Double Bass small electric which sounds like an upright?

[jzucker]

I love monk and I'm guessing he played rest strokes with 2 fingers pointed toward the bridge and turned the tone control down and as folks have pointed out, technique is a good part of getting what we know as the upright sound but this still sounds like electric bass to me. It doesn't have the bloom of any of the two basses I posted clips to in my original post.

 

[Don Hergert]

Actually, THEY WILL CARE. They will care that they do not see an upright bass. It doesn't matter what it sounds like. But TBH, i'm not doing this for the audience. I don't spend 4-5 hours a day practicing jazz because of the audience. I do it for myself. And *I* like the sound of the upright but at 63, having had spinal surgery and accompanying nerve damage, I can no longer handle a 41" upright with high action. So I sold my upright bass a couple years ago to a student who loves it but I'd still love to have something with the thump of upright and not because the audience does or doesn't care, it's because of what I like.

If the Marcustico were made in the USA and were a bit more flexible with the warranty and humidity situation I would just buy it.

This all explains your passion. And you didn't have to explain it, but it does help.

It's been mentioned early in this thread, but have you considered getting a 1/4 or possibly even smaller double bass, and using it? It'd be much easier to handle than a full 4/4 or 3/4, but produce a lot of the same tone and volume of its bigger siblings. You might even be able to handle playing it sideways. The volume of the Marcustico, at least judging from the vids, would probably be nearly the same as the volume of a 1/4 double bass, and you could set it up with amplification in any way you wanted to.

 

[jzucker]

Looks like I was wrong about the two fingers. Monk played rest strokes with the thumb as you can see from this video. But you can also hear that it doesn't sound like an upright - IMO at least...

 

[jzucker]

This all explains your passion. And you didn't have to explain it, but it does help.

It's been mentioned early in this thread, but have you considered getting a 1/4 or possibly even smaller double bass, and using it? It'd be much easier to handle than a full 4/4 or 3/4, but produce a lot of the same tone and volume of its bigger siblings. You might even be able to handle playing it sideways. The volume of the Marcustico, at least judging from the vids, would probably be nearly the same as the volume of a 1/4 double bass, and you could set it up with amplification in any way you wanted to.

I've never tried one or even looked into them. Thanks to you (and several others in the thread) for pointing them out to me. What scale length are they typically? Another thought was to buy something like the BSX which has the longer scale but where you can get the action pretty low. I had one before and it was easier to play than my upright though obviously, it doesn't have the same tone. In fact, one interesting thought about the marcustico is that - at least in the clips - it sounds better than most of the stick-upright-electric basses.

 

[bherman]

Another fretless to consider is a Rob Allen Deep 4. Beautiful instruments and in the right hands a big, fat sound.

 

[Don Hergert]

I will have to beg ignorance regarding scale length of a 1/4, but I've seen a few of them played on the floor by adults with a fully extended long endpin and they seem to work out nicely. My recollection is that they look about the size of a small cello. I've even seen one of these bowed by its owner.

There certainly are people here who would know the scale length of a 1/4 or possibly even a 1/8 double bass, hopefully they'll speak up.

 

[Don Hergert]

Ok, here's a very nice informational page from Gollihur Music's Double Bass Sizing FAQ web section. It has what we're looking for and more for a 1/4 (35.4" scale length).

 

[jzucker]

Ok, here's a very nice informational page from Gollihur Music's Double Bass Sizing FAQ web section. It has what we're looking for and more for a 1/4 (35.4" scale length).

thanks.

 

[Michael Glynn]

I love monk and I'm guessing he played rest strokes with 2 fingers pointed toward the bridge and turned the tone control down and as folks have pointed out, technique is a good part of getting what we know as the upright sound but this still sounds like electric bass to me. It doesn't have the bloom of any of the two basses I posted clips to in my original post.

I think he's playing upright on this recording.

 

[BarfanyShart]

Rob Allen Mouse is an endgame bass for a lot of people. Any good fretless electric bass or ABG with piezo pickup and tapewound strings will also get you a pretty convincing vibe. My main axe now is a fretted short scale solid body with a blendable piezo, and I use a digital acoustic sim model to give it a sound similar to the Mouse.

I used to primarily play EUB, which sounds pretty much exactly like an amplified DB with a piezo and real 3/4 DB strings. I'm thinking in a few years I am going to buy a nice 1/4 DB, it's ~35" scale and I've seen some BG players just throw it over their knee and play it like a bass guitar.

