Just gigged as a bassist using my guitar and VG-99. Got away with it, too!

Started by mooncaine, September 26, 2021, 08:21:39 PM

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mooncaine

I picked up a gig with a talented woman who sings, plays and writes her own stuff, too. I played bass! It was my first time being a bassist for money. So glad I had a VG-99 and a lick of sense. I put a wound G string on my Squier Strat and it worked well for me. If I can get away with playing bass on guitar like this, I'll do it some more. I played tunes like Sheryl Crow & Bonnie Raitt covers, songs that would go along with that. The super-talented drummer, such an experienced dude that I just jump for joy when I see I'm going to get to play on stage with him again, encouraged me to get a bass and come get some paying gigs with him, cuz everyone always need bass players.

If I did use an actual bass, I'd have to use those black nylon strings (or whatever they are), the soft ones, cuz I just don't want to beat my hands into huge callouses; these hands are more than half a century old now! Might do that, though. Hmm, a short-scale bass with guitar strings, maybe, and a GK pickup into my VG-99? Sounds way more comfortable to my soft, pampered hands.

kimyo

i have a kala fretless ukulele bass with those black nylon/rubber strings, it's lots of fun to play and sounds very nice thru a p.a., great for folky/acoustic rock stuff. 

it's kind of tiny though.  i bought individual piezo pickups but have to craft some kind of bridge arrangement before i can try using it to drive the gr/sy. 

i guarantee that your fingers will suffer no harm as a result of playing those strings. 

mooncaine

Thank you for that suggestion! I'll seriously consider it.

Coincidentally, a friend of mine who lives far away sent me photos of his recent project, pretty much what you just described. He bought a Rondo very small scale bass guitar, maybe it's a uke bass, and he's put rubbery strings on and done a few other simple hacks to it. He wants to use it to practice bass conveniently, because he's new at it and wants to practice LOTS. Also he just really likes to build and mod things.

SY.Borg.300

Coulda just used a $50 donner pitch shift pedal set to octave down.

admin

Quote from: SY.Borg.300 on September 27, 2021, 07:09:10 AM
Coulda just used a $50 donner pitch shift pedal set to octave down.

And have sputtering non smooth tone, not the smooth VG-99 results by a large margin.

Don't base your VG-99 inexperience on your SY-300 experience,  the VG-99 is miles better.

Dalai_llama

Thanks for sharing that, Moonie.

Quote from: mooncaine on September 26, 2021, 08:21:39 PM
I put a wound G string on my Squier Strat and it worked well for me. If I can get away with playing bass on guitar like this, I'll do it some more.

I used flatwounds in my guitars, so the G was always wound. I had a great fretless bass sound with the DB50XG board inside my Axon NGC77 and did the "half-baked-real-bass-player-replacement" a number of times. One band actually asked me to join permanently, but I didn't really like their music so I passed. 

Hope you get that gig going for a while.

I'd think the GP-10 could do that too, am I right?

billbax

Mooncaine, your 'make do' bass guitar gig topic is up my street, and have always been interested in working with the minimum tools available. Did anyone in the audience ask about your improvised bass guitar?

chrish

I used the VG8 to play bass and rhythm guitar at the same time as our trio didn't have a bass player.

When we were a 5 piece band and could get the drummer away from the bar, three of us would take turns playing a standard 4-string bass guitar.

mooncaine

Quote from: admin on September 27, 2021, 09:01:44 AM
And have sputtering non smooth tone, not the smooth VG-99 results by a large margin.

Don't base your VG-99 inexperience on your SY-300 experience,  the VG-99 is miles better.
My thinking exactly. Also, a repitched guitar does not sound as convincing as a modeled bass, which the VG offers.
I still haven't seen anything on the market that can match the VG-99's per-string pitch shifting.

mooncaine

Quote from: Dalai_llama on September 27, 2021, 09:31:26 AM
I'd think the GP-10 could do that too, am I right?
Good question. I was wondering that, too, thinking that if I actually earn enough money from bass gigs to buy a used GP-10, it'd be simpler to live with and less noticeable. But only if it's glitch-free like my VG-99. Even a little glitching would be too much, because I'd be picking up gigs with blues, country, and other traditional musics, never something that fits with any electronic-ness, if you know what I mean.

mooncaine

Quote from: billbax on September 27, 2021, 09:44:50 AM
Mooncaine, your 'make do' bass guitar gig topic is up my street, and have always been interested in working with the minimum tools available. Did anyone in the audience ask about your improvised bass guitar?
Nope, just the other players on stage. Good question.

That reminds me: I didn't say that I had a choice, but I did. I could have brought my favorite guitar, a wooden Steinberger Spirit.
But I thought the Strat would attract less attention. I bet that I would have gotten questions if I had used the Steinie, because I get questions when I played as a guitarist with it.

Chumly

I have an EHX Bass9 and an Ampeg BA210 bass amp.  Using an electric guitar and this simple setup I can perform comparably to a bass player without destroying my hands in the process.
I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. - Richard P. Feynman

BMapson

Quote from: Dalai_llama on September 27, 2021, 09:31:26 AM
I'd think the GP-10 could do that too, am I right?

I've played bass on guitar using my GP-10.  Two different situations:

In a guitar duo situation, mostly acoustic tunes, I used a GP-10 to play all the bass parts.  Some using an P-bass patch.  A few using a sitar patch dropped two octaves that does a fairly nice emulation of an upright (I found the patch here).  And the rest using a six string bass tuning with the low E string dropped to B (B E A D G C). 

The other was when the bassist in a band situation didn't know all the tunes.  I just played the bass parts on those tunes using the six string bass tuning.  Nobody really cared, and it sounded pretty good. 

pasha811

Nice to hear again from you Mooncaine!
Well done!

As a bass player myself, I would say that VG99 is very convincing. Having a bass guitar in my arsenal always results in me using it to record bass parts. It has kind of fuller sound compared to vg99 emulation. However when I sketch new compositions I often use it and record it as a base track. Too lazy when inspiration strikes to change instrument. ;D

My almost only experience on stage was years ago. I had to do the bass intro in Bad Love (Eric Clapton) as my Vg99 was closer to the sound and the bass player was getting mad at it! Then before the concert the guy comes and say...I am gonna do it, as it will be embarrassing otherwise. I have been a bass player for a decade and I gave way. I knew the feeling. The song went played great and it was fun.

Bass strings are fingertips butchery at the beginning but after some time practice you will be ok. If it becomes more frequent to play with them you might consider a short scale bass with flat wounds strings to avoid stretching too much and with less damage to fingertips.
Listen to my music at :  http://alonetone.com/pasha/

Dalai_llama

Quote from: mooncaine on September 27, 2021, 12:53:30 PM
Good question. I was wondering that, too...

Time permitting, I will give it a try and report back. I don't have a VG-99 so can't compare.

Quote
never something that fits with any electronic-ness, if you know what I mean.

Very much so. :D

Quote from: BMapson on September 27, 2021, 03:31:51 PM
I've played bass on guitar using my GP-10.  Two different situations (...)
Nobody really cared, and it sounded pretty good. 

Thanks @BMapson, that's already encouraging.

Headless68

Every now and again I mess with our bass player when we are setting up for sound check by switching my 99 to a bass patch - gets him every time :-)