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Emulate an upright?

#21
Thanks, Y'all. I guess the simple solution I was looking for just doesn't exist. I've used almost all of the technique/mute options mentioned above and had some reasonable results, but I was hoping for something better and easier. I normally play without effects, but I'll try some of the simpler tech options and see what happens. I'm an older guy and don't expect I'll do well with a long signal chain. Might have to bite the bullet and try to find and learn to play a mid size doghouse.
I sure appreciate all your help, folks.
 
#24
A friend of mine who plays in NYC plays a Warwick Streamer fretted 5 string and he can get very close to an upright sound from his bass. The secret? He also plays upright. He has refined his technique to be able to approximate an upright sound with his bass. You have an upright sound in your head and you are trying to achieve that. Are you sure it really is the sound of an upright? I would suggest finding a tune with an upright bass player you like or where you know the bass is an upright and study the sound. Get your tone as close as possible and try to imitate the technique of the player. So much of upright tone (or any tone for that matter) is about how you play the instrument. How hard you play, how much pressure you apply with your fretting hand, where you place your plucking hand, etc. For myself, I play my upright differently unamplified than when I use an amp. I play much softer when I use an amp and so my tone is different (the pickup and amp probably have some effect on this as well). When I play unamplified I tend to play a little more forcefully and so my tone is a little different. Also I tend to play my upright differently than I play my slab bass. Different note lengths, I probably play a little more simply. Again, study the technique of upright players you like. Good luck.
 
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#25
Just a reminder that this is the Effects forum, so answers along the lines of “get an upright” aren’t helpful and are way off topic. OP is asking specifically about effects, for bass guitar. I had a similar response a while back when I asked about an effect to get a bowed sound. You guys need to assume this guy has thought about an upright and for whatever reasons isn’t able to use one, and is looking for just an effect in the effects forum. Or read the rules about effects bashing. It’s way off topic and muddies the thread with unhelpful responses.
 
#26
MtManiac said:
Just a reminder that this is the Effects forum, so answers along the lines of “get an upright” aren’t helpful and are way off topic. OP is asking specifically about effects, for bass guitar. I had a similar response a while back when I asked about an effect to get a bowed sound. You guys need to assume this guy has thought about an upright and for whatever reasons isn’t able to use one, and is looking for just an effect in the effects forum. Or read the rules about effects bashing. It’s way off topic and muddies the thread with unhelpful responses.
Click to expand...

I don’t think anybody was “effects bashing” at all by suggesting to get an upright. The short and completely accurate answer to the OP’s question as originally put about whether there is a pedal that can emulate an upright is a terse and (to my mind) equally unhelpful: No.

And “just a reminder” in return:

In a discussion forum such as this one, the topics may be yours to choose. But they’re the prerogative of the membership to discuss. Because this forum is basically a conversation rather than an encyclopedia. And since nobody here is getting paid to share their information or insights, the membership is free to respond (within reason) pretty much any way it wishes without violating the rules.

(FWIW, there are many times when the tangents and wanderings OT proved more valuable than the more direct responses did. At least in my experience.)

:)
 
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#28
Bob Burbridge said:
I'm playing a 5 string fretless in a jazz band, but I would like to produce more of an upright sound for some of the swing tunes we do. I've tried all the techniques, mutes and different string sets with moderate success, but I would really like to find an effects pedal that does for me easier and better. Is there such an animal on the market?
Click to expand...
Muting on tape wounds tend to give a nice DB sound. The tape wounds have little sustain, and almost zero high end. They also give a nice oomph in the low mids.
 
#30
I discovered by lucky accident that some sort of double mic'ing effect seems to work really well.

When the power went out, while I was playing thru my home setup... a Trace Elliot preamp into a Zoom R24, then into the computer... when the power flcked back on and I powered everything up again, the R24 defaulted to effects being "ON". This one effects patch labeled Fat Drum with the only thing in it active being a double mic, was what was running. My bass sounded a lot like an acoustic bass. I was very happy with this discovery as I really don't have to do anything other than push a button now, and I have a very good acoustic bass repro. I have Dunlop flats on my fretless 6 string Drozd. When button is off, sounds like a modern tone fretless.. push of button.. nice acoustic sound. So as I said in my opening statement. I think a double mic kind of effect/processing is something to experiment with.
 
#31
40Hz said:
I don’t think anybody was “effects bashing” at all by suggesting to get an upright. The short and completely accurate answer to the OP’s question as originally put about whether there is a pedal that can emulate an upright is a terse and (to my mind) equally unhelpful: No.

And “just a reminder” in return:

In a discussion forum such as this one, the topics may be yours to choose. But they’re the prerogative of the membership to discuss. Because this forum is basically a conversation rather than an encyclopedia. And since nobody here is getting paid to share their information or insights, the membership is free to respond (within reason) pretty much any way it wishes without violating the rules.

(FWIW, there are many times when the tangents and wanderings OT proved more valuable than the more direct responses did. At least in my experience.)

:)
Click to expand...
It isn’t helpful.
 
#33
From my experience playing both fretless bass and electric upright I'd suggest not to try. Not even the electric upright gets completely close to the sound of an acoustic bass, because all those body resonances and even more so the air cavity resonance are missing. But you know what - I don't find it desirable either. What you should go for is a good swing feel on your instrument.

More than the sound as such, this is about attack and decay, which boils down to using as much flesh as possible (hence a lot of people use the thumb on bass guitar) and playing on the neck. It will also help if you increase the action and try to get more volume out of the string and less out of the pickup. And with that sound you need to practice a lot to make it swing.

And yes, a piezo is the best to transfer this sound. The one on my Ibanez SRF-705 is great for it.

Personally I think I could have stopped there, but I do have some comments on the physics as well. Most of the characteristic behaviour of the upright bass comes from the way the string loses energy. This happens exclusively at the bridge. The bridge of double basses (or in fact all instruments of the violin family) is designed to transfer energy to the front plate, which in turn transmits energy to the back plate and the air inside the body. The vibration of the top plate is transferred back to the bridge (obviously!) and this increases the impedance of the bridge. In other words it dampens the string vibration that would otherwise go on for a long time.

Bass guitars don't do any of this, so you get this long (and in my opinion beautiful) sustain. You can reduce the impedance in other ways though. Before you do any modifications, try it with your left-hand fingers. When you press down the string very lightly you can get to the point where the string vibration dies off early, especially when you try it high up the neck. This is what you're aiming at. Try to reproduce it at the bridge with whatever damping material does the trick, and you've done all you can.
 
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#35
Backing on passive tone and playing straight over the 12th fret to get a lot of mwah is usually enough to approximate the tone and feeling of an upright.
People understand where you're going and their brain does the rest.
Other tricks, devices and effects appeared to induce more pain than satisfaction so far.
 

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