upright bass sound q's

[tonk-honky]

I use a cheap laminated body upright bass....Older Weedwacker strings......K&K bassmax pickup.....through a behringer bx3000 amp head and a behringer 2x12 cabinet.

I would love to find that bill hailey sound , or the bass you hear on alot of Wayne Hancock stuff ya know?

my setup seems a little dull..... any recommendations on what I should change to find the sound I want??

[martini]

Change your weedwackers for a set of gut strings, thats most likely what Bills Bass player used. Expensive but worth it.

[tonk-honky]

I was afraid I would hear that, (just because of the expense) Does anyone know if there is a close (cheaper) alternative to the high priced gut strings? Or is it all or nothing??

Thanks in advance

[Mikey3]

you might wanna ask this question over at talkbass.com they have a ton of info over there for double bass and electric bass alike

[exit41bass]

A great source for questions about upright bass is at rockabillybass.com.

[martini]

Try Bob Gollihurs site, a fantastic resource.

http://www.gollihurmusic.com/links.cfm#linkCat9

[Tim Armstrong]

The rockabillybass.com forum is plumb full of good info. I can tell you from my limited experience that real gut strings sound a heck of a lot better than weedwackers, adding a contact pickup on the fingerboard will bring out the click, and a CCB (cheap Chinese bass) is hard to make sound good regardless...

Tim

[Little Ricky]

Lose the weedwackers, they're all click, no thump.

[CDKopf]

Ebay - Theres a source (I forget the seller name) that sells a full set of strings for $25 'Patrick' brand. My CCB (I like that Tim) had a sharp edge on the tuning peg that kept breaking the D string. Had to get 3 sets from there before I figured it out and fixed the problem. Good luck.

[JohnnyAtomic]

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

The rockabillybass.com forum is plumb full of good info. I can tell you from my limited experience that real gut strings sound a heck of a lot better than weedwackers, adding a contact pickup on the fingerboard will bring out the click, and a CCB (cheap Chinese bass) is hard to make sound good regardless...

Tim

+1 to all this.

I've got basses w/ guts, w/ innovations, and with weed whackers. Whackers sound remarkably good, but are low volume acoustically, not that big of a deal if you always amp up.

A cheap acoustic guitar 'bottle cap' pickup, or drum trigger used on the back of the fingerboard works wonders. You'll be amazed at how one of these plugged into a tiny cheap guitar or bass amp sounds to give you that rockabilly 'slap'.

Big amp for the thump, little amp for the click.

[tonk-honky]

Wow, some awesome advice guys., much apppreciated

[thessandman]

I put a set of "Super Silvers" on my laminated bass. I got that gut sound and the strings will last a lot longer. I think a string change has to be step one

[JohnnyAtomic]

Originally Posted by thessandman

I put a set of "Super Silvers" on my laminated bass. I got that gut sound and the strings will last a lot longer. I think a string change has to be step one

Nah, there's quite a few bassists who actually PREFER wackers to about anything. I couldn't handle the low acoustic volume of the wackers, because i rehearse at home unamplified. I thought the wackers sounded great amped up. They have a FABULOUS rockabilly 'slap' (amped or not), second only to guts, better than the innovations i've owned. But wackers aren't for everyone. I think they're especially great for someone starting out because they are easy on the hands, last forever, and are inexpensive. If they stick with it, they'll have plenty of opportunities to spend MORE money .

The bassmax is a great pickup for thump, but often lacks click of a underwood or many other pickups.

[thessandman]

Originally Posted by JohnnyAtomic

Nah, there's quite a few bassists who actually PREFER wackers to about anything. I couldn't handle the low acoustic volume of the wackers, because i rehearse at home unamplified. I thought the wackers sounded great amped up. They have a FABULOUS rockabilly 'slap' (amped or not), second only to guts, better than the innovations i've owned. But wackers aren't for everyone. I think they're especially great for someone starting out because they are easy on the hands, last forever, and are inexpensive. If they stick with it, they'll have plenty of opportunities to spend MORE money .

The bassmax is a great pickup for thump, but often lacks click of a underwood or many other pickups.

YMMV