Acousticore ADGG strings detuned to EADG

[Earthkiss]

Hi,

I'd like to discuss getting an Double Bass sound with my electric fretless.

I have a Martin Peterson lightwave bass which you can see here... http://www.seibass.com/millensemi.jpg

I've been using Thomastik Acousticore strings which in combination with the lightwave pickup have a great acoustic vibe.

After reading some posts on getting an upright sound I thought about how to appoximate the complex tone of an upright bass and tried the following things:

1) Raised my action to eliminate the fretless whine/buzz
2) Plucked the strings real hard near the neck.
3) Observed that the string tension of the acousticores, even as low as it is, causes the tone of a note to become dull quite quickly even though the volume sustains well.
4) In order to make plucking a high action with a hard attack easier, and to allow the string to vibrate in a more complex unchoked manner, I tried detuning The A, D and G strings to E, A and D respectively.

The result was the best upright bass approximation I've ever heard. The strings sound in tune at the lower tension and vibrate with a much more complex pattern which sounds remarkably close to the longer scale upright bass strings.

I'd be interested in other players' experiences along these lines.

Thanks,

John

[lemur821]

I don't know about eliminating the fretless buzz. URBs have some buzz too (depending on setup), and that's one of my favorite things about them. A mute by the bridge helps a lot, since the URB doesn't have so much sustain. I find that shoving a sock under the strings does a good job. It's best if it covers a decent area. I didn't find that tuning down did much for my sound, but that may be because our rigs are different.