Using 8 String as a Bass guitar

[Sugbaable]

I'm just wondering if anyone does this. Of course it would be inferior to a bass guitar for the role (smaller scale length and smaller strings, and not specifically bass pickups) but has anyone done it? If you used a bass amp you should get a bass-guitar like tone right?

 

[Shredasaurus]

bass amps and guitar amps are different, ive heard of 9and 10 string players using the bottom strings for bass tones but that about it

 

[Given To Fly]

I have used my 8 string to play the bass parts of one piece, Electric Counterpoint by Steve Reich. It works well enough that people assume its a real bass, especially through hyped Bose speakers, but its also the kind of piece where no one particularly cares whether its a real bass or not.

I did play my 8 string (has 808x's) through some bass amps and you definitely hear more of the fundamental pitch from the wound strings and the natural high end of the guitar is rolled off a bit. Overall, it was a nice sound and I wasn't playing through anything all that impressive in terms of wattage or speaker size. If you need low notes in a pinch, an ERG through a bass amp could work quite well. You probably won't fool any bassists though.

 

[Pyrocario]

I've used my 8 string through a bass amp at university since we have like 4 bassists in our semester and it sounds fine honestly. You have to fiddle with the EQ a bit more since it's not really a plug and play situation because it's voiced differently to a bass guitar. The only thing I've found is once you go past the 6th string the strings start losing the bass quality to the notes.

We had a rehearsal and some bassists walked by the room and could hear a bass being played and no 'bassist' was in the room and they were so confused.

 

[RV350ALSCYTHE]

I play my 8s through both guitar and bass amps, with and without distortion.
I can get a similar tone to my actual bass guitars, especially when the one guitar still had stock BASS pickups (RG8)

It just takes some EQ adjustments to get close.
EQ pedals help too

I can get enough low-end to fart out and fill the room, but a good clean ringing tone always lacks some low-end compared to a real Bass.
I'm comparing 27" to 37" for context. I'm sure an 8 would be able to sound much more similar to a short scale bass.

 

[Esp Griffyn]

You might be able to play the same notes as a bass, but it's never going to have the same sound characteristics as a proper bass.

 

[Sugbaable]

Yeah I wasn't thinking you would get a tone extremely similar, just wondering if it's been done in a pinch. Knowing if an 8 string is a viable option for bass seems like a good thing to have ready if necessary.

 

[Given To Fly]

Yeah I wasn't thinking you would get a tone extremely similar, just wondering if it's been done in a pinch. Knowing if an 8 string is a viable option for bass seems like a good thing to have ready if necessary.

I would say, with a bass amp, you can get a tone that is "similar enough." A .94 Circle K wound 8th string helps too.

 

[AndreLyles]

As a bass player, this sounds really cool. A friend of mine who's a guitarist got me into doing chord melodies, and I love the way they sound on guitar. I'm not all about the two hand tapping and whatnot (although I know how to do it), and I feel that simplicity is key and is beautiful. But I really fell in love with it mainly because of the sonic sound of a guitar doing it. It really just comes down to it being an EQ thing. Whatever the sound is that you're looking for, you can actually find it. that's all!

 

[leftyguitarjoe]

I do this when I record because its easier to switch tones than pick up my bass

I EQ the .... out of it in the recording program afterwards. I compress and limit the ever living shit out of it. Also, I've taken to recording at double speed and stretching it to bring it an octave lower for super low lows.

Example [SC]https://soundcloud.com/leftyguitarjoe/tap-n-slap-a-work-in-progress[/SC]

 

[Path]

i swear i read somewhere that some pro band used a bass amp aswell as a guitar amp when he played his 8 l ive, sorry i cant rememeber more.