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Double Bass This Vs. That

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C

ClaytonH

Mar 10, 2009
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Hudson, OH
#1
I want a double bass, but don't like how ridicusly huge they are so I decided for a EUB, but I'm afraid that it won't sound "right" not like a traditional DB.
Well afte countless serching of Musicians friend I decided on two.

1)Palatino VE-500 Electric Upright Bass- $679
2)NS Design WAV 4 Electric Upright Bass Guitar- $895

I like the NS but don't want to shell out $895 (which is upmost impossible for a kid my age!). Dose the Palatino soud like a DB? or sould I just get a regular DB?
 
#2
if you want the tone of an acoustic double bass, then youre probably buying an EUB for the wrong reasons

make sure you like the tone and the feel of the bass otherwise youre going to end up wasting your money. i have an NS, and like it because its tone is amazing. but its not just a substitute for my acoustic, its another instrument.

if you want an acoustic sound, then you should probably spend the money on an acoustic
 
#7
oh well you should of mentioned that before :p

he uses an NS CR5 right? to play in his style you would pretty much need an electric double bass,his tone is all about amplification and effects, theres really no acoustic element to it.

what other styles would you want to play? in my experience, when someone asks for a double bassist to play a gig they expect to see an acoustic bass turn up. i play my NS on gigs all the time, but with people i know well and play with all the time.

if you want to pursue your own thing totally, thats great, but i think if you want to be known as a double bassist that people will call, you need an acoustic in your selection too
 
#8
since people said that i should do acoustic not electric, what is a good bass that i could get off of musicians freind? or should i post this some were else. Musicians Friend because there are no good music shops in my area and i can do the finacing thing because of my age and just get a summer job.
 
#9
There are some very helpful stickies at the top of the Basses forum. As you start reading, you will find that buying a double bass is very different to buying a bass guitar.

The idea is that decent instruments don't come cheap, and that you should always play before you buy. Try to look for shops that specialise in double basses, even if that means traveling a fair distance.
 
#10
I have an NSCR5 and a real acoustic Double Bass - I quite liked the NS bass when I first got it, but it doesn't compare to the real thing in terms of sound - and funnily enough the real DB was a lot cheaper!

EUBs have 2 advantages - they are very much "plug and play" and they are virtually indestructible!

Real DBs have the sound, but are fragile and difficult to amplify satisfactorily.

If sound is the only consideration then a real DB wins every time and so I rarely play my NS bass now unless the real DB is broken!
 
#12
Bruce Lindfield said:
I have an NSCR5 and a real acoustic Double Bass - I quite liked the NS bass when I first got it, but it doesn't compare to the real thing in terms of sound - and funnily enough the real DB was a lot cheaper!

EUBs have 2 advantages - they are very much "plug and play" and they are virtually indestructible!

Real DBs have the sound, but are fragile and difficult to amplify satisfactorily.

If sound is the only consideration then a real DB wins every time and so I rarely play my NS bass now unless the real DB is broken!
Click to expand...


Funny... every time I touch my EUB, it feels as real as my AUB and my EBGs. at least it did this afternoon. I'll try again when I return home. If it's not there, and the space where i thought I left it looks like nothing was ever there, I'll let you know.

Covers the same note range as my AUB, too. I can plug it in and hear it, so there's certainly a real sound coming from it. Maybe I'm missing something here. I don't know what it is, but it isn't a sense of humor, and it isn't a dictionary.
 
#14
Auriaprottu said:
Funny... every time I touch my EUB, it feels as real as my AUB and my EBGs. at least it did this afternoon. I'll try again when I return home. If it's not there, and the space where i thought I left it looks like nothing was ever there, I'll let you know.

Covers the same note range as my AUB, too. I can plug it in and hear it, so there's certainly a real sound coming from it. Maybe I'm missing something here. I don't know what it is, but it isn't a sense of humor, and it isn't a dictionary.
Click to expand...


You are missing the point that's what!!

If you are talking about these two things - then "real DB" is much less to type than "acoustic double bass" - it's just shorthand, just a way of being clear about which instrument I am talking about - as I own both!

