Double Bass Ibanez EUB for 2018

[Dominic D]

Fender.

Haven’t done a thing since Leo got bought out.

NAMM, sees the release of relics and new paint colors.

Fender made the Dimension bass. People complained because it was too different.

 

[John Le Guyader]

A fiber

The plot thickens

I'm curious, how would I get injured? It's a 34" scale, so I shouldn't have an issue with reach in the left hand. The strings seem to be standard electric flatwounds, and don't seem to need to be plucked with more force than an electric bass.

Perhaps not at 34" scale length...BUT, I'm trying to give the right advice if you're willing to listen...you are basically asking how to properly play an upright bass even if the Ibanez is at 34" scale. I may be wrong, but what applies to proper posture and hand techniques on upright at normal scales applies also to uprights at short scale lengths. Maybe I'm full of it and I'm happy to be corrected...left and right hand techniques on uprights regardless of string length are totally different from electric bass.

Here is a much more advanced lesson on pizz from Chris again:

 

[matthewbrown]

A 34" is not a transition for electric players. It just delays actually learning to play the double bass.

Especially the carrying around part, lol!

 

[Marty Forrer]

Man, there's some drivel written on this forum. I've played bass guitar since 1963. I've played a 1989 solid top German upright since 1990, and have recently bought a UB804. I use upright fingering etc on the short scale and I swap between the 41.25" and the 34" scale with no problem at all. I suggest most of the derisive comments are coming from people who have never actually played the UB804, they're just guessing. I love this little bass so much it's going to replace my bass guitars on a lot of my gigs. The acoustic upright still gets gigs too, it depends on the situation. And for all the naysayers, with a set of LaBella black tapewounds and a Nordy NinoMute it sure DOES sound very similar to my amplified acoustic upright. For my out of town gigs it will definitely replace the acoustic upright. My upright rig is an AI Clarus head into either one or two Barefaced One10s.

 

[Jon Moody]

Man, there's some drivel written on this forum.

Drivel? On a public forum? Oh, say it ain't so...!

I suggest most of the derisive comments are coming from people who have never actually played the UB804, they're just guessing.

Oh for sure, totally agree.

Having played it myself, it's just okay. I think the NS Omni does a much better job of approximating that sound/feel over the Ibanez, for me. I thought the Ibanez was closer to the Dean Pace (which was literally just a vertical electric bass neck) than an URB.

And for all the naysayers, with a set of LaBella black tapewounds and a Nordy NinoMute it sure DOES sound very similar to my amplified acoustic upright.

I think most people confuse "will it sound similar/close enough?" to "will it sound exact?" We both know that it'll never be 100% authentic, but that's the point.

I use my Omni all the time, and have never had someone approach me after a gig and say "That doesn't sound like an URB at all!" Quite the opposite. Plus, and infinitely more important, the person that hired me (read: whose name is on the check) is happy with the look/sound.

 

[Marty Forrer]

I just took the nylon tapewounds off my UB804 and replaced them with the TI Jazz Flats off my Fender Jazz as an experiment, and because I can! LOL! Wow, they're going to stay on the EUB. They speak with more authority than the nylon tapewounds and the original D'Addario Chromes it came with. The nylons have gone on to my Fender, which gets little use since I got the UB804. I still use my acoustic upright for jazz and 50's rock n roll/rockabilly gigs, but for my Americana and latin/gypsy gigs it's the UB804 all the way.

 

[Jon Moody]

I just took the nylon tapewounds off my UB804 and replaced them with the TI Jazz Flats off my Fender Jazz as an experiment, and because I can! LOL! Wow, they're going to stay on the EUB. They speak with more authority than the nylon tapewounds and the original D'Addario Chromes it came with. The nylons have gone on to my Fender, which gets little use since I got the UB804. I still use my acoustic upright for jazz and 50's rock n roll/rockabilly gigs, but for my Americana and latin/gypsy gigs it's the UB804 all the way.

I'm glad the instrument comes stock with a set of flatwounds (over just throwing some rounds on it), but Chromes (or the NS Contemporary strings) are not a great representation of that EUB's voice and playability. TI Jazz Flats would be a pretty solid stock option (since they're made in the vein of URB strings), but I'm sure Ibanez is getting their current strings at a rock bottom price.

 

[Marty Forrer]

Yep, I'm not overly concerned with making it sound like an acoustic upright, I already have one of those.