Any decent harmonizers for bass?

ndrly · #1 12-20-2008, 01:36 AM

So I was thinking of having a rackmounted setup. I think I could store a few pedals in a drawer, switch them in and out with a MIDI switcher and pedalboard.

I have one question though. Are there any decent harmonizers out there that will work for bass guitar? I know the Digitech Whammy pedal is kinda glitchy. But I have heard that the rackmounted harmonizers are better quality.

I've been kinda into harmonizers after listening to Justin Chancellor's use of the bass whammy. I'd probably just use like octave up shift, octave up/down harmony, 5th up/octave up and 5th up/6th up, which is what he uses.

So, are there any dedicated harmonizers out there for bass guitar? Or will the ones designed for guitar work just fine?

McHaven · #2 12-20-2008, 01:04 PM

EHX is coming out with the Voicebox which does all sorts of harmonies and other weird stuff.

http://www.ehx.com/products/voice-box

bassbrad · #3 12-20-2008, 01:13 PM

Boss makes a harmony pedal but IMO you'd be better off looking at a rack processor for quality and the ability to store/recall patches.

greenboy · #4 12-20-2008, 01:23 PM

Roland VB-99.

asherthemachine · #5 12-20-2008, 02:13 PM

he knows he needs a rackmount, thats what he said. and i think the whammy with some mods would be your best bet, although i dont know much about rack nonsense. and do you only want one because justin's sounds rad? i sure hope not......

ndrly · #6 12-20-2008, 03:54 PM

I want to make my own sounds too! I just put down JC's presets because I'd probably use them for original material as well as Tool covers. Maybe there'd be some others...

I'd love to be in a progressive/experimental band. If we were doing covers, I'd love to do Tool.

anechoic · #7 12-20-2008, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ndrly

I've been kinda into harmonizers after listening to Justin Chancellor's use of the bass whammy. I'd probably just use like octave up shift, octave up/down harmony, 5th up/octave up and 5th up/6th up, which is what he uses.

I know you said you're looking mainly for a rackmount, but give the EHX HOG a try. It will do nearly all of what you're looking for (except the 6th, I think), and the tracking is pretty good. The freeze function with the expression pedal is really cool - after a few minutes of experimenting, I was able to get a decent organ sound going along with the bass by selectively holding notes.

The other thing I like about the HOG is that if you get the optional footswitch (which lets you save presets), all the foot controls are remote, and you can keep your $400+ pedal off the floor.

TimmyDX · #8 12-21-2008, 01:03 AM

when i saw dream theater live i liked the chorus/harmoniser john myung used in his rack (wikipedia)

ndrly · #9 12-21-2008, 06:11 PM

The Eventide stuff sounds inconvenient...they don't really have any 1/4" jacks.

excane · #10 12-21-2008, 11:50 PM

The most badass harmonizer I've heard was in my Eventide GTR4000. I couldn't justify keeping a $2000 piece of equipment that I hardly used so I sold it...but if you're going the way of the rack, check out a used one.

ndrly · #11 12-22-2008, 03:32 AM

The Eventide stuff is very expensive, and judging by the manual, very complex, so I probably won't get one.

I think all I'd really want is like two voices set at different pitch intervals, or shifted an octave up or down, kind of like the Digitech Whammy, although not as glitchy.

ga_edwards · #12 12-22-2008, 08:59 AM

I don't know how bass friendly they are, but my friends G-Major does a great Eventide impression on his Steve Vai Ballerina patch. Pitch shifting and delay. May be worth a look.

ndrly · #13 12-22-2008, 03:10 PM

Well, I was thinking of having a G Major for harmonization. Not quite sure if it'd work for bass, though. I'll give it a shot first chance I get.

ndrly · #14 01-17-2009, 06:13 PM

Scratch the G Major for the moment. The upcoming Pitch Factor from Eventide sounds nice.

Of course, I'll have to figure it out via the manual first...