The (Acoustic) Double Bass was there first - by several hundred years - it is the "real thing" - like original Coke! ;)

My main point is that no EUB come closes to the sound of the "real thing" and the OP said :

"I'm afraid that it won't sound "right" not like a traditional DB."

So - I am saying it won't - but that's not necessarily why you would buy one!
 
#15
Bruce Lindfield said:
You are missing the point that's what!!

If you are talking about these two things - then "real DB" is much less to type than "acoustic double bass" - it's just shorthand, just a way of being clear about which instrument I am talking about - as I own both!

The (Acoustic) Double Bass was there first - by several hundred years - it is the "real thing" - like original Coke! ;)

My main point is that no EUB come closes to the sound of the "real thing" and the OP said :

"I'm afraid that it won't sound "right" not like a traditional DB."

So - I am saying it won't - but that's not necessarily why you would buy one!
Click to expand...

but the thing is we all have different standards of what constitutes the "real thing". many of us have to use amplification anyways, some go the step further and cut down the body or eliminate it all together.

thinking in terms of construction only doesnt really help. dollar for dollar ive never seen an acoustic bass that could match the tonal qualities and expressiveness of a CR5M.

just because a bass has a body, doesnt mean it will sound any good. i also have a plywood prima bass lying around that doesnt even sound like the "real thing"

it sounds like you underrate the potential of electric DB's!
 
#16
No - you are missing the point as well - so the point raised in this thread was :

"I'm afraid that it won't sound "right" not like a traditional DB."

So - I am just answering that question - I own both and am informing the OP who has a particular interest - I have mentioned that there are other reasons to buy an EUB - but if you want it to sound like "a traditional DB" that's not a good one!!

Seriously - I have an NSCR5 and it was far more expensive than my carved DB - but the latter is definitely the winner when it comes to :

"sounding like a traditional DB"

No contest!! :p
 
#17
to be honest i dont think the OP knows what tone they are looking for. anyone willing to buy a serious instrument online without having the instrument in their hands to test is just taking pot luck

so theres no point me advocating an open mind when it comes to tone, if people are just going to generalise bass tone as traditional vs electric double bass.
 
#18
Bruce Lindfield said:
You are missing the point that's what!!
Click to expand...

No, no... I'm not missing anything. :D Fact is, you don't have a point other than the laziness you described below.

If you are talking about these two things - then "real DB" is much less to type than "acoustic double bass" - it's just shorthand, just a way of being clear about which instrument I am talking about - as I own both!
Click to expand...

Whether it takes a few more keystrokes or not is irrelevant. Your previous statement is inaccurate, period. There is nothing less "real" about any of my basses than there is about any of my other basses. I suspect that your EUB is as real as your AUB, too.

Words have meaning. That's why we generally choose them more wisely than you've done here.

The (Acoustic) Double Bass was there first - by several hundred years - it is the "real thing" - like original Coke! ;)

My main point is that no EUB come closes to the sound of the "real thing"
Click to expand...

There is no one "real thing", despite what the good folks and Coca-Cola told us a few decades ago. The EUB does not sound like an AUB, nor should anyone expect it to. I don't expect a Strat to sound like a Martin, but I suspect that very few people would infer that the Fender is not... "real".

and the OP said :

"I'm afraid that it won't sound "right" not like a traditional DB."

So - I am saying it won't - but that's not necessarily why you would buy one!
Click to expand...

That's what you should have said, then, rather than trying to imply that the EUB is a fig newton of our imaginations. :D

The OP is new to all of this, and hasn't figured out yet that the EUB
is an instrument of its own and should not be asked to emulate an AUB and then judged on how close it comes or does not come. You, OTOH, are completely familiar with both, but instead of telling the guy to go ahead and get the sound he wanted and leave it at that (as I did), you decided to marginalize the EUB sound by referring to the AUB as "the real thing".
 
#19
Bruce Lindfield said:
No - you are missing the point as well - so the point raised in this thread was :

"I'm afraid that it won't sound "right" not like a traditional DB."
Click to expand...

That was your entree to tell him that there IS no "right" sound, just the sound you want. I think he wants an AUB tone, so that's what I suggested he buy. No "real/fake" commentary. Just "different". You'd do well to consider adopting my stance.
 
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