Electric bass that sounds like a double

[Mastermold]

A a player of both electric and double basses (with a decided preference of playing electric) I have to say that NOTHING has the sound and feel of a Double bass. And I've played just about every variety of ABG, EUB, U-Bass etc that this planet has to offer. And those that are reported as being close, IMO, are not really very close. You need the strong fundamental that a 40+ inch scale can deliver along with the bloom that results from a large body's resonant response coupled with the filtration effects of the wood resonance and the controlled extended damping factor of that large body/air mass. Couple that with the phase coherence of the front and back plates through the effects of the bass bar and the soundpost and you have a complex system that is not well reproduced by other instruments.

I guess that all I am saying is that however close an alternative is, it's not nearly close enough for me. There's magic in the double.

This one of those truths I would say everyone knows … but they don’t. Lol

 

[neddyrow]

I have one question...

Why?

 

[groovepump]

It's been a while since I jumped in on one of these threads.

The reason I play/switched to upright is because I had the same question at one time. I was playing in a jazz/swing/rockabilly group, and every recording the guitar player sent me to learn had a double bass player. So I chased that tone and playing on a slab with flats, foam, tone control off, etc. I tried all of the tricks suggested. None of it accomplished what I was hearing, so I started looking for a used upright bass.

First point - piezos don't make an instrument sound "acoustic". This is one of the biggest misconceptions I've ever heard around these parts. Piezos don't reproduce anything close to the acoustic properties of a double bass without a boatload of processing, unless you are playing at barely noticeable volume. They are pickups, not microphones. Just because they aren't magnetic does not mean they have some magic smoke inside of them that makes an instrument sound like it's acoustic properties.

Second point - a lot of the examples I hear people post here do a decent job of approximating a poorly amplified upright bass. If that's the tone your chasing, then there are options. I'm talking about that nasally, mid range stuff that a lot of guys get on fretless as well. That is however not what a double sounds like acoustically.

Last point - I had one of the original Kala U-basses. You can swing on those things. To my ear they get much closer than any of the traditional slab options mentioned here ad nauseum. The synthetic strings on them give it much more gut-like vibe. Super fun to play if you can handle the short scale.

Agree 100%.
To get a true DB sound, you need a DB.
I , too, have tried all the various tricks to get a BG to sound like a DB.
It just aint happening.
I sometimes regret selling all 3 of my DB. (except for the storing and transporting issues . . .)

 

[fishdreams]

It's IME rather in the playing approach (technique and then strings) than that you'd have to get a special bass for it. I play with flesh/side of the fingers near the neck, with a soft touch. Tape wounds certainly help. Mixing in a dollop of -1 octave with an octaver can help too

 

[Lee Moses]

The responses in this thread are bizarre. The O.P. made an observation, and everybody's acting like he asked a question. If you haven't played or heard an Epiphone Rumblekat (I haven't), you aren't qualified to tell him he's wrong.

 

[basss]

I have one question...

Why?

Because upright is hard to play, expensive and a pain in the ass to lug around.

But oh so worth it!

 

[Alexis Duntov]

One of the thumpy-less-sustain hollows/semi-hollow like the Ibanez Artcore basses, with flat wounds, experiment and find the perfect mute (I use rolled and stitched felt I have my wife make). Then playing it with a more upright right hand stroke..

it won’t fool anyone into thinking it’s an upright, but it will a) sound good and b) will actually fit the role of the music appropriately.

I have not heard a very convincing alternative to this, and a lot of the other approaches to ‘replacing’ upright not only sound less like a double bass, but also just don’t sound good or fit the musical role well at all.

just as a drive-by shot, I’ll go ahead and throw out there that I have never heard a tapewound approach to this that sounds good.. they do give you a chance at the thwap-clicks of an upright, but the tension and envelope are all wrong, and generally they are too floppy and will never sound right. If someone has some secret tape wound that don’t play like weedwacker strings, let me know.



check out Gustav Broman. He has a fantastic approach that lines up with my stated ideal of fitting the role and sonic space in a convincing way. One of the very few guys with a non-cringe electric jazz sound. https://instagram.com/gustav.broman?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==


Edit: here’s a random video of gustav.. not sure if this is the best representation or anything, it’s kind of just the first YouTube video I found

That’s killing.

