Getting upright sound on bass guitar

[Wasnex]

Any decent bass amp will work as well as any other. The absolute biggest variable is technique. The ADSR envelope is what makes a DB sound like a DB. That's entirely up to how the strings vibrate. EQ will obviously matter, but you can't get there with EQ alone. The attack of the note is the first piece of the puzzle, so how you pluck the string will be key. Controlling the decay and sustain are also critical and that's where the foam comes in, but you can achieve similar results with muting.

The other thing that is absolutely key is note selection. Upright bassists make note selection based on how you physically play the instrument. Mimicking that will get you much closer.

I agree, the note envelope should be the primary focus. This is where using a mute comes in. I find the palm muting works better than wedging something under the strings, as you can apply technique with your palm. However, I can only use palm muting for a relatively short time before it becomes taxing.

A problem with fixed mutes is you may find they don't necessarily work consistently as you play up and down the neck. Also the note envelope down low is differently than up high. So basically if you get a decent approximation for the money notes, it may not sound very good if you play up the neck a ways.

Also while a mute definitely helps with shape of the note envelope, it does not necessarily modify the overtones of bass guitar so they sound is more like an upright.

I wouldn't go to far down the rabbit hole on this.

 

[Gervais Cote]

The closest I ever heard was a 1962 Fender precision bass with a quarter sawn maple neck, slab rosewood fretboard and Labella deep talking flats, no matter the amp.

In a blind test with my finger style playing, we sweared it was a double bass.

 

[matthewbrown]

I play EB, but I used to play URB. Now I play musicals, and I've gotten more experience emulating URB in pit groups. I think you can do it with a bass guitar pretty well with flatwounds and the right eq and techniques. I am using a Washburn AB40 now for it, and I like what I'm hearing. It also has the flexibility to get a lot of other sounds pretty easily, so that I can switch back and forth quickly.

Idk if the Fractal FM9 has the IR modeling for upright. The Zoom A3 has it, and I use it to good effect. . In addition, the graphic eq allows me to tailor the midrange to get closer to an URB sound. I also use a mute, which I made myself, but I often just use palm muting for short passages and I will attack the strings near the neck or near the bridge depending on the situation. For an arco passage, I don't mute and pluck near the neck, or even over the neck. I will often use an open stroke, not a rest stroke, pulling the finger past the string without letting it come to rest on the next string over. For a pizz passage that is staccato, I might palm mute and play nearer the bridge. For an extended pizz passage that is not staccato, I will usually use a mute and attack near the neck.

The invention of the electric bass was partly a response to the problems of playing upright bass live in groups. I like to think I'm carrying on a long tradition of using EB to fill in for URB when it can do the job.

 

[matthewbrown]

I agree, the note envelope should be the primary focus. This is where using a mute comes in. I find the palm muting works better than wedging something under the strings, as you can apply technique with your palm. However, I can only use palm muting for a relatively short time before it becomes taxing.

A problem with fixed mutes is you may find they don't necessarily work consistently as you play up and down the neck. Also the note envelope down low is differently than up high. So basically if you get a decent approximation for the money notes, it may not sound very good if you play up the neck a ways.

Also while a mute definitely helps with shape of the note envelope, it does not necessarily modify the overtones of bass guitar so they sound is more like an upright.

I wouldn't go to far down the rabbit hole on this.

A fixed mute can also throw off the intonation considerably, as I've discovered.

 

[SDC1-ClickClack]

Yep, that's a nice sound! I read a lot of info about mutes and fretless for this sound. Not many seem to talk about amps. Are they not that important for sound? On guitar amp is the biggest factor of tone

As others have said, or will say in the inevitable flood of responses, you may be able to get closer to the sound of an upright acoustic bass, but you will not be able to duplicate it. They are different instruments.

Also, I mainly play guitar, and I would submit that pickups are an equally significant factor in determining tone, possibly even more so than the amp. There is also the option of changing the EQ.

 

[buldog5151bass]

As someone who regularly listens to live jazz with an upright player, and who plays jazz, I think you can get a usable tone, but it won't sound like an upright.

 

[bwildt]

I have an old Line6 Variax 705 modelling bass. Frankly, it's old technology and none of its sounds are very close to the real thing. The exceptions are the 8/12 strings and the Kay upright. Those 3 sounds are the only reason I keep it around.

Piezo pickups in the bridge saddles. The EQ tone shaping is good. The shorter decay (probably some kind of gating) is what makes it the most convincing. Similar to foam under the strings. And oh yeah, leave your guitar picks in your gig bag.

The bass is not frettless, so there is that, but it if you play it in the style/technique of an upright, it sounds pretty good. I think it sounds more like an upright with a pickup system on it than just an unamplified upright. So it is not perfect, but convincing enough for playing to an uncritical general audience. It works quite well in the 18-piece big band I play with. Getting partially masked by all those horns results in a convincing rhythm section thump.

Speaking of getting masked by other instruments, it reminds me that the what counts most is how does it sound in the context of the other instruments around it, not how does it sound by itself. Basically the bedroom tone vs the gig tone argument.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

I chased this grail and landed here:

Rob Allen MB-2 fretless 4 string, black Labella tapes

GK Plex Preamp: Voice 2, Fusion 550.
Bass: Noon
Low Mid: Noon
High Mid: 1:00 pm
Treble: 1:00 pm
Presence (bright): varies

Cab: Powered MBP 112 or 212, depending.

I love it, totally happy right there, I found the tone I want.
I play in a guitar-bass-drum trio, 50% standards, and we think this setup supports the material really well.

