upright bass sound

[dlmarquez]

I am not sure if this is the correct forum to post this, but here goes anyway!
I'm a bit older (60) and I have no desire to switch to upright bass. However increasingly the sound I hear in my head, the sound I want to hear coming out of my amplifier is the sound of an upright bass, rich, woody, organic, etc.
I am primarily concerned with how to get that sound and tone.
I am trying to approach it from all angles:
what type bass would be best? (currently I am thinking a Rob Allen Fretless)
Best strings: I am a total LaBella Tapewound freak
Best Amp/Speaker: currently I have an ampeg b15n head with a vintage blue b12 cabinet.
techique: I try to play near the heel of the neck, use the side of my thumb quite a bit, and when using my fingers, I try to rotate the thumb in towards the fretboard so that my fingers make contact with the strings more in the way that an upright players fingers pull across the strings on the edge of the finger rather than straight across the finger pad.
lastly of course is the whole issue of how upright players phrase and construct their lines.
I am thinking simple is better with emphasis on technique to optimize tone...
any and all suggestions would be most appreciated!
by the way, the closest sound I have heard to an upright is Chris Brubeck on the classified album. There are times when I almost cannot tell...I am gonna see them live in a couple months and that should be most interesting.

[BassChuck]

This is something that is of interest to a lot of players here. A couple of things (beyond what you've covered). A hollow body bass is probably a good move. Also there are a couple of idiomatic things that UB players do and if you can add them to your playing, you'll add to the illusion of 'upright tone'. (I mean slides, ghost notes... things like that)

[Manolius]

Yeah, a fretless neck and the correct strings will help.
I'm planning on getting an upright sounding bass for myself, doing it on a Jazz bass body though, but I think It will sound better on a hollow or semi-hollow body.
Also, I'm going to be using a Bridge with a piezzo pickup in it and a preamp (of course) anf some Nylon strings

Hope any of this helps.

[fish slapper]

I have a Rob Allen Mouse and it is very "upright" in tone. Of course, 30" scale keeps you very honest with intonation!

Of everything you mention, I think playing with the right hand closest to the neck is the most effective.

Good luck in your quest.

[stratovani]

I get a good approximation of an upright by playing a Hofner Icon bass, strung with La Bella Beatle Bass flats, and a Boss GEB-7 Bass EQ and a Boss CEB-3 Bass Chorus. What I do is place a piece of thin foam on the meaty side of my right hand, mute the strings with it, and play with my thumb. I adjust the EQ and chorus to gove me a bassy and slightly shimmering sound. Also, you have to play the lines an upright player would play, roots-and-fifths, simple basslines, glissandos, ghost notes. Just remember you'll never sound exactly like an upright, but you can come close, sometimes very close.

[tedw]

A great combination!

[tedw]

Also, 60 is young! Get a great Rob Allen and have fun!

[steelhead2]

a MIM Jazz fretless with 45-100 DaDario chromes,,you can mute with your plam,,i also utilize a strip of thin foam rolled up and tucked under the strings near the bridge,and doing a full step drop to DGCF,,,,but it's been awhile since i went to all that trouble(months)

when i get to jam with some bluegrass type songs i been just muting the strings and tweeking the EQ(and of course leaning towards the brige pup)

did some real old school country(Bob Wills old enough for ya?) sunday with my P Bass,,,got r done!

certainly there's `better' ways but i'd work with what you have before you spend a ton( i mean people make and use`upright electric bass's' and they are comprised of fretless Jazz Bass necks/pups)so work with what you have IMHO,,have fun with it

[JTE]

Will Lee got a very authentic upright bass sound out of his Sadowsky some years ago (backing up Emmylou Harris on the Letterman show). That's the Sadowsky with rounds. There are a couple of things in technique that'll help. Attacking the strings with less pluck than strum helps, as does using the side of your thumb as you're already doing. Using the palm of your hand to control the muting is very important, and probably more important than a static mute, at least in my experience.

Another huge factor is, like emulating any instrument, is to play lines that sound like that instrument. There was a Scottish band decades ago that had bag-pipe like sounds on many of their records. While part of it was that they were using distortion to emulate the buzz of the pipes, the biggest part was that they layered guitar lines that sounded like bagpipe lines, the phrasing and note choices are critical.

In Ed Freidland's book "The Working Bassist's Tool Kit", he's got a whole section on emulating a double bass. Check that out for some great ideas too.

Or, get an Ashbory

John