Pedal that makes bass sound like a cello

[mudpitjackson]

My band's music has really needed cello in it, we have previously use a keyboard on recordings. But carrying around a keyboard and hooking it up at gigs is too much of a pain. And it would be a bigger pain for me to buy a cello and learn how to play it.
So, is there an effects pedal out there that makes a bass sounds like a cello?
The Ebow does not work well with bass, I have tried.
Also I read a suggestion that the Behringer SM200 Slow Motion may give a cello-like effect. I purchased it, and the Slow Motion does NOT work well with bass.

[scotch]

The POG 2 slow-gear setting works great on bass! However, I personally like to use a volume pedal into some reverb for "bowed" sounds. It doesn't sound exactly like a cello tonally, but it mocks it well enough to evoke the same overall vibe when played musically.

[Vakmere]

Try a Roland GR55. Has cello in it.

[vegas532]

I get a cello effect with fuzz->volume pedal->delay.

[BassMonstrum]

All of the above + a fretless seems to work too.

[leakepeter]

you could also try making a piccolo bass and bring it as a spare bass ebows work well with them

[Colonel Monk]

Attack Delay on Bass Micro Synth is good for bowed sounds.... And the other night at our Rapture Jam, my Empress tremolo on tube setting and shape - uhhhhh (the one the pulses every 3 or 4 beats) sounded alot like a cello playing quarter notes.

[BrandonBass]

U dont really need any pedals. Use ur volume knob for the swell effect. Anchor ur pinky on the volume knob and pluck w ur thumb. Turn the knob to a lower level and pluck. As soon as u pluck, gradually twist the knob w ur pinky to make it louder and swell back down again. Rinse. Repeat.

A chorus or delay pedal wont do any harm though

[scotch]

Heres a clip a did a while back to demo the POG2 with a "slow gear" type setting. The first lick is without the POG2 engaged, then noodling about with the pedal on (it will be obvious at about 10 seconds in). Note how the Pog 2 works polyphonically as well! It can even let a drone note sustain while it continues to 'bow' other notes. Just bass>POG2>reverb.

DivShare File - pog2 slowgear.mp3

[nobes]

I have a guyatone slow volume SV2. It works well. I will usually also add a little delay and chorus after the SV2.

[Jerry Callo]

Volume knob.

[paradigm_shift]

A sustaining fuzz/compressor into a 100% wet reverse reverb ( ala hardwire rv-7) would get you in a ballpark of a bowed sound

[mattq]

i do volume knob through overdrive and delay. sounds radtastic and very "stringed instrument"

[K-Frog]

My old Boss GT6B has a "Strings" setting (slow gear) that uses some slight overdrive and something else.
I use it almost weekly at church for a cello effect during the intros to some slow stuff. I could tweak it further, but it works pretty well as is. I did set up several presets with it, having different speeds of "bow attack" (don't know what you really call it, but it's the rise time of the bowing effect).
I really like my old GT6B for all the other stuff it offers.

[floatingaxe]

I use a slow gear effect and a little fuzz on my Boss ME-50B.
That plus fretless, plucking on the board.
Comes really close.

[lunarpollen]

Using my Digiverb pedal's reverse reverb feature set to fully wet and minimum decay gets a very passable cello sound. I even did a soundfile demo of this sort of thing a few years back but I've since lost that file...

[gumtownbassman]

I use my Roland GR-55 for Cello, it can do two instruments at the same time (out of the 910 to select from).
Very real sounding instruments complete with vibrato depending on how hard you pluck.

[chuck norriss]

Originally Posted by mudpitjackson

My band's music has really needed cello in it, we have previously use a keyboard on recordings. But carrying around a keyboard and hooking it up at gigs is too much of a pain. And it would be a bigger pain for me to buy a cello and learn how to play it.
So, is there an effects pedal out there that makes a bass sounds like a cello?
The Ebow does not work well with bass, I have tried.
Also I read a suggestion that the Behringer SM200 Slow Motion may give a cello-like effect. I purchased it, and the Slow Motion does NOT work well with bass.

Have you tried volume pedal? Rolling in the volume on a heavily sustained note works well. Delay or reverb also helps, don't hurt. It may not sound exactly like a cello but you can practice enough to make it attack & sustain to give an impression of a cello. I think that's how the average listener will respond.

[mudpitjackson]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I have tried the volume knob trick, but I just dont get the sustain that I want. I shall look into the pedals and pedal combinations that you mentioned, I have many of them already for guitar.