Upright bass sound in a pedal

[broadcaster]

Wouldn't it be grand if a pedal existed that one could plug into it a bass guitar and out would come a big upright bass signal?

Sure would be nice on small stages with a multi-player band.

[Tele Fan]

If you find one let me know and I'll get it for my bass player!

[4mal]

Well if you've go the f'less chops you can take a close listen to a Rob Allen MB-2 in addition to being fly weight and devastatingly good looking - this from a guy who is not into coffee table basses mind you ... thye are about as close to the real thing as anything I've heard - including most of the EUB's I've heard.

No way am I plunking down that much dough on a fretless - i'm not good enough to justify it and I don't have the call for it. My little MIM J will suffice for now. Whenever I pickup up an RA though, it inspires un-chrisitan thoughts of the coveting type though ... just WOW ...

If you can find one to play on, try a Dean EUB. I think they called it a Pace or something ? 34 " scale upright, smallish elec bass style neck and a hoot to play.

[Tim Armstrong]

I played a fretless Rick Turner Renaissance Bass (I think that was the model name) in a store once, and it could cop an URB tone pretty well. It was quite wonderful, but a little rich for my blood (or, more accurately, my pocket!).

Cheers, Tim

[Tim Armstrong]

Thinking more on the subject, I'd think the biggest problem with copping an upright tone is the rather extreme difference in note bloom/decay and sustain. I'd think that you could probably get a little closer with a fretless strung with flats, using a mute and working with the e.q. a bit...

Cheers, Tim

[FirstBassman]

It's an instrument, not a pedal, but the Ashbory has somewhat of an upright tone:

http://www.ashborybass.com/

http://www.dearmondguitars.com/ashbory.html

[davidge1]

If you want to sound like you're playing an upright bass, you should buy an upright bass and learn to play it. I've seen rockabilly bands with upright bass play on the smallest stages you could imagine.

[Frontier9]

Wow! Kinda pricey (and not a pedal) but check this instrument out. Listen to the pizzicato sound samples here.

[EddieN]

Anyone that wants his bassist to be rendered nearly inaudible & do it by using a pedal MUST be a guitar player.




I kid, you know. It's cause I love. Too much.

[martini]

Originally Posted by davidge1

If you want to sound like you're playing an upright bass, you should buy an upright bass and learn to play it.

I totally agree, there are no shortcuts to getting THAT sound.

[4mal]

sage advice I'm sure but with a decent upright starting out in the good used car price range - not to mention that it's an entirely different instrument than electric bass - not to mention that you can't just toss one into the back of the hatch back along withthe AP, and other assorted gear .. me I'll stick to the fretless EB or maybe - a short scale EUB ...

[broadcaster]

Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby...




No such animal then uh? upright in a pedal. : (




I always wondered about the Asbury, yet it is so tiny.

[bluesfordan]

Originally Posted by EddieN

Anyone that wants his bassist to be rendered nearly inaudible & do it by using a pedal MUST be a guitar player.




I kid, you know. It's cause I love. Too much.

one of the best laughs I've had all day. Well done, sir

[JohnnyAtomic]

If i could get that sound in something else I wouldn't haul that huge @$$ thing around

[martini]

Originally Posted by JohnnyAtomic

If i could get that sound in something else I wouldn't haul that huge @$$ thing around

Nothing could stop me dragging mine around, theres no substitute for the real thing and I wouldn't want one.

[JohnnyAtomic]

Originally Posted by martini

Nothing could stop me dragging mine around, theres no substitute for the real thing and I wouldn't want one.

yep, love the sound, hate the load in

I'm pretty happy with the tone of mine on the tune on my myspace

[Tim Armstrong]

I loved mine, but never had a gig that used that sound. Seriously, I played three gigs with it in two years, and two of those were pickup bluegrass gigs. I didn't practice much, either, so I never got my chops up to where playing for a couple of sets was comfortable. I miss my URB (a pretty sweet Engelhardt C-1), but ultimately I couldn't justify keeping it...

Cheers, Tim

[CatfishStudios]

Ill be looking for a double bass, for jazz purposes, very soon. I still have not got my fretless electric either.....But a good fretless jazz..with a little cranked mids and a little compression, can ALMOST pull it off....I say almost like early amp emulation almost...I guess what Im saying is, it doesnt pull it off.

[Stubbs]

I can get in the ballpark soundwise by using my Ibanez fretless (early 80's P bass copy) with flats. I use a chunk of foam under the strings at the bridge to get the decay and then I pluck the strings over the end of the fretboard (18th , 19th 20th "fret" area).

