Or, Making Do(om):

I finally found myself an excellent, metal-inclined drummer that has both outpaced my current abilities and demands we chug harder and weirder.

Can't find a damn bass player that can keep up to save my life up here. The one I had lined up is out of commission for personal reasons for several months.

I remembered the last couple times I saw Big Business, Jared had this insane complicated rig splitting his signal all over the place to achieve a sort of church organ effect aided by the various EHX Hogs and Pogs, etc for big massive chords. Sounds awesome, obviously. Figured I could do that but backwards.

So I split my signal - Down tuned EGC into a splitter :

Going to the guitar amp is just a Rat

Going to a borrowed bass amp is a bass eq with all the high knobs off, the lowest knob (far left)all the way up, and the next 2 about half way. This goes into a whammy with the octave down selection.

I've mostly stopped using the whammy because it sounds too "local guitar/drums duo with octaves" for my tastes, and because my chord shaping does not facilitate that effect. So I'm probably gonna drop it from the chain.

I'm wondering if any of you have pursued similar solutions, what you could recommend, and if you think local sound guys would shit if I just asked them to split my low end signal to the pa from the eq so I don't have to lug around 2 amps.

I don’t know shit about shit, but have you considered a baritone / bass vi?

I've heard several other folks do the setup you describe w/out any sort of tech-trickery to isolate the low strings and to me, even with drastic eq carving, it's always sounded like a muddier guitar w/ no definition or space in the mix. Mixing FOH for this was never better than "ok." Did a demo for a band doing this too and yeah awful, so I get why you're looking to find a better solution.

Here's what we do (and note we're definitely of the "indie band two piece no bass player") We tried figuring this out early on because there are a lot of 2-pc that don't even try and that is not a good sound to my ear so we did some messing about w/ a Boss OC-3. That one allows you to split the clean/effected as a splits it there out to separate bass amp (note we also have to use an ebtech hum eliminator or BZZZZZ). There's a RANGE function that is key to this success as you want to dial it to pick up just the lowest notes in the song. He's gotten very adept at adjusting it to each song and playing to the pedal so-to-speak. Tracking glitches are rare and still usually within the key he's playing so it doesn't end up being a vibe crush.

That being said, based on my experience with the Boss SY-1 and SY-300 where I'm doing the opposite with a bass (generating octave+5th above), these track so, so much better and are worth considering. They aren't super cheap but Boss now has an OC-5 version out and if it tracks as well as the above, this would probably do the trick even better. Haven't used it but it's on the list.

Beyond that could play the bass with midi/taurus pedals like Djunah (or me on some of the songs where the OC-3 just doesn't quite work).

Nothing to add to what Garth wrote, but the synth foot pedal thing is definitely its own wormhole. Having gone down it myself (Brackets had some synth/guitar parts we wanted to include live and I volunteered to draw the short straw), here's what I found:

-That Keith McMillen 12 Step thing is really hard to use if you have large feet, and also hard to use on any not totally hard surface.
-One of the only full Taurus sized MIDI controllers out there is the Crumar Mojopedals; probably not an issue for you but I actually could have used an octave or two more on the high end.
-It definitely takes a lot of practice to play with your feet at the same time as your hands, and kinda becomes all about how you set up the synth/MIDI controller for how you want to latch notes, etc.
-That Crumar (and an actual Taurus) is real big, and you'll want a case to transport it, which will be even bigger, and if you've also got a pedal board for your stringed instrument, plus the synth being controlled by your foot pedals, you're getting a hell of a lot of space station jazz on the ground there to setup and haul around.
-Oh if one your feet hurts or something it kinda sucks having to balance on one foot constantly to hit the keys. Also found I needed super solid shoes to help with the balance, but this is likely more on me than something everyone else needs to be concerned with.

I’ve been through every form of this, from separate pickups just on the lower strings, to octavers to whammys to actual synths triggered by midi converters. When I get home I will drop my findings here. The short version is, separate pickups and a crossover into a multieffect pedal will give you the best and realest sound, unless you’re willing to put a MIDI pickup on your guitar to trigger real bass samples on a synth.

Forgot to mention one of the intriguing innovations for this as well here: https://www.alittlethunder.com/

this is not a cheap solution at $299 and requires installing an entire pickup as well as rewiring to use TRS and a breakout box like a Ric-o-sound.

I also want to address that neither the sound samples nor the FAQ address playing style, especially playing with chords. It says it senses the lowest note but tracking w/ chords is a critical ability for this to be an option for most users. Also requires recharging.

I would love to have Taurus or Taur-ish for a variety of reasons, but the constraints listed above and my "shit to do" plate is already full with vox, guitar, and tapdancing on 2 sets of pedals. Just do not possess the coordination. I foresee myself loving that setup and promptly dying the first time I eat shit missing a key.

Garth wrote: Forgot to mention one of the intriguing innovations for this as well here: https://www.alittlethunder.com/

this is not a cheap solution at $299 and requires installing an entire pickup as well as rewiring to use TRS and a breakout box like a Ric-o-sound.

I also want to address that neither the sound samples nor the FAQ address playing style, especially playing with chords. It says it senses the lowest note but tracking w/ chords is a critical ability for this to be an option for most users. Also requires recharging.

This looks awesome, but I'm not about to route out my EGC.

GuyLaCroix wrote: Mon Jun 12, 2023 12:31 pm This looks awesome, but I'm not about to route out my EGC.

Well sure, but for the discussion felt it was worth sharing what was known.

I think their original version was actually a small separate pickup w/ separate output jack that just went under the low E and A strings and adhered to the body/pickguard w/double-sided tape or whatever so that's what I was expecting to share. It was a lot less techno looking too. It'd been a couple years since I looked at this as we're pretty well good w/ the OC-3.

I'm in a 3 piece with drums and guitar. My solution isn't for everyone but my rig is fun as fuck right now:

28" Telecaster baritone tuned to B

Bridge pickup goes into a regular guitar amp etc

I wound a little neck pickup that just gets the two low strings, separate output jack - a homemade version of what Garth described

That pickup goes into a compressor, then a Boss SY-1 (thanks FM penningtron), then a small bass amp with a 1x12" cab. I use either a Gap Band like Moog setting or one that sounds like the bass pedals on an organ. I also tried an OC5 but it's not as fun and as Garth says the SY-1 tracks way better.

I have to arrange my parts around it a little, but it sounds great and is still easier than getting another human being to show up for practice