# Should i bought a bass or just program it?



## Blackspell-666 (Oct 3, 2021)

I'm really interested in playing bass recently for recording my own music and playaround with some songs i like. i find their sound is really cool but as a guitar player i know absolutely nothing about it. 

I mainly play modern metal on my 7 string guitar tuned to Drop G# and pitch shift to anything higher or lower. Example of bands like : Periphery, Meshuggah, Vildhjarta, Alpha Wolf, Monuments, Architects, Gojira. 

I'm really not sure if i should start playing bass or just program it. I have my eyes on a 5 string Squier affinity Jazz bass and using Neural dsp Parallax plugin as my amp. Is a J bass capable of playing music like this interms of pickup,scale length etc. And what string gauge should i use? I see people recommended some Ibanez and Stingray but i really hate how they looks. Also should i be fine pitch shifting bass using the same pitch shifting plugins for guitar?


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## MaxOfMetal (Oct 3, 2021)

Follow your heart.


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## Lozek (Oct 3, 2021)

If you want immediate 'perfect' results, Programme. If you want to learn a whole load of new skills by trial and error, push your range and understanding of music and find out what personal preferences you have, buy a bass.


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## zerofocus (Oct 3, 2021)

I think if you wanted to something more than rather “basic” (you know more than just finger/pick like harmonics etc) bass then I’d get a real bass

however if you already tab your songs then programmed might be the fastest route in the long run, especially how good virtual bass in particular is getting


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## DudeManBrother (Oct 3, 2021)

If you buy a bass, you can still program if you want.


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## Captain Shoggoth (Oct 4, 2021)

Bass is _a_ guitar but it really isn't played like a regular guitar, even if you use a pick. They're different beasts and should be written with different mindsets. Buying one will improve your ability to write for bass astronomically, plus they're fun to play


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## Adieu (Oct 4, 2021)

You can downtune a 4 string, chances are you won't use the high string if you're a bass noob anyway


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## Screamingdaisy (Oct 4, 2021)

Playing bass will produce a different feel than programming, particularly if you don’t play bass and have no idea how it’s supposed to feel.


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## bostjan (Oct 4, 2021)

Step 1 - buy bass
Step 2 - pick up bass
Step 3 - try to play bass
Step 4 - get frustrated
Step 5 - program bass
Step 6 - ???
Step 7 - profit


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## thebeesknees22 (Oct 4, 2021)

I always toss my vote in with buying a bass vs programming. It just comes across as more natural. (plus bass is super fun imho)

Bass is just guitar tuned way way down. Same notes. You do not have to play with your fingers. Playing with a pick is totally fine no matter what anyone else says. lol

and did I mention bass is super fun. 'cause it's super fun. I recommend everyone have one, but that's just me. haha

*and get a 5 string to go with your 7. own two 4 strings and one 5. .... Just get a 5.


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## Brayden Buckingham (Oct 4, 2021)

Im not some crazy bass player but I'm starting to get professional equipment , and if you're tuning that low ( btw I've seen a 3rd of the bands you mentioned live  ) you're going to need to shell out a fair bit for something that'll sound good .

Sounds like your pretty keen with computers and DAWs , so you can probably find a way , but of you're looking for the best sound quickly , programming is probably the best bet and less of a headache .


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## Manurack (Oct 4, 2021)

Why not do the best of both worlds? Buy a bass, record the bass. 

If not satisfied with the results? Then you can at least program the bass and possibly learn it on the real thing.


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## TedEH (Oct 4, 2021)

Blackspell-666 said:


> I'm really interested in playing bass


Sounds like you answered your own question. Interested in bass? Try out some bass. Bass is fun in it's own way.



Blackspell-666 said:


> Is a J bass capable of playing music like this interms of pickup,scale length etc.


Lots of people play J-style basses for metal. I play a Jazz V, but I don't downtune much. If money was no object and I wanted to downtune really far, I'd probably look into a Dingwall Super-J. They look cool, probably play well, but they're gonna cost. J- style pickups work great for lots of things. Long scale lengths will _help_ if you're downtuning, but they're not a necessity. Someone who knows better can answer the string gauge question. 



Blackspell-666 said:


> Also should i be fine pitch shifting bass using the same pitch shifting plugins for guitar?


I don't see why not.


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## Dayn (Oct 4, 2021)

I say both. I have a bass, but it's not suitable for the type of stuff I want. So I use a VST instead. Have fun playing the bass, avoid the hassle and program a bass until you can get the result you want when recording.


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## ixlramp (Oct 5, 2021)

Blackspell-666 said:


> I'm really interested in playing bass recently


As stated by others, there is your answer. With music and instruments it is good to follow your intuition.