[martini]

Originally Posted by Stubbs

I can get in the ballpark soundwise by using my Ibanez fretless (early 80's P bass copy) with flats. I use a chunk of foam under the strings at the bridge to get the decay and then I pluck the strings over the end of the fretboard (18th , 19th 20th "fret" area).

I've used that sound, great for Jamerson but nowhere for getting close to the big box.
The little Ashbory mentioned earlier is the closest I've heard but imho, there really is no substitute for the real thing.

[4mal]

Have you listened to the Rob Allen ? One of the Portland 'upper echelon' jazz guys uses one. Through a WW head and Bag End S15-D. From out front it's a pretty convincing tone. Yes it isn't an upright, but it's way closer than other f'less basses I've heard.

I love the tone and the impact of UB. For the vast majority of us, switching to a 41 inch scale is just not going to happen. URB, EUB - they're just different instauments and it's no differnet than learning to play Trombone of Souss phone or Tuba sure they're all bass clef but ...

[Mike Bruce]

I gave up on the upright because it didn't easily fit it the car, and was generally a nuisance to haul around, especially in winter. Liked the sound though, and nothing artificial comes close.

Having said that, I still use a fretless 5 string Godin strung with D'Addario Chromes flatwounds to get something approaching the tone I like.

Mike Bruce

[Tele295]

It's more the technique than the instrument. Joey Spaminato (NRBQ) used to get a great upright tone out of this Danelectro strung with tapewounds.

On the recommendation of some Nashvillle cat (can't remember who), I ran my Jazz Bass with tapes into an analog delay and got a pretty good approximation of upright for an Elvis-type tune we were doing. Again, it was more technique, attack, and approach than anything else. The delay was set very fast, almost impreceptible repeats to give the illusion of depth.

Remember that an upright pizzicato technique plucks the string higher up that a regular bass guitar, which tends to be played closer to the bridge. Move your plucking up toward the neck for an upright vibe, and use two fingers per string, or the side of your index finger.

[martini]

Originally Posted by Tele295

It's more the technique than the instrument..

Sorry mate your wrong, its technique AND the instrument, an approximation is just that, an approximation.
If you want that slap Bass tic tac kind of sound, then what your Nashville bloke suggested is great.
But to achieve the full, woody, raspy percussive upright Bass sound, you need an upright bass and a player with tone and technique..

[hockey_head]

I have a carvin ac50 fretless with lines on the board. With a hint of verb it gets a pretty good doghouse sound because it only has the bridge transducer. The single saddle transducer really gives it the slow attack and fast decay for "the" sound. The body is just carved out mahogany (neck-thru) so it doesn't over resonate to the point of feedback lick a typical dreadnaught-ish acoustic bass. It came with the nylon taped labella strings which are awesome on the board. not cheap new but can find used ac40 s around. fretlines really helped me out after 35 years of frets.

[Tele295]

Originally Posted by martini

Sorry mate your wrong, its technique AND the instrument, an approximation is just that, an approximation.
If you want that slap Bass tic tac kind of sound, then what your Nashville bloke suggested is great.
But to achieve the full, woody, raspy percussive upright Bass sound, you need an upright bass and a player with tone and technique..

Then perhaps we need to discuss exactly what upright tone we're talking about. I see by your AV that you play upright as well. And yes, the original post asked about approximations. An electric bass guitar (EBG) will never be able to replicate all the sounds and techniques that are in a proper upright bass. We're not even discussing arco techniques, which you won't even get close to, even using a bow on an EBG.

The sound I was describing has nothing to do with tic tac. You wouldn't want any delay on a tic tac, you want it as dry as possible.

Adding a little "spin echo" might help in getting closer to an upright strung with gut strings in a slap-bass rockabilly type set-up, but you need to approach the slaps like a rockbilly upright player, not a funk bass slap. Might do in a pinch.

I remember playing Schubert's Trout Quintet, and the leader/conductor/violist gave the direction for the bass to sound like "drops of water." To get that roundness, you use two fingers and pluck way over the fingerboard, with very little/no vibrato. This technique is also used a lot when playing baroque string music so you stay out of the way of the cello ripieno part. Now the body of the upright is going to have a certain resonance when playing this. I can get very close to this sound with my J-bass and a little spin echo for resonance. It IS in the hands and note choice.

Let me be specific - this is a particular, clean pizzicato technique. It is not intended to replicate the growly sound of an upright jazz solo or an arco sound or a rockabilly slap sound.

Perhaps it's semantics after all. YMMV, etc.