How do most bassist deal with playing with 8 string guitarist???

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cGoEcYk

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I tune my 7 guitar to drop B + low F#. I keep my 5 string bass in standard (BEADG). When things get into that F# zone I just play in the guitar octave and it sounds great... compensating in tightness and attack, where guitar tends to be a little looser and less clear (on guitar it takes great lengths to get great clear tone in extended range). I find coarse gritty distortion blended and aggressive attack on the bass can work well too. On bass I go to tactical lengths to get great, clear attacks on the B and other strings... using a lot of slapping and percussive fingerstyle to get the the right attack/punch factor in. In aggressive br00ts I find that one of the best roles of bass is in terms of punch and attack. On bass I cut my boomy lows (sub 100hz, which no one can hear/mainly muddies mix) and push low mids (180 hz), common method for cutting through heavy guitarists. My bandmix tone sounds overly aggressive almost harsh by itself but blended in mix it ends up just how I want it.
 

sezna

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It’s music, not science. Be creative and create a space for the bass in your writing. If the bass becomes totally superfluous, perhaps don’t use it. Otherwise, write independent parts for it that add to the composition as a whole.
 

jephjacques

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I love playing bass in unison with 7 and 8 string guitars, really fills out the sound in a pleasing way. If it's good enough for Meshuggah...
 

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Andromalia

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I usually play bass in a reggae band, so if I see a guy coming with an 8 string.... (Because, playing bass on reggae is fun)
 

Masoo2

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I feel unison rarely works as well as most people make it out to be, the reason a band like Meshuggah can get it to sound so good is through years of having some of the best producers/engineers/live sound guys alongside access to basically any gear they could ever dream of to create their dream wall of sound

On the flip side, it seems that many people struggle to get a low F#-E to actually sound good, sometimes even when using a 37 inch bass, so I guess the same problem is present there
 

Andromalia

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You..... Do know where you are right now.... Right? Hehe

Yes, that's why I know what a dude with an 8 string is going to try to pull. :D I'm always surprised when looking for musicians, people very often don't get that when I look for a reggae player, no, I'm not interested into making it tech djent reggae. Or whatever-genre-the-dude-is-trying-to-pull-post-reggae. I want someone to play reggae, not any musician desperate enough to play in whatever band and then try to direct it to his tastes.
And no, you don't get a guitar solo. That's what the trumpet player is here for.
 

cGoEcYk

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Also when dealing with any guitarist in a br00tal setting I like to show up with twice the cabinetry. Like if he has half stack, I show up with full. If he has a full stack and it's a d00m band then I'd have to buy another full stack. If there are two guitarists I dont join da band.
 

Bearitone

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Doesn’t meshuggah’s bassist play in the same octave as the guitars?

Edit: nvm someone already answered this
 
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