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Double Bass - I don't really get it

#122
Febs said:
If you think that the sound of an upright bass is "dull," and if you can't hear the pitch of a note played on the upright, then you probably haven't played a decent bass with good technique (or heard a good player with good technique playing a decent bass). Upright bass certainly has a different sound than an electric bass, with more of a thump on the initial attack, but a good bass sound is not "dull." You should certainly be able to tell whether a note is a half step off, and in fact, you should be able to tell whether a note is off even by a few cents.
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I tend to agree with the OP- I still think DB sounds cool overall but the "clarity" of actual notes is extremely difficult to make out in a band setting, when it isn't playing solo.
 
#128
I doubt I can add anything of real value here, because it doesn't seem that you have made a real attempt to "get it".

An all acoustic instrument jam would help you understand. A good piano, bass, drums jazz trio, also all acoustic, would also help.

I have to commend you on your honesty and openness; it a fairly short post, you declared that you didn't get it and gave enough information to confirm the statement. Upright is definitely not for everyone. It's a much more difficult instrument to master than electric bass, requiring a much more specific technique, more hand / forearm strength, and a lot of dedication. I've seen amazingly good electric bassists attempt to play upright and fail miserably.

There's something to be said about walking in to a room, restaurant, or an outdoor setting with nothing but your instrument, playing a two or three hour gig, and then walk out with nothing but your instrument. No amps, cabinets, cords, cables, mics, or tinnitus...
 
#129
I definitely dig upright, it's just a different instrument, but I do get the frustration that certain genres only want upright anymore. I feel like it has become a trendy hipster thing to have upright in your band. And it seems like its more about the look than it is about the sound.
The clicky claky sound of upright in psychobilly I don't get, some of that stuff is greatly lacking low end, the bass being more percussive than actually providing low clear notes. I lots of times do think that bass guitar is superior, but then other times I watch this video and think, "Dang I want an upright now."

 
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#131
aprod said:
Look at all the ads form the first Fenders. Also, Carol Kaye explains it as she was there at the inception.
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No she wasn't. By the time she did her first recording on bass, the Precision had been in steady production for a decade. There is a fairly easily accessible online Fender catalog from 1958. The Telecaster and Precision are way in the back. What has the lion's share of the fore matter? Fender steel guitars. That tells me something.

The Youtube clips of the Fender-fied Monk Montgomery with Lionel Hampton's band tell me something too. The sound is nothing like an upright, and I don't like it.
 
#133
It's about setting, context, musical genre and style. But mostly it's about voicing and the needs of the music. Were it otherwise we'd still have only cornets but no trumpets or flugelhorns, and we likely would not have Bb tubas, euphoniums, and (British) baritones all playing in the same musical range. On electric bass, even string selection dramatically affects voicing.

Composers score for the sound they hear in their heads. Which nowadays references both DB and EB. Both have a legitimate place. Move along, people. No dinosaurs or anachronisms here.
 
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#135
vanderbrook said:
If you don't get it, there's nothing I can tell you that will "enlighten" you. And that's OK.
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Thank you for not posting 400 YouTube videos that won't change anyone's mind. Those are hard to scroll through when reading a thread. It's true, if you don't get it, you don't get it and there's nothing wrong with preferring one sound over another.

I admit, I had a bit of a chuckle when I read the title of the OP. I knew there would be some outrage, some name calling, and some sternly delivered lectures on who gets to be a bassist and who is just a punk with a bass and TB didn't disappoint.
 
#136
I tried the double bass for some time, and while there are things I love about it, the minuses outweigh the pluses for me. Portability is...well, you know. My fingers were never long enough to play well down low (If you think one finger per fret on an electric is a reach sometimes...try an upright. I had to use the "third finger is useless" approach.) Amplification is much more difficult than recording - It seems like the frequencies that make it sound so good also make the amp/upright howl with feedback. Every time I cut those frequencies, the sound was awful. And personally, I never could get comfortable with a bow.

On the other side, there are EUBs and bass guitars like Turner or Rob Allen that can come soooo close to an upright sound without what for me, are the negatives associated with the upright. I say to each his own and play the double bass if it makes you happy. It just didn't make me happy.

And by the way, why do bluegrass bands make the bass player (upright) stand in the back? Everybody else gets to be up front whether they sing or not, and there's the bass player shoved into the background. Is it a sound/microphone thing? Am I the only one who gets pissed about this?
 
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#137
I have seen many straight ahead jazz combos with an electric bass in high profile jazz clubs in NYC. Monk Montgomery and Chuck Rainey were playing Fenders in the jazz context in the 50s and 60s. Many other "big bands" had guys playing Fenders, etc back in early 60s.

Find yourself some jazz guys who aren't so stuffy, find the right sound (maybe you need a P bass with flats) and get to playing.

Monk_Montgomery%2C_Sweden%2C_1953..jpg


Monk' Montgomery, electric bass player, on tour with Lionel Hampton and his Orchestra, Sweden, 1953. Seen here with a Fender Precision Bass. Original source: Estrad magazine, October 1953.

Show this to your stuck up jazz friends and tell them to stuff it.

 
#138
DigitalMan said:
So only bass guitarists who also play double bass are bassists?
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Nope. Bass guitarists who play double bass are also double bassists.

Not that jazz icon Dave Brubeck's son Chris (who plays both) seems to have a problem with that - either philosophically or technically:




But there are still some people who don't (or maybe just won't) understand that.

The OP met a few of them apparently.
 
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#139
I've played both basses, acoustic and electric, for close to 50 years. They both have their place, and I enjoy playing both equally. During my time with Dan Hicks, he and I both would have preferred a real upright bass; logistics of travel prevailed, and I used my Merchant Vertical Bass. He listened with his ears, not his eyes, and ended up being OK with it. The OP obviously has little experience with double bass, and should get some.
 
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#140
bigcatJC said:
And by the way, why do bluegrass bands make the bass player (upright) stand in the back? Everybody else gets to be up front whether they sing or not, and there's the bass player shoved into the background. Is it a sound/microphone thing? Am I the only one who gets pissed about this?
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My best guess, is it comes from pre-amplification days, so the drummer and bassist could hear each other well.

From there, it just became 'the place' for the bassist to stand.
 
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