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Need a lager sound?

Joaquin

Joaquin

Nov 4, 2006
171
1
#1
I play in a 3 piece........bass, guitar and drums........and sometimes when the guitar player goes into the lead things sound empty...........what effect could I use to get the bass to sound like it is making chords or just more sound to fill in the dead spots?...........
 
#4
Joaquin said:
I play in a 3 piece........bass, guitar and drums........and sometimes when the guitar player goes into the lead things sound empty...........what effect could I use to get the bass to sound like it is making chords or just more sound to fill in the dead spots?...........
Click to expand...

A Harmoniser would be a useful tool as I believe it has the capability of adding 4ths & 5ths? (Some of the guys on here who use effects live & in the studio will be able to help out with this one).

Another one would be an Octave pedal - the Boss one is one of the best out there. Are your speaker cabs 15" or larger as Octave pedals don't seem to work that well with anything smaller?

Hope this helps?

Cheers,
Essexbass
 
#5
If you don't mind the schlepp factor, consider bi-amping your rig.

Have your regular bass amp for the loud, clean tones (or whatever you use). Add a second amp with a different character (tube/dirt/FX, etc.) with a foot/volume pedal to kick in when the guitarist solos and stops playing "rhythm".

The bass player for Rage Against the Machine had a second Ampeg stack with a distortion pedal that he would kick in for those moments. Awesome.
 
#8
Sorry to beat down the Timmy C stroke session, but look into a Big Muff (anything but Black Russian, LBM, and NYC) and an octave up and/or octave down pedal. A Big Muff + Tycobrahe Octavia clone will let you shine through significantly, IMHO. A micro pog will give you octaves up and down w/ or w/out a dry signal.
 
#9
Essexbass said:
Are your speaker cabs 15" or larger as Octave pedals don't seem to work that well with anything smaller?
Click to expand...

My HOG and 4x10 Avatar would disagree with this. ;):bassist:

It really depends on what you're playing. None of the suggestions here are bad. I use an Octave/ filter blended for a lot of the funky jazz stuff that I play, but that probably wouldn't be optimal to fill in for a hard rock lead. You'll need to feel most of this out on your own.

A distortion + interesting playing will cover most bases IMO, but if that doesn't cut it you may want to look into some sort of octaver and learn to play your parts a little higher on the register. Or you can get a POG /HOG and own all the high freqs. Some dirt can cover up a fair chunk of the digital squeakiness in those.

IMO and good luck.
 
#14
I play in a three-piece too, and I use a FoxRox Octron in some spots to fill things out when my guitarist take a lead. Sounds way huger than just playing an octave or chord on your bass, and you can set it for a bit of boost, which helps too. My sound is pretty dirty, so a POG or Micro-POG might be more up your alley if you're going cleaner - but same concept. I'm careful to use it sparingly, though; the sound is absolutely massive, but you don't want to overdo it.

And as for lager:

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