How can I get that

[bassdude911]

How can I get that 80s bass electric synth sound. What effects does it take??? I really like the 80s bass sound.

 

[bassman314]

How can I get that 80s bass electric synth sound. What effects does it take??? I really like the 80s bass sound.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but most of the time, that's actually a keyboard synth making those sounds.

You do have some options:

1) get a synth pedal, i.e. EHX Bass MicroSynth, Akai Deep Impact (if you can find it), Digitech BSW, among others.
2) get a MIDI pick-up for your bass (see the Roland V-synth) and then use the processor to dial in the sounds you want.
3) Get a synth...

 

[20db pad]

Any particular tunes you can name?

 

[bongomania]

Bd911, any time you want to know how to get a particular sound, it is considered polite to post an MP3/Youtube/Myspace/Soundclick/etc. link to the actual track that has that tone. It makes it a lot easier for people to actually help you.

 

[niftydog]

...that 80s bass electric synth sound.

Ohhhhhhh... THAT sound!

 

[bassdude911]

like this

 

[bassteban]

Mild distortion/overdrive into FX-25 or similar envelope filter w/sensitivity way down into a squishy compressor. Bwop bwop bweep.

 

[RickenBoogie]

That sounds alot like a keyboard synth to me, but as usual, I could be dead wrong. With a bass guitar, you can get some great synthy sounds, but it won't be cheap. Either a dedicated synth pedal, like the Bass Micro Synth, or a combination of other pedals, (my method), like octaver, fuzz, and envelope filter.

 

[niftydog]

Wow... that man/woman thing has a nice voice... and the lemon zoot suit is a winner!

That's a pretty mild version of that sound, so mild you might not even notice if you just plucked muted notes. But, if you want a bit more finesse I'd suggest an envelope filter with a very stunted sweep and a bit of palm-muting action. Gonna be hard to keep the attack consistent though.

 

[bongomania]

+1 to nifty's suggestions. And that vid is awesome! Note that consistency really is key there, as the synth tone never varies. Except if you listen carefully they threw in just a few notes of a slap bass sample too at a couple of points.

 

[bassdude911]

or like this

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oF8ntF4IgHA&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oF8ntF4IgHA&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Thanks everyone who tryed 2 help but i'm still having a hard time getting the right sound. Does anyone know of a cheap synth pedal that will do the job?

 

[bassdude911]

i ment this

 

[bongomania]

The Digitech Bass Synth Wah is the "cheap one that will get you close".