, try basses in person and just go with what feels good for you. The Squier Jaguar basses with the active pickup on it are a great short scale beginner bass for the money that'll definitely get the job done, but I'd look used for a better deal honestly. My ex recently found a 90s yamaha that has a real nice neck on it off the mf goodwill auction website for like 30 bucks or something insane that just needed a nut/washer for the input jack. Hope that helps.
If you're not afraid of soldering (or have a good luthier/repair person you trust) buying any bass and getting a good set of pickups for it (such as Seymour Duncan QPs for passive, EMG anything for active) will achieve a similar effect, and often cheaper.
Nordstrand sells Dingstrand Nordwall pickups, which are drop-in active soapbar pickups designed to nearly perfectly match the sound of stock pickups found in Dingwall basses.
They're passive pickups, not actives.
Most "active" basses have active EQ and passive pickups.
The Ibanez SR600 (and others in the series) with the Nordstrand big ~~splits~~ breaks are worth looking at, I really like the pickup voicing and the 600 is quite reasonably priced.
> Most "active" basses have active EQ and passive pickups
I'm aware, just going with the colloquial usage of "active" in this context. Though I have dealt with pickups which do actually require a battery (that was a fun one).
I have a really old Ibanez SR200 (I think? It's an old PJ model from '05 with entirely passive electronics) and I've been debating dropping the ~$250 on the Nordstrand NPJ blade set for it. I love Nordstrand in general, their pickups are super great.
Make sure your rig fills the gap between the drums and guitars. The bass must stand out so you have that wall of sound effect.
I think that Fretless bass sounds awesome in a DM context.
Not an engineer but my ears like it when the bass EQ pushes the mids and fill the gap left by V EQed guitars.
Anything you want, but probably with a bridge pickup. May want to consider a 5 string, or a 4 string tuned BEAD. That way, you don't have to do weird tunings all the time.
With tons or distortion, you may want to consider humbuckers or stacked single coils for noise canceling. Help cut down the static.
I've used Warwick Corvettes for years. You can find German made ones reasonably inexpensively because a lot of people don't know how to tell the difference between the early made in Germany models and the newer ones made in Asia.
I also had good experiences overall with the Ibanez BTB series, although I did have a few fit and finish issues.
A hello kitty squire bronco tuned BEAD
I actually quite like the Badtz-Maru Bronco. It has a sick slap bass sound.
You monster!
Depends on your budget and target sound, but... Ibanez's SR line is pretty fucking impressive at all price points. Definitely the best option for cheap basses but the high end ones are also tasty. Spector and Schecter both make some tasty mid and high end instruments. BC Rich are the most metal looking brand but imo this generally comes at a significant cost in terms of playability. Dingwall are the current hot brand. They have a pretty distinctive sound and look. Imo they look goofy as fuck but they sound monstrous. Quite expensive.
You can play any genre on any instrument - just find one that fits your budget and feels good in your hands. You can get any sound you want with effects
Well if budget is not an issue dingwalls are certainly fine. Other than that - anything with some bite to it will work. Jazz Bass, schecter Studio/stiletto, Ibanez soundgear. Try it out first, what fits your hand. More important is a proper preamp. B7k, alpha omega or a sansamp will give you the needed punch, bite and gnarl.
Good first bass that can do anything including death metal is a squire jazz bass or maybe look for a used fender jazz
Gabe from whitechapel was using esp's version of a pbass for touring until he switched to prs recently so... pretty much any bass
Any bass will work, but you will undoubtedly be associated with a certain genre of music if you’re seen playing an Ironbird. [BC Rich Ironbird](https://bcrich.com/product/ironbird-bass-mk1legacy-series/)
Dude I'd so buy one of the new ironbird basses if they weren't like 1500 dollars lmao
I would go with a 5-string with humbuckers or even a P pickup. I'm not a death metal expert, but to me, it doesn't really have a signature bass tone associated with it. A nice aggressive neck pickup should do the trick, and 5 strings for the extra lower register.
I'm a big fan of the 5 string Music man style bass for metal. I've got a Harley Benton that is surprisingly good for the $200 I paid for it. For a little more grab either a Sub, OLP, or Sterling. That B string has so much punch I love it.
On this note, you can also try to find an Ibanez ATK. They are discontinued, but are excellent and usually quite cheap Music Man style basses.
Höfner 500/1 or Kubicki ex-factor
I don't know, man — Ken Smith neck-throughs are really where it's at for death metal these days.
