Pitch shifter?

[jezzaboy]

I dep for a band just now where everything is played a half step down - E is E flat, A is G sharp and so on.

I have something on the go where I might have to play one song in standard tuning and the next a half step down, then back to standard.

I could use 2 basses but that is a pain in the behind. Could I use a pitch shifter pedal that I could kick in to detune the sound half a step, then kick it out to go back to standard tuning? Is this what this pedal does?

It may seem like a dumb question but pedals are not my strong point.

[JapanAxe]

There is a pedal called a Möbius (I think) which is aimed at drop-tuning metal guitarists. Might work for you?

[Wooks79]

Yep, is the short answer. Some pedals aren't good enough to do it if you are wanting a natural sound though...

The Eventide Pitchfactor I use does this fantastically, I use it to go down to C, and love it.

The Mooer Pitchbox I have does it as well, but you can really hear the difference between the quality of the two!

[0175westwood29]

can you not just retune for the single song?

andy

[KingBollock]

As Andy says, if it is for just one song you'd only really need to detune the E string.

[tonyquipment]

Why not use a capo?

[jezzaboy]

Ta for the replies guys. I may have to tune down for more than one song and the singer isn`t sure if they will be next to each other in the set.

The Mooer Pitchbox looks to be the perfect thing Wooks and at a decent price. Unlike the Eventide!! [size=4] [/size]

[Wooks79]

If possible have a play with one first, it doesn't sound that natural, but you may be happy with it... Wanna buy my practically unused one?

Edited October 19, 2014 by Wooks79

[mingsta]

I'm in an amateur pub covers/function band type set up where we change the key where appropriate to suite the singer's range.

In theory, you could use a pitch pedal to do this for you, but in practice I've found that tracking and lag can be a bit of an issue. It can work well on slower songs, but gets tripped up on faster songs. Also the pitch shift can sound a bit artificial, which is fine for certain pop songs where the bass is more synthy or sub sounding, but not good for other songs where you want a nice organic bass tone (e.g rock).

For example, we do Kiss from a Rose (Seal) and that sounded great on a 4str pitch-shifted down 5 semi-tones. But with Light my Fire (Doors) which is a little busier, the sound went out of the window.

In the end, I always end up taking both my 5-string and 4-string to gigs in favour of using the pitch shifter. Having said that, the pitch shifter's I've used have all been in multi-fx units (Zoom B9ut and MS-60) and there might be some better performing dedicated pitch shift pedals out there. If anyone knows of one, then let me know as I'd be interested in trying.

[Wooks79]

[quote name='mingsta' timestamp='1413993128' post='2584562']
If anyone knows of one, then let me know as I'd be interested in trying.
[/quote]

The Eventide Pitchfactor is amazing at it, but it's not a cheap pedal

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Bass whammy ?

[jezzaboy]

Wooks, ta for the offer but I will have to give this some more thought. It doesn`t seem as easy as I thought it might be without spending a good few quid.

Ray, my mate has a whammy pedal that I might try out. Cheers for the suggestion.

[spaners]

Have a look at the new Electro harmonix pitchfork, might do the trick at not a silly price.

[Prime_BASS]

I'd find out what notes you actually need first and try and transcribe them for standard tuning before buying anything.

Personally I've never felt an absolute need to drop tune a half step unless the bottom Eflat is an absolute must for the song.

[cheddatom]

I used to tune down and then use a capo

Pitch pedals can be great (I have a couple) but they'll never feel the same IMO

[dannybuoy]

Nobody's mentioned Digitech's The Drop.

Or just get a Hipshot Xtender and drop the low E to Eb when it suits.

[uncle psychosis]

A capo will almost certainly work better than any pedal solution.

[Toasted]

[quote name='Prime_BASS' timestamp='1414048044' post='2585060']
I'd find out what notes you actually need first and try and transcribe them for standard tuning before buying anything.

Personally I've never felt an absolute need to drop tune a half step unless the bottom Eflat is an absolute must for the song.
[/quote]

^ this. I always play in standard tuning and I've been in bands with some wonkyily tuned guitars.

[cheddatom]

I've been trying to figure out how to say wonkyily for 10 minutes now. I'm a FAILURE

Learning to play everything in standard tuning is probably what proper musicians do, but I found the capo fit nicely with my dullard style

[Truckstop]

Yeah surely you'd just need to de-tune the E to Eb? Couple of seconds with a tuner?

Truckstop

[scoobystig]

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1414090739' post='2585802']
Yeah surely you'd just need to de-tune the E to Eb? Couple of seconds with a tuner?

Truckstop
[/quote]

Absolutely I play a few songs in drop D, I have more or less memorised where the tuning peg needs to be for both E and D, I have a small clip on tuner behind the headstock and can tune in less time it takes the singer to stop arsing about between songs

If he does catch me out I can usually tune it on the fly as I more or less know the position the tuner peg needs to be in for either note

[tauzero]

I've used a Digitech BP-200 for similar purposes - I just used the whammy function and shifted it down a tone. Shifting down a semitone would mean doing it by ear.

[Prime_BASS]

[quote name='Toasted' timestamp='1414078119' post='2585616']


^ this. I always play in standard tuning and I've been in bands with some wonkyily tuned guitars.
[/quote]

Same. I've played in metal bands in standard

[mingsta]

[quote name='spaners' timestamp='1414047755' post='2585054']
Have a look at the new Electro harmonix pitchfork, might do the trick at not a silly price.
[/quote]

I'm going to check this one out at Anderton's today.

Its only just out, so I'll post my thoughts on how well it performs for bass once I've tried it.

[mingsta]

I tried out the EHX Pitchfork today at Andertons in Guildford...walked out with one. Here's a few initial thoughts. I was mainly looking at it for dropping my 4-string to BEAD so I don't need to bring 2 basses to gigs. However, I can see myself using the dual mode as an effect, as it sounds great.

[b]Pitch tracking[/b] - its digital, so tracking is perfect with no glitching

[b]Latency[/b] - there is noticeable latency, but its not too bad. Played some of the stuff the trips up my multi-fx (like the unison bit on Superstition) and it was quite manageable with the PitchFork...after a few minutes of playing I found that I barely noticed the latency.

[b]Tone[/b] - I played it with 100% wet tone, focusing on playing the E string (pitch shifted down 5 semitones to a low . It was the most natural sounding pitch shifter I've tried so far, and MUCH better than the two zoom multi-fx that I've had. This is what sold me.

[b]Other stuff:[/b]

It only shifts in certain increments m2 M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 M7, so bear that in mind if you're looking to use it primarily for drop tuning etc.

The dual modes (where you get octave 1 down, dry + octave 1,2 or 3 up) sound great on bass and would work well with the latch mode (where effect is only in play while you hold down the pedal) for accentuating certain parts of a song.

It is thankfully a decently small size (about the same as a MXR pedal) as they don't give dimensions on the website. I didn;t realise how comically big many of the EHX pedals are until I spied the display cabinet at Andertons!!!

Rather annoyingly, the power is on the top, while the jacks are side mounted. I prefer all one or the other for maximising pedal board space.