Hello. I'm interested in examples of electric DB that look similar to acoustic DB that have full size shoulders and hips. I know one such bass (Bridge Cetus Double Bass), but I must be missing something.
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Double Bass EUB that look like DB
- Thread starter VictorW126
- Start date
Do the Eminence DBs qualfiy for what you're wanting to see? Not full size shoulders and hips, but still slightly acoustic (and removable neck). Like the Bridge Cetus Double Bass, at least a caricature of a standard DB.
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If you are interested in full size shoulders you could take a look at MK basses:
Mod.Studio-Up - Contrabbassi Elettrici MK
If you need hips too you could look at:
Mod.Classic - Contrabbassi Elettrici MK
The Yamaha SLB 100 had the full frame but it's pretty rare to find:
SLB100 - Panoramica - Yamaha - Italia
Thank you for participating. I'm looking for something more like a standard bass. I'll explain. There are electric violins in terms of ergonomics and appearance similar to acoustic violins. Guitarists don't need to get used to a smaller body if they want to use electricity - there are hundreds of electric guitars that are similar in shape to acoustic guitars. If desired, the guitarist can look like an acoustic player, but without feedback and connection problems. But when it comes to the electric double bass, the player needs to get used to the new body shape and new playing positions.
I would like to find electric double basses that mimic the shape and feel of an acoustic double bass. And which look on stage like a double bass, and not like a stick or a cello with a long neck.
I will give a couple of examples.
Bayou Basses – Morphosis Creative
Maurice Dupont Volante Bass 2011 | Reverb
EUB club (electric upright bass club)
Alat Musik | Electric Double Bass | Bridge Cetus
It's not what I'm looking for, but that's all I know. There is another example from an old picture from the 60s, but I can't find it.
The idea seems simple - I can't believe it has so few incarnations.
I would like to find electric double basses that mimic the shape and feel of an acoustic double bass. And which look on stage like a double bass, and not like a stick or a cello with a long neck.
I will give a couple of examples.
Bayou Basses – Morphosis Creative
Maurice Dupont Volante Bass 2011 | Reverb
EUB club (electric upright bass club)
Alat Musik | Electric Double Bass | Bridge Cetus
It's not what I'm looking for, but that's all I know. There is another example from an old picture from the 60s, but I can't find it.
The idea seems simple - I can't believe it has so few incarnations.
I believe I may be misunderstanding you, but if your requirement is an EUB that looks and feels like a regular double bass, wouldn’t simply putting a pickup on a regular double bass satisfy your requirements? There are tons out there to satisfy any taste, there’s magnetic pickups like the Krivo if feedback is a concern, an array of piezo pickups, contact mics, tiny clip on mics, regular mics on a stand, and then there’s blending any combination thereof.
The whole point of an EUB is to shed the size, ergonomics, lack of portability, and difficulty of amplification of a DB, so it will be very difficult to find one that includes all of that, unless of course you simply put a pickup or combo of pickups on a DB. I wish you the best in your search though!
The whole point of an EUB is to shed the size, ergonomics, lack of portability, and difficulty of amplification of a DB, so it will be very difficult to find one that includes all of that, unless of course you simply put a pickup or combo of pickups on a DB. I wish you the best in your search though!
That's because those instruments are a manageable size. In contrast, a DB is bulky, heavy, and difficult to transport.
I'd add that many electric violins are actually smaller than acoustic ones (little more than a neck attached to a frame, so it can be held properly). The Yamaha Silent Guitar follows the same concept:
If you're using a ~42" scale neck, that's not a problem. I'm a novice, and I can easily switch back and forth between a real DB and my EUB.
I can understand why you'd want that, but the reason why so few are made is because that drastically reduces the advantages of a typical EUB, without enhancing the tone. It will be bulkier and heavier than competing EUBs, and if it isn't basically a DB without the back, it's not going to fool the audience.
Unless you're dealing with serious feedback problems, perhaps you'd be better off with some type of travel upright.
Like The Eminence, Kolstein Busetto, Gage Czech-Ease.
BobDeRosa
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This one will get you halfway there. The more recent SLB 200 and 300 have an arm that simulates the upper bout of a DB, but they definitely look more like an EUB than a DB.
SVB-100 - Overview - Yamaha - United States
SVB-100 - Overview - Yamaha - United States
The easiest and probably also the cheapest way is using a normal acoustic DB, put some type of pickup on it and put in a second soundpost on the bass side. You can also fill the f-holes with shaped foam cues to a wooden f-hole shape that is just slightly larger than the f-hole. That should kill feedback as much as possible.
If that doesn‘t work for you, none with a original size top shape would.
Another solution is getting a stick EUB and mount something at it with the shape and size of a DB top. But then you do it or let a luthier do it for money.
If that doesn‘t work for you, none with a original size top shape would.
Another solution is getting a stick EUB and mount something at it with the shape and size of a DB top. But then you do it or let a luthier do it for money.
There are many reasons to desire an EUB similar in shape and size to a DB. In addition to the obvious reasons regarding playing positions, I have identified several others that are important to me.
I often play with a local band for sets and sessions. I plug my double bass into the bass amp after the BG player. It's hard work getting the sound and feedback right on a small stage after the guy on the Fender bass.
The EUB greatly simplifies the matter. I connect it directly or through a DI box and don't worry about the position on the stage, the direction of the monitors and the feedback. It's a small room and a cramped stage where the speaker is pointed straight at me and I don't have much room to maneuver. In other words, EUB is very valuable here! But when the audience is waiting for the DB, there should be something similar to the DB on the stage. This is a problem, especially if the double bass was announced in the poster. To the public, the EUB is not like a double bass. The EUB doesn't look like a musical instrument at all - it looks like a magical spear.
