My slab doesn't play like an upright

[Marc Piane]

Originally Posted by SteveC

Is this the case for anyone else?

The answer is YES for me too.

[Sahm]

Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson

Of course all that's true.... but the OP ended his post with the phrase "short of buying a double bass", so I think some of the answers are an attempt to actually answer the original question.
:

Yeah, that's more where I was coming from with my response. When I sub the BG for my normal DB songs it loses the warmth and thickness, so I compensate with the EQ. It's never the same, of course!

As far as fighting back the urge to play more, add me to the camp of singers. That's a great way to make sure your solo's are palatable!

[SteveC]

Lots of good responses. I think it was better last night. I tried using 2 fingers on my right hand - more double bass like technique and that helped a little. I also just made myself slow down and actually had a couple nice solos.

I know it's an ongoing process (I'm 42 and still learning) and I just wanted to see if I was alone with this problem or if others deal with it as well. It's also nice to get some feedback on how others address the problem.

I don't know if a double bass is in my future, but maybe an EUB. Not exactly the same I know, but I had an Azola a while back and it seemed to do the job pretty well.

[hdiddy]

I picked up my guitar for the first time in a few years a couple nights ago. I was kinda amazed how easy it was, even if I did sound like crap. There were SOOOO MANY NOTES!!! WOW!!! It was just hard to resist to noodle.

I think the reason why you overplay on bass guitar is simply because there are so many more notes available within reach. You don't have to make these big shifts to do nice long phrases and can weasel your way through everything. Add frets and intonation is less of a problem too, allowing you to concentrate on phrasing or simply not concentrate on anything and let your fingers wander.

[Kevin Hsieh]

funny thing that this thread came up right when i picked up electric after a two year break from it. the first time i played i wanted to play as many notes as i could and ended up just jumbling. the next day, i decided to implement my upright practice routine on electric, which consists of scales, arpeggios, blues, and practicing the melody, walking, and soloing on tunes. With my solos, i tried to focus on tone (yes your hands do affect how you sound even on electric) and clarity of ideas (singing my lines and all that fun stuff) and i was quite happy with the result (lots of space and similar lines to my upright playing). I feel like i'm leaving the jaco realm of things and moving more towards a steve swallow kind of conception of the electric bass.

[dvh]

My Godin A4 fretless with TI's nicely emulates an upright sound. I'm primarily a blues/rock player and use my P bass for that but for the jazz project I'm involved with the Godin sits perfectly and - even though I've never played an upright - I think I'm bent for it because it's what I'm thinking and playing on my Godin.

I know I'll make the shift to the "dark side" sooner or later - probably later until I can scare up the cash for a decent DB.

[Andrew McGregor]

There is of course the instrument in the middle… a nice EUB kind of splits the difference between BG and DB.

[Racsen]

Originally Posted by Andrew McGregor

There is of course the instrument in the middle… a nice EUB kind of splits the difference between BG and DB.

And EUB with same scale lenght with DB I dont think that is a middle instrument

By the way when I practice DB and play EB after i'm starting to play harder and I dont like this I cant control right hand perfectly and it kills EB sound especiaaly with fretless bass.

[Marcus Johnson]

Originally Posted by Racsen

And EUB with same scale lenght with DB I dont think that is a middle instrument

And then basses like the NS BassCello come along, and mess up the whole equation. I won't even start on how much I dig mine, I've babbled about that before.

[thesneakyjesus]

Hey


I feel the same way.



Check out Paul Motian's Garden of Eden.
It's Jerome Harris on the bass. He has a unique instrument he played out of a B-15 on that record and it's really stunning. I didn't realize it wasn't an upright when I first heard it.

I now know very clearly that it's not an upright, but it's still the best electric "upright-like" sound I've heard.