Hello and a question or two..

[Jammin Joe]

Hello, I am new to the forum but have been lurking and reading post from here for several days.

I am an accomplish guitar/bass player looking for an Upright Bass. I have messed with quite a few upright basses and can get music out of them, but would like to purchase one and start taking the bass more seriously.

Question 1: I enjoy all types of music from Jazz to Rockabilly and from Swing to Blues. Will one style of set-up work for all styles of music, or will I need one set up for Slap verses one set up for Jazz....etc?

Question 2: After reading all the posts, it sounds like a "real" beginer bass prices start around $1000 as opposed to the $500 junk ones on ebay. I have no problem spending $1000 or more on a bass. (most of my guitars are 3 times that price anyway) What is the difference in quality between $1000 and $1500? I see that the Englheart start at $1000 and go up to $1500. Is there that much of a difference in quality between these basses? If I spend $2000 am I getting that much more of a bass over $1000 or $1500?

I have read the post on HOW TO BUY A BASS, but it really does not go into detail about price variations between $1000 and $2000. On an electric guitar for example, there may be very little difference in the overal quality of a guitar priced in between this range...as opposed to jumping up to $3k or more.

Thanks for any input.

Joe

[joel kelsey]

Hey Joe,
welcome to the forum(nerd central). I would suggest pplaying as many basses in your price range as possible. I would also suggest getting a teacher and having him/her or another experienced player help you look. How many styles of music do you want to play? I find that one set up works for me, but I play mostly acoustic music and some rnb. For my jazz gigs that require an amp, I try to use the amp to make my acoustic sound louder. Between my amp and pickup I can change my sound to try to better suit non jazz gigs. However if I bowed professionally (bad arco solos at resteraunt gigs don't count) or slapped, it could be a different scene. I am sure others will chime in on the set up issue. Don't forget to play as many basses as possible and let us know what you get.

Good Luck!

[Jammin Joe]

Thanks for your reply.

While I often play guitar in a jazz quartett, I would probably not be gigging on bass playing jazz (the bass players I work with are monsters, so I don't foresee stealing a gig from them). So for me, mostly personal studio work for jazz and swing stuff. (and no bowwing at this time) . I could see if one of the bassist I work with would go shopping with me...although as with most jobbing musicians, they have other things to do with thier spare time then to hang out with guitar players!

I do play a fair amount of blues and rockabily gigs on guitar and could foresee a time when I played upright bass on those gigs.

I guess as far as setup, I an wondering if the action is different for slap verses standards (jazz/R&B/Swing). Will a bass with an ebony board be better in all cases? Will an adjustable bridge only be suitable for one style of music due to the mechanical/tone differences of the design?

Not sure if that helps at all.

[DrChill]

Joel's right,

Just play them, and as many as possible. There seem to be a lot of opinions about how to set up the bass for various styles of play, and there is a lot to be said for that. I'm sayin' for instance, slap guys will often have a very flat bridge and fingerboard, as where arcos-ists need a healthy curve so as to get the bow on one string at a time. Also, few orchestronauts have flames painted on their instruments.

Also, there seems to be a debate about the Romberg (you know, that continental divide between E and A that runs down the length of the FB) being out of style these days. However, some still contend that it's needed to give the fat string plenty of room when bowed vibrations get really cooking.

My point is this, play lots of basses with different strings and set ups, and play them the way you intend to play your bass (duh). And if you find that you like bowing on a flat bridge, then do it! Dig, I'm just saying from my own humble experience there is no better way to do it than to try it yourself and go with what happens to work for you.

Here are a couple of things I found can be big variables that can seriously change the sound / playability of which I was not initially aware.

The bow - a craptastic bass can sound reasonable with a good bow, and a crumby bow can wreck good tone. I went to Violins, etc in Austin and played a bass with good arco tone they had there using a mess of different sticks. I finally went with brazilwood for $165. If you don't already have a solid bow, people say good things about the Upton bass $100 budget bow. http://www.uptonbass.com/Double-Bass-Bows/

So that's one variable it helps to have consistentiated. Also I like Pop's rosin.

Also, an adjustable bridge is good to allow you to lower the action for jazz and pizz, and raise the action for arco if needed. Furthermore, dry air will lower the action so you may need to make seasonal adjustments anyway.

Finally, about the price range. I found that solid tops really do have a much fuller arco tone than the laminates, and cost more accordingly. But just because you choose to go solid, doesn't mean you have to pay an arm and a leg more.

Good luck friend.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by DrChill

J...I found that solid tops really do have a much fuller arco tone than the laminates, and cost more accordingly.

I agree and the difference is striking (at least to me) with pizzicato as well.