Bass guitar with upright like tone?

[retslock]

I 'm sure this has been asked before, but I did not have much luck with my search.
I'm sitting here listening to some Charlie Haden and being blown away with his tone. I know a bass guitar is never going to sound exactly like an upright, but is there anything that even gets in the ballpark? And just to make it harder I would prefer something with frets. Thanks, and sorry if something like this has already been posted

I've often placed my ear against the body without plugging in and played near the neck. Some basses I've owned had an upright-ish sort of tone and some less so. I don't believe you can attribute it to a particular brand unless that's what the manufacturer set out to achieve. I think it's more to do with the individual bass's neck/body/bridge relationship and natural resonance of the wood. Plus the plucking zone and technique contribute.

 

[bobyoung53]

I 'm sure this has been asked before, but I did not have much luck with my search.
I'm sitting here listening to some Charlie Haden and being blown away with his tone. I know a bass guitar is never going to sound exactly like an upright, but is there anything that even gets in the ballpark? And just to make it harder I would prefer something with frets. Thanks, and sorry if something like this has already been posted

This first clip has Chris Brubeck with his modified 1969 Rickenbacker 4001FL, he gets the most authentic upright-like tone of any electric bassist I've ever heard in my life, it's amazing, close your eyes and it IS an upright, his solo starts at 4:00 but the whole tune is great. He's an amazing bassist anyway.

 

[amper]

I see we've atttacted another few old men yelling at clouds.

You can make a solidbody electric bass sound as much like an amplified double bass with a pickup as you can make a solidbody electric guitar sound like an amplified acoustic guitar with a pickup.

And that's really all that needs to be said. If you want to get that sound, then the obvious way to do so is to incorporate as many features of a double bass as you can afford. You can get some good sounds that way.

Why can't all the old cranks just stay on the double bass side of TB, where they can be insufferably smug and unhelpful with each other?

 

[2F/2F]

You want to kill the sustain *some*, but you don't want to kill it completely, because you need a little bit to compensate for the lack of that big resonant box. A touch of reverb from a pedal doesn't hurt, if it's no super obvious in the mix.

One thing I haven't played with is string tension. I wonder if I went to the heavier or lighter set of Rotosonds, how they would compare to the medium set I use.

Heavy muting does not completely kill the sustain. The notes still sustain, but they each have a big "thunk" up front, and decay more quickly to a lower volume that they sustain...much like a plucked uprite.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Hope you like it. I look ridiculous playing mine- big guy, small bass- but it's a lot of fun and sounds great!

Steve Earle playing mandolin.

When I saw him live, the first thing that popped into my head was 'look at that big guy playing that tiny guitar'

 

[buldog5151bass]

I see we've atttacted another few old men yelling at clouds.

View attachment 3289487

You can make a solidbody electric bass sound as much like an amplified double bass with a pickup as you can make a solidbody electric guitar sound like an amplified acoustic guitar with a pickup.

And that's really all that needs to be said. If you want to get that sound, then the obvious way to do so is to incorporate as many features of a double bass as you can afford. You can get some good sounds that way.

Why can't all the old cranks just stay on the double bass side of TB, where they can be insufferably smug and unhelpful with each other?

Because crossing over allows more knowledge to be spread. Frankly, those guys are great at sharing knowledge, and we have our own problems.

 

[LowActionHero]

Not even kidding. But you will be that weird-o,
Like I was...

Although I also had a lady tell me it was exactly what she was looking for, for horseback camping with a battery powered amp.

 

[Danny O Danny]

 

[mongo2]

Personally I like the sound of the Kay much better. To me the Kay sounds more hollow than upright.

 

[Chad Michael]

Why can't all the old cranks just stay on the double bass side of TB, where they can be insufferably smug and unhelpful with each other?

This is priceless... I haven't laughed so hard in a long time <c:

 

[kinopah]

IMHO absolutely no.
Sorry.

You can get a nice electric bass sound though. I have a fretless Alembic, old Fender fretless and some good amps that sound nice. They do not compare to a fine upright played by someone who can play 'em. Not even close.

Charlie Haden played a fine old carved French bass with gut strings, minimal amplification and stellar skill. Nothing here will get in that ballpark.

His bass is for sale if you want to buy it. I believe it is in the $250-300k range. Worth every penny to a well heeled pro.
Robertson & Sons Violin Shop - Bass Inventory

I adore Charlie Haden, and that is AMAZING. I'm nowhere near heeled or pro enough to even contemplate it, but it kind of makes me consider selling the house and moving into it. The little door I'd have to build would almost certainly affect the tone, however.

I agree that it won't be close to the real thing, but a fretless U-Bass will put in a valiant effort in terms of filling the mix like an upright. It will lack so much of that character and nuance though. The fact that it's hard or impossible to "fake" is one of the most endearing aspects of playing upright (and maybe the only reason it's withstood the progress of the electronic age).

 

[Rezdog]

Greetings from the North,

Like Don Quixote I keep looking....

