Octave Mandolin as Bass ?

[Huda]

I love the fifths tuning and 23.5" scale lenght of my Octave Mandolin. However, my current band (drums, guitar, violin, and me on the OM), really needs a bassist. So I am wondering if I can convert my OM into a bass?

This is what I am thinking about. Tell me if I am crazy or if this idea might actually work:

1. Install a pickup into my acoustic OM.
2. Buy a good amp.
3. Get one of those sub-octave bass pedals that takes each note down by an octave (or two).
4. Play my OM as if it were a bass.

What do you guys think? Would this work?

[kww]

I can't find an input range spec on any of the sub-octave bass pedals. I suspect that they are designed to only work well when the notes coming in are in the range of a bass guitar, but I can't prove it without a spec.

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Adding this later:

I don't know if what you want to do is a good idea or not, but at least this pedal should handle your frequency range.

[mandroid]

If you can spring for Synthisizer access components and a Roland Guitar synth, the bass patches are darn convincing to my ear .
I have retrofitted a 4 string electric, I had, with RMC acoustic gold bridge piezo pieces, and a polydrive 2 converter box to run 13 pin synth inputs, visually, its a very odd bass.
roland's KCW 1 drives it well, down there, AC 60 for the top end. 1 short cord between.

2 modules one bass settings and the other treble , like steel drum ; is verry interesting [to me at least]

[EdSherry]

Contrary to KWW's suggestion, the pedals work by sensing a note in one range (e.g., the low strings on an acoustic or electric guitar) and creating one (or two) notes an octave (or two octaves) lower in pitch.

But the "octave" pedals (like the Boss OC-3 or its predecessors) need a clear fundamental note in order to work effectively. #The pedal has to "read" the note being played and replicate it an octave lower. #

A double-strung instrument (like an OM) is likely to be more problematic than a single-strung instrument (e.g., an acoustic guitar), simply because of the inherent discrepancy between the two strings.

[kww]

There seem to be two basic breeds of these things: one that expects the input to be a bass guitar and creates a superbass, and the others that expect a guitar input and create sounds in the regular bass range. The one I suggested supports both, and I think that an octave mandolin would work well in guitar mode.

It probably is true that stripping half the strings would help this project to succeed. So far as I can see, this thing really is a synthesiser/mixer: it reads the input, creates a sine wave at the frequency it deduces is appropriate, and mixes in the original input to act as harmonics on the synthesized output. If it had a hard time determining the original input frequency, the output could get pretty strange.

[Dfyngravity]

I would go to ebay, buy a cheap acoutic or electric bass, a decent amp and forget all of the troubles. By the time you buy a pickup, install it, and buy the pedal you could have probably bought an inexpensive bass for the same amount of money.

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/FENDER-P-BASS-ELECTRIC-GUITAR-AND-UPGRADE-AMP-PACKAGE_W0QQitemZ200012882142QQihZ010QQcateg


oryZ64401QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">Fender Squire Bass</a>

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Electric-bass-P-bass-Fender-Squier-LOWEST-BUY-IT-NOW_W0QQitemZ280013863403QQihZ018QQcatego
ryZ4713QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">Fender Squire Bass w/o amp....very cheap</a>

[Huda]

Dfyngravity, that is a great idea. But how do you set up a bass in fifths tuning? Other threads on have said that fifths tuning would warp the neck of a bass. Any suggestions?

[Dfyngravity]

Good question, I wasn't thinking about that. Let me look for some info. But bass is very easy to learn if you want to do basic stuff.

[mandroid]

The relationship is consistant on 4 strings EADG in a manner familiar to GDAE .


I would suggest that if you are not used to bearing a hefty load on your shoulders ,
a hollow body instrument #would be more comfortable to have on a strap than #something in the type of fender P or J basses .

I believe Epi version of a 'jack Cassidy signature' bass ##, is #like the Gibby its copying, a bit shorter scale and a nice hollow body design. 30.5" scale . another one in the catalog is 1/2" shorter.
[revising,EB-0 (30.5)is solid SG type body]
there are different scale lengths in basses , the viol family fractions the plan.
3/4 is a common selection.

[EdSherry]

Tuning a bass in 5ths shouldn't be a problem (warpage-wise) IF you get the right gauge strings (you'll have to "mix and match" your own set using different gauges -- a stock bass set won't do the job very well). #

The bigger problem will be the stretches needed; even with the shorter-scale Epi EB-0 or similar, most bass guitar scales are MUCH longer than any OM I've used. #

That said, once you tune in fifths, the prototypical "root-fifth" bass line becomes dead simple to play!

[Bob Denton]

Antoher option is a guitar with the Roland synth built in. The synth doesn't care what the original string is tuned to.

My mandoblaster is set up with 5 A strings, all tuned to A, which gives it a faster synch. Then i set up the synth to play those stings as any sting I want, EADG.

People really sit up and take notice when I use the Pipe Organ or Bass settings on "the liddle guitar"

The guitar can be tuned in 5ths electonically with the step of a pedal.

Here is everything you need:

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/GUITAR-SYNTH-PACKAGE-complete-gr30-gk2a-carvin-rp7_W0QQitemZ270015898405QQihZ017QQcategory
Z621QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem" target="_blank">Synth Guitar</a>

Cya!