If you want a G#0 lowest string, beware of old fashioned bass guitars. A 35" scale will help tone, and to use really big gauges you will probably need a modern top-loading and slot-loading bridge. You can probably find an old-fashioned looking bass guitar with modern hardware.
I suggest a .145 for G#0 as a starting point.


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## Blackspell-666 (Oct 5, 2021)

ixlramp said:


> As stated by others, there is your answer. With music and instruments it is good to follow your intuition.
> 
> If you want a G#0 lowest string, beware of old fashioned bass guitars. A 35" scale will help tone, and to use really big gauges you will probably need a modern top-loading and slot-loading bridge. You can probably find an old-fashioned looking bass guitar with modern hardware.
> I suggest a .145 for G#0 as a starting point.


From where i live the biggest gauge i could find is .135, so what's the lowest note they could go on the "34 scale squier J bass? Also should it be fine go through the bridge slot and tuning pegs? If i have to fix all of that i'll probably just use vst.


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## Brayden Buckingham (Oct 5, 2021)

Blackspell-666 said:


> From where i live the biggest gauge i could find is .135, so what's the lowest note they could go on the "34 scale squier J bass? Also should it be fine go through the bridge slot and tuning pegs? If i have to fix all of that i'll probably just use vst.




135 will fit fine for 99% of basses on the market , don't worry about the tuners and nut . Going against the grain here , but you can probably go to a B on that thing but it'll get pretty floppy in my opinion , but I'm not you so maybe that's fine for your playing . Once you're getting to stuff below a 5 string bass in standard tuning ( BEADG ) you're going to want to go up to like 145 - 150 for anything lower .


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## bostjan (Oct 5, 2021)

There's no magic threshold. Get whichever string you can get, and then tune it to whatever sounds good (and feels good) to you. If it's not enough, look into other workarounds.

Personally, I don't like the sound and feel of super thick bass strings. I think thinner strings tuned slack sound and feel better. I've used a .135" down to F0, and, if you use a gentle touch, it sounds better than a .160", ...to me. But, in order to find your own sweet spot, you have to try some different things first.


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## WarMachine (Oct 5, 2021)

Blackspell-666 said:


> Is a J bass capable of playing music like this interms of pickup,scale length etc. And what string gauge should i use?


They definitely do. I have a 4 string squier jazz bass and it sounds great for metal. Im normally 9 times out of 10 a GHS Boomers fan, but for bass i'm really liking the D'Addario EXL160's 50-120's. They last, keep a good tone longer than the boomers do (for the bass at least) and handle down tuning very well. The highest i tune is C# standard, i normally stay in drop B/A# and they sound great in that range. No flub, just good grind and snap.


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## Hexer (Oct 6, 2021)

Most 5-strings on the market are 34" scale as well. Personally I play a 34" scale 5-string tuned down one step to A-Standard and I like a pretty clear, snappy, aggressive sound. My lowest string is a .135 and it works fine. G is just another step lower so it should be possible, especially with a string that gives you a bit more tension. A longer scale may help some of course.

I personally love the sound of Jazz-Bass style basses (Ash body, dual singlecoils) for metal and also in general. My Esh Stinger I follows that basic concept as well but has active single coils.


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## Drew (Oct 6, 2021)

I wouldn't overthink things like scale length and string guage at first - I'm sure you've been playing guitar long enough that you have preferences for all of these things, some of which probably align with common wisdom, and some of which probably don't. You'll get there with bass fairly quicky too, and the best way to do that is play a bunch of basses and figure out what YOU like. 

The number one reason 'd recommend buying a bass over programming basslines, aside from the fact I can't possibly believe it wouldn't be faster to record a part rather than program it note by note, is that I've found that I tend to write a bit differently on bass than on guitar, and it might inspire some new ideas.


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## WarMachine (Oct 7, 2021)

One of the only upsides to this is the "fresh string" sound. Or maybe if you have a very simple baseline that you could just copy and paste over and over.


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## ixlramp (Oct 8, 2021)

Blackspell-666 said:


> From where i live the biggest gauge i could find is .135, so what's the lowest note they could go on the "34 scale squier J bass?


.135 is sometimes used for A, which is low tension but practical. So G# is perhaps practical, although it will be very low tension.
However ...
A 35" scale allows you to reduce gauge by .005 while maintaining a similar tension, so a 35" scale is helpful if you intend to tune very low but you cannot find strings larger than .135.


Blackspell-666 said:


> Also should it be fine go through the bridge slot and tuning pegs?


Looking at a photo of the '5 string Squier affinity Jazz bass', it is top-loading with strings running through holes.
A .135 is a standard heavy B gauge, so a non-taperwound .135 will probably fit through the hole.
A taperwound .135 has more chance of fitting through the hole because the end of the string will not be so fat.
A .135 will fit tuning pegs because strings always taper before they reach them, as long as you measure your bass guitar and carefully choose the correct string 'winding length'.


