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Double Bass Sound

#81
SMASH said:
I'd say Hotwire succeeded.

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Great thread. A big +1 from me regarding the comments about the actual look being important - I'd say more important than the sound, really. In that light, if Barker had something like a scroll headstock I'd consider one. One local blues guy just affixes his Jazz bass via bungee cords to a modified crutch and uses that as his "upright".

I say this because I am also in agreement with the comments about playing upright-like lines if you want it to sound like an upright. IMO, it's the lines and the music they're part of that makes it sound like an upright as much as anything else. Palm muting goes a long way too, especially on a fretless with flats EQ'd correctly, IME.

Those Rob Allens sound great, but it'd be nice if they just came in black. The fancy woods aren't my thing visually, and getting back to the image thing I think basic black, brown, or even sunburst would sit much better in the visual mix if trying to substitute for an upright.

It'd be nice if MF Luthierie had prices on their site. Anyone know offhand what those go for? Some awesome-looking basses on that site.
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That's wild about the crutch and the bungees. I'm gonna have to do that, if for no other reason than to say I've done it. :eyebrow:

I hadn't heard of Hotwire double basses before, thanks for the links. Interesting. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], nice enough to get me thinking "can they make a 6 string?" These would be more flexible than Rob Allen I would think. FYI, I found [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. The 5-string goes for € 2,445, which is $3,870.44 at the current exchange rate. That's probably a "list" price that you can get marked down, but then again you've got to pay to have it shipped.

I've written MF Lutherie for a price quote for an acoustic 6, 5 and 4 string like Alain Caron has. I'll let you know what they say.

EDIT: So I can find it again, here is a YouTube vid of Alain Caron soloing on an acoustic, presumably the MF Lutherie.
 
#82
Tom7 said:
That's wild about the crutch and the bungees. I'm gonna have to do that, if for no other reason than to say I've done it. :eyebrow:

I hadn't heard of Hotwire double basses before, thanks for the links. Interesting. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], nice enough to get me thinking "can they make a 6 string?" These would be more flexible than Rob Allen I would think. FYI, I found [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. The 5-string goes for € 2,445, which is $3,870.44 at the current exchange rate. That's probably a "list" price that you can get marked down, but then again you've got to pay to have it shipped.

I've written MF Lutherie for a price quote for an acoustic 6, 5 and 4 string like Alain Caron has. I'll let you know what they say.

EDIT: So I can find it again, here is a YouTube vid of Alain Caron soloing on an acoustic, presumably the MF Lutherie.
Click to expand...

Mags can help on a Rob Allen, although a lot of people underestimate the flexibility of the piezo. To be quite honest, the neck pickup on mine basically sounds like the piezo, but without finger noise.
 
#84
Don't buy any new basses, your answer is in technique. use your right hand pinky side to damp the strings just enough. Play with the meat of your thumb. Takes some practice to get the sound right, and even more practice to play basslines using the technique. If you look up Ed Friedland on Youtube he demonstrates by playing "Girl I've Got a Date."
 
#85
Tom7 said:
Oh! I didn't realize you could get a Rob Allen with magnetic pickups! I've got to do more homework... just when you think you have the basses you "need"... :-)
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Kinda yes, kinda no. Tad cost prohibitive for a lot of people and it sounds very challenging to buffer them to the piezo. He really hasn't done many, 2 from what I recall. The only downside is that a lack of mags will give you much more sustain and having mags will add resistance to the string vibration. Since Rob's string spacing is somewhat wide, he needs to order custom pickups, which can take a really long time for him to get. I think my MB2 might have taken about 6 months and my Mouse 30 was in my hands in less than 3 months from when we figured out the specs.

...but for the most part, most of the mag tones can be accomplished with the piezo. Not sure if will be an option.
 
#87
Tom7 said:
That's wild about the crutch and the bungees. I'm gonna have to do that, if for no other reason than to say I've done it. :eyebrow:

I hadn't heard of Hotwire double basses before, thanks for the links. Interesting. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], nice enough to get me thinking "can they make a 6 string?" These would be more flexible than Rob Allen I would think. FYI, I found [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]. The 5-string goes for € 2,445, which is $3,870.44 at the current exchange rate. That's probably a "list" price that you can get marked down, but then again you've got to pay to have it shipped.

I've written MF Lutherie for a price quote for an acoustic 6, 5 and 4 string like Alain Caron has. I'll let you know what they say.

EDIT: So I can find it again, here is a YouTube vid of Alain Caron soloing on an acoustic, presumably the MF Lutherie.
Click to expand...

Hotwire can make 6 strings.
You may wanna check out Link Removed as well. they are made by the same luthier( magnus krempel of [This invalid link has been removed]) and at least one of their basses aims at an upright tone.
 
#88
Eckie said:
On Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side, I believed it was a double bass until I read an interview with Herbie Flowers who said he'd used a Fender Jazz - anyone confirm this ?
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There are obviously two basses involved. The story I have heard was that one was an upright and the other a fretless electric. That way, he got union scale for the session for two instruments, and if he had done both parts on the same instrument, he would have been paid once.

So, you were half right originally, and half right now. There was an upright on that.
 

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