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Electric Bass rigs for Bluegrass Players???
- Thread starter DanCash
- Start date
I personally use and recommend upright for acoustic music whenever possible 
but another sound I get a lot of mileage out of is: P bass with TI jazz flats through an Acoustic Image Contra combo amp. The Contra is not typically thought of as an amp for electric bass, but I happen to quite love the sound. (But it's probably not for everybody.)
but another sound I get a lot of mileage out of is: P bass with TI jazz flats through an Acoustic Image Contra combo amp. The Contra is not typically thought of as an amp for electric bass, but I happen to quite love the sound. (But it's probably not for everybody.)
I play in some traditional bluegrass bands and some "newgrass" bands. I use an upright for some and a pbass for the others. As far as a rig goes the Acoustic Image combos work really well with acoustic players. That is, they are playing acoustic and you are using a electric bass. The combos are not in your face at all and work really well in that setting. If everyone is mic'ing there guitars and mandolins thru a pa just use the di out and use the pa for volume. The amp wont hang in a gig situation by itself.
Dont go too crazy chasing a tone. Anything will work. I use Ampeg, Acoustic Image, Euphonic Audio, and sometimes just a Fishman pre amp into a pa head. It's really more about timing and technique to fill the bluegrass bass players role in the band.
Dont go too crazy chasing a tone. Anything will work. I use Ampeg, Acoustic Image, Euphonic Audio, and sometimes just a Fishman pre amp into a pa head. It's really more about timing and technique to fill the bluegrass bass players role in the band.
- Jan 28, 2009
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- Owner: Moonshine Custom Guitars
Resonator basses work well in bluegrass:
Something slightly more traditional (!):
Moonshine
Something slightly more traditional (!):
Moonshine
Another thing to think about is that bluegrass tone is not all that hard to chase IMO. Your looking for a thumpy low focused tone with very little treble. Have fun!
I play in a bluegrass/newgrass group and 90% of the time use my upright. If we are practicing or doing an out of town show I might play electric instead. I have used all of the following basses to good effect:
P-bass with flats/mute
Hofner with flats
Fretless with tapewounds
Kala U-bass
Epi Jack Casady with flats/mute
When I play my upright I don't need much amplification and usually just use my Paul Jones Briefcase. It is a great amp but honestly I don't lke it as much with the electrics. If I use the electrics then I take one of my "electric" amps (Mesa Walkabout, GK MB200) and an small bass cab like an Aguillar GS112 or a 2x10, etc.
Technique is probably the most important denominator - I play the electrics similar to the way I play the upright.
Playing the electrics is a lot of fun too and I like experimenting. We play some off-the-wall stuff so I never get any push-back from my bandmates. If it sounds "good" then it is "good".
Have fun!
P-bass with flats/mute
Hofner with flats
Fretless with tapewounds
Kala U-bass
Epi Jack Casady with flats/mute
When I play my upright I don't need much amplification and usually just use my Paul Jones Briefcase. It is a great amp but honestly I don't lke it as much with the electrics. If I use the electrics then I take one of my "electric" amps (Mesa Walkabout, GK MB200) and an small bass cab like an Aguillar GS112 or a 2x10, etc.
Technique is probably the most important denominator - I play the electrics similar to the way I play the upright.
Playing the electrics is a lot of fun too and I like experimenting. We play some off-the-wall stuff so I never get any push-back from my bandmates. If it sounds "good" then it is "good".
Have fun!
I have used my piezo-equipped Musicman Bongo with flatwounds and a homemade bridge string-mute (big piece of dense closed-cell foam under the strings at the bridge) direct into the board, with a 15" monitor I made (no tweeter)... it works pretty well. I would love to get an upright, but don't want to spend the $ on something I won't use very often, then have to turn-around and buy a bigger vehicle to haul it around...
Put some tape wounds on the P bass and finger pick it up near the end of the neck and it will sound amazing on bluegrass music.
I played upright in my bluegrass band, but soon damaged my left elbow at work, and couldn't pull the strings down on the upright. I used an Ovation acoustic bass for a while, but settled on a fretless with nylon tapewounds. I have a compact Traynor Bloc 40 bass amp that served me well. The bandleader wasn't happy with the look, but I had no choice.