Rezdog

 

[Jim C]

I know a bass guitar is never going to sound exactly like an upright, but is there anything that even gets in the ballpark? And just to make it harder I would prefer something with frets.

For you guys that want to educate everyone about your expertise, I suggest you read what the OP asked for.
He knows that it won't sound like an upright but asks is anything in the ballpark.

My experience is that a Ubass gets fairly close.
If you are an electric player and the gig calls for a UB tone for a couple songs, are you going to blow off the gig, or carry an UB for two songs for a $200, 3 hour gig?
And the audience will only know by what it looks like.

This is my truth and I think it might help the OP.
Your truth might be different

 

[mikeoso]

Why can't all the old cranks just stay on the double bass side of TB, where they can be insufferably smug and unhelpful with each other?

Actually, this side has plenty of us old cranks being insufferably smug and unhelpful...

 

[CaseyVancouver]

I adore Charlie Haden, and that is AMAZING. I'm nowhere near heeled or pro enough to even contemplate it, but it kind of makes me consider selling the house and moving into it. The little door I'd have to build would almost certainly affect the tone, however.

I agree that it won't be close to the real thing, but a fretless U-Bass will put in a valiant effort in terms of filling the mix like an upright. It will lack so much of that character and nuance though. The fact that it's hard or impossible to "fake" is one of the most endearing aspects of playing upright (and maybe the only reason it's withstood the progress of the electronic age).

Some guys do a second mortgage, buy the upright of their dreams, & play the thing for decades. On retirement they sell at a huge profit Makes it a free bass!

 

[CaseyVancouver]

I see we've atttacted another few old men yelling at clouds.
You can make a solidbody electric bass sound as much like an amplified double bass with a pickup as you can make a solidbody electric guitar sound like an amplified acoustic guitar with a pickup.
Why can't all the old cranks just stay on the double bass side of TB, where they can be insufferably smug and unhelpful with each other?

No you can't. I have multiple versions of amplified uprights and electric basses and it ain't gonna happen.

Do you have an electric bass that sounds like your amplified or acoustic upright?

On reflection...
Your opinion is 'yes you can' mine is 'no you can't'. I'm cool with that.
Opinions are what makes Talkbass roll.

Speaking of Haden's sound, a set of Genssler gut strings cost $900us, to add to the $250,000 cost of the bass. Plus about 10,000 hours learning to play the thing.

 

[west al]

I don't think it's the bass, as much as it is the strings. D'Addario ETB92 Nylon Tapewounds work for me.

 

[amper]

Allow me to reiterate:

You can make a solidbody electric bass sound as much like an amplified double bass with a pickup as you can make a solidbody electric guitar sound like an amplified acoustic guitar with a pickup.

What I actually said was that no matter what you do, you *cannot* make an amplified solidbody electric guitar that sounds exactly like an amplified acoustic guitar with a pickup.

You can adopt some of the characteristics, and you can get close enough to make carrying only one instrument a realistic possibility, but there are aspects of that tone that result from having a completely different construction that you can't fake.

And the same is true with basses. You *cannot* make a solidbody electric bass guitar sound exactly like a double bass, you can only adopt some of the characteristics.

If that's good enough for you, this thread is filled woth good advice on how to get as far as possible along that curve.

If that's not good enough for you, there's a whole separate half of TalkBass made just for you, so please go there and leave the rest of us in peace.

 

[CaseyVancouver]

No 1 Talkbass rule is 'respect your fellow members'.
'If you do not address everyone on the board with respect, be prepared to lose your membership.'

Falsifying a post to make it look like I wrote it must break this rule.

As far as your earlier comments on the double bass people, keep in mind the creator and owner of Talkbass is Paul, who is a double bass player.

 

[chadds]

I see we've atttacted another few old men yelling at clouds.

View attachment 3289487

You can make a solidbody electric bass sound as much like an amplified double bass with a pickup as you can make a solidbody electric guitar sound like an amplified acoustic guitar with a pickup.

And that's really all that needs to be said. If you want to get that sound, then the obvious way to do so is to incorporate as many features of a double bass as you can afford. You can get some good sounds that way.

Why can't all the old cranks just stay on the double bass side of TB, where they can be insufferably smug and unhelpful with each other?

Your opinion.

I've done it in the studio and fooled a classical string player with a '51 Tele RI. Remember that bass was designed to sound like an upright. Then we started making them do the wild thing culminating with Ron Wood in the Jeff Beck Group doing "Spanish Boots." About as far from an upright sound as you can get.
I've done it live jazz gig where I had a Roscoe LG 5 with rounds through an EA iAmp 800 through two CxL112s. I did not have an Ashbory with me. So I made that bass sound like an upright. The band complimented me by saying they never heard an EB sound like an upright before. They normally play with upright players.
Could be that I've played upright since 9th grade, 1965 and Ashborys, Guild and Dearmond since they were introduced. Sound is in your intention and manifested through your hands.

Could be that the curmudgeon doth protest too loudly.