Will a bass synth pedal get me this tone?

iamthebassman · #1 12-02-2010, 09:46 AM

The bass on this tune is played on a keyboard, what can I use on my bass to get this tone/sound?
Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmmPFrkuPq0

nnosal · #2 12-02-2010, 10:36 AM

Hi, ive been interested on this lately, as i play eighties staff too. From my researching, the only possibly solution is MIDI base connection which can be very expensive with no guarantee results. Guitar to MIDI systems like Axon AX 100, Yamaha G50 or Roland GI 20 by which you can trigger sounds from external devices like synthesizers via hexaphonic pickup is one way. Lately Sonuus sell unit called B2M for resonable price ( around 100 euros ) but should ask other TB ers on tracking issues. Another way is MIDI bass like Industrialradio which has lets say built in guitar to midi converter. This has been done in 80s by Wal MIDI bass and i think Peavey too. Unfortunately, didnt try too much of these staff, but i would like to hear other opinions and experiences. For now i let my keyboard player to do synth lines, and i fill it up with bass. At the end lots of great players have do it without midi like John Taylor, Pino Paladino with Gary Numan, Derek Forbes etc..

Cheers

funk_in4 · #3 12-02-2010, 11:00 AM

There IS another alternative- the Roland VBass or newest incarnation, the VB99 (which is genuinely superior to the original VBass). The sounds are actually "modeled", and you drive the unit with either a Roland GK3B surface mount pickup or with piezo pickups in your saddles (marketed by Shadow and RMC among others). Both Alain Caron and Richard Bona use this system, among many others. The difference is that to drive a midi module, you still use the same pickup system, but there is a "middle" stage, where the pitch is converted to a midi signal, and then this is fed to a midi synth module. Although there is a very small amount of delay in the response of the lower register of a 5 string, it is extremely easy to adapt to and much more practical than the pitch to midi thing, which is atrocious at best with bass.
Of course, all info from my own perspective and IMO, but I use the VBass for synth sounds and although it has a somewhat limited array of sounds for that purpose, it works extremely well once you mount the pickup correctly and then adjust the VBass module parameters to get your bass responding evenly on all strings.
original VBass- http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/products/en/V-Bass/
VB99- http://www.roland.com/products/en/VB-99/

Alain using it for melody on D-Code:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcsjlFFBU6M
(and yes, you can select which strings go through the VBass for any given patch)
As it happens, the VBass also has amp/cab modeling, bass models and a full array of effects that can all be used either with or independently of your own bass.

iamthebassman · #4 12-02-2010, 11:03 AM

Thanks for the replies so far, but let me say I need "it" for this song and maybe one other, so I guess I'm looking for a "lower cost solution".

BigOldHarry · #5 12-02-2010, 11:11 AM

I don't know - that sounds a lot like a bass being played with a pick and bit of chorus to me - A rick, perhaps. I could cop that tone on my gear right now. I suspect you're over-thinking the problem a bit.

jgroh · #6 12-02-2010, 01:17 PM

The tone in that song is similar to that Mr Mister song Broken Wings too (at least IMO). Maybe like Harry said above, use a pick with some chorus and squish the hell out of it with a good compressor? If its just live performances you can probably cop something similar and not many people would notice.

Spinal Tapper · #7 12-02-2010, 01:23 PM

I bet you could get pretty close to that with a thumb/slap technique...

iamthebassman · #8 12-02-2010, 01:24 PM

Haha, that's funny!

bassbrad · #9 12-02-2010, 02:06 PM

While it is keyboard bass line it is a sample based sound of a tightly compressed chorused bass not played with a pick, a very common keyboard sound, check at 3:31-4 for the cheezy keyboard run for the tell tale.
I have a patch on my Zoom just for that sound.
Are the Eggmen branching out?

iamthebassman · #10 12-02-2010, 02:10 PM

The Eggmen are not branching out, I am. I've just started a side-project, a Moody Blues cover band. Speaking of, The Eggmen are heading to Louisiana in a couple hours.

brekfustuvluzer · #11 12-05-2010, 05:33 PM

hey man, i just saw a video of the eggmen doing i am the walrus with a string section. really good stuff! i dream of being in a cover band of that caliber. good job man!