Surprised this isn't mentioned more. If I were trying to make it fit in, I would make sure I had mutes. But 99% probable you will need to have an upright, if you even get the gig on an electric.
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Electric Bass in Bluegrass
- Thread starter Alden Vines
- Start date
Surprised this isn't mentioned more. If I were trying to make it fit in, I would make sure I had mutes. But 99% probable you will need to have an upright, if you even get the gig on an electric.
two years ago I saw that done at the Bill Munro festival at Bean Blossom IN. and it didn't go over very well at all. Oh the kids were talented, but said they doubted they'd be invited back. The purists don't go for it at all, and take a really dim view of it.
I've done it. And lots of old-school country and roots music. I always used something with flats, and a foam mute. The mute is key I feel, maybe even more so than the flats. You can't have too much sustain--the quicker decay comes off more upright-like. If no mute, then palm mute and thumb pluck works nicely too (keeps you from playing anything too fancy as well
My dad is a big bluegrass player and singer who is alwas getting me to play with him. I use my 60W SWR cube and a standard MIA J bass or a modded MIM J bass. He goes to a lot of area jams and the pretty much allow electric bass but drums are still not allowed.
New Found Road
Flatt Lonesome
Blue Highway
Alison Krauss & Union Station
Rhonda Vincent & the Rage
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Marty Raybon
Dailey & Vincent
New Standard
Del McCoury
The Steeldrivers
Lonesome River Band
The Grasscals
Infamous Stringdusters
Claire Lynch
Mountain Heart
By the way, all these use upright bass. Doyle Lawson has been around about 50 years & he uses electric bass.
This is a fair question, and there are a number of long-time bluegrassers here that have responded. I'll gently add my "opinion" to the mix...
My answer is a big "It depends..."
There are a number of "recent" (avoiding the word modern) bluegrass bands, and even a few of the original foundational bands/players, who at least used an EB for a while. On both ends of that spectrum, Bluegrass Etc., The Krugers, and one of Don Reno's later bluegrass bands comes to mind.
But, the big names that everyone thinks of with bluegrass -- Monroe, Scruggs & Flatt, Stanley, etc. -- didn't use EBs at least during the formative bluegrass years, because they weren't widely available or popular among the bands, or among the folks that played bass for bluegrass, or among the audiences that listened.
Soooo, if you're going for that original formative bluegrass sound, or if the people you're playing with, or if the audiences that you're playing for, want that original formative bluegrass sound, you want a double bass. Even a if it's double bass with electronics on it for on-stage use, a double bass still sounds like a double bass.
But, if you're playing with a "recent" bluegrass band, or more, with a truly modern bluegrass band, or if you're playing for a more modern bluegrass compatible audience, you may be able to get away with an EB, or for that matter, even a fretless uBass.
The long and the short of it is that whether we like it or not, us old timers, many which do prefer that original formative bluegrass sound, are going to be off the bluegrass music scene sometime soon, and the new fold is going to bring with it a mix of their musical tastes and the musical tastes of their peers. My money is on bluegrass changing at least subtly in the next 50 years; from a practical sense it really has to. I'm sure there will always be a place for that original formative bluegrass sound, but it may be a special niche, similar to how the various "recent" generations of jazz look at old-jazz and even ragtime.
Transparency: This is coming from a 50-year bluegrass and Gospel banjo, mandolin and Dobro player, who two years ago bought an Alcoa Aluminum double bass that was setup for rockabilly, and with only a few modifications has been using it for bluegrass and Gospel -- plugged in on stage and acoustically in jams -- pretty much without complaints, in the Pacific-western states of the USA.
Btw, geography may also make a difference. It depends...
I've been going to bluegrass shows for 42 years now and while DB is much more common then BG, there are plenty of name bands with BG and a few with drums. Noone would call Doyle Lawson or the Osborne Brothers newgrass. BTW the guy who played with the Osbornes in the late 70s was a lefty playing a Rick 4001! My first bluegrass band experience was in 1980, about 18 months before I got my hands on a DB. I was playing a Peavey T40 
So to the OP: if you want to play in a bluegrass band with a BG, if they say it's OK, then it's OK.
So to the OP: if you want to play in a bluegrass band with a BG, if they say it's OK, then it's OK.
I've been going to bluegrass shows for 42 years now and while DB is much more common then BG, there are plenty of name bands with BG and a few with drums. Noone would call Doyle Lawson or the Osborne Brothers newgrass. BTW the guy who played with the Osbornes in the late 70s was a lefty playing a Rick 4001! My first bluegrass band experience was in 1980, about 18 months before I got my hands on a DB. I was playing a Peavey T40
So to the OP: if you want to play in a bluegrass band with a BG, if they say it's OK, then it's OK.
P.S. I've been seeing a lot of EUBs in bluegrass the last few years.
It would be about your touch.
If visuals don’t matter.....
Nothing against this post, but I find it hilarious that slabbers who constantly post they can tell the sound difference between every electric bass by what wood the fb is made of, would think that double bass is about 'the visual'.
Nothing sounds like an UB. Any slab, is not even in the zip code. It ain't about the visuals... Lol.
And Imho, an electric bass has absolutely no place in bluegrass. UB or bust. And I'm far from a purist in any sense....
Do buy a cheap upright. You'll pick it up no problem. It's just bluegrass. ;-)
(I do think an ABG would sound great.)
(I do think an ABG would sound great.)
I live in the north Georgia Mtns, Dahlonega... We have bluegrass here almost every day. we even have a weekend called "bear on the square" there will be about 500 bluegrass musicians playing on every corner all over the town....there won't be a single bass guitar or electric plug anywhere.....they are hardcore around here...they don't even like my 1890's flatback.....if its not a Kay it is not a bass..
I’m mostly a jazz guy but I’ve played a lot of traditional country & Americana type gigs. The double bass definitely fills a big sonic space especially when there are no drums.
But, as mentioned previously, a group like Hot Rize can completely kill with electric bass. Just listen to the brilliant songwriting and harmonies & arrangements. Love those guys.
Moral of the story: Invest in a double bass if that’s the sound & vibe you’re going for. Otherwise play what you’ve got and play the snot out of it.
But, as mentioned previously, a group like Hot Rize can completely kill with electric bass. Just listen to the brilliant songwriting and harmonies & arrangements. Love those guys.
Moral of the story: Invest in a double bass if that’s the sound & vibe you’re going for. Otherwise play what you’ve got and play the snot out of it.
I had the pleasure of auditioning with a nice group of bluegrass guys. Did my best with the P Bass, then tried to warm them up with a Hofner Club. I did all right but the next brother to audition hefted a gorgeous URB, I basically knew where I stood at a moment
I agree. It has an acoustic look, and it sounds remarkably close to an amplified plywood double bass. I'm using mine, not for bluegrass, but for musical theater pits, jazz cocktail hours and in rock/pop situations where an upright sound is called for (Louis Prima, Louis Jordan, etc.) where I either can't or don't want to bring my upright. But as JimmyM says - talk to the band first and foremost!!!
Electric bass? Sure you can. Even a Strat if you know how.
Couple of decent pickers here:
Couple of decent pickers here:
None taken since I play both and the Ashbory. I meant that to the BG band the look could be a strong No.
I have been doing it lately with an acoustic electric and tapewound strings. One guy in the band would really prefer that I played an upright and that we all huddled around a single mic for performances. In reality he uses a clip-on mic for his banjo, the mando player brings multiple other instruments including electric guitars, and sometimes I feel like playing an electric jazz bass. We have a Mackie PA system that sounds decent. As long as the goal is making the song work and we keep listening to each other, it all works.
