Play bass like a guitar

[BlankSky]

Hey everyone,

I'm a long-time guitarist who's switching over to bass. I'm looking for a unique big sound, something that can cover a lot of ground as I'm writing songs for a 2 piece with just bass/drums.

just as a point of reference, i'm interested in doing stuff like Japandroids (), but with bass/drums instead of guitar/drums

So I want to play bass a bit like a guitar, but I'm not sure how to go about it from a tech angle. I'm on a tight budget too.

I've got a Peavey T40 that should be arriving on Monday. I don't want to become a Peavey fanatic, but a cheap Mark IV head just popped up on craigslist today for $95. From the reviews here, it sounds like a very stable, reliable amp, but I'm not sure how flexible the sound is.

I figure i'll be getting a lot of the sound thru pedals, but I was wondering if there are any good examples of people trying to get a similar sound, or to do something similar?

any feedback is helpful, thanks!

 

[can you hear me]

Hey man,

I do a solo act down here in Australia which is all chords and vocals (one song where I play traditional bass line and a couple with fingerpicking/arpeggios, but mostly just block chords).

I'll PM you the myspace, the vocals are a bit rough and I don't need flaming from the otherside of the world lol These are bedroom recordings and I think the quality of them reflects that, but it might give you some ideas.

Thanks

 

[Unrepresented]

As you've said, effects will be a large part of your sound. Couple of noteworthy bass and drum duos to check out include Death From Above 1979 and Big Business. Check out what kind of setups they're using. Some form of dirt will be almost certainly be vital to fill out guitar space.

 

[tribus]

I hope this helps.

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[greenboy]

Clatter. Amy's got some good ideas about rigs, effects, and techniques. Clatter has some DVDs as well as CDs out, and some acutal instructional stuff on youtube. Also check out old SadHappy. Even when sax/effects guy Skerik wasn't playing, bassist/vocalist Paul Hinklin really had many of those same ideas about keeping it real and varied. Bits of Paul Sandman of Morphine also give you the idea that it really doesn't take gear to make this happen - he more often than not used only two strings. It was the musical concepts and ideas executed without worry that made it work.

And give a listen to players guitarists like Joe Pass who seamlessly shift between chords, melodies, bass lines while maintaining the illusion that all are happening all the time.

Good songs and song structure really matter if you want to hold your own and an audience's interest.

 

[iamdenialNJ]

You will probably want one amp dedicated for the clean signal and one for everything else. If you can also delay the dirty amp by like 30ms that would give you a big sound. But I've never done this so don't take my word for it. Haha.

 

[BlankSky]

Thanks all! i'd forgotten that DFA1979 was a bass/drum act and checking out Big Business & Clatter right now. pretty killer stuff.

I went ahead and jumped on the Peavey head, turned out to be a Mark III, not a IV, but for $95 i'm okay with that My T40 came in last night and i'm loving it already. looking forward to making some noise! (now just to find a cab for that head!)

.... nearly forgot to mention, love the idea of running 2 amps, one clean one dirty with a slight delay. could even set it up with a bypass loop for triggering a big chorus or where it's needed. has anyone done this?

 

[rpsands]

Micro pog, octave up -> distortion -> Peavey Valveking 112
Dry out -> Bass preamp with two outputs -> One out to line level multieffects -> power amp, other out to other side of the power amp

Cabs are a matter of taste, but fEarful 12/6/1's seem like the magic for this type of affair.

If you're not into effects and such, I'd consider just a micro pog, VK112 and a fEarful 12/6 with a high wattage amp.

 

[johhn smith]

i know that JPJ on his solo tours uses multi string guitars ( manton's i think - though i can't remember if the guitars are guitar based or bass based ) that will be strung like a 12 string guitar ( though not the same string gauges ). it fills out his sound a great deal more than just a bass. plus try an octave pedal or some kind of harmonizer that will enable you to play intervals above or below a certain note, which will also fill out your sound.

 

[Passinwind]

Micro pog, octave up -> distortion -> Peavey Valveking 112
Dry out -> Bass preamp with two outputs -> One out to line level multieffects -> power amp, other out to other side of the power amp

Cabs are a matter of taste, but fEarful 12/6/1's seem like the magic for this type of affair.

The 12/6 without a tweeter is pretty killer for guitar-like noise IME. I don't have my "guitar side" EFX rack pictured, but it consists of a rack modeler with a separate rack tube preamp in its effects loop, and then post-everything EQ in another DIY bass preamp.

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[lunarpollen]

I think you would like the Tech 21 VT Bass pedal

 

[RobertPaulson]

A good octave and a fuzz will go a long way to filling up some of the space a guitar usually fills. On the cheap, i'd go with a bass big muff and a used boss OC-2

 

[iamdenialNJ]

Thanks all! i'd forgotten that DFA1979 was a bass/drum act and checking out Big Business & Clatter right now. pretty killer stuff.

I went ahead and jumped on the Peavey head, turned out to be a Mark III, not a IV, but for $95 i'm okay with that My T40 came in last night and i'm loving it already. looking forward to making some noise! (now just to find a cab for that head!)

.... nearly forgot to mention, love the idea of running 2 amps, one clean one dirty with a slight delay. could even set it up with a bypass loop for triggering a big chorus or where it's needed. has anyone done this?

I haven't tried it personally but I bet it would sound nothing short of badass. Any stereo clean/dirty rig is gonna sound good. Mess around with it!

 

[sickest beast]

check these guys out, guitar + drums. guitarist plays through a guitar amp and bass amp for a pretty heavy sound

 

[countshockula]

As you've said, effects will be a large part of your sound. Couple of noteworthy bass and drum duos to check out include Death From Above 1979 and Big Business. Check out what kind of setups they're using. Some form of dirt will be almost certainly be vital to fill out guitar space.

yes to that, perhaps add Om to the list.

 

[stflbn]

just as a point of reference, i'm interested in doing stuff like Japandroids (), but with bass/drums instead of guitar/drums

Entirely my personal opinion... but 'to me' that seems like two guys practicing that the rest of the band didn't show up. Un-tollerable 'to me'.

 

[Henry D]

also check out the Carps

 

[rpsands]

Might also consider a looper

 

[BlankSky]

yup, drummer has a DoD looper that i'll be borrowing shortly ... have you guys ever heard El Ten Eleven? crazy stuff with bass/drums and 3 loop pedals

 

[jjhardy]

Running at least 2 different sounding amps at once is a very good idea for this kind of band, but don't feel too attached to a clean/dry setup. Being the only stringed instrument, an underlying clean tone may not be needed.