Pitch Shiftin

Got some handy pitch shifter called tuning pegs, I hear they track excellent

 

No personal experience but the current contenders seem to be

- Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork
- DigiTech The Drop
- DigiTech Bass Whammy

 

I've had good results with using an ehx ring thing to transpose my bass down half a step for flat tuning. It can do more as well.
I had good results with a digitech whammy 5 (the red one) as well the newer blue bass one should be very similar. I sold my whammy and kept the ring thing because the ring thing was more versatile, had presets and a blend knob.
The whammy did have a couple of things it did better.
Features the whammy has that are better than the ring thing
Midi
Up 2 octaves tone was better
Can use pedal to go from one set harmony to another set harmony
Built in expression pedal.
Features that the ring thing has that are better than the whammy
9 programmable presets
Selectable harmony /transposition /whammy from -2 octaves to +2 octaves. Basically any interval you want
Ring modulation, high and low sideband modulation with auto tune footswitch to tune modulation frequency
Expression control of modulation frequency
Blend control set any proportion of clean/pitchshifted you want
Fine pitchshift control
Built in LFO wave shapes triangle, square, sine, ramp up, ramp down to control pitchshift, vibrato, tremolo, Univibe effects
LFO depth and speed controls
External modulation input
Dry output
Expression control of Pitchshift and expression control over speed for tremolo and Univibe settings.
Ehx pitchfork is also another option for transposition and is smaller. Digitech also have a new transposition pedal you may want to check out.

 

I did this:
http://www.talkbass.com/threads/pitchshifting-a-blind-shootout-for-your-perusal.1107262/

 

My arse is only of average intelligence thank you!
Okay ill stop
As to your actual question ive heard great things about the ehx pitchfork so far, affordable, small, and sturdy as hell.

 

You want to use a pitch shifter to play Van Halen? You are better of re-tuning your instrument in my experience. Pitch shifters will change the tone somewhat.

It is also worth noting that some Van Halen songs fall between notes, a pitch shifter will not hit these. On VH1 A is somewhere between A and A Flat, not a half-step down.

 

An alternative would be to listen to the songs in a "guitar trainer" or smartphone app where you can pitch shift the song instead of your bass. Just a different idea, an app costs less than a pedal.

 

To match pitch on recordings you will need something variable like the Whammy or a multi effect with an expression pedal. Zoom B1Xon might just fit the bill or an old Digitech BP8.

 

But so much latency between songs...

 

Wireless, footswitchable tuners with presets that's the answer. Oh and ill need those lightweight

 

Or you could go all out with a MIDI bass and tune the sound module any which way you need.

 

Just buy a 2nd bass...

 

better to be a smart arse than a dumb arse

 

our old worship leader would burn us a CD in our performance key. Usually being far from the original, I called it "the alvin and the chipmunks praise collection featuring grimlock and the satanic choir"

Would it not make sense just to get a 5 string? or at the very least, use an alternate tuning that you understand? If someone can play an easy instrument like a guitar in drop d all day long, any bassist should be able to do it

 

Tuning down a half step is quite common. A lot of Gospel bassist tune down a half step bc a lot of that genre of music is played in flats. Also, when you see bassist and guitarists swapping guitars for a particular song during a show, a lot of times its bc the song is in a lower tuning and they have those guitars ready for those particular songs during the show. It just makes the transitions quicker. I normally play a 5 string, so I don't have to deal with this situation much, but when I play a 4, I understand the frustration.

 

Having two basses or guitars is a solution with certain advantages and disadvantages. So is using an extended range bass and playing at a different neck position. So is using some sort of pitchshifter.

I'm PRETTY SURE the OP is interested in the final option.