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fretless that sounds like a upright...

#24
dvh said:
Godin A4.

They might be called something else now but mine (fretless) emulates an upright quite nicely.
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+1. The only bass I regret selling was a fretless A4. The A5 is the five-string version and equally impressive.

Obviously, if you can afford it, the best and most upright-ish of them all is the Rob Allen, but some people flinch at the price tag.

If you can't afford the Rob Allen, I'd get a Godin A4 or A5 and string it with tapewounds.
 
#27
Oric said:
+1

I don't have one myself, but there's one at a local music store that I plan to buy when I get the coin, and I've played it quite extensively. (actually an A5 fretless, but all it is is one more string than an A4)

sorry to derail, but do you think the A4 was worth the money, dvh? I'm looking for a good fretless acoustic/semiacoustic. I really enjoy the upright-like sound it has.
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I was lucky and got a great deal on mine so it's easy for me to say it was worth it. But ,even at regular pricing I would definitely say it's worth it. Godin make quality instruments.

I have TI flats on mine and I really like it. This is the bass I'm using to keep up and learn with cats in jazz jams and it really cuts it.

BTW, my A4 does not have neck dive.

Cost is relative to anyone's personal pocket book of course but I would recommend this bass to you. From what you're describing it sounds like it's what you're looking for.

Cheers
 
#28
Your teacher is not doing you favours. There are cheap lefty uprights you can get from Engelhardt which are the same price as student grade RH DBs. Also cheap Hofners in LH version from the factory. Get a lefty upright if you play lefty, there are many lefty DB players around, not as many as EB players , but they exist and if someone tells you they don't they are lying.
 
#31
dubsymmetry said:
I actually like fretted electric bass in jazz - check out steve swallow, there are others as well.
btw, steve swallow sig bass: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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That looks like a great instrument. Any idea what they cost - I couldn't find prices on the web page.

I wonder if Citron would do a normal 34" scale fretless? I don't think I'd like playing a 36" scale instrument and I definitely prefer fretless for this type of application.
 
#33
Here's a couple of soundfiles from some great players. First one is Brian Gingrich of Chicago

Second is Jeremy Cohen of Berkely. I'm currently working on Jeremy's second bass.....

Quintet

Invalid Link Removed

This is the bass I made for Artie Fahie(he posts on here)...
Weighs less than six pounds. The light weight( western red cedar; double carved body)contributes to the uprightishness of the tone. Passive dual pickup system(MagPi). No extra charge for left handed. I like TI Jazz flats for strings.

brownsmall.jpg
 
#34
synaesthesia said:
Your teacher is not doing you favours. There are cheap lefty uprights you can get from Engelhardt which are the same price as student grade RH DBs. Also cheap Hofners in LH version from the factory. Get a lefty upright if you play lefty, there are many lefty DB players around, not as many as EB players , but they exist and if someone tells you they don't they are lying.
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I agree 100% - a friend of mine plays Double Bass left-handed and when he got it set up - he paid little more than
he would have done for a right handed setup.

In the DB world, setup is not the same as for BG and can't be done by just anybody - a good setup can make a huge difference to even a cheap DB and it makes no sense to skimp on this.

But the point is that there is no problem to playing DB left-handed if you find a good luthier!
 
#36
dubsymmetry said:
I actually like fretted electric bass in jazz - check out steve swallow, there are others as well.
btw, steve swallow sig bass: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

Well ...I have a few recordings with Steve Swallow and whatever you might think about his playing and tone - his BG certainly sounds nothing like an acoustic Double Bass - especially with that metal pick!
 
#38
Tired_Thumb said:
It's not going to be so much in the bass you choose, as long as it has a neck pickup, as it is the techniques you use and the approach you take to playing the bass lines.
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+1

When I'm playing jazz and want an upright sound, I play with my thumb resting on the corner of the neck. The closer to the neck you play, the more it sounds like an upright. Blend your volume knobs about evenly, but don't turn them up too loud because then they will start to sound a little too electric. Turn the tone off and play with a good old pair of flats. I also replaced the stock bridge on my fretless Fender J with a heavier Gotoh 201 to get more resonance from the strings themselves. This really helped me get an upright tone while still letting me play funk, etc with the same bass.

Also, I know they make acoustic pedals for guitar. Perhaps that would work on bass as well???
 
#40
Fretless with flats seems to be the de facto recommendation for a DBish sound on and EB. Flats accentuate the fundamental and I conceded that DB can be characterized by an enormous fundamental. That being said all that wood coupled with the ultra long scale length IMHO make the DB an extremely harmonically complex instrument, especially when pickups are there to help amplify the higher harmonics that don't carry as well acoustically.

Are jazz EB players shooting themselves in the foot by using strings that weaken the instrument's harmonics on a slab of wood that already has weaker response than the instrument being emulated? It seems like there would be better advice, tonally, than simply putting a set of flats on an EB and rolling off the tone.
 

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