Double Bass How do I get this sound, besides being Ron Carter?

[robert_stuart]

I'm hearing compression, growl, a soft punchyness, and an amplified sound — maybe all natural effects of a tube amp?



So in our modern age, let's say we start with Thomastik Spiro Weichs and a Full Circle pickup, how would you achieve this sound?

 

[Ric Vice]

actually that's what most piezo pickups sound like DI into a board ( He's using the sides of the fingers of his left hand
pulling across the string, and very accurate (microtonally #) finger placement in his left hand. To get the sound it's pretty easy, piezo pickup into the mains with
lots of upper midrange. To play like Ron Carter would take much longer. If you listen to Ron with the New York Jazz Quartet it's very much the same sound.
Just my take though. I like Double Bass sounds from more recent recordings with different pickups and microphones.

 

[basss]

You're never going to sound like Ron Carter That being said, those black tapewound La Bella strings that he uses are very bright and a big part of that sound.

 

[Francois Blais]

Ron has since then switched to the 7710T set methinks. (similar set but with white nylon)

Buster Williams is another well known user of the black ones.

 

[Sean Riddle]

Yup it's really just a piezo DI with improper impedance matching. If you want a brighter pickup sound though, go with a Fishman BP-100 or an Underwood. Those were pretty common pickups and some of the first really usable piezos.

 

[Jason Hollar]

Ron has since then switched to the 7710T set methinks. (similar set but with white nylon)

Buster Williams is another well known user of the black ones.

I tried the black nylon ones at one point and can confirm their gnarly midrangy sound. Maybe start with a set of these.

 

[Wasnex]

Sounds like the action is rather low IMHO--The action also appears to be low in the video. AFAIK, the way the finger board is planned may be another significant factor.

2nd post from an old thread that asks essentially the same question: How does Ron Carter get a tone like that?

 

[Ric Vice]

I haven’t used a set of La Bella’s since I was High School. Black tape wound strings just aren’t my “cup of tea” I tried
a early set of Labella Black Nylon tape wounds on my Ampeg AEB-1 scroll bass. They feel weird and sounded dull. Just
my take.

 

[Ric Vice]

Yup it's really just a piezo DI with improper impedance matching. If you want a brighter pickup sound though, go with a Fishman BP-100 or an Underwood. Those were pretty common pickups and some of the first really usable piezos.

Thank our lucky stars that better pickups were developed. Having used both of those pickups on my 5/8’s Mirecourt Bass I have no desire
return to that nasty, narly mid forward, tone. Just my take though.

 

[CryingBass]

Check out some of Ron’s videos in more recent years. He is very smart about his studio recording signal chain and shares a lot of tips.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

Nobody talking about this group? Cedar, Billy Higgins, and Art Farmer, damn!

 

[basss]

Nobody talking about this group? Cedar, Billy Higgins, and Art Farmer, damn!

This is talkbass, not talkmusic

Seriously, all legends in that quartet!

 

[Earl]

Ron has since then switched to the 7710T set methinks. (similar set but with white nylon)

Buster Williams is another well known user of the black ones.

Ron is back to the black, and Buster the white (I think!)

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

In addition to the above, very little scoop in the fingerboard is necessary to get that sound. Not my preferred sound but RC has been pretty successful with it.

 

[Francois Blais]

Not my cup of tea as well, but to each his own!

 

[freshbass]

Sounds like the action is rather low IMHO--The action also appears to be low in the video. AFAIK, the way the finger board is planned may be another significant factor.

2nd post from an old thread that asks essentially the same question: How does Ron Carter get a tone like that?

studying this video I think you can see his action is extremely low and the FB is planed almost flat, and his right hand approach is very natural and has a firm left hand....+ he's ron carter, such an elegant player.

 

[Ric Vice]

Ron Carter, is an exceptional player in every sense of the word. He's lived with a piezo pickup for so long that it's part of his sound, so rather than fight it like most of us do, he just integrates it

into his signature sound. Ron's bass lines are so carefully constructed that he will sound like Ron Carter on any instrument he plays. He and Buster Williams have accepted that pickups are

just a vehicle for their expression.

 

[lurk]

Yeah. I remember having a conversation with Red Mitchell where he said he had decided that he played a semi-electric instrument, like a hollow-body jazz guitarist. He was quite fond of the Fishman Bp 100.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

He and Buster Williams have accepted that pickups are just a vehicle for their expression.

I bring this up any time I hear (or see) someone talking about Buster's "amped" sound. I heard SPHERE at the Vanguard when Buster's amp kept crapping out and finally just shut down. The quality and timbre of of his sound didn't change, there was only a slight drop in volume. That sound ain't coming from the pick up....

 

[Earl]

I bring this up any time I hear (or see) someone talking about Buster's "amped" sound. I heard SPHERE at the Vanguard when Buster's amp kept crapping out and finally just shut down. The quality and timbre of of his sound didn't change, there was only a slight drop in volume. That sound ain't coming from the pick up....

True...I was in a small room with Buster and his bass (no amp) and that's what he sounds like acoustically.