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Best way to get upright sound?

#41
Stick_Player said:
Very nice playing. But doesn't sound at all like a DB. :rollno:
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I get it. It's not the same. I don't think the OP was trying to replicate in entirety the sound of a DB. If he is then I'll stand back and allow you to educate him.

When I pick up a semihollow bass and play it, my reaction is usually that this sounds way more like an upright than I remembered, especially if it has a floating bridge. This doesn't mean it's a clone of a DB in a tiny box, just that it approximates the big attack with a swift decay and some natural reverb as a bonus. Other people get their 'pretty close to an upright' sound as has been laid out in the thread; no one has said, "you don't even need an upright if you do this."

There are very real disadvantages to owning a DB, the most notable among them being size and cost. If you're going to give him a couple grand and an additional bedroom to put an upright then continue to lecture, otherwise please allow him ask about how to get close with tiny gear and technique. Thank you for indulging my rant.
 
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#42
OutToPlayJazz said:
As some have mentioned, you can get a very passable upright sound from an electric bass. You can do the foam/cloth over the bridge, but generally you can achieve it with left hand muting and playing over the end of the fingerboard, making sure your tone/treble is turned down.

The Kala U-Bass does sound so upright like it's almost unreal. I played one the other week and it's astounding.
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Labella Nylon tapes, playing at the end of the fingerboard, attention to right hand technique, mute at times, and thinking like an upright player all got me by for me for decades...More recently various Hofner and other hollow/semi-hollow basses did well enough too.

I played a Guild Ashbory for a while but it was severely unbalanced and intonation on such a short fretless scale was frustrating...

Then I discovered the fretted Goldtone Microbass and Kala UBass...whole different ballgame...I currently play my fretted Kala Exotic Mahogany exclusively...and it only weighs about 2.5 lbs.
 
#43
mongo2 said:
Labella Nylon tapes, playing at the end of the fingerboard, attention to right hand technique, mute at times, and thinking like an upright player all got me by for me for decades...More recently various Hofner and other hollow/semi-hollow basses did well enough too.

I played a Guild Ashbory for a while but it was severely unbalanced and intonation on such a short fretless scale was frustrating...

Then I discovered the fretted Goldtone Microbass and Kala UBass...whole different ballgame...I currently play my fretted Kala Exotic Mahogany exclusively...and it only weighs about 2.5 lbs.
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I'm almost tempted to sell my Warwick Triumph electric upright and get a top of range u-bass. They're that good!


Basses by Status-Graphite & MusicMan
Amplification by Genz-Benz & TC Electronic
 
#44
My suggestion would be to put a set of Labella 760Ms on your existing bass and practice right hand palm muting while playing with your thumb. Get a couple of good walking bass books like Ed Friedland's or Ed Fuqua's and start practicing. It won't sound like an upright but you get a good tone that fits well in a traditional jazz setting.

I play DB, EUB and BG, if I had an electric bass gig and had to play a few standards on my BG this is what I would do.
 
#45
cheapbasslovin said:
I get it. It's not the same. I don't think the OP was trying to replicate in entirety the sound of a DB. If he is then I'll stand back and allow you to educate him.

When I pick up a semihollow bass and play it, my reaction is usually that this sounds way more like an upright than I remembered, especially if it has a floating bridge. This doesn't mean it's a freaking clone of a DB in a tiny box, just that it approximates the big attack with a swift decay and some natural reverb as a bonus. Other people get their 'pretty close to an upright' sound as has been laid out in the thread; no one has said, "you don't even need an upright if you do this."

There are very real disadvantages to owning a DB, the most notable among them being size and cost. If you're going to give him a couple grand and an additional bedroom to put an upright then continue to lecture, otherwise please allow him ask about how to get close with tiny gear and technique. Thank you for indulging my rant.
Click to expand...

I realise if anyone would ask "how can I make my bass sound like a tuba" there wouldn't be a lot of tuba players posting "get a tuba". We DB players might have a chip on our shoulders and be a bit blunt in how we react to this question. However this queston is asked about as many times as the best bass for metal question and it is irritating to have to repeat the same arguments again and again. The actual message here is: the crucial part in sounding like a DB is not in either creating a dull thud and the fretless part. The true difference is in the evelope of a DB note and the developing voicing during that envelope. The problem is only a full sized DB will only give you that. That said: if you want to come close to creating that feel you can get closer experimenting with reverb like effects. The reverb, when used well, can help get you closer to that bloom in the notes. I sometimes use a boss ac-3 acoustic guitar simulator to get my EUB closer to the real thing, and the built in reverb makes the biggest diference. I bet any electric bass with some foam mutes and some tweaking with reverb and experimenting with your technique will get you as close at is gets. No need for flats or a different bass.
 
