Guitar Doubling Live

[Runnerman]

I play in a 3 piece. There are songs we want to do but can't because there is a clear background rhythm guitar part going on during the solo. An example of a song would be Boston - More than a Feeling. The guitar player has messed with loopers but he is also the lead vocalist so it becomes unmanagable for him. So as the bassist, (and also a semi-competent guitarist) I wanted to see what kind of options there are for me to fill the guitar parts during his solos. I have an octave pedal which I've tried to use to fill things out a bit but it doesn't sound right.

As far as I can see I have 3 options...

1) Play to a backing track. Don't want to do this. Whole idea is to pull off a complex song as a 3 piece.

2) Effect pedal or other that can double with distorted (or clean) guitar when playing a note on the bass. Does such a thing exist? Would a tonex or other modeller patch work? I don't see how it could since I would only be playing one note on the bass.

3) Double neck guitar/bass. Switch to the guitar and use a pedal which would emulate the bass on the root note. Is there something that exists?

Are there other options that would not break the bank that I am missing.
Thank you in advance!

 

[newwavefrank]

You said you used an octave pedal but im not sure how you used it. most people I think would start playing higher on the bass and use a sub octave to fill in the lower notes. Personally I am not a fan of that approach. I don't want the bass sound to change. I use an octave pedal to fill in in my three piece country band, but i use a pedal that allows me to send separate outputs for the clean and affected signals. I send the affected signal (one octave up) to a volume pedal, then to a sansamp to color the tone a little. This would actually work even better if you were wanting a more distorted sound for rock. I just play bass as normal, then lean on the volume pedal to dial in a little (or a lot) of the higher octave. I also send that signal to a different channel on the board. It isn't perfect but it works pretty well and it does help fill in those spots that feel too empty.

 

[eeyorebass]

Something like the T Rex Quint will add a fifth and an octave above the note you're playing, so it would be like a guitar doubling your line with power chords.

→ T-REX EFFECTS ← Pedals for guitar and bass players!

Ultra-fast polyphonic tracking, individually adjustable octave up, octave down and 5th up enhancement. Buy your T-Rex Quint Machine and spare parts here!

www.t-rex-effects.com

 

[WRM]

I wonder if the "harmony" settings on the Mono Neon Whammy would work?
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/mononeon-signature-whammy.1666342/

Seems the Akai Unibass gets a nod in this application and there are a few used units on Reverb:

Thread 'Can I make by bass sound like a rhythm guitar?'

Sep 10, 2007

I play in a hard rock/metal cover band with one guitarist and would like to simulate a second guitar type sound using either a pitch shifter or harmonic-octave pedal. My thinking was to use an A/B box running output A to my Genz Benz GBE750 head and into my Benz 2x12 cab for clean bottom. Output B would then go into a pitch shift or harmonic pedal then to a overdrive/distortion pedal and run that into my SWR 750 and then into my Benz 4x10 cab. I am guessing that this should give me the results that I want with some tweaking of the effects. What do you think?

• mettec
• Replies: 20
• Forum: Effects [BG]

 

[bassbrad]

Akai UniBass or Fishman Fission pedals do this exactly they are both discontinued but can often be found used. I use the UniBass a lot when playing in a power trio.

TRex Quint Machine is the one pedal currently available that can take your bass and expand that with octagve up and down plus a fifth up for power chords. There are level controls for each voice and I find that it plays very well with other effects like distortion or synth. I have mine placed after effects.

Panda Future Impact V1 to 4.5 has a harmonizer section that is an expanded 'UniBass' section designed in that works very well. This is nice as it adds more harmonizer options like 2 oct up or octave+fifth up.

 

[bassbones2]

Have used everything mentioned except the T-rex. It’s important that whatever you decide on has a effect only output and run that to a separate guitar amp. This and a momentary switch on the pedal worked best for me. The Unibass is good and are around $200 used and has all the features and it will hold it’s resale value. The fishman is ok but no momentary switch. The current bass whammy is the best IMO for tone but lacks a separate output and momentary switch.
That’s all I got
JB

 

[Wood and Wire]

The poor mans option would be to use something like the Boss LS-1 line selector, to blend your clean signal with itself, run through something like a Pog Octave Up pedal & any distortion pedal.

The less poor mans option is to split the signal (all of the above mentioned pedals would do the trick) and send the clean bass signal to your bass amp, and the distorted octave up to a guitar amp.

So that requires getting a guitar amp, and the hassle of schlepping it around, setup / sound check / tear down.

 

[Flatwound]

The Meris Hedra can play actual chords from a root note. I’ve used it set for 1,3,5 and no delay. You can set the key so that it plays major or minor based on the chord scale. However, it’s not a cheap pedal, and to use presets, you need to use an external preset pedal or midi control.

 

[buldog5151bass]

My advice would be not to play these type of song, unless you can change up the arrangement.

Specifically with regard to that tune, there are at least three distinct guitar parts, never mind a very high lead vocal (and necessary backups).

 

[scuzzy]

I use just a hint of +1 octave and a nice drive for some hair on the tone. It fills out the sound really well with harmonic content. If you give it to much octave, it will sound like Jack White.

 

[yodedude2]

unpopular (yet my preference) option:

4) play the song live as a three piece, rearrange it to suit yourselves ~

i mean, 'more than a feeling' has a dual lead anyway, so there's at least 3 guitar bits during that 'solo' ~

 

[ctmullins]

 

[_Some Dude]

I think what's needed depends on your starting point.

If you're using something like the a half dead P Bass into a DI/clean amp, then you'll have a solid fundamental without a lot of harmonics, and you'll you probably need that rhythm guitar (aka, octave up effect) to fill above it.

If you're using something brighter with more distortion blended in already (like a BDDI), then you can let the harmonics off the bass fill in the gap, possibly by stacking in a bit more dirt during the times the guitar steps out for a lead (a Rat is a classic option, a Darkglass Vintage Microtubes is a bit more moden and has a blend built in).

Basically, you're in a three piece, and the closer your bass tone is to a rhythm guitar tone to start with, the less "rhythm guitar" tone you need to add to it when the guitarist solos.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

It’s never going to sound like the record.

How about just playing root 5th diads an octave up? The guitar part there is simple enough

 

[FronTowardEnemy]

I just set up a patch in my HX Stomp yesterday for this exact reason.

I took the “Royal Blood” approach and ran a parallel path.

Path A bass signal, path B (fake)guitar signal. I assigned both paths a foot switch so I can toggle them on or off as I see fit.

Really easy to do and very cool that the HX Stomp can do this.

 

[jefkritz]

IME, as a musician, there are instrumental parts of songs that I think are truly essential, but when I mention them to my wife, she has no idea what I'm talking about. I think you can probably get by without it, and it'll sound just fine. Anyone who even notices might appreciate the new arrangement

 

[hyperjed]

The Eventide H9 and/or Pitchfactor also have a variety of harmonizer algorithms that still sound great to me.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

As mentioned above, 12 or 8 string bass will fix you up.

Don't know why an octave pedal wouldn't work, you just play your bass part up an octave (the guitar part)
and the octaver takes care of the bass part.

 

[Blues Daddy]

. . . . just a suggestion . . . . might work . . . . use a BassVI instrument to play both the bass and rhythm guitar parts as needed (play higher up the neck for the guitar parts)

 

[Low Commotion]

I second option 4. Play the song as a three piece and rearrange the song to suit yourself. I bet you’d be surprised on how your audience will react positively.