I don't play a tonne of bluegrass, but I'm in a Celt/pop pub band (I'm on my iPhone so I can't see, but I think I might have linkage in my sig). You can get almost anything into the ballpark by playing up at the neck and muting. However, I will definitely say that my old Wasburn hollowbody and Godin A5 were practically made for acoustic music styles.
Lakland has just released a short-scale hollowbody. Might be worth a look.
Lakland has just released a short-scale hollowbody. Might be worth a look.
No matter what you do, a P bass isn't going to sound like an upright.
However, your playing style and technique are much more important.
You have to keep the notes short, muting or damping them almost immediately. The "chops" from the mandolin
need to be audible, and these are on the upbeats, between each of the bass notes. What you don't want is a note
that drones on. I heard an upright playing bluegrass once. The notes were very deep and long sustaining. Sounded
more like an electric than an upright. Sounded horrible for bluegrass.
The bass and mandolin are the rythym section. If you work with the mandolin player just a little bit, you should be able
to get the bass style down pretty well. It's also mainly roots and 5ths, with very occasional short runs or walks from one
chord to another.
I use an electric for working out bluegrass songs if I already happen to have one out. The playing style is very important
to getting it to sound right. The tone, not so much.
Also, I am pretty sure that you would be welcome if you have the style down, as opposed to their having no bass at all.
However, your playing style and technique are much more important.
You have to keep the notes short, muting or damping them almost immediately. The "chops" from the mandolin
need to be audible, and these are on the upbeats, between each of the bass notes. What you don't want is a note
that drones on. I heard an upright playing bluegrass once. The notes were very deep and long sustaining. Sounded
more like an electric than an upright. Sounded horrible for bluegrass.
The bass and mandolin are the rythym section. If you work with the mandolin player just a little bit, you should be able
to get the bass style down pretty well. It's also mainly roots and 5ths, with very occasional short runs or walks from one
chord to another.
I use an electric for working out bluegrass songs if I already happen to have one out. The playing style is very important
to getting it to sound right. The tone, not so much.
Also, I am pretty sure that you would be welcome if you have the style down, as opposed to their having no bass at all.
I think a Carvin AC40 or AC50 Fretless Semi Acoustic sounds really great for bluegrass. That's especially true when you use tape wounds. It's got great acoustic sounding thump with a small bass amp with a couple of 10's or a 12. That way it doesn't get muddy.
I am not fan of bluegrass. But, am getting itchy about Epiphone Zenit fretless thing
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Thanks for all this great input guys!
Going to book mark this thread so when I have a little more disposable income I can start looking into some of these recommended equipment upgrades.
Right now I'll probably start off with the cheapest bits first such as trying out the tapewound strings.
Going to book mark this thread so when I have a little more disposable income I can start looking into some of these recommended equipment upgrades.
Right now I'll probably start off with the cheapest bits first such as trying out the tapewound strings.
Yeah, responding to an old thread...
I always thought it was pretty cool that John Cowan of Newgrass Revival used a Kubicki X-Factor bass for a while.
I always thought it was pretty cool that John Cowan of Newgrass Revival used a Kubicki X-Factor bass for a while.
- Sep 9, 2007
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- Endorsing Artist: Eventide, GHS Strings, G&L Guitars, NS Design, Tsunami Cables
Usually I'll play my NS Design CR-5M, which usually seems to cause a bigger stir admist the bluegrass players over just a traditional electric...!
Otherwise, I'll use a fretless and palm mute it, so I get that thump and quick decay. I usually use a Phil Jones Bass Double Four amp, as most bluegrass gigs aren't gigantic by any means, and the amp just sounds awesome.
Otherwise, I'll use a fretless and palm mute it, so I get that thump and quick decay. I usually use a Phil Jones Bass Double Four amp, as most bluegrass gigs aren't gigantic by any means, and the amp just sounds awesome.
I wonder how many times that guy got told that "Bill Monroe never played no U-Bass!" I see it a lot on bluegrass boards where some of the old-timers are purists and won't accept anything but an upright!
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