What do bassists use for keyboard/synth bass? I need to buy!!

nismaniac · #1 01-26-2010, 07:49 AM

I'm in a four piece band with two guitars and a drummer. We're going to expand a little and start adding some dance oriented songs. We need to add a keyboard/synth but we don't want to necessarily add another member.

I need a keyboard/synth that can produce normal piano sounds, synth sounds and good bass synth sounds. A straight forward plug and play setup would be best and preferably something around $500-$600. I would explore higher priced units if that was ultimately what it would take to get the job done. Also, somthing that could plug right into a powered mackie PA speaker or something would be convenient.

Thanks for everyone!!!

nnosal · #2 01-26-2010, 08:18 AM

hi, i have been thinking about that for 8 years in terms of solutions and equipiment. I play with my band songs like tears for fears, abc and that sort of music from eighties. I think that best solution for your request is Roland GR-20 or GI-20, and roland GK pickups which you mount on your bass. In that way you can link up your bass with real synth and trigger his internal sounds. Its expensive solution in my country, and the question is what would the latency be. Synth bass pedals and envelope filters which you can found on today market doesnt have sound what i am looking for. Cheers

chris.gotfunk · #3 01-26-2010, 09:25 AM

I am looking at getting the Akai Miniak. Not sure if it does real piano sounds though. The Korg MicroXL or something might do that too.

rakirksey · #4 01-26-2010, 09:28 AM

Depending on your keys skills you might be able to get by with a decent virtual analog synth. While they won't give you "great" piano sounds, they will be alright. If you want both you may be looking at something like the Clavia Nord Stage which has pianos, synth, organ etc. A new one however is in the $3K area.

Other than that, possible synth options are the Alesis Ion (used) or a new Alesis Micron (which is smaller and has less tweakable) interface. You might also want to check out some of the older Clavia stuff. Nord Lead (synth) or Nord Electro (pianos) which are a little more expensive.

If you look on the used market for older stuff you might be able to get a decent deal. I recently picked up a Nord Lead 2 for $500 used on CL. It does synth and bass synth well and does a decent job on piano-like sounds.

One thing about the Roland setup is that it will still be primarily a mono-synth and won't be capable of chords which may be something you might want based on your description.