Pitch shifting a bass guitar, good enough?

[MarmaladeMad]

It took me a while to realise after getting my seven string that recording would be a pain without a 5 string bass. So as an experiment, I played the song on the second string of the bass and shifted it an octave down. It does sound flabby but can it pass off as a decent recording, given the circumstance?

https://soundcloud.com/mustafa-khan-4/cue-winter

 

[svenlk]

thats what i do for all my bass parts it works really well if you do it right

 

[Rygar91]

You know you can just lower the tuning on the bass right? You dont need a 5-string bass to play with a 7-string guitar.

 

[PlumbTheDerps]

Not to be an ass, but that sounds quite bad. Just take it to any Guitar Center and ask them to widen the nut, then buy a 5-string set and only put on the lowest 4 strings. Tune to EABD, or whatever you're playing in. That's what I usually do and it sounds fine. I've only used a pitch shifter for 2 semitones at the very most, and that was a stretch.

 

[MarmaladeMad]

You know you can just lower the tuning on the bass right? You dont need a 5-string bass to play with a 7-string guitar.

I'd need a much heavier string gauge, or a bass with a longer scale length in order to maintain enough string tension, both of which i can't find around here.

 

[MarmaladeMad]

Not to be an ass, but that sounds quite bad. Just take it to any Guitar Center and ask them to widen the nut, then buy a 5-string set and only put on the lowest 4 strings. Tune to EABD, or whatever you're playing in. That's what I usually do and it sounds fine. I've only used a pitch shifter for 2 semitones at the very most, and that was a stretch.

Not being an ass at all. Thank you for the feedback

 

[PlumbTheDerps]

Not being an ass at all. Thank you for the feedback

Oops, just noticed you're in Karachi. Doubt my advice about Guitar Center was helpful haha. You can probably find books that will explain how to widen the nut with tools, or you can take it to any guitar/bass maintenance place. I don't think it's that tough, although I've never tried it myself. But yeah, highly recommend that method. I have a pretty cheap bass and it still worked for me If you can't find heavier gauge strings nearby, could you try importing online from India? I don't know much about your bilateral tariffs, but it might be a worthwhile option.

 

[MarmaladeMad]

Oops, just noticed you're in Karachi. Doubt my advice about Guitar Center was helpful haha. You can probably find books that will explain how to widen the nut with tools, or you can take it to any guitar/bass maintenance place. I don't think it's that tough, although I've never tried it myself. But yeah, highly recommend that method. I have a pretty cheap bass and it still worked for me If you can't find heavier gauge strings nearby, could you try importing online from India? I don't know much about your bilateral tariffs, but it might be a worthwhile option.

Haha yep. A guitar Center here would be a godsend. Importing has its own problems so my best shot would be asking a friend to bring it along with them the next time they come here. Cheers.

 

[davidthangjam10]

its works quite well. get ez mix and use it as an amp. you can get killer tones with it!