Physical effects

[Shaun_Bass0]

Get one of these

Invalid Link Removed

and move it around over the pick-ups, it screws with the signal and you can get some awesome sounds!

 

[rust_preacher]

Whammy bridge, anyone?

 

[CamiloDíaz]

The screw driver picking thing is taken to another level by Pedro Aznar. Check out "muñequitos de papel" song. The fella is also a great singer.

I can't die before trying a wham bar on a bass. Preferably fretless. Crazyness!

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Not overly radical, but has anyone tried these:

http://store.daddario.com/category/154799/Adjustable_Insert_Pick

 

[dannybuoy]

Try a Cello bow or something. Like an eBow, but more old-skool.

 

[DiscoFreq]

Check out the GIZMOTRON!

 

[bound]

Remember those electronic keychain noise makers with all the weapon sounds like machine guns and bombs dropping and such? Your pickups can hear them. Saw a guy do it at show once, forget who it is now, though.

 

[jasonmasters]

I've done this and have been able to get some interesting oriental sounds.

Definitely going to try that in combination with the ebow

 

[jasonmasters]

I recommend everyone getting a whammy bar by Kahler. they stay in tune a lot better than you'd expect

 

[jrmy]

Use a slide, but with your picking hand - apply some pressure and slide up and down the strings. Makes some cool glisses... also, try holding the slide between the p'ups and the bridge, and pick/finger between...

 

[Spoonman462]

i like using screwdrivers and beer bottles

 

[BassistFreak416]

simplest thing i do is take tissues (since i cant find any foam), roll them up, then stuff this just in front of the bridge. sounds amazing on my pbass. i actually find that it makes my bass sound far better with than without it. adds a little thump to it, shorter sustain, but doesnt lose any sound, keeps in tune.

 

[JustDavid]

A local wizard bassist uses a serrated steak knife in a bow-like fashion. He highly recommended dulling it down first, serrations & especially the tip.

 

[lousybassist]

With one of my old basses I was able to use a TV remote control to make some weird noises, just aim the sensors over the poles and press buttons.

Cell phones can also be used in a similar fashion.

 

[TOOL460002]

punch your bass- hard. i especially like generating noise punching my bass into some kind of eq, and then into a delay, and then into something that varies with dynamics, mainly, an envelope filter.

watch: finger 11 - quicksand (live from the "me vs you vs them" extra)

their bass player is not who you want to focus on, even though he is very, very, very solid. watch both guitar players. they hit weird harmonics and hit their instruments to make the delay go nuts.

 

[NKBassman]

Cell phones can also be used in a similar fashion.

Stole my post!

Ringtones can be heard by your pickups, but also you can get some funky sounds by lightly resting the edge of the phone on the strings and then making it vibrate. I imagine this would probably sound pretty cool through some delay and modulation effects.

 

[gnasher1993]

Alot of good things mentioned so far! Great thread idea as well...

A few things I use/have used:

• Different pick materials, I've used: Agate, Coconut Shell, Bronze, Glass and Ebony (aside from the standard plastic ones). I use Link Removed they are really well made.
  
  
• Metal rods for bouncing on the strings (very good with delay). It gets a very metallic, tinny sound...
  
  
• Glass slide...a bit of an obvious one. Also used a metal one but was a bit too edgy/metallic for my liking.
  
  
• Jellifish pick. Cool idea...awesome on acoustic guitar, not so keen on bass.
  
  
• Put a piezo transducer on the headstock, underneath the strings, get's some really cool sympathetic sounds and also amplifies the strings between the nut and the tuning pegs.
  
  
• I use a 1/16 violin bow (branded Primavera) for string-like effects. I only use this technique on flatwound strings, I found that the bow hairs can snag easily on the windings of roundwounds. Also, use very fine, powdery rosin that will come off the strings fairly easily. I used sticky rosin the first time and it was a pain when I went back to playing fingerstyle.
  
  
• Pen under the strings at fret 12...seriously just try it .
  
  
• Foam mutes...it's been mentioned already but, try it in different positions, not just the bridge.
  
  
• Dulcimer Hammer(s)...very cool if you lay the bass across your lap, mute the strings with some foam at the bridge and use a glass slide. The glass slide in your fretting hand and the hammer in your picking hand. Very good on flatwound strings. Raise your action slightly for a better sound.

That's all I've got ...I need to get an eBow.

Hope I've helped a bit

 

[Stempelloos]

Borrow some drumsticks to hit the strings with, use one as a bottleneck and another one for rhythm. Take one with a felt head to make the bass sound like a piano.

Most of the other Possibillities like screwdrivers, zippo lighters & stuff are mentioned already. Maybe try a steely dan if you can get your hands on it.

For very unbasslike effects; send it through the patch panel of a MS10 or 20 analog synthesiser.

 

[nsmar4211]

I've been playing with using toys and stuff held near the pickups.....you can get some cool stuff. Very hard to find a toy gun with cool sounds like the one used in Dirty Diana at the end

My cellphone just makes the bass go tickticktick... Guessing you could get into some copyright issues if you tried using a ringtone through pickups as a part of a recording song though....

Sub'd

 

[velvetkevorkian]

Crank the gain and scream into the pickups?