KVR Audio

swegguar · Post by **swegguar** » Sat May 10, 2014 9:25 am

hi I own an electric guitar, and wanted to play some bass, but can't afford an electric bass right now. I wondered if ther is a hardware processor that simulates that the sound of the guitar sounds like a bass, properly, fairly enough. I saw the korg pandora has bass simulator, is it good enough to play some bass and not hear a plastic sound§ can I find the bass simulator alone, so I don't need to buy all the features of the korg pandora§

plastic · Post by **plastic** » Sat May 10, 2014 10:44 am

Google for gear of The White Stripes and The Kills, since they both are single guitar players who substitute bass with a combination of pedals and techniques.

Something like Electro Harmonix POG.

My advice is: Don't look at the digital "amp simulator" pedals of Line 6, Korg, etc, they sound shit, especially if you push them to the limits, which is what you do when you're pitch shifting your guitar down.

However, you can probably find a cheaper 2nd hand bass guitar than what those pedals cost.

swegguar · Post by **swegguar** » Sat May 10, 2014 10:51 am

thanks. bit dissapointed to hear, i had hopes for korg pandora, anyway, cheap bass is affordable, bigger hands... NOT... LOL

chokehold · Post by **chokehold** » Sat May 10, 2014 11:03 am

The problem with pitch-shifting is that it may work well within a smaller or broader range, depending on the algorithm used, but as soon as the shifting becomes too dramatic (like "from guitar to bass"), all formants and transients will be lost or smeared or distorted. Adding such a signal to a guitar signal can make it sound "fatter", but listening to the gargling, blubbering and undefined mess by itself is not really desirable.

+1 for "get a bass", that was what I did, as well.
Much better sound, even with a cheap indonesian no-name one.

swegguar · Post by **swegguar** » Sat May 10, 2014 11:10 am

i'll try the guitar to midi with my favourite bass synth, and dream of the day i get a electro harmonix mini POG, seems fine. Discussion still open for further references to complications in rational space.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sat May 10, 2014 5:52 pm

buy a cheap 3/4 scale bass guitar...

ghettosynth · Post by **ghettosynth** » Sat May 10, 2014 6:18 pm

Hink wrote:buy a cheap 3/4 scale bass guitar...

This is the right answer. Seriously, the only way to make guitar sound even halfway decent as a bass instrument is if you distort it. Pitch to midi is pretty much a waste of time. It works, but, it puts a lot of restrictions on your playing technique such that it's really just less hassle to play a short scale bass. You're not the first guitarist to go down this road and few would recommend not getting a bass except for certain niche styles.

If you don't want to buy a new instrument, then honestly, I think that the easiest way to get down good basslines is to just paint them into the piano roll. Start with root notes, anywhere from 1 to 8 per measure depending on feel, and then move them to groove them. There are a lot of tutorials on this on youtube.

At any rate, if you're playing live, this is $115. Of course, any worthwhile bass amp will cost a lot more.

http://www.rondomusic.com/ursa2jrrncar.html

tapper mike · Post by **tapper mike** » Sat May 10, 2014 6:44 pm

Ditto.

There is nothing quite like a real bass.

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Sat May 10, 2014 6:52 pm

and for guitar players sometimes 3/4 scale basses are better...

swegguar · Post by **swegguar** » Sat May 10, 2014 6:55 pm

Two fish are in a tank. One turns to the other and says

Jim Y · Post by **Jim Y** » Sun May 11, 2014 10:59 am

...so, how do you drive this?

Short scale basses do sound different - honky and not as solid down the bottom. It's a tone that cuts through mixes well when played over crappy little speakers.
They featured very strongly back in the sixties and seventies. Gibson EB3 and Fender Mustang being very common. Mind though that most Epiphone EB3 copies are EB3L's - the rarer long scale version Gibson once made. Talking Heads' Tina Weymouth used a Mustang.

Another thought is, if you can play keyboards, that will get a better bass than a guitar effect, especially if you only want a typical "down under the mix" bass. Otherwise, just get a bass!

Daimonicon · Post by **Daimonicon** » Sun May 11, 2014 11:27 am

Well I have small fingers and was tired to program bass. Bought a Sandberg California JM4 second hand. Thin neck and low string action. Most basses I have tried were too big for my fingers but this one not.

swegguar · Post by **swegguar** » Sun May 11, 2014 12:30 pm

well, you're very appologetic, but I will push on throug my idea of playing bass with a guitar. Then we'll see. Very interesting answers. Tanx.

JCJR · Post by **JCJR** » Sun May 11, 2014 2:00 pm

Daimonicon wrote:Well I have small fingers and was tired to program bass. Bought a Sandberg California JM4 second hand. Thin neck and low string action. Most basses I have tried were too big for my fingers but this one not.

Alternarely, try something too small for your fingers-- Quite awhile ago guild released the ashbory silicone rubber stringed fretless. It was kinda expensive and they should have been shot and then hanged for the friction peg tuners on the silly thang, but it had great tone.

Then maybe a decade ago fender acquired some guild assets and released the dearmond ashbory, much less expensive and imo a better made instrument, with geared tuners thank hubbard. They are not crazy expensive new and might be found purt cheap used, with luck.

The scale is shorter than guitar. Tiny little thangs. Therin lies the rub. That old joke, "How do you know when a fretless bass is out of tune? When it is being played."

I borrowed and sampled one of the original ashbory's a long time ago and its my all time favorite keybass tone. Punches as good as electric bass, with some fretless tonal character. Just all around good punchy bass that neither sounds like an electric nor a doghouse bass.

Then bought a dearmond fender ashbory when they came out. It is a difficult instrument to play in tune. Sometime I want to try laying an ashbory track as good as can manage, and then find out if melodyne or some other pitch process will bring it passably in tune. Such instrument sounds good with minor pitch errors in the right places. Would be the trick of tightening it up "just enough" but not "too much".

Muzik 4 Machines · Post by **Muzik 4 Machines** » Sun May 11, 2014 2:26 pm

get a 100$ bass, it's worth it
otherwise, an octaver and bass amp sim
better get a GK pickup and a polyphonic pitch shifter (hard to find) or the new Roland vg stuff which is really great)

how do i make a guitar sound like a bass, which kind of processor do i need§