The Re-invention of the Upright Bass

It has been nearly 430 years since the invention of the upright bass. It has been included in nearly every style of music at some point and is resonant on the lions share of the world’s most famous recordings.
However these days the upright bass has felt it’s age and has been nearly sequestered to a handful of genres, and is by far the minority of instruments producing the low end in todays popular music.
Despite that, it remains the most versatile, albeit challenging producer of bottom end in the string family. It is time for its return to dominance!

Through many years of experimentation, feedback, successes and failures I have come up with my solution to how to put the instrument in a new context and allow it to have clear audible presence in the world of mega amps and huge sound, that sent it packing many years ago.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has charmed this beast and would like to open a discussion about the nifty troubleshooting and solutions the new guard of the upright bass have come up with.

So I’ll start:

My first “desert island” must-have for successfully playing upright bass in a new context is the Aphex Optical Compressor “Punch Factory” Model 1404.
This wonderful pedal is an awesome compressor that allows you to highlight the wood qualities of the bass over loud amplification. This to me is one of the most important qualities of playing the upright bass in large amplification settings, from large clubs to arenas. It is the translation of a “wooden sound” that is the most distinguishable characteristic of the upright. Lose that, and you’re no longer capitalizing on one of the instruments most unique and adored characteristics.


You can hear an example of this HERE.
In this example the solo begins without any effects, just the compressor. You’ll notice that the environment is a loud one, and that I’m pushing a lot of sound. the percussive element of the upright remains in tact. I’m always looking for ways to improve the accentuation of the wood characteristic. For more examples go HERE


I have already pre-determined 20 must haves in order for us Upright Bassists to continue to be viable competitors for todays gigs in popular music.
I have successfully played upright bass in every context from Lauryn Hill, to Jonathan Davis of Korn. From Classical to Jazz, Hip-hop to Modern Rock. I’m excited to begin trading this unspoken knowledge with my brethren.

theStarM,
Miles Mosley

 

nice fellas, I'm writing more on this each week! I'll be posting em as I go.

@fingers, I use a king double bass pickup they made for me. A version of it comes stock in most of their basses, we just did a little modifying as time went along.

Miles Mosley

 

I am absolutely interested in a dialogue. I don't think I have accumulated enough answers to "school" anyone. I'm simply trying to provide the most concise responses without flooding the forums.
Is there a particular question you think I've responded to incorrectly uncle toad?
As far as your compressor distortion issue, what about it doesn't work? If I have any suggestion there it would be that you have to make sure that your compressor comes AFTER you distortion pedal in the chain otherwise the compressor boosts the signal of the distortion, creating unwanted feedback. You also have to decide what kind of distortion you're going for. I mainly use distortion for a solo sound, but when I toured with Jonthan Davis I used it to emulate a huge sound electric guitar. I had to change the setting on my distortion pedal entirely for that.

In any case, I hope this helps, and I hope you don't perceive my eagerness to perpetuate an instrument we all love as standing on a Soap Box.

Miles Mosley

 

Hmm, the first thing I noticed most, that helped with that situation is recognizing that what I'm trying translate to the audience is the CHARACTER of the upright, not the actual acoustic tone.
So the sound coming out of the bass is rendered useless, because no one is gonna be able to hear it anyway right?
If you look closely you'll see that cover up my f-holes. It keeps sound from going in and greatly eliminates feedback.
It seems to me your issue is not with the effects chain, but with the sound flooding into your bass.
This will help tremendously.

Miles Mosley

 

I'm currently traveling through South America at the moment, I'll begin chipping away at the feedback post asap! I know it's what plagues us most, however the answer is not short, and is gonna require a whole heck of a lot of typing, to get the whole host of options clear.

In any case, for now, I found that a hardware store can be your best friend. Because each bass' F-hole is different we'll probably all use different materials. I went through the insulation isle and looked for some rubber that I could jam in there. It's not perfect.

I'd love to hear anyone else suggestions on what fits well inside the f-holes.
A word of caution, I'm fairly reckless with my instrument so be careful not to crack the f-hole when putting stuff in there, and be aware that's it'll probably fall in a couple times till you get it right. You'll need a coat hanger and some patience.

look HERE you'll see the material and that hack job way I've forced it into the bass.
It DID end up cracking the F-hole, but I think the perk outways the aesthetic. But that's just me.

Miles Mosley