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Should i get a real bass instead of using bass sims?


mbengs1

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there's no real bass guitars in my recordings currently. i use bass sims, and my guitar sounds really like a real bass. i'm quite happy with the sound but are there advantages to using a real bass guitar as opposed to using effects to make the guitar sound like a bass?

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It's a different instrument than guitar and there would certainly be advantages to learning to play and use a 'real' bass. Since you are quite happy with the sound you are getting now, there doesn't seem to be any urgency. Maybe you should just try it, then decide.

 

Do you have any of your recordings posted online where we might get a chance to hear some?

 

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It's a different instrument than guitar and there would certainly be advantages to learning to play and use a 'real' bass. Since you are quite happy with the sound you are getting now, there doesn't seem to be any urgency. Maybe you should just try it, then decide.

 

Do you have any of your recordings posted online where we might get a chance to hear some?

 

yes, i have some but theyre quite old. sounds the same though (same settings on the effects). there's three songs here....

 

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If you're into home recording, I think something like the Squier VM Jaguar SS Bass would be a really nice addition to your setup. If you're a guitarist, the short scale makes it a very playable instrument that's easy to transition to, and it's a good sounding little bass (at least the P-Bass pickup is - the J-Bass pup is a bit weak), and at about $200 (current "street" price) it costs less than many effects pedals. :) Think of it as a very inexpensive way to get into a new instrument - and something that can definitely augment (if not replace - that's up to you :) ) your current bass setup for recording.

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I home record and use only real instruments.

 

It sounds like it too.

 

It's far from the cheapest way out, guitars/ bass, amps, mics pre amps and record.

 

Nothing comes out prefect.

 

Only thing I learned is get the drums and bass right and work around that.

 

 

I didn't do much recording this past winter, as my wife got sick and I worked alot.

 

 

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Possibly. If authenticity is what your after, the way a bass player plays and approaches an actual bass and bass line is drastically different than one would typically do on a guitar emulating a bass. Not that what your doing might not be appropriate for what you're doing.

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It never hurts to learn another instrument. I've been playing bass for a few years and, while I'm far from proficient, I enjoy it. As onelife said, there's a big difference between playing low notes on a guitar and playing a "real" bass. I bought used gear, an Alvarez bass that needed some work (mainly new tuners) and an SWR amp, and they both serve me well. I can't remember where you are offhand, I know it's outside the US. Are there any places near you that sell used gear? Ibanez and Peavey basses are very good and cheap used, and used Peavey amps are common and work for decades.

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I've used both and both can be fun. I have a Mini Moog which I pull out every so often to do bass parts.

Its not the same as playing an actual bass however. Its playing keyboards and attempting to sound like a bass player.

I have keyboards with pitch wheels which produce convincing guitar tones or any other instrument you can think of.

They are fairly convincing to the average listener but to the performer or another musician its usually pretty obvious if its the actual instrument being played.

 

Keyboards do have touch response so there can be some dynamic response there, but its not the same kind of dynamic response you get from playing an actual stringed bass. The attack and decay times of synthetically generated bass tones are usually fixed. They don't vary in pitch like a string does when its picked harder or softer either.

 

In the end its what the audience prefers, but for me I much rather play an actual bass. There is heart and soul and imperfection that makes the music sound more human. I'm able to visualize actual musicians playing the parts and not a machine sitting on stage cold and alone.

 

Of course I do use drum machines for writing music, mainly for convenience purposes. I can play drums and do have a set miced to record. Its just I'm not really good at playing them. I can keep solid beats and do a few fills but I don't kid myself into thinking I'm great. I prefer to have pros come in to record when I need live drums.

 

I don't use samples or software based drums either. In order to use those you have to have a song written and measured down to fixed measures.

I can do it well of course. Playing and recording with bands you had to learn your parts and be able to play them from beginning to end solo.

 

That kind of regimented playing has its place of course. I just found it became too monotonous and severely cramped my creative writing skills.

 

Guess I have a deeper appreciation of players who have the artistic skill to improvise on demand and make it sound like they've rehearsed it a thousand times. I have a hard time working with bean counters who use a fixed scores. They are much too venerable to crashing and burning if something happens during a performance and they have to improvise. There's a freedom in improvising that takes you to past the clouds. It like surfing, you don't know if you'll ride the entire wave but man it's a blast when you do.

 

You get the same feeling playing all your own instruments too.

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WRGKMC is right.

 

I'm in a similar boat except I use synth (rompler) bass patches, triggered by keys. I'd like to buy a hollow body bass and use tape wound strings on it. Guild has a few. Or if I could pick up an old Mosrite 350 at a reasonable price, like I used to own, I'd be a happy camper. But the bass patches on my newer synths, actually sound as good or better than any bass I've used. I've got to admit it.

 

Where the synth patches fall short is not on tone so much, as on the realism of a bass's attack, release, fretting, sliding, bending and just the rhythmic feel a real bass naturally imparts when you play it. I've never heard a rompler that can do justice to that quality of a real bass. But the variety of bass patches on the newer romplers is truly vast, while one bass guitar is just one bass guitar with a much more limited tone pallette.

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  • 5 months later...
if your looking at buying I found this great review of a NS design WAV4 radius bass. It has a really cool look to it.

 

http://musicplayers.com/reviews/bass/2016/0916_NSradiusWAV4.php

 

Every single one of your 8 posts on our site links to Musicplayers - you're welcome to participate here, but if you continue to spam our forums, you'll be permabanned.

 

A one week temp ban should reinforce that message. :cop:

 

See you in a week. :wave:

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