Disadvantages of using a guitar (with plugins) as a bass, vs buying an actual bass?

[QuestionAsker]

I want to add bass to my tracks, and I'm wondering whether I can use my guitar, with plugins, as a bass?

In the spirit of saving money (and minimalism - I live in cramped apartment), I was wondering if it would be a big disadvantage to forego buying an actual electric bass (like a Squire Jazz), and just use a guitar with effects / vst's / etc to sound like an actual bass.

Wondering how close I can get to achieving a "bass" sound with my guitar and plugins?

Or would it be much better just to buy an actual electric bass?

[Wonks]

I don’t think you’ll get close.

Unless you want to do very complicated bass lines, I think you’ll get better results with a bass VSTi.

I generally use the Scarbee MM bass (came as part of NI Komplete but available separately) l for general purpose bass lines despite having a couple of basses. They only get used for more specialised tracks, maybe if I need to do a big slide up/down the neck.

And there are lots more bass VSTis out there to look at.

Though you might want to look at the EHX B9 pedal. I’ve seen videos of it and it seems to get better results than anything else I’ve seen.
https://www.ehx.com/products/bass9/

But a Bass VSTi will almost certainly be cheaper.

[Philbo King]

It can be done convincingly on a keyboard (either a synth with good bass patch or a VSTi or bass keys on a piano). It's tougher to do it well with an octave shifted guitar.

[Stuart79]

Spitfire have an electric bass in their free Labs range. It can do a job.

[BJG145]

Oh c'mon, just buy a cheap bass. It's the performance as much as anything; engaging with the thing. Playing a bass feels nothing like playing a guitar or keyboard.

[Dynamic Mike]

Oh c'mon, just buy a cheap bass. It's the performance as much as anything; engaging with the thing. Playing a bass feels nothing like playing a guitar or keyboard.

From having been in your position I'd go with the suggestion above. I eventually gave up trying to fudge it & bought the cheapest Yamaha bass. It takes a little while to get the hang of it even if you're an experienced guitarist, but it's much easier finding a tone & phrasing that suits whatever track you're working on than it is with VSTi's. I'd say the main advantage is the time you'll save in the long run.

[resistorman]

Playing bass just feels good when you're in the pocket. There's a lot to be said for learning different instruments.

[tea for two]

I want to add bass to my tracks, and I'm wondering whether I can use my guitar, with plugins, as a bass?

Is this a MiDi Guitar.

If it isn't a MiDi Guitar then I can't see how you'd be able to do this with Bass plugins. In which instance purchasing a used Bass or a new electric Bass Uke at approx £130 would do a job offer hours of fun. You could then DI record the Bass shape it's tone with EQ, Compression, Filtering.

If it is a MiDi Guitar then why not : this is what I do with my Jamstik+
With a MiDi Guitar you can use Bass plugins. Scarbee already been mentioned there is also Spectrasonics Trillian which is imo one of the best out there.

[amanise]

I'm in the getting an actual bass guitar camp (being a guitarist). If you have the spare cash and the space you'll have much more than a way of putting together simplistic bass lines to sit well down in a mix and be unobtrusive but just filling out the bottom end. There's so much more to it than than. Just about every bump, slap, and knock on the fret board can be musical in itself and impossible to emulate. You'll be learning another instrument. They're nice things to have on stands and on walls - and they don't eat much. Many a song idea comes from noodling around a bass riff. Adopt one today for only 6 or 7 hundred pounds!

[adrian_k]

I’m with everyone else here - I’ve messed about with trying this briefly and soon gave up. Get a bass, or use a synth or vsti.

[Rich Hanson]

When I had a Variax guitar, I tried dropping all the strings an octave to see what it sounded like.

And for that reason I too am in the "buy a cheap bass" camp!

[Dave Rowles]

Just incase you needed a further opinion....get a bass.

Octaver pedals and the like do not sound the same. I engineer a couple of bands who do it to get a bass sound live, and it's always muddy and I really miss the real bass sound.

If a bass isn't an option due to space in the tiny apartment, then I agree that a VSTi is the best second option depending on what basslines you actually want so create.

[Drew Stephenson]

I'm going to challenge all of the above with a simple, 'give it a go'.
I have on a few occasions and it's worked every time. Different techniques I've taken include:
Using a Variax guitar set to a resonator model and with the output dropped an octave. Nice woody sound, like a double bass through an amp.
Using a normal electric guitar DI'd. Then octave dropped using ReaPitch, little bit of EQ and then into the free JS cab sim.
Using an acoustic guitar, octave dropped in ReaPitch and a bit of tidying EQ. Again sounds very like an acoustic bass.
Once it's in the mix I doubt anyone will notice unless you have a particularly exposed part.

Give it a go and see what happens, but it does help if you shift your right hand around and play it like a bass.

[paul tha other]

id echo what drew says and give it a go...if youre looking for a bass guitar sound, its not gonna give you that...most octave plugs and pedals give a low note a wobble..I actually recorded someone last week that had a weird looking hybrid between a bass and a guitar..not a baritone but fender have re-released this 6 string thing that kinda has bass strings on it but not quite, anyway my point is ,we spent a lot of time with his helix and my bunch of plugs to make this sound more like a bass guitar..after a couple of hours of trying we just went a borrowed a bass and did it properly ..im not gonna lie to you..it wasn't even close to sounding like a bass..its filled out the bottom end but if you are looking for clear bass notes thats not what we got..

[Drew Stephenson]

This is still very much a work in progress (so don't judge me too harshly!) but the 'bass' here is an acoustic guitar pitch-shifted in Reaper: https://soundcloud.com/user-359526178/y ... 5zyDxTqrjm

[Wonks]

This is still very much a work in progress (so don't judge me too harshly!) but the 'bass' here is an acoustic guitar pitch-shifted in Reaper: https://soundcloud.com/user-359526178/y ... 5zyDxTqrjm

It's a bass, Jim, but not as we know it...

[garrettendi]

I think it's worth throwing IK Multimedia's free MODO Bass CS into the mix!