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Double Bass Doubling technique questions

Kragnorak

Kragnorak

Sep 20, 2008
1,703
1,190
soundcloud.com
#1
Looking to see if there's anyone else out there involved in doubling craziness. I specifically got an Ergo EUB so that I can walk up and start bowing on stage in the middle of an electric bass guitar tune. For those of you that do this, do you have any tips to make this process less of a circus act?

Right now, I'm having two main issues. One is that when the band is cranking, the Ergo vibrates and starts feeding back. I'm thinking that I need some sort of mute button in the signal chain - maybe even a tuner pedal. Any good suggestions?

The other is a tonal issue. It seems like I'm getting lost in the mix. I'm running both my bass and EUB into a Morley ABY and when I adjust volumes I do so by plucking gently. On an acoustic upright, bowing is much louder than plucking so I would think this would be more than fine. But once the music starts it feels like the EUB is much quieter. It's QUITE possible that this is mostly a technique problem because I'm still not used to bowing while wearing another instrument. Maybe I'm just bowing weakly because I can't cradle the neck like I'm used to, but in the meantime are there any EQ hot spots I should tweak to help the bowed notes cut through the mix?
 
#2
I built an A/B box to use with my Ergo so one stomp and I switch between them. I would think your A/B/Y box could work the same way if you don't need to have them both on at the same time.

EQ wise, I have found that the Ergo signal contains a lot of very low frequencies that I need to cut. I use a cut somewhere below 100hz, a bit of a boost in the 150-250 range, and a bit of an upper mid boost. I don't have it dialed in quite where I want, but this has really helped keep some of the note definition and to cut through the mix.

I've found that bowed, the Ergo is much louder than when plucked and I need to turn down the volume on my preamp a bit, so it may be your technique that is the issue. However, my technique is really bad at this point, so don't use me as any sort of standard.
 
#3
Thanks for the feedback. Technique is a big part of it for sure. My bow needs rehaired badly and I'm not having near as much trouble when I'm not wearing a bass guitar. What preamp are you using? I'm looking to replace my ancient 20-year-old Fishman...
 
#6
I'm currently using a CR5-M when I'm doubling, and thankfully it has enough EQ onboard (the blend knobs between the pizz & arco piezo elements are a godsend) that I can get by with just an A/B box that has individual volumes to keep everything between EB and EUB similar.
 
#7
peterpalmieri said:
Radial Tonebone

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

One channel for your BG and the other channel for your EUB set the boost setting for pizz playing
Click to expand...

Actually, there's a NEW version of the BassBone coming that actually even has a switchable 10 megohm input on one channel, and it has a full three band EQ (with semi-para mids) for each channel. It's basically the unit I've been asking them to make for about 5 years now, and they finally did! I should have details on the site very soon, they're already on order (I just found out about it yesterday.)
 
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#8
Mark Gollihur said:
Actually, there's a NEW version of the BassBone coming that actually even has a switchable 10 megohm input on one channel, and it has a full three band EQ (with semi-para mids) for each channel. It's basically the unit I've been asking them to make for about 5 years now, and they finally did! I should have details on the site very soon, they're already on order (I just found out about it yesterday.)
Click to expand...

You and me both! That IS exciting!
 

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