 

[Brandon Shea]

Lots of good responses in here! It hasn't been mentioned much in this thread, so I'll add my quick tip: try plucking way closer to the neck than you normally would. Bonus points if you're using pretty good flatwounds. It's still a different instrument, but you can approximate a lot of what people are looking for in an "upright" sound by adjusting where you pluck.

 

[turf3]

More important than exactly duplicating the tone of the upright bass is to play like you were playing upright and fill the same space in the music.

I just use a Precision bass, flatwound strings, roll the tone all the way off. That's how the thing was designed, to, wait for it - be a more compact alternative to the double-bass.

But I think it's a lot more important that I play the same things on electric that I do on upright.

 

[Jefenator]

Alas, sometimes sound is only half the battle.
A few of my steadier clients have specifically mentioned the look.

 

[lermgalieu]

Get a u-bass.

 

[dalkowski]

Buy a Kala UBass. I'm serious.

I bought one after hearing John Hiatt's bassist play one live. I specify "hearing" because it was an outdoor lawn show and I was people-watching when he changed from his P to the Ubass.

I've gigged mine and made a jaw or two drop with it (certainly not by dint of my ability!).

Enjoy the quest.

 

[spade2you]

Flats, fretless, chambered, Fishman type piezo. I've been fortunate to order and try out a lot of different combinations.

This bass has magnetic pickups and a piezo. I've messed around with the magnetic pickups and various piezo+mag combos. Nothing beats the piezo.

Invalid Link Removed

This bass has roundwounds and solid body construction with an RMC piezo. Doesn't get much of an upright sound.

I have 2 other fretli with P pickups. One has roundwounds. Nope. I have another with TI Jazz Flats and a foam mute at the bridge. Better than roundwounds. I think some guys assume an upright is just a bass without any highs. Still doesn't compete with the Rob Allen complete package.

 

[SDC1-ClickClack]

Get a u-bass.

I not-a gonna let-a you get-a my bass!

 

[buldog5151bass]

Buy a Kala UBass. I'm serious.

I bought one after hearing John Hiatt's bassist play one live. I specify "hearing" because it was an outdoor lawn show and I was people-watching when he changed from his P to the Ubass.

I've gigged mine and made a jaw or two drop with it (certainly not by dint of my ability!).

Enjoy the quest.

Which one (and which strings) if you don't mind me asking?

 

[bucephylus]

I came to the conclusion that if I wanted an upright sound, I played an upright. YMMV.

To get a Country kind of "thud" (one of many upright tones), you can use palm muting.

 

[bassbass167]

Thanks for reply so far guys. I don't want u bass, it's too unsexy. This video too also has a an incredible tone that I really want

 

[GIBrat51]

Hey. Coming from a guitar background, I know very little of bass. How do I get bass guitar to sound like an upright? Besides technique, strings and that foam thing. What should I look for in amp and bass guitar? And can I use my fractal fm9 for this?

Well, okay...
First; no electric bass guitar is going to sound exactly like an upright bass. There are only varying degrees of close. That said;
- By all means, try your Fractal FM9. It might just be all you need - or get you some of the way there...
- The amp? I've tried the "upright thing" with an old Marshall Bass12 combo amp; a small Peavey Max158 (my current practice amp); and a Fender Rumble 500 combo w/15" outboard cab. To be honest? Other than the sheer volume, I didn't notice much difference - except than the Rumble's ability to get a little lower down the Hz ladder... But, if this is a serious thing for you? Then, yeah; use what upright players use...
- The bass? Ideally, it should be a big, hollow-body fretless. Strung with tape wounds (I much prefer the Rotosound TruBass 88's for this; it's what they were intended for). The mute might or might not be necessary on a bass like that.
- Technique. playing like an upright bass player will get you a lot of the way there - regardless of the bass you're using; your strings; etc. I have 4 solid body fretless basses; a short scale; a medium scale; and 2 long scale - and one of those is active, too. I can get all of them pretty darn close to an upright, by playing technique alone. But, wearing flats doesn't hurt...
Trying to sound like an upright is something I mess around with, but it's never been something I felt was really necessary to achieve. I'm pretty sure most - if not all - of us have messed around with it, at one time or another. The basses I've tried it with, more or less seriously?
- '94 Gretsch Broadkaster. A 30.5" scale bass with the same body as the G6119 Tennessean guitar. If I could have found the right strings for it? It probably would have really done the trick. But, it's ceramic-magnet Filtertron guitar pickups ruined that idea...
- Danelectro DC59Pro. Long scale semi-hollow body. With a set of La Bella 45-109 760FMs - and a mute? Definitely in the upright ballpark...
- MIK Rogue VB-100 violin bass. With the Roto TruBass 88's on it, it doesn't need a mute. The woody, low end thump, and the fast decay come standard with a violin bass. I mostly use it for early Beatles tunes (Duh...), but, if I play it like an upright? It's pretty darn close...
- '93 Fury Anthem lined fretless. 32" scale solid body bass, made in Canada by a "mad genius", who built amazing basses - and guitars - in his basement. By himself. Mine, as I had to learn, was expressly made to sound like an upright. If you put tape wounds on it. Any other strings? You will get noises that you'll never want to hear again. The pickups he wound, were wound for tapes - period. But, with a set of the Roto 88's on it? Well... play it like an upright, and you'll swear that it is. It's as close to an upright as any electric bass I've ever heard...

 

[Brandon Shea]

Which one (and which strings) if you don't mind me asking?

The rubber strings that come with a U-Bass are great for the upright sound. I'm not personally a fan of those strings (I like to slide around too much), but the tone is fantastic. I need to give mine another shot… I think I was bummed because I hoped it would be at least slightly useful without being plugged in, but it's pretty much pointless.

Fretless models are even better for that upright sound, but I haven't tried one myself yet. If you can hit your notes, that might be one of the best possible options on the market.