Double Bass Considering EUB for quiet practice

[what the pluck]

Wy there
I'm considering getting an EUB soley for quiet practice. I don't really want to use it for gigs. I play 50/50 arco/pizz. I tend to practice really late at night and it's a bit difficult as I live in a unit and my acoustic DB is loud. I've tried dampening the strings etc but thought I would look at other options. Anyway, does anybody have any thoughts on this? Is it possible to play one arco and seated?

Cheers.

 

[petesenkowski]

I bought my Ergo EUB primarily for practice while traveling. Its portability and acoustic quietness (and relatively low price) are ideally suited to my situation. Practicing in a quiet room, with my ear just a few inches from the EUB's neck, I have no trouble hearing the bass, but people in nearby rooms don't hear it. I have had the Ergo for nearly four years, and have only amplified it twice, briefly, as tests. I have never used it at a gig.

Although most of my practice with the Ergo has been pizz, I have used a bow with it on occasion. I stand, but I'm sure I could play it seated if I wished. The Ergo is a stick bass mounted on a drum stand, which makes it extremely portable, but it doesn't have the spatial sense of a double bass.

I'm sure you can find an EUB that would fit your requirements and offer a quiet practice sound.

Thanks,
Pete

 

[Jazzdogg]

Depends on the bass.

I've played a lot of solid-bodied "stick basses" that were no louder than any other electric slab bass if not amplified; they provided virtually none of the auditory or sensory feedback provided by a double bass, and their bodies seem incapable of transferring much energy to the environment unless bowing.

I would expect a far more lively, and audible, response at the other end of the continuum where the Eminence bass can be heard.

I have an Azola Mini Bass, which is 42" bass with a sealed, diminutive, partially hollow (torsion box), bass-shaped body.

It plays loudly enough that I can hear myself quite clearly when practicing without an amp., even when playing along with a CD. I can hear a more pleasant ratio of fundamentals to harmonic overtones, and feel more vibration through the body, neck, and fingerboard, which makes it more satisfying to play than a stick bass. I've successfully used it without an amp to go over changes with band members one-on-one. But, there are no circumstances under which I would rehearse or gig it without an amplifier, although I could probably get away with it in the studio.

I've been told that I can be heard quite easily from the next room when I'm practicing, unamplified. When bowing, low frequencies are attenuated, and the remaining upper-mids sounds like a half-a-dozen cats traversing a room filled with rocking chairs. If I had a downstairs neighbor, I'd probably place my end pin on a Gramma pad or something similar when bowing.