Pitch Shifter Pedal?

[Pestie]

Hiya BCers.

 

This is probably a daft question.   I’ve just got into a new band and they often want to change the key down a semi tone which they do by moving their capo.  I’m wondering if it’ll be useful for me to try a pitch shifter pedal, that is if one actually exists for bass.  

 

What do do you think?  All suggestions gratefully accepted.

 

Thanks.

 

Mike

[Waddo Soqable]

Beat them at their own game, use a capo too! 

[Dad3353]

1 minute ago, Pestie said:

...and they often want to change the key down a semi tone which they do by moving their capo....

 

Nave you tried doing the same as them, moving a capo on your bass..? 

[Waddo Soqable]

Just now, Dad3353 said:

 

Nave you tried doing the same as them, moving a capo on your bass..? 

Great minds think alike.. Tho if he's wanting to go down, he'd have to tune the "open" bass to the lowest option then capo up and down with his comrades.. 

[Dad3353]

1 minute ago, Waddo Soqable said:

Great minds think alike.. Tho if he's wanting to go down, he'd have to tune the "open" bass to the lowest option then capo up and down with his comrades.. 

 Whatever matches the guitars would work, Shirley. 

[Waddo Soqable]

1 minute ago, Dad3353 said:

 Whatever matches the guitars would work, Shirley. 

Indeed Laverne, but he said he'd need to drop down a semi tone in his initial question, so I'd think that'd have to be his base bass tuning, then match the Gits with his capo as req. per song/tune etc

[Dad3353]

6 minutes ago, Waddo Soqable said:

Indeed Laverne, but he said he'd need to drop down a semi tone in his initial question, so I'd think that'd have to be his base bass tuning, then match the Gits with his capo as req. per song/tune etc

 

Drop down a semi-tone from where..? If the guitars are tuned to 'E', with a capo they could be anywhere. If the guitars are down-tuned, with capos (why..?), down-tune the bass the same way. I'm not seeing the problem. 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Dad3353

[Waddo Soqable]

2 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Drop down a semi-tone from where..? If the guitars are tuned to 'E', with a capo they could be anywhere. If the guitars are down-tuned, with capos (why..?), down-tune the bass the same way. I'm not seeing the problem. 

Yes we're saying the same thing then down tune the bass to match the Gits.... but I read his orig question as having a need to switch tunings up and down, hence the G's use of capos. (and the suggestion to do likewise) 

I'm sure the op will be along to clarify.. 

[Dad3353]

I read the OP as being guitars tuned to 'Eb', with a capo to bring 'em to 'E', which they sometimes remove to drop back to 'Eb'. Seems odd, but... Maybe to suit the singer..? 

Edited January 26, 2023 by Dad3353

[Waddo Soqable]

4 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

I read the OP as being guitars tuned to 'Eb', with a capo to bring 'em to 'E', which they sometimes remove to drop back to 'Eb'. Seems odd, but... Maybe to suit the singer..? 

Indeed, so we're both saying he should do the same 👍

 

A capo's a bit cheaper than some pitchshifty electrickery thing too! 

[Grahambythesea]

If they’re going from E down to Eb you could fit a hipster d-tuner set to drop the half. The rest of the notes above are the same.

[lidl e]

Cant you just get a tuner?

Our first three songs in our set i go from E to Eb to D then back to E for the fourth and it takes all of three seconds.

 

 

[Ed_S]

I found the Digitech Drop pedal works well on 4 string bass in standard tuning.. not quite so well on the bottom of a 5 or an already down-tuned 4. It tracks a bit better if you can put a HPF in front of it, but it's not the end of the world if you don't have one. I found it good for up to 3 semitones down, beyond which the very slight chorus-ish thing that it introduces started to make me feel out of tune. I play by ear, though, so maybe you could go further down if you can play to the numbers and not let it put you off. It was great for live work to avoid swapping bass or retuning, but I wouldn't record with it - it's not that good.

[Al Krow]

If you want to get something that won't break the bank, a Zoom B1-4 will do this for you and a lot else besides (e.g. tuner, headphone amp, looper and oh yes, it's a multi-fx in its spare time).

[Roger2611]

16 minutes ago, Ed_S said:

I found the Digitech Drop pedal works well on 4 string bass in standard tuning.. not quite so well on the bottom of a 5 or an already down-tuned 4. It tracks a bit better if you can put a HPF in front of it, but it's not the end of the world if you don't have one. I found it good for up to 3 semitones down, beyond which the very slight chorus-ish thing that it introduces started to make me feel out of tune. I play by ear, though, so maybe you could go further down if you can play to the numbers and not let it put you off. It was great for live work to avoid swapping bass or retuning, but I wouldn't record with it - it's not that good.

I have the Digitech Drop, it is OK on bass, I used it for a full tone drop in the rock band I used to play in, it sounds OK but you can hear that it is a processed sound, it is more convincing on a guitar! If you can find one, grab one, they are an easy way to quickly change tuning as long as you are not dropping too far! 

[Pestie]

Thank you.

 

The reason for changing the key is to help the singer.  I do have a tuner, l just thought a pitch shifter might be more convenient if one existed for bass. 😀👍😀

[Dad3353]

4 minutes ago, Pestie said:

Thank you.

 

The reason for changing the key is to help the singer.  I do have a tuner, l just thought a pitch shifter might be more convenient if one existed for bass. 😀👍😀

 

Maybe try one out on the singer, then..? 

[Waddo Soqable]

4 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Maybe try one out on the singer, then..? 

Or a capo on the singer... 

[fleabag]

[TKenrick]

2 hours ago, Pestie said:

All suggestions gratefully accepted.

 

Devil's advocate suggestion... unless they're moving a song down from E to Eb and you really want the lowest possible octave* then just save your money and use your brain. Transposing a song down a semitone shouldn't be that much of a headache once you've tried it a couple of times.

 

 

 

 

*assuming you're playing a 4-string bass in standard tuning, that is.

[MacDaddy]

Digitech BP355

Multi fx pedal but includes ⬆️

I had a short scale bass with floppy strings, so I tuned up a tone, and set the pitch down a tone so that I would be tuned 'normally'.

The tracking was flawless. 

[pete.young]

2 hours ago, Grahambythesea said:

If they’re going from E down to Eb you could fit a hipster d-tuner set to drop the half. The rest of the notes above are the same.

Loving the idea of a hipster d-tuner. Needs a shave and loves craft beer 🙂

 

Chances are that a pedal is going to make a sound that isn't very much like a bass guitar. Tuning down a semitone might be OK, otherwise you might want to consider BEAD or a 5-string. That's how I got into 5-string playing.

Edited January 26, 2023 by pete.young