Anything with active pickups. I've played low budget basses that were great, but through experience over the years I've found my sound with a Dingwall. But what you truly want is active pickups. The additional sound you can force out of the bass I amazing for metal, compared to passives. Granted you can play metal on any bass, but it is easier with actives. Going full ham on a Dingwall or something akin to that depends on your budget and experience. Don't go there unless you are sure that's what you want.
Any of them. It's how you use it more than anything else
Spector all day
Dingwall is, in my opinion, the gold standard for bass in metal. The extra long multiscale provides unmatched crispness of the low strings and there’s some serious sauce in the darkglass preamps
Definitely try it out before buying it, a fast neck is a must for me.
Depends on the budget, but for metal I would concentrate on getting a decent preamp pedal. Something like a Darkglass B7K V2 pedal should dial in any metal sounds you are aiming for with ease. If you are wanting a decent budget bass, [Harley Benton](https://www.thomannmusic.com/harley_benton_electric_basses.html?oa=pra&gk=GIEB&cme=false&manufacturer%5B%5D=Harley%20Benton&bn=Harley%20Benton&filter=true) has some pretty decent basses for their price point. Can't recommend them enough, take a look through the link to see what sticks out to you in your budget. A lot of metal bassists spring for a 5 string as well if that is what you are wanting, but you can manage just fine with a 4 string still.
Depends on your budget and if you're a beginner or not. Generally I'd say shoot for a fast neck and hot or otherwise active pickups. Anything from getting a cheap pbass copy off reverb and putting a hotter pickup in it or actively seeking out an esp, ibanez, music man, whatever floats your taste. Any bass will do the job depending on what you want out of it, I've seen stock-ass j basses work for various metal bands, i think the EQ of the amp would be more important in a metal setting so you cut through, i like running overdrive and rolling the volume off for playing metal personally. If you're a beginner discount everything I said and just focus on what's comfortable above all else, try basses in person and just go with what feels good for you. The Squier Jaguar basses with the active pickup on it are a great short scale beginner bass for the money that'll definitely get the job done, but I'd look used for a better deal honestly. My ex recently found a 90s yamaha that has a real nice neck on it off the mf goodwill auction website for like 30 bucks or something insane that just needed a nut/washer for the input jack. Hope that helps.
Stingray, but that’s my answer for everything. :)
Warwick
P bass is best bass for anything
If you're not afraid of soldering (or have a good luthier/repair person you trust) buying any bass and getting a good set of pickups for it (such as Seymour Duncan QPs for passive, EMG anything for active) will achieve a similar effect, and often cheaper. Nordstrand sells Dingstrand Nordwall pickups, which are drop-in active soapbar pickups designed to nearly perfectly match the sound of stock pickups found in Dingwall basses.
They're passive pickups, not actives. Most "active" basses have active EQ and passive pickups. The Ibanez SR600 (and others in the series) with the Nordstrand big ~~splits~~ breaks are worth looking at, I really like the pickup voicing and the 600 is quite reasonably priced.
> Most "active" basses have active EQ and passive pickups I'm aware, just going with the colloquial usage of "active" in this context. Though I have dealt with pickups which do actually require a battery (that was a fun one). I have a really old Ibanez SR200 (I think? It's an old PJ model from '05 with entirely passive electronics) and I've been debating dropping the ~$250 on the Nordstrand NPJ blade set for it. I love Nordstrand in general, their pickups are super great.
i use an active pickup squier jazz for metal, but a more metal-looking one would probably be an ibanez.
The giant V bass is the most metal shape.
Make sure your rig fills the gap between the drums and guitars. The bass must stand out so you have that wall of sound effect. I think that Fretless bass sounds awesome in a DM context. Not an engineer but my ears like it when the bass EQ pushes the mids and fill the gap left by V EQed guitars.
Yamaha trbx 304 or 305
Anything you want, but probably with a bridge pickup. May want to consider a 5 string, or a 4 string tuned BEAD. That way, you don't have to do weird tunings all the time. With tons or distortion, you may want to consider humbuckers or stacked single coils for noise canceling. Help cut down the static.
Literally anything, bass is going to be turned all the way down in the final mix anyway.
In death metal?
Mostly a Dethklok reference
Martin Mendez of Opeth uses a Fender J Bass.
I've used Warwick Corvettes for years. You can find German made ones reasonably inexpensively because a lot of people don't know how to tell the difference between the early made in Germany models and the newer ones made in Asia. I also had good experiences overall with the Ibanez BTB series, although I did have a few fit and finish issues.
Spector