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Double Bass Which EUB sounds most like a double bass ?

6stringbassist

6stringbassist

Jul 9, 2007
351
0
UK.
#1
I currently have an NS CR4M. I love the thing, it means that I can play something close to a DB, and get sounds something like a DB from it.

I'm getting quite a few gigs because of it, which is great !

I'd like something a little more DB sounding though. It has to be an EUB though. I don't play DB and don't have the time to learn, or the car to fit one in.
 
#2
You don't play a DB and don't have the time to learn, but want an EUB that sounds like a DB, and is likely to have the same scale as a DB...
Doesn't your CR4M have a DB scale already?...

You may only wish to get other strings (orchestral type maybe) to get a tone closer to a DB, with the instrument you already have.
You may also need to learn a different way to pluck the strings to get more of a DB tone.
If you pluck a real DB like you pluck a bass guitar, you probably won't sound much DB-like anyway.
Do you follow me?
 
#4
Well firstly, the instrument you have is awesome, but you may be expecting a sound out of it that its not built for.

The NS will always have a different timbre to the acoustic bass. So if I bring the NS to a gig, I bust out the best NS tone I can dial in, not try to impersonate a full body bass.

If you want an EUB like that youre going to have to look at a bass with at least a small hollow body on it.
 
#7
I got a fixed necked 4-string eminence from another TB'er a while back. He had just put some Helicore Pizz strings on it. It had some issues with setup but the good folks at Robertson's in Albuquerque didn't laugh when I brought it in and did some nice setup work. Now it played pretty well but the g-string still sounded like a banjo and the e-string sounded like a fretless bass guitar - kind of disappointing. But, I had a set of old, dead Helicore orchestral strings I had removed from another bass and just to see what would happen, I put them on the eminence. Now, the thing sounded almost like a real bass! I recall other threads around here that mention that Velvet Garbos (a wound gut string, I think?) help an eminence sound more like a real DB. So, while I am a Spiro man on all my other basses, I don't think I would ever put Spiros on my eminence - instead, something that's known for dark sound and limited sustain helps tame the tendency to sound like a BG and may get you pretty close to a DB sound.

Mark
 
#8
The Eminence doesn't sound even close to a double bass sound as far as functioning like a double bass in a jazz context. Not at all in the ball park with the Volante. And it doesn't feel even close. There are many EUB's that do cool things and sound great in their own right, but if you are looking for a substitute for a double bass in a jazz context, there is no comparison with the Volante. I played the Volante and the Czech-Ease side by side and the Volante sounded TONS better. Dave Holland's sound guy did a gig with us and he thought the Volante sounded tons better than the Czech-Ease that Dave plays. Just don't tell Dave. Don't want to get him in trouble.
 
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#9
This is a hypothetical question since I play an EUB (a Sojing) and it also doesn't emulate the sound of a DB.

So if tone is usually considered one of the priorities in playing, why would someone want to play an EUB if they are only trying to get that DB simulation, yet most EUB's can't simulate the DB sound. Is it considered that an EUB is in a tone class of itself apart from EB's and DB's, or is it mostly just wanting to have that DB playing style but with an instrument that is aesthetically unique.
 
#12
been listening/practicing to old Felipe Rodriguez songs " musica de bohemios" that DB sound is almost imposible to attain with a EUB !!!! I have a ray ramirez Caribbean elite loaded to the hilt and I only can get the G string spot on and the D string on mid scale...I'm using Dr. Toms. super-flexes... GK2001rb... that deep grave sound on those old recordings with DB is something special...
 
#13
You know the biggest factor in making something
sound like an upright... the person playing it :)

Yes, its not the whole answer, but someone that
PLAYS like an upright player will go a LONG way
to making anything sound like that.

Some lessons with a pro might help you as much
as some certain instrument, or strings, or that right
amp.....
 
#14
Mike Arnopol said:
The Eminence doesn't sound even close to a double bass sound as far as functioning like a double bass in a jazz context. Not at all in the ball park with the Volante. And it doesn't feel even close. There are many EUB's that do cool things and sound great in their own right, but if you are looking for a substitute for a double bass in a jazz context, there is no comparison with the Volante. I played the Volante and the Czech-Ease side by side and the Volante sounded TONS better. Dave Holland's sound guy did a gig with us and he thought the Volante sounded tons better than the Czech-Ease that Dave plays. Just don't tell Dave. Don't want to get him in trouble.
Click to expand...

I suppose one's use of "close" is relative, but listening to
Marc Johnson play the Eminence in that Youtube clip off
their website and in my book that's pretty damn "close",
close enough that it worked fine in the setting.

Same thing with Esperanza's playing, whenever I stop
drooling over her I'd have to say the sound is great.

I admit, not as good as some of your recordings with a
real instrument Mike (your tone is to die for :), but still
fits what I'd call "close" :)
 
#16
jfv said:
You know the biggest factor in making something
sound like an upright... the person playing it :)

Yes, its not the whole answer, but someone that
PLAYS like an upright player will go a LONG way
to making anything sound like that.

Some lessons with a pro might help you as much
as some certain instrument, or strings, or that right
amp.....
Click to expand...
I agree... so true... it is the player/person the ultimate sound machine... so many variables and configurations... you can tell when you are in the zone by the band members the way they look at you and nod/grin with there approval... just love the sound of the DB in those old latin music/big band/rock/jazz/country...-mel-:cool:
 
#18
The alter ego sounds pretty close to real upright (to me):
The arco sound is real.

Invalid Link Removed

There is not much introduction at the website of Volante. Not sure how the arco sound. Can anyone post sound samples?
 
#19
I've got a Bespoke bass 5 string coupled to a PJB flightcase. The string length is about 42" - it sounds like a clean fat bass, with a really warm sound. I made a couple of mechanical adjustments for comfort playing it. The strings, bridge and fingerboard are just like a double bass - I can even play it sitting on a stool and the arco is the same as a normal bass, but quieter. Some players find the looks a little skeletal but it is functional and clean. I prefer the clean lines to a shrunk bass that tries to look like something it isn't, but that's just my opinion.
 

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