I am also much more comfortable with a double bass than with a stick. I'm not artistic and I don't move well, double bass saves me from having to watch my body. My double bass is my shield. The stick makes me naked. Maybe you guys are happy to be in the spotlight, but I prefer the back corner of the stage, the lack of light and the DB in front of me that hides me.
So, I'm looking for an EUB with a large body, which is identified from afar as "this is a double bass!" This is a simple idea that seemed popular to me until I started looking! Now I'm not ready to buy (I'm not playing music at this time), but I'm ready to explore and search.
I often play with a local band for sets and sessions. I plug my double bass into the bass amp after the BG player. It's hard work getting the sound and feedback right on a small stage after the guy on the Fender bass.
The EUB greatly simplifies the matter. I connect it directly or through a DI box and don't worry about the position on the stage, the direction of the monitors and the feedback. It's a small room and a cramped stage where the speaker is pointed straight at me and I don't have much room to maneuver. In other words, EUB is very valuable here! But when the audience is waiting for the DB, there should be something similar to the DB on the stage. This is a problem, especially if the double bass was announced in the poster. To the public, the EUB is not like a double bass. The EUB doesn't look like a musical instrument at all - it looks like a magical spear.
I am also much more comfortable with a double bass than with a stick. I'm not artistic and I don't move well, double bass saves me from having to watch my body. My double bass is my shield. The stick makes me naked. Maybe you guys are happy to be in the spotlight, but I prefer the back corner of the stage, the lack of light and the DB in front of me that hides me.
So, I'm looking for an EUB with a large body, which is identified from afar as "this is a double bass!" This is a simple idea that seemed popular to me until I started looking! Now I'm not ready to buy (I'm not playing music at this time), but I'm ready to explore and search.
Have you considered a magnetic pickup for your double bass? That solves all your shape and appearance problems and fulfills your no-feedback wish list. Krivo is the hot one currently. I have a Pierre Joseph String Charger magnetic pickup which is out of production now. Zero feedback ever. I’ve lined up right in front of a blasting 4x10 cab and never had feedback. A lot of the rockabilly guys in very very high volume situations will use magnetic pickups sometimes for the same no-feedback reasons.
Going with a magnetic pickup will also only cost at most a couple hundred instead of a couple thousand for entirely new instrument.
Having a double bass sized and shaped EUB negates all the reasons people choose an EUB, that’s why you aren’t gonna find what you are looking for. The Yamaha Silent Bass comes close as it has extensions that give it an artful silhouette of a DB. The Ampeg Baby Bass is close but still not what you’re looking for, I think. I feel the best answer to your wishlist is a magnetic pickup on your regular old DB. You can plug in to any amp at all with no preamp or impedance changing DI, you retain the DG physical cues and playability, the crowd gets the thrill of a real live DB in front of them, while you wail away on it without the threat of feedback.
I understand why you want such a thing, but from the builders perspective the market for such an instrument is extremely small, so they may decide to stay away from developing one.
The hints you already got are very good and you should decide what is the best compromise for you.
The hints you already got are very good and you should decide what is the best compromise for you.
With a Krivo magnetic pickup, you can crank up a big amp with no worries. It will limit your choice of strings because t requires a lot of steel in the string cores. I used to use a big Ampeg stack but have gone for a lighter alternative.
a mag pup could help with feedback, (and if its your preference, great)
You can also experiment with a combination of ANY or ALL of the following with your current bass/piezo pup by:
Good luck
You can also experiment with a combination of ANY or ALL of the following with your current bass/piezo pup by:
- dampening the 'afterlengths' of the strings with foam and/or a towel
- placing a foam/towel between the tailpiece and body can dampen feedback
- placing a foam/towel between the fingerboard and body can dampen feedback
- use a H/LPF to remove unwanted freq to the amp
- lower the input gain on the amp to a minimum to lower the 'pup sensitivity'
- cut instead of boost EQ levels on amp, make up volume on the output stage (Main Volume)
- get a small preamp to adjust and filter the levels
- adjust your playing positioning in relation to speakers (ie don't point the front of the bass towards speakers/monitors and step farther away from amp)
- if stage is that loud, use FOH and monitors for sound instead of an amp.
Good luck
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On the state fair circuit back when I would cross paths with the then-popular singer Sonny James and his band whose bassist had constructed what amounted to an electric bass with what I recall as a wooden bass-shaped piece that held the electric bass in it. It was weird up close but from a distance actually kind of looked like a DB. The guy played with an endpin and the fingerboard more-or-less vertical and to the audience it probably seemed like he was playing a real one. Sometimes he wore it with a strap like a big EB, which it was, which was a big crowd pleaser.
At around 51:00 that band plays for a few minutes.
The bass is not very visible though.
It’s around 55:00. In the background of the Minnie Pearl routine.
There are basses that look like this.
Slim Double Bass
and this
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or this
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A regular bass from top and back, but with 3" or so ribs.
Google "thin body upright bass" or "slim body upright bass" to find more.
It's not really an EUB until you add the pickup. And without a removable neck, it is not that small as a travel instrument.
But with a removable neck, pickup, and travel case, it could be a nice solution.
Slim Double Bass
and this
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or this
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A regular bass from top and back, but with 3" or so ribs.
Google "thin body upright bass" or "slim body upright bass" to find more.
It's not really an EUB until you add the pickup. And without a removable neck, it is not that small as a travel instrument.
But with a removable neck, pickup, and travel case, it could be a nice solution.
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I'm still not sure I understand what you're looking for, but is this "too sticky" for you?
basses & more - Heiner Windelband - Sünnenblink Musikwerkstatt
basses & more - Heiner Windelband - Sünnenblink Musikwerkstatt
