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Best Model for Upright Bass sound

#2
I'm sure that many will chime in with various ways but here is what I use:

Fender P-Bass with thick flat wounds 50-110
roll the tone all the way off: play right over the fretboard with a light touch

For some more prominent/accentuated playing ill use an EBOW and/or a EHX HOG in freeze-gliss( set it for very subtle gliss to "remove your frets")

Hope that helps!
 
#8
Any fretless with flatwounds played close to the neck with the tone rolled off should get close. If its a hollow body that would be a bonus and maybe try different degrees of foam under the strings.
 
#9
Thanks all. The problem with getting an upright is my old left thumb joint which hurts after I play my AEB for an hour or so. Roland and company can model a 1962 SVTBX that is pre-CBS but post-CNN, a 1947 Silvertone with a 10" and 8" speaker that was only played by Brazilian virgins wearing only sandels and a 1675 Strad that was built in caves overlooking the Vatican but they can't or won't provide us with a good, useable model of an upright bass. Conspiracy? :ninja: Any suggestions on a thin necked AEB 5er or very pliable strings?
 
#10
What I do to fake that upright sound on occasion is to grab a delay pedal and set it for a subtle but quick attack with almost no repeats. This gives you that kind of "bloom" that uprights have after the initial attack on sustained notes.

Otherwise, there's little you can really do to make an electric sound like an upright. I do a lot of right hand techniques that get close, but I make no qualms that it won't sound exact.
 
#11
Big Band Hand said:
...Roland and company can model a 1962 SVTBX that is pre-CBS but post-CNN, a 1947 Silvertone with a 10" and 8" speaker that was only played by Brazilian virgins wearing only sandels and a 1675 Strad that was built in caves overlooking the Vatican but they can't or won't provide us with a good, useable model of an upright bass. Conspiracy?...
Click to expand...
I was wondering the same thing. I would assume from how common this question is (at least on TB) that someone would start making a pedal that emulates an upright bass. At least a pedal that when combined with proper right hand technique would emulate an upright.

Pedal designers, how about it? Any chance?
 
#12
Line6 bass pod has a 'fretless' emulator in its' arsenal. It's OK..Wouldn't fool a bass player..but it may work adequately for yiory needs?

Overall I recommend an inexpensive fretless; Squier fretless 'Jaco Jr' comes to mind; ebonal fret board and under $300.
 
#14
totallyfrozen said:
I was wondering the same thing. I would assume from how common this question is (at least on TB) that someone would start making a pedal that emulates an upright bass. At least a pedal that when combined with proper right hand technique would emulate an upright.

Pedal designers, how about it? Any chance?
Click to expand...

Even if the pedal DOES come out, it still won't be exact. The biggest question from the builder's standpoint would be "Will it be CLOSE ENOUGH that it'll set itself apart from the other DIY effect options that musicians are using right now?"

I mentioned that I use a delay to help approximate the sound. Would an "upright emulator" be enough for me to plunk down the cash and get it? No, because I already have the delay, and since the new pedal won't be able to match it exactly, there's no real need.

Right hand technique is always going to be key, because without it, you're still playing an electric bass. And since upright players do not typically use the tips of their fingers to play, there will always be that difference, which has a tremendous impact on tone.

When it really comes down to it, find out what qualities you want to mimic from the upright tone and sound, and figure out how to emulate THAT, not just "I want my electric to sound like an upright." Because when it really comes down to it, you're probably going to be the only one that cares, or even notices it enough.
 
#15
I agree that right hand technique will go the farthest in suggesting an upright bass sound. You can augment the effect somewhat with gadgetry but its all context. In a side by side comparison you'll sound like a guitar not a fiddle but compared to a typical rock bass tone you can certainly suggest an upright tone. My recipe is a fretless plucked over the fingerboard with the pad of the index finger.
 
#19
Get a Double Bass.

Or, this might work:

hofner-5000-1-fretless-bass-r.png
 
#20
As others have suggested, foam, palm mute, etc. (as you know the short decay is a huge factor).
And YMMV, but having worked at the "faux-upright" thing on EB for quite some time, I always get closest with a short-scale bass, even better if it's a hollowbody. A passive hollow shorty, with flats and the muting techniques above and you can get darn close. Listen to Joey Spampinato from NRBQ sometime on his Dano or Jerry Jones (Joey does the fake upright sound better than anybody I've heard ever, sounding more like a doghouse than many EUBs I've heard).
 

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