#46
Matthijs said:
I realise if anyone would ask "how can I make my bass sound like a tuba" there wouldn't be a lot of tuba players posting "get a tuba". We DB players might have a chip on our shoulders and be a bit blunt in how we react to this question. However this queston is asked about as many times as the best bass for metal question and it is irritating to have to repeat the same arguments again and again. The actual message here is: the crucial part in sounding like a DB is not in either creating a dull thud and the fretless part. The true difference is in the evelope of a DB note and the developing voicing during that envelope. The problem is only a full sized DB will only give you that. That said: if you want to come close to creating that feel you can get closer experimenting with reverb like effects. The reverb, when used well, can help get you closer to that bloom in the notes. I sometimes use a boss ac-3 acoustic guitar simulator to get my EUB closer to the real thing, and the built in reverb makes the biggest diference. I bet any electric bass with some foam mutes and some tweaking with reverb and experimenting with your technique will get you as close at is gets. No need for flats or a different bass.
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To be fair, I've been away from TB a while and haven't noted the number of times this comes up. Even when I was here a lot I mostly hung out in the effects forum to stay away from the GAS. I do know the frustration of answering the same question ad nauseum, but simply letting a guy know that it's a fools errand to do anything more than approximate 'feel' seems preferable to getting huffy (which is how I took Stick Players posts).

My first post has been edited to be less 'huffy' :).
 
#47
Matthijs said:
...
this queston is asked about as many times as the best bass for metal question and it is irritating to have to repeat the same arguments again and again.
...
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I'll give you a free Internet forum survival tip: you don't have to repeatedly answer questions that irritate you, you can just skip them. ;)

Matthijs said:
...
That said: if you want to come close to creating that feel you can get closer experimenting with reverb like effects. The reverb, when used well, can help get you closer to that bloom in the notes.
...
Click to expand...

Yes, I also use a very small amount of reverb or short delay to make the sound from my EUB a little bigger, that seems to improve the DB illusion a little.
 
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#48
cheapbasslovin said:
To be fair, I've been away from TB a while and haven't noted the number of times this comes up. Even when I was here a lot I mostly hung out in the effects forum to stay away from the GAS. I do know the frustration of answering the same question ad nauseum, but simply letting a guy know that it's a fools errand to do anything more than approximate 'feel' seems preferable to getting huffy (which is how I took Stick Players posts).

My first post has been edited to be less 'huffy' :).
Click to expand...

You had a very valid point there, I hope I wasn't to huffy too :) My point is, there is a actual, usefull message behind our DB huffieness.
 
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#49
I played upright pretty much exclusively for years and IMO there is no point in trying to get an EB to sound like an UB. I've hoped in vain for a good electric upright or some other solution as upright are such a pain to get around etc., but the fact is nothing but an upright sounds like an upright.

Purely my opinion but I tend to really dislike the sound of electric uprights, Kala UBass's, and other attempts to mimic the UB sound, IMO they all sound bad / weird. If someone is playing jazz with an electric be it fretted or fretless I'd rather it just sound like an electric. Look at guys like Jaco, when he's playing walking lines, it sounds like an EB... and he sounds pretty darn good!
 
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#50
cheapbasslovin said:
I do know the frustration of answering the same question ad nauseum, but simply letting a guy know that it's a fools errand to do anything more than approximate 'feel' seems preferable to getting huffy (which is how I took Stick Players posts).

My first post has been edited to be less 'huffy' :).
Click to expand...

The OP has approximately $400 to throw at this venture. My advice is to save that money.

His original post stated a desire to sound like an upright - without buying one. Anyone who plays DB know that it is in fact a "fool's errand", and my (and many other poster's) advice is to not chase the impossible. Use that money to either take lessons, or buy a piece of gear that is attainable. There's lots of jazz recorded with bass guitar, and because it's great music, nobody cares that it's not an DB.
 
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#54
tfer said:
The OP has approximately $400 to throw at this venture. My advice is to save that money.

His original post stated a desire to sound like an upright - without buying one. Anyone who plays DB know that it is in fact a "fool's errand", and my (and many other poster's) advice is to not chase the impossible. Use that money to either take lessons, or buy a piece of gear that is attainable. There's lots of jazz recorded with bass guitar, and because it's great music, nobody cares that it's not an DB.
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If Stick Players response had looked more like this, I'd have had nothing to say on the matter.
 
#55
I have a Kala UBass and can get as close as I need to get to an upright sound for the type of music I play. And with different effect pedals it can sound about as nasty and headbanging as I'd want to get as well.
Here's a YouTube clip of a Kala in a Bluegrass setting with no special effects, just straight to a GK 112 combo via Sampson wireless. Sounds about the same as an upright in a bluegrass setting to me.
 
#56
GBassNorth said:
I have a Kala UBass and can get as close as I need to get to an upright sound for the type of music I play. And with different effect pedals it can sound about as nasty and headbanging as I'd want to get as well.
Here's a YouTube clip of a Kala in a Bluegrass setting with no special effects, just straight to a GK 112 combo via Sampson wireless. Sounds about the same as an upright in a bluegrass setting to me.
Click to expand...


Sorry, I don't hear it. Just a non-descript bottom end. I can see it's usefulness in that kind of setting, but I don't think the double bass should feel threatened!
 

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