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what's a good, OK priced, keyboard bass

rodl2005

rodl2005

Jun 1, 2005
19,567
15,063
Tasmania, Australia
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#1
I used to do the keys bass thing back in the late 80's early 90's & used my trusty DX7 :) then, I -stupidly sold that WAY back tho :rollno:...
So, am looking to get a keyboard bass/bass keyboard- to use instead of elec bass in some of our 80's funk etc stuff.
Now I ain't got the $$ for a $3K Nord..... Please give me some cool examples.
Thanx
 
#10
If you're a Mac guy, and you already have a macbook or macbook pro, then how about Mainstage and a cheap midi controller? Then you can get any sound you want, from vintage to modern.

For hardware though, yeah the Micron and the Microkorg are totally great.
 
#12
ksandvik said:
SH-101 has a thin bass sound -- much to our chagrin in the early eighties when we tried to use one for live work...
Click to expand...

I used to use an SH101 live too, using it for "left-hand bass" while I played a Juno 60 with the other hand---still use one in the studio--there ARE fat bass sounds to be had in them, but the inability to save any presets would be a pain these days live if you ask me. (Plus, I have gobs of sampled SH101 basses, leads, etc. now I can just fire up in my EXS24 in Logic/Mainstage, and then even double it with something else!)
 
#13
pbass2 said:
I used to use an SH101 live too, using it for "left-hand bass" while I played a Juno 60 with the other hand---still use one in the studio--there ARE fat bass sounds to be had in them, but the inability to save any presets would be a pain these days live if you ask me. (Plus, I have gobs of sampled SH101 basses, leads, etc. now I can just fire up in my EXS24 in Logic/Mainstage, and then even double it with something else!)
Click to expand...

AFAIR the SH-101 just died compared with a Jupiter-6 that we started using instead. It was not my favorite synth by any mens, me thinks worst Roland offering ever.
 
#14
For that old time synth funk bass, obviously nothing will ever replace a real analog board such as an OBXA (Got One!) or the Seq. Circuits Pro One (Got one!) or my personal fav, the Juno-106. The most reliable one would be a midi controller and a virtual key software as suggested above, and it would give you the most versatility as well.

But if you want the realism, go vintage analog! Or take a look at the Roland JD-500 (I think that's the one) which does give you a nice hybrid of Digi vs. Analog. Your old DX-7 would still be a happening keyboard, I see them on CL for $200-300 all the time. But the analog boards I own are starting to creep up in value again and are getting pricey. And if they break....not easy to find competent repair guys anymore.
 
#15
PDGood said:
There's another thread on here today about the DX7 where everyone is complaining that they can't get any money for them if they sell them. If you find the thread and post in it you may be able to get a great deal.
Click to expand...

I''m in Aus, so getting an old DX7 is pretty difficult.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far tho. They're a great help & definitely somewhere to start looking.
 
#17
ksandvik said:
AFAIR the SH-101 just died compared with a Jupiter-6 that we started using instead. It was not my favorite synth by any mens, me thinks worst Roland offering ever.
Click to expand...

I can think of many worse! I have a fondness for the SH---I still use it--actually these days not as much for basses but just for aggressive leads and noises and stuff. I will use it for bass when I want a really punchy/attacky but simple bass sound. It's certainly not as big and wide sounding as what a juno could do, I agree, but it can be very "punchy" and "tight".
If you want some killer SH101 samples(sampled to tape), check my man Goldbaby:
Tape101
 
#20
pbass2 said:
I can think of many worse! I have a fondness for the SH---I still use it--actually these days not as much for basses but just for aggressive leads and noises and stuff. I will use it for bass when I want a really punchy/attacky but simple bass sound. It's certainly not as big and wide sounding as what a juno could do, I agree, but it can be very "punchy" and "tight".
If you want some killer SH101 samples(sampled to tape), check my man Goldbaby:
Tape101
Click to expand...

Yes, I think everyone has their own view and opinion of bass sounds but we tried to use SH-101 for synth bass playing in a live electronic band in early eighties and it just didn't punch through. At that time the synth bass sound had to be big an punchy. And this was a live environment with a full PA, not doing techno tracks in the studio with compression and other tricks. The trend during the last ten years in electronic music has been a somewhat more clean/dry simple single-oscillator bass sound unless we talk about electro-house where you need a big synth bass sound.

Just now my favorite bass synth is actually U-He's DIVA SW synth plug-in, speak about massive (more massive than NI's Massive.)
 

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