I've been playing electric for little over a year now and this summer i am going to rent an upright so i can learn it for jazz band next fall. My band teacher says that it's not going to keep me from getting in if i can't play upright, but it's icing on the cake if i can. is this the kind of thing i can learn over the summer or would it take more time to get good enough for a high school jazz band?

a spin-off topic: how about going from DB to electric?

My school has two double bassists but no electric bassists willing to play in jazz, so our band director often asks us to play electric on some tunes. Mind you, I hate it though.

Hard, yes, but it is worth the trouble. There will always be work for a player that doubles and can read well. You will find that it will take a lot of work to get as good on acoustic as you are on electric and you may even find a new love and play acoustic more.

Ed, thanks! I couldn't figure out why my tone on my electric is so fretty/maxed out now. Its because I have gradually replaced all my electric practice time with DB practice time! Schnikes, I don't want to give it up though. I guess I must just learn to be gentle....I always feel like I am clamping down on the thing with my left hand too...just doesn't feel as agile anymore...ironically. They are truly different beasts.

Yeah problem is I was never a very disciplined practicer of the electric - more of a noodler. Like you say, DB makes you more musical because in order to be any good at it you just have to work in a more thoughtful and disciplined manner.

And since they are so different, its hard to transfer the DB discipline over the electric. Oh well, I am just whining.