Bass Syth players?

Honestly, look into Dave Smith Instruments. They make the MoPho keyboard for under a grand, and the Mono Evolver for just over. Bass synth "effects" pedals are limited, and installing a MIDI pup means still needing a synth to trigger- it's cheaper, and BETTER to get a real keyboard synth. I've tried so many other options, then got a Moog Little Phatty, and saw the light. I now own more synths than basses, but the experience was well worth it.

 

Does the Moog Little Phatty go right into an amp or PA, or does it require an intermediate piece of gear to actually generate the tone? (Probably a stupid question, but some of these keyboards seem to need another piece to go with them.)

 

The Moog Little Phatty is an analog monosynth. It's really great because it gets those Moog tones, but you can SAVE your settings!
They have midi and CV connections.
If you are going to be midi triggering from your bass instead of using the keyboard you can pick up a Moog slim phatty, or MiniTaur. Both are synth modules which dont have keyboards, just knobs and buttons. That will save you a little bit. The Minitaur does not have patch save abilty. It is tiny though, the size of a large effect pedal and it is based on teh Moog Taurus bas pedals.

 

You'll be better off getting a keyboard snyth. Not only do they track better (duh) but spending time playing a key board will open up your mind to new things and new ways.

 

I bought a Roland GK-3B unit with the intention of mounting it on my Schecter 5-string, but mechanically it couldn't be made to work, so I mounted it on my Pedulla (fortunately, this can be done without drilling/routing). I've used it to drive various soft-synths on a laptop. You need to understand that these interfaces work by analyzing the piezo pickup signal to find the fundamental frequency, and that takes a certain number of cycles. Which means that, the lower the pitch, the longer it takes to acquire the frequency and translate that to a MIDI note. Even with a guitar, the lowest octave will generally have a perceptible lag, and on bass, it gets worse.

It *can* be very cool, but don't imagine that you're going to be able to drive a patch with a hard attack and have it come out in sync with the attack of bass notes in low registers. You can use it for melodies in higher registers, particularly if you roll off the actual bass sound, or (and this is what I enjoy) you can have a patch or sample with a more gradual attack swell up behind your bass notes. I got a really good deal on the Roland pickup, and already owned the guitar->MIDI converter box, so I have no regrets, but I would not recommend making a major investment or mutilating an otherwise nice bass to do it.

 

Go for the moog taurus. More bass than your bass is capable of bassing! Seriously. Just bass.

 

I have been very happy with my DSI Mopho keyboard, I run it through my bass rig and it sounds awesome.



Later
Rob

 

Dave Smith and Moog both make great synths, but Moog rules the for the deepest of bass sounds....

 

Synthesizers can be run directly to an amp, or PA sound board quite easily. My set up includes an Access Virus KB, DSI Mono Evolver KB, and a Moog Little Phatty, all run to a small mixer, then out to a bass amp/cab. My bass guitars go through a pedalboard, then on to another bass amp/cab. it's alot of gear, but my bass sounds like a bass, and the synthy stuff is over the top synthy. The 2 should not be made one, it just never turns out like you want it to.

 

Love those Taurus IIIs!
I'm planning on getting my own in the early spring (if there are any left by then).

 

Yep the Taurus 3 is epic. Goes with me everywhere. Only complaint is its awkward to move. But man its worth it. Bought mine about three months ago. Freaken awesome.

 

Besides those allready mentioned, the Nord lead2x, Novation synths in general, and Maudio Venom are also excellent VA synths. Korg Kaos Pad3 also has some very usable synth voices for bass things to btw. Its more then a effects unit to process external audio.

 

playing the Taurus 3 takes a while. Still working on it.

 

I think an Alesis ION is abetter choice than the Smith (it's cheaper) or the Moog 'il Phatty (it's cheaper, it's 8 voice polyphonic and 1000x more flexible, etc). It will do all sorts of bass sounds and is an excellent synth as well. Find a used one on the 'Bay for about 400 and you can plug it right into your rig.
The Taurus 3 pedals though, those are a different story. You can't go wrong with those.

 

Tell me about it. I've been playing Taurus for 25 years now, and even after all that time it can still be a test of balance & coordination.
Give it a few years - after about 6 years of playing Taurus, I finally got to the point where I didn't have to look at the pedals or my bass while I was playing them at the same time.

 

Except the Moog Lil Phatty and Dave Smith Isntruments Mopho are REAL ANALOG and the ION is merely a modeling synth.
Some modeling synths can make some pretty interesting sounds, but when it comes to making my own patches I prefer analog synths 10 to 1 over digital approximations.
I also prefer synths with dedicated knobs and button. The ion is a pain in this regard.