Blackspell-666 said:


> If i have to fix all of that i'll probably just use vst.


Well ... =) ... This sounds like you are insisting on choosing a potentially unsuitable bass guitar, which might need modification, which therefore makes you not buy a bass guitar. Instead, how about choosing a suitable bass guitar that does not need modification? This is why i am giving advice.
You should not insist on a particular bass guitar as the first step, you should let your needs determine the bass guitars you choose between.


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## Taylord (Oct 11, 2021)

Programming all the nuances of crazy metal riffs seems pretty difficult, but if you've got it down then you'll have the fresh strings perfect sound every time. I just play the bass in and accept the imperfections.


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## gabito (Oct 14, 2021)

I've tried both approaches, and I find it easier and faster to play a real bass for recording. I only program things I don't want to learn how to play, or don't want to / won't buy, ie: drums.

You can play bass like a guitar player, that won't be a problem, but it's better for the music and your understanding of it if you try to play it with a bass player mindset: follow the bass drum, do not play only the root note, etc. (not saying that not following the bass drum or not playing only the root note won't work). Try to study how bass players you like play. The same could be said when programming any instrument, though...

Have fun!


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## Rob Dial (Dec 19, 2021)

Should be simple, buy it - use it - program it if it feels like needed! Be patient!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Dec 29, 2021)

I midi-bass for demo only, never as a final product. Nothing can replace the nuance of a bass performance by an actual bass player. Not a guitar player on bass, but an actual bass player. Allow room for an actual bass player to interpret and invoke themselves into the performance as a true bass player just has that bassist sensibility that is not the same as a guitarist on bass.

Having said all that, I don’t get caught up in scale lengths or string gauges, but I do find that for my music, the dual jazz pickup confit just sits in the right spot in the mix. Both pickups to the pot, straight out. To me, the fret noise & clank of the strings are all part of the finger performance, and you don’t get that from midi, at least not the randomization of it that you get from an actual performance.


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## jaguar78 (Jan 23, 2022)

Depend on what you want...You can buy it and program it, still depend on what you want


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## LunatiqueRob (Feb 10, 2022)

I do both. I play bass for enjoyment and a sense of fulfillment, and I sometimes record the basses for songs. But sometimes if I need a very complex and difficult to play bassline for a song, and I don' have the time to first learn and practice it for weeks or months just to be able to record it, then I'd just program it with a high quality bass sample library. The good thing about having learned to bass, is that it informs my bass programming and makes it even more authentic sounding.


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## creepymcpeepers (Mar 14, 2022)

Blackspell-666 said:


> I'm really interested in playing bass recently for recording my own music and playaround with some songs i like. i find their sound is really cool but as a guitar player i know absolutely nothing about it.
> 
> I mainly play modern metal on my 7 string guitar tuned to Drop G# and pitch shift to anything higher or lower. Example of bands like : Periphery, Meshuggah, Vildhjarta, Alpha Wolf, Monuments, Architects, Gojira.
> 
> I'm really not sure if i should start playing bass or just program it. I have my eyes on a 5 string Squier affinity Jazz bass and using Neural dsp Parallax plugin as my amp. Is a J bass capable of playing music like this interms of pickup,scale length etc. And what string gauge should i use? I see people recommended some Ibanez and Stingray but i really hate how they looks. Also should i be fine pitch shifting bass using the same pitch shifting plugins for guitar?


I don’t really play bass but I bought the American p
Bass and it is the funnest thing to play dude. I have had cheaper basses before and they were fun intil they weren’t but when I got that p bass I play it just as much as I play my guitars I wonder if I could make bass vox kool again. I never could sing and play and can’t really sing good but I would like to be like a screamer that jams bass and stuff but that’s just some wierd thing I think about but I made. A video of me just practicing getting the syllables and the finger movements down and started with a easy song and it was this one


Like I said I can’t sing good but I would like to be able to play mudvayne and sing it at the same time that would be so bad ass


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## creepymcpeepers (Mar 14, 2022)

TedEH said:


> Sounds like you answered your own question. Interested in bass? Try out some bass. Bass is fun in it's own way.
> 
> 
> Lots of people play J-style basses for metal. I play a Jazz V, but I don't downtune much. If money was no object and I wanted to downtune really far, I'd probably look into a Dingwall Super-J. They look cool, probably play well, but they're gonna cost. J- style pickups work great for lots of things. Long scale lengths will _help_ if you're downtuning, but they're not a necessity. Someone who knows better can answer the string gauge question.
> ...


Hello i had a question about your response here about I don’t see why not I tried plugging my bass into the petrucci plug in and got all kinds of wierd noises and pops when I started playing kind of hard on the petrucci vst I just got a clean amp and turned off all reverbs and delays and figured it would be ok do you have any idea how to make it jot down that


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