I always said that Steve had the right to choose whatever instrument he wanted to play, be it upright or electric, because he had already shown that he was a major force on upright.
There are some early Chick Corea tracks with Steve and Joe Chambers that are killing.
If you discovered Steve's electric work in the early-mid 70's as I did and then went back and heard his upright work, it was mind blowing.
But what he played on upright was always so well organized in his way, because he was already deep into the Cello Suites and other foundation materials. It transferred well to electric.
The Getz group was good because the band dynamics and volume were controlled and Steve could hear himself. There's only one mic on the vibes and Roy had mastered the art of burning at low volume. It was not Trane and Elvin.
I give Getz big kudos for hiring Gary on vibes when he was making enough money to hire both a guitarist and a pianist to render the bossa sound in a full, familiar way. Gary's vibes were not Tjader's vibes and had to be sold to the listener in the Getz context. Which they were, convincingly. And in a pioneering way - no motor, no vibrato.
From what I understand, when Steve was on upright in the early Gary Burton groups, they worked and traveled so much in the days before readily available road rental uprights that Steve got exhausted dragging the doghouse around the world. In my mind, he had an electric bass epiphany similar to Jack Bruce's. Enjoyable to play, easier to hear, and to schlep. The challenge is to learn the instrument and remain deeply musical. And Gary supported the change. To Steve's enduring credit, he never wanted to double. It was going to be one or the other, to the ends of the earth.