You can buy student-level fractional DB's for pretty cheap from your local school instrument shop (or even rent one - why not?). You can get a good setup on them, amplify them with regular DB pickups and preamps, use them for any kind of DB technique, and they are A LOT LOUDER acoustically than any ABG. The only issue is availability of strings in fractional sizes, but there are a few decent choices.

 

[jzucker]

You can buy student-level fractional DB's for pretty cheap from your local school instrument shop (or even rent one - why not?). You can get a good setup on them, amplify them with regular DB pickups and preamps, use them for any kind of DB technique, and they are A LOT LOUDER acoustically than any ABG. The only issue is availability of strings in fractional sizes, but there are a few decent choices.

As I said earlier, I had spinal surgery and nerve damage so unless it's a 1/2 or 1/4 size DB, it's not going to work for me. I sold my upright and electric upright a few years ago...

 

[knirirr]

Looks like I was wrong about the two fingers. Monk played rest strokes with the thumb as you can see from this video. But you can also hear that it doesn't sound like an upright - IMO at least...

From the same article:

"Unlike Hampton’s larger ensemble, The Mastersounds’ reduced lineup gave Montgomery more space to stretch out, and consequently the timbre of his Fender Precision is far easier to distinguish from an upright than it had been on his earlier recordings. This is especially evident on tracks like “Lover” and “Spring is Here,” where Montgomery’s new, second-generation Precision Bass has noticeably greater sustain, sounds less booming and percussive, and is perceptibly different from the muted, acoustic tone of an upright. Even though Montgomery shies away from melodic lead playing and continues to utilize the electric bass simply as a surrogate for the upright, these recordings demonstrate the electric bass’s emerging distinctive voice"


Of course, what you've posted is not from a Mastersounds album; AFAICT he's playing a Fender Jazz, so it will be 1960s rather than 1950s.

 

[BarfanyShart]

As I said earlier, I had spinal surgery and nerve damage so unless it's a 1/2 or 1/4 size DB, it's not going to work for me. I sold my upright and electric upright a few years ago...

I'm renting a 1/8 (32" scale) in my house now that two of my kids are using for school. It's pretty good, you can play it sitting in a regular chair.

 

[damonsmith]

"jzucker, post: 25810664, member: 52761"
what it gets me is I like the sound.

If you like enough then you need to get an upright. If you don't like enough to get an upright, all the workarounds in the world are not going to get you close enough.

 

[jzucker]

If you like enough then you need to get an upright. If you don't like enough to get an upright, all the workarounds in the world are not going to get you close enough.

as I've mentioned a few times, I sold my upright and electric upright after spinal surgery and nerve damage. I don't have the forearm strength to play a real upright anymore...

 

[jzucker]

And the other thing is that I do play a lot of solos on bass so I want an instrument that straddles the fence...

 

[damonsmith]

as I've mentioned a few times, I sold my upright and electric upright after spinal surgery and nerve damage. I don't have the forearm strength to play a real upright anymore...

That is a huge bummer - you have my sympathy. Still, the rest of us are not into the cost and inconvenience of these things for nothing - it really is the sound and the vibe. The notes and the register can be gotten elsewhere.

At the same time, did you take lessons for double bass playing? The power should come from your upper body and not your forearms.
If you can still play bass guitar, you can likely make the double bass work with low action and an amp along with some technique shifts. In general, the double bass played properly wears on your body less than BG.

 

[jzucker]

That is a huge bummer - you have my sympathy. Still, the rest of us are not into the cost and inconvenience of these things for nothing - it really is the sound and the vibe. The notes and the register can be gotten elsewhere.

At the same time, did you take lessons for double bass playing? The power should come from your upper body and not your forearms.
If you can still play bass guitar, you can likely make the double bass work with low action and an amp along with some technique shifts. In general, the double bass played properly wears on your body less than BG.

The left hand forearm is still a problem for me.

 

[damonsmith]

The left hand forearm is still a problem for me.

Are you saying that from a position of a couple years of proper classical study? Or not? Because the power of the left hand should come from your shoulder and traps, not your forearm. Trying to play with bass guitar technique and squeezing with your left hand is too much anyone's forearm eventually.
Beautiful playing in your video, BTW.

 

[blastoff]