Walking Bass Sound

[Snidelybass]

Ive been playing swing and hardbop for a little while now (i still think myself kind of a newbie).Since i cant get a nice feeling (personally) from my fretted corvette i took my old bass defretted it with much success and strung it with tapewounds.for a more upright sound i play with my picking hand at the end of the fretboard using as much fingeflesh as possible and when im playing alone im happy with how much uprightish is my sound (being of course realistic).However at a jam session today that took a rock turn ,when i went "upright" the volume of my sound seemed to kinda plumet and also it was like i was overthrown by the rest of the band.mind you i was supporting both keys and distorted guitar at that point.i was full on my tone knob and i boosted my lows thought the amp.Is there any explanation for this and is there any way i can prevent it?Should i just expect that if i wanna go "upright" ill have to raise my volume mid song?
PS of course an electric instrument could never trully copy the sound of an acoustic

 

[chungweishan]

I usually try to get more mid-range tone to be heard in a full band. I move my picking hand closer to the bridge and play with the tips of my fingers for a clearer attack sound. Generally, I don't turn up the bass-tone on my amp because it just muddles the tone and makes my notes indistinct.

Then I return to playing nearer the neck and using the fleshy part of my fingers for the rounder tone.

This is basically what I did when I rehearsed with my band using mostly a flatwound-string fretless bass.

 

[Remyd]

for a more upright sound i play with my picking hand at the end of the fretboard using as much fingeflesh as possible and when im playing alone im happy with how much uprightish is my sound (being of course realistic).However at a jam session today that took a rock turn ,when i went "upright" the volume of my sound seemed to kinda plumet and also it was like i was overthrown by the rest of the band...i was full on my tone knob and i boosted my lows thought the amp.Is there any explanation for this and is there any way i can prevent it?Should i just expect that if i wanna go "upright" ill have to raise my volume mid song?

Have the same problem when I'm looking for the acoustic sound. Move off the fretboard, dial in less bass and more mids, and be more agressive on the tone knob. Sound in the mix is NOT the same as sound in your practice space, so don't get locked into some settings that don't work just 'cause "that's the way I get my tone".

 

[bluesdogblues]

I understand what the OP means, but actually if you see someone like Sting - play with distortion guitar and more (or Monk Montgomery - played with big band etc) who play with their thumb, which should be softer, which should've suffer more than what you experience, but they're not.

Me too, doesn't have a problem like that even though I mostly play near the neck as you and sometime with my thumb.
(I use Fender P-Bass + LaBella 52-110 strings. My amp tone is about flat).
I think it might be just the matter of the attack, or..it might be psychological think (common perception of what bass sound should be, which many people call it 'cut through the mix' - which I don't buy, which usually are 'roundwound trebly' strings sounds).

I was a roundwound player, alternate finger near bridge before, and when I started to use heavy flats & downstroke thumb near neck - at first (about 10 years ago) I thought as what you think. But after awhile I realize that actually I am louder than when I was in my 'roundwound era'.
Only it's in different frequency and tonality now. So I think it's more about how I perceive it.

 

[M0ses]

Two guys above have it right: boosting lows won't help. Boost your mids, you don't even need volume to be heard.

 

[bluesdogblues]

Here is soundclip of Monk Montgomery, Live in Soweto 1974.
As I wrote above, he even play all downstroke with his thumb, near the neck, heavy flatwounds, Fender J...but his bass is far from "kinda plumet" nor "overthrown by the rest of the band" right? And it's a band with lot of instruments playing at the same time.
The bass might not what people called "Cut Thru The Mix", but it definitely is even 'Stronger Statement' than that.
I think - it's not about the amp EQ or volume (it sounds about flat for me) - it's the matter of "picking fingers attack"...and confidence