tricks for playing w/out a bassist?

brainfur · Post by **brainfur** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 5:32 pm

i know some dudes play w/out bass and use like an octave down effect into a bass amp for some low end but where do i learn about how to do this well? I have listened to several pedal demos on the tube but the effects sound kinda shitty-- what's the secret to pullign this off?

is it pickups? effects? amp?

aen · Post by **aen** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:02 pm

The best I've ver seen was a guy in Blood n Stuff. He had a dual output guitar, and a few amps. I imagine the neck pickup (which only had the lower 3 pole pieces) was running into the "bass" board, with a MicroPog, and maybe some other pitch shifters into a bass amp, or two. The bridhe pickup (with only the three upper pole pieces) was going through the guitar rig.

After you get some decent sounds, the trick is to write songs/chords that work well with that setup. And WATTS. You want plenty of bass amp watts.

[youtube][/youtube]

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:12 pm

you have to play pretty much constantly on the two bottom strings or it sounds gash. the actual 'getting a decent sound' part isn't that hard.

brainfur · Post by **brainfur** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:53 pm

stewart wrote:you have to play pretty much constantly on the two bottom strings or it sounds gash. the actual 'getting a decent sound' part isn't that hard.

yeah i kinda figured it would have to be a "limited to power chords" kinda thing but i was thinking about doing a doom sort of duo w a drummer I met

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:09 pm

doesn't have to be power chords, but just be mindful of keeping things ticking along. if you're doing doomy stuff it should be really easy.

a couple of my mates play in this 2-piece, and the guitarist doesn't bother with a bass amp, just a boss OD-3 with drive set to full (and other pedals) and it sounds beasting in the flesh:

[youtube][/youtube]

tiny, tiny drum kit too.

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:12 pm

doing live is a lot harder than on a record. i've done it plenty of times on recordings and that part is easy. use a pog or whammy or drop tune and play the root notes of the chord on the low e..or tune down to drop c even and then play the root notes on the lowest string. you can add some little bass type runs. Playing it live is a feat in itself..

You know what? My friend does it with his feet..I can call him and ask him exactly what he's doing. I think it's something like the bass notes on an organ in a foot pedal thing. They have a name for it. He uses that all the time when they don't have a bass player.

brainfur · Post by **brainfur** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:25 pm

brandonwinmill wrote: You know what? My friend does it with his feet..I can call him and ask him exactly what he's doing. I think it's something like the bass notes on an organ in a foot pedal thing. They have a name for it. He uses that all the time when they don't have a bass player.

this crazy thing maybe? moog taurus

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:39 pm

You can make a guitar sound like anything with a pog. Right here my friend Julian will do cello and organ parts on a guitar...watch at 2:29 esp..

[youtube][/youtube]

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:40 pm

brainfur wrote:
brandonwinmill wrote: You know what? My friend does it with his feet..I can call him and ask him exactly what he's doing. I think it's something like the bass notes on an organ in a foot pedal thing. They have a name for it. He uses that all the time when they don't have a bass player.
this crazy thing maybe? moog taurus

i think that is it but i thought it was a hammond..that looks sorta like it though..That should work also right?

brainfur · Post by **brainfur** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:49 pm

brandonwinmill wrote:You can make a guitar sound like anything with a pog. Right here my friend Julian will do cello and organ parts on a guitar...watch at 2:29 esp..

[youtube][/youtube]

yeah that sounds pretty convincing i guess ill chop around for a used pog

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:29 pm

scary is playing an electric solo..Solo meaning with no other instruments..at the 2:17 mark the sound was so full..i can't describe it and the video doesn't do it justice but it sounded incredible in the club. You can get demos of people playing a pog all day but my friend kills with it and this is in real context. He turns the pog on again at the very end. I've played it live with him and he plays the same chords over and over in different places on the neck the whole time and the song sounds really big and it always sounds like twice the number of guitarist that are actually there..I think Jackie Wilson would dig it.

[youtube][/youtube]

aen · Post by **aen** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:31 pm

brainfur wrote:
brandonwinmill wrote: You know what? My friend does it with his feet..I can call him and ask him exactly what he's doing. I think it's something like the bass notes on an organ in a foot pedal thing. They have a name for it. He uses that all the time when they don't have a bass player.
this crazy thing maybe? moog taurus

I used a Minitaur and a MIDI foot controller for that type of thing. It's pretty cool, but a lot of work up front.

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Tue Jan 07, 2014 10:05 pm

ok..i just called him and it's a roland bass footpedal. He said it's very similar to a moog taurus so i said yep..that's what they said. He said the moog is analog where as the one kevin uses, the roland, is midi. I have a few samples. It's pretty amazing.

Here he's using it right when the audio starts..Audio isn't fantastic. this version of dax's band had my friends together in one band and it was awesome..

[youtube][/youtube]

Here is one that i videoed from backstage. That was an amazing night and we were all wasted but no Julian on guitar and Kevin isn't using the pedal. Both versions are good though

[youtube][/youtube]

That roland brings in a low grind that i'm in love with..

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 11:01 pm

The other option is to buy an OC-3 if you can find one at a reasonable price...

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:59 pm

I said OD-3 above but I meant OC-3.

JordanD · Post by **JordanD** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:54 pm

I had no idea you could do so much with a POG.

sunshiner · Post by **sunshiner** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 3:20 pm

Not a live version actually, but sounds great for me
[youtube][/youtube]

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Mon Jan 13, 2014 2:44 pm

the pog and the hog are truly incredible..My friend in the videos was playing a show with Dax, i think, and Jessie Hughes was there and he was like wtf is going on here..Julian got one right when they came out and he started using it right away and people, especially guitar players, were like whoa..Very cool pedal if you need an invisible multiplier. That was his first time meeting Jessie and they stayed after demo'ing the pedal for hours and Jessie uses one now also. Most that hear it wants it. I like it much more than a whammy.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 12:53 am

octeoblasts was essentially a 2 piece band throughout high school. and now I have a 2 piece project called PUBLIC ACCESS CABLE TELEVISION. usually keep the guitar tuned full step down. no effects or big muff. it's so much fun. definitely more challenging than full band but I killed it at a packed Garfield artworks with just a drummer.

but I see two ways to go with it. use the silence that the lack off bass/rhythm guitar can cause or make a fuck ton of noise to fill in the gaps.

never really used octave pedals or anything. just tuned down to fill out the sound a little bit.

Post by **Doog** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:25 am

Trade secret / low tunings, octaver pedals, dual amps, altering playing approach