 

[HelpImaRock]

I've been told that tone is in the fingers. You have to use double bass fingers on an electric bass.

 

[VictorW126]

The responses in this thread are bizarre. The O.P. made an observation, and everybody's acting like he asked a question. If you haven't played or heard an Epiphone Rumblekat (I haven't), you aren't qualified to tell him he's wrong.

We have the right to this. Many double bassists have spent years and thousands of dollars trying to find the sound of a double bass in a compact size. If this existed, it would have been discovered by someone earlier than October 18, 2023.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

I've been told that tone is in the fingers. You have to use double bass fingers on an electric bass.

You're not wrong.

DB plucking technique is very different from EB technique. That's not an insignificant factor in creating the note shape or envelope on either instrument.

 

[coy garcia]

You're not wrong.

DB plucking technique is very different from EB technique. That's not an insignificant factor in creating the note shape or envelope on either instrument.

So true!! I lift my neck up high and pluck on fingerboard with side finger....that makes more of a difference than the bass I choose to play.

 

[themickster]

Fine. Get a Kay with a pickup. There.

Whatever

 

[randalhicks]

I've heard DBs and you haven't heard this Rumblekat.

So upload a sound clip?

 

[chadds]

You're not wrong.

DB plucking technique is very different from EB technique. That's not an insignificant factor in creating the note shape or envelope on either instrument.

But this is TB. There is always a new piece of kit that will get you there except it doesn’t. Oh wait how about sampled upright sounds triggered by a $150. Uke bass with $500. in midi and pres into a $600. plastic PA cab. There.

 

[Lee Moses]

We have the right to this. Many double bassists have spent years and thousands of dollars trying to find the sound of a double bass in a compact size. If this existed, it would have been discovered by someone earlier than October 18, 2023.

Again, what you are saying has next to nothing to do with his post. Go post in one of the thousand threads that asks the question you are attempting to answer, if you so desire.

 

[ReeV0]

I got a pretty convincing double bass sound with my HX Stomp

 

[smoothbrain]

Now and then we get asked about electric basses that sound like a DB. I heard an Epiphone Rumblekat this evening. Its hollow body and two pickups at the neck make sound almost like a DB. I was told it did, but I didn't think it would be that near.

Electric basses that sound like a DB[?]

I don't think there are any.

 

[sethlow3]

After a few years playing guitar as a second instrument, I am starting to think that we bass players take the sustain of an electric bass guitar for granted.

If you play a G on the E string of both a guitar and bass, the sustain of the bass will go on and on compared to the guitar. I have a theory… that as we bassists get better, we tend to think staccato ie: slap lines, funky pieces, Jamerson, and yes the upright sound is somehow a better thing when really, the electric bass sustain should be one of the best things about it.

It’s almost as if long, sustaining notes are easier to do therefore ignored more and more as a bassist progresses into funk, jazz, etc…when really, that long sustain is what makes an electric bass guitar so cool.

As others have said, an upright scale, fretless fingerboard, strings, etc create a very different tone. The electric bass guitar was meant to be a super sustained thing and different than an upright. Why do we run from the sustain when there is such magic there?

 

[Ric Vice]

Sustain on a EB is a "mixed blessing" if it's used tastefully and sparingly it can be a beautiful thing. Double Bass also has a distinct sustain playing pizzicato with most of the newer strings.
There are differences between the sustain on a DB and EB. Since I play both, I think I prefer sustain on a DB, to EB but only slightly. EB sustain just has a different sound that is
certainly unique but harder to control. Just my take of course. DB has the advantage of a more nuanced sustain especially with a bow. EB sustain can quickly overpower the bottom.
especially in live situations.

 

[Michael Jewels]

I’ll probably get attacked for saying this, but the Ibanez SRF700 comes reasonably close to the sound of an upright.

Use the piezos only, use flatwounds and play over the 20th fret and it gets close.

What the definition of close is, is subjective.

Does it sound exactly like an upright?

No?

But it’s in the neighborhood, at least to me.