Bass Guitar Octave-Up Processing

Started by Ol55, September 07, 2017, 06:48:57 PM

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Ol55

I need some guidance. I'm playing bass in a new power trio. I'd like to experiment with processing the clean bass signal an octave up and run it through my tube guitar amp.  My goal is to occasionally kick in that dirty unison guitar signal to fatten things up when the guitar player solos. My guitar amp is onstage anyway since we swap guitars once every set just to break things up.

When I play guitar in other groups I use my Roland V gear most of the time. I can get a very respectable bass sound with my VG-99 and GP-10 but that won't cut it in this band. I have GK pickups on my Yamaha TRB5 and J-bass. I know I can go the "Royal Blood' route and run the bass signal through a EHX Pog into the guitar amp. Are there better, more authentic options available using V devices? I imagine a re-amped modeled Les Paul or Strat sound from a 13-pin Roland/Boss unit would sound a lot better than a tweaked bass signal. I do have a V-Bass and I'm aware the GR-55 has a bass mode. Any thoughts?

On a side note, we've managed to keep the stage level at bay by using small amps. I'm running two small bass rigs: Clean / Eden WT-300—Eden EX112 (4 ohms) and Dirty / Yamaha BBH 500H—2 Ampeg PB110H (4 ohms ea.). I split the bass signal w/ A/B/Y switcher. The Yamaha head has a programmable modeling preamp, puts out 500 cool Class-D watts into a 2 ohm load and gives me all the low dirt I could ever need, from overdriven SVT to flat-out Felix Pappalari filth. It's big fun and a good change of pace from weddings and worship.

I appreciate your help and the incredible knowledge and creativity of the V Guitar community.
GR-300, GR-1, VG-8EX x2, VG-99, GP-10, BK-10, MIDX-10, V-Bass, TAG Crowdster+GK, Fender GC-1, Godin LGX-SA, Roland G-505, CPS Space Station III                           
"Hair is the first thing. And teeth the second. Hair and teeth. A man got those two things he's got it all." James Brown

Kevin M

Have you experimented at all with a six-string bass guitar? I wonder if that might give you the extended range you need instead of using modeling or pitch effects. I love VGear, but still deal with warbling if I get too far away from the original input pitch.

gumtown

The SY-300 works great on bass, I also have the GR-55, and various 5 and 6 string basses with GK pickups installed.
For the GR-55, some great sounds can be made, I typically use the PCM synths as backing to my regular tone,
as the latency and triggering is not that flash on bass.

The SY-300 is better at fast tracking and no latency, and you can make some really interesting sounds from grindy distorted guitaresque tones,
to really deep synth bass, all mixed in with your regular bass tone, or they can be routed separate, as the SY-300 has 2 output sections,
where as the GR-55 does not, but the GR-55 has a basic modelled tone output jack (tone only no effects).
I also used to use the Boss GT-10B/GT-100 with it's dual channel path routing.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Ol55

#3
Thanks for your replies. Let me define my aim with a little more detail. I'm more than happy with my bass sound in this band. I want to create a clean unison part that's an octave above the bass and port it into a distorted guitar amp to fill out the mix during guitar solos. Here's a video of the UK group, Royal Blood:
They employ this technique--heck, they don't even have geetar player! The bass player is using a complicate array of octave dividers, harmonizers, whammy pedals and switches to cover all the sonic territory. As you would suspect, folks are posting their attempts to cop the Royal Blood formula on YouTube:





A board like this is way too convoluted for my purposes.

I gonna use this technique sparingly but I'm convinced it will work in a riff-based blues/rock trio. If there's a simpler, effective way create a faux guitar line using a V devise driven by my GK-equipped bass I'm all in.
GR-300, GR-1, VG-8EX x2, VG-99, GP-10, BK-10, MIDX-10, V-Bass, TAG Crowdster+GK, Fender GC-1, Godin LGX-SA, Roland G-505, CPS Space Station III                           
"Hair is the first thing. And teeth the second. Hair and teeth. A man got those two things he's got it all." James Brown

admin

#4