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Best way to get upright sound?

#62
jallenbass said:
That's pretty much the sound I get when playing upright amplified so to my ears yes it does.
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So now we are to emulate the sound of an "Amplified Double Bass" with a bass-geetar?

Actually MOST amplified DBs sound awful. Why go for that? Just get an Electric Upright...

These are nice:

DV019_Jpg_Regular_514430.jpg
 
#65
vin*tone said:
There are a lot of different DB tones. It's a bit like saying 'I want it to sound like a bass guitar'.
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+1. Without any kind of reference, the OP can't be answered at all. IMO.

Worlds of difference between a Pirastro strung orchestral upright for working with the bow and Tomastik Spirocore strung upright set up for Jazz pizz work. For the latter go find some Eddie Gomez recordings on YouTube. For the former, maybe, find some Edgar Meyer concert footage (OK, maybe Edgar doesn't use Pirastro; but, that's the sound).

There is an isolated Jaco track from Domingo from the Birthday Concert floating around in the Bassists section. For an amplified bass in a big mix that is way close enough for me to what an upright does in Jazz. Trying to get the sound of an arco 20K$+ orchestral bass on EBG is a pure waste of time, IMO. Guess it just depends what you are going for.
 
#66
#69
tfer said:
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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Clearly the Ubass is not threatening to obsolete the double bass.
The OP is looking for a bass that sounds reasonably close to an upright for around $500 and an instrument that doesn't require learning an entirely new playing technique (like an upright would). The clip I posted earlier sounded about like any other outdoor impromptu bluegrass song I've heard from an upright.
Here's a different clip in a stage setting, still sounds close enough to pass as an upright to me.

Now would I take this thing to a classical orcheresta in place of a DB? Nope.
 
#70
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.
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I agree, seems to work really well for Bluegrass. Nothing I've heard in a jazz context has done it for me with the UBass (same with the Raul Malo clip), but sound / tone is a pretty personal thing and everyone has their preferences, there are some UB players who's tone I think sucks and I can't understand why they seemingly are trying to make their upright sound like an electric!
 
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#71
FretNoMore said:
I owned one very briefly prior to buying the Eminence, and while it was quite nice it really sounded more like an electric fretless than a DB to my ears. Too much sustain, too little thump, too little body.
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That does describe the Steinberger's sound. I have the lowly NXT - similar sound. I only use the NXT on the really loud gigs where amplifying a DB is futile. But at that point, no one cares.
 
#72
FretNoMore said:
I owned one very briefly prior to buying the Eminence, and while it was quite nice it really sounded more like an electric fretless than a DB to my ears. Too much sustain, too little thump, too little body.
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I have the NS Designs NXT. I use a foam mute under the bridge to control the sustain, replaced the strings with Helicore Orchestrals, and raised the action.

I go into a Zoom A3 pedal that has an Upright Bass modeling setting.

It's pretty damn close to a true DB sound, but even then, it's still lacking. However, it's close enough so that in the mix, it's convincing.

But that setup costs in the neighborhood of $2K.

Expecting anything close to that for $400 is simply unrealistic.
 
#73
Some good stuff here. Upright does indeed have a bloomy envelope, but on fretless, with semi-live Sadowsky flats, I can get some bloom if I vary the pressure in my left hand as the note develops, - it's not vibrato, and I don't yet have it reliably under control, and it seems to work best in the upper-middle register, but it's there, and I'm trying to cultivate it. I'm not deluding myself into thinking that its a true DB sound, but it gives me a bit of of a DB voice, and I'm grateful for it. I've also heard some of that bloom on fretted axes - I regret selling an old Yamaha BB2000 that did that beautifully, but it also weighed a ton.

Interesting about the reverb angle - I'm not a pedal person, but I can hear how that might help.

Someone also said something about keeping the gain low and the master volume high, to cop the transparency of the acoustic instrument - gonna try that out when I next have the bass in hand, and also wondering how the volume setting on the axe itself might play into that.

Also dig on someone pointing out that dead, dead strings give you thump but DB also has a fair amount of high-end energy - it's true, especially on the attack.

Ultimately, nothing sounds DB like a DB. But I'm not gonna put time and $$ into that whole deep discipline, so will continue amusing myself with trying to cop that upright feeling, mostly through note selection, hand technique and just having that sound in my head.

No upright players were harmed in the production of this screed.
 
#74
Stick_Player said:
That does describe the Steinberger's sound. I have the lowly NXT - similar sound. I only use the NXT on the really loud gigs where amplifying a DB is futile. But at that point, no one cares.
Click to expand...

Get your hands on a Zoom A3, and set the top control dial to 'Jumbo Body' and set it up for 'Upright Bass' modeling with a touch of 'Tiled Room' reverb. It's pretty impressive.
 
#76
I get a very good upright sound from my P bass rigged with flats and a foam mute at the bridge, finger picked on the fretboard and amp'd thru a 15" cab, with tone rolled back. You can take it even further with a fretless bass but I'm satisfied with a fretted P.
 
#78
seang15 said:
This is your best bet for ~400 bucks! THIS sounds like an upright (or something analogous to it)...otherwise, save up and get an upright ;)
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I think it's passable to my ears. Obviously I don't play too convincing of a DB style, but sonically it gets the job done.

I ran the Ubass into my svt, miced at a distance, and ran that signal thru a reverb to add some depth.
 
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#80
Played upright since 1967. Have played fretless p-basses, and other fretless basses a great deal professionally. I play lots of electric, and very humbly play jazz frequently. A Rob Allen is nice, as is a fine carved upright, but the bassist is all that really matters.

The tone color of an upright is not one thing, and it often has plenty of highs, noise, clack, and sustain, depending on many variables.

My advice is to get any good sounding bass, record it unprocessed, AND PLAY GREAT JAZZ-STYLE LINES.
No one will care what instrument it is. Evoke it with your playing.
 
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