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Double Bass NHØP tone

Vince_P9

Vince_P9

Dec 18, 2007
214
18
Hudson Valley New York
#1
How would you get an amped tone like his? Im talking about the tone he has in his recordings with Joe Pass. It sounds more like a fretless electric than a double bass, with lots of mwah. Marc Johnson also has the same tone in his performances with Bill Evans. Is it the strings, the pickup, the amp???? You can check out the Marc Johnson clips on youtube. Thanks!
 
#4
It's quite funny as I feel sure the only reason that these people used magnetic pickups, was that there was no other technology available then - and ever since, they have gone out of their way to avoid this sound!

But as this was a time when many classic Jazz recordings were made - people associate this sound with them! ;)
 
#6
He was a Genius! But his sounds sometime very far from the real acoustic bass sound, you can get this caracter with the Underwood or some K&K pickups to, but he use Wilson. The right hand technic is important to get the growl. I prefer the sound on the early recordings, were he played to microphone.
Amazing video:
 
#8
Barcza said:
I prefer the sound on the early recordings, were he played to microphone.
Amazing video:
Click to expand...



That was quite a nice sound - although what amazed me was how young he looks - I always think of him as this big guy with a beard...nice to see he was playing gigs like this!

It looks from that video that he has very low action, there...?
 
#10
Bruce Lindfield said:
That was quite a nice sound - although what amazed me was how young he looks - I always think of him as this big guy with a beard...nice to see he was playing gigs like this!

It looks from that video that he has very low action, there...?
Click to expand...

Yeah, for first glimpse I didn't reallyse he plays on the video, he's so young. Yes he did very serius gigs at his young period, he played with The Quicy Jones Big band at age 17, and later Bill Evans, Dexter Gordon. This early records are my favorits of his works.

The video could be bewildering to identify the action, ( on some photos my bass seems very high action, while on other seems low) but I'm shure he hasn't high action, but I think was not too low.
 
#11
francois said:
He was using a magnetic pickup.
I saw him on Pierre Joseph's ads in some magazines.
(he may have used a Wilson in his later years though)
Click to expand...

He used the Pierre Joseph String Charger for a while in the 1970s. If you check out the Youtube videos with Joe Pass you can see it. It hangs off of the end of the fingerboard (you have to look very carefully because it is black and it is easy to mistake it as part of the fingerboard). It attaches with velcro to the backside of end of the fingerboard. I have one although I haven't used it in years. Overall it made the bass sound kind of like a giant fretless but not as much as you would think.

mark
 
#13
Ive heard of people making their own magnetic pickups just by mounting electric bass pickups (like fender p bass pickups) in a similar fashion as the Pierre Joseph String Charger (behind the end of the fingerboard). Has anyone seen any articles about how to do this or pictures of them? Also, how could I tell if my strings are metallic? I havn't had the bread to replace the factory strings yet.
 
#15
Because I don't usually haul around my upright. I keep mine at school for practicing and playing in the school big band, (hence I need something like a magnetic pickup to cut through the mix). I don't want to spend $250 on a Pierre String Charger, because I don't plan on playing in big bands in the future. I like playing in combos, which is what I usually do at open jams, usually on my teacher's or friends' basses. Right now Im using a BP 100 with an Engelhardt Pro Eq, but am not really happy with it.
 
#16
Vince_P9 said:
Because I don't usually haul around my upright. I keep mine at school for practicing and playing in the school big band, (hence I need something like a magnetic pickup to cut through the mix). I don't want to spend $250 on a Pierre String Charger, because I don't plan on playing in big bands in the future. I like playing in combos, which is what I usually do at open jams, usually on my teacher's or friends' basses. Right now Im using a BP 100 with an Engelhardt Pro Eq, but am not really happy with it.
Click to expand...

If you're using a BP 100 and you don't like it and/or can't cut through with it, the magnetic pickup probably won't make you any happier. I used the Pierre Joseph for a while and it really wasn't a very good sounding pickup. It is sort of the worst of both worlds. You sound sort of like you're playing a big fretless P-bass but not as good. NHOP used the PJSC in the '70s when the pickup options were really meager. Imagine having something approximating that fingernails on a blackboard tone without the incredible chops.

I use the BP-100 on my main bass which is an 80 year old Juzek and it sounds fantastic. I've tried to use it on my backup bass (a 30 year Juzek) and it sounds horrible on it. The BP-100 works with some basses and not others and it either seems to sound fantastic or horrible without a lot of middle ground. You might want to try an Underwood or something similar. They can take loud volumes without feedback, will cut through a big band and are relatively cheap.

mark
 

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