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Bass question: the band I'm in has started doing a bunch of rockabilly-type songs, and our bassist is considering getting an electric upright for that wonderful percussive sound, as well as the fact his place is too small for a proper acoustic. I figured asking if anyone had any experience with electric uprights (both in general and specific to rockabilly/psychobilly) here might be good, as I've heard mixed reviews on if this'll work.
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Mar 18, 2017 01:20
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| # ? Jun 7, 2024 03:36 |
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I'm sure it would work but what about something like a hollow body bass with flats?
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Mar 18, 2017 01:24
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I want to see a rockabilly band where the bass player has a Ubass.
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Mar 18, 2017 01:35
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UEB doesn't really have much of a percussive sound or thump, at least in comparison to a real upright and in my experience. If there is something out there that does I would love to know about it but none of them got close to what I want if I am playing upright. That said, upright was my main bass for a long time and although now I do double on electric I am wanting an upright sound if I am playing upright. You can tell that it is an upright but the fullness of the sound just isn't there - they remind me of the older upright bass pickups where you get all bridge sound and nothing from the body. I ended up getting a Godin A4 Ultra and use it when there are space issues with the upright and I am happy with it. It is hollow and when you have the piezo on alone, after some eq'ing from the onboard we, it gets close enough to be usable if I treat it like an upright (playing closer to the neck trying to mainly use my index finger and on the side of the finger). The nice thing about that bass is that it has a very good lace sensor magnetic pickup too so you can blend the piezo with it or just use the magnetic pickup and it is really versatile in terms of the range of sounds that come out of it. I have TI flats on it now and someday I will try tapewounds which will help even further but for now I am really happy with how it feels and sounds.
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Mar 18, 2017 02:20
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Yeah. I played bluegrass upright for years before I ever played a bass guitar. It was the family instrument. More of a comment on the internet constantly referencing an upright tone for a Ubass. I get where they are coming from, but you know there's people out there thinking they are going to slap the poo poo out of it and sound just like Reverend Horton Heat.
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Mar 18, 2017 03:15
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pumped up for school posted:Like I have an NS2 that was my main for 15 years. Just a smaller body than a P or a J bass. I was a scrawny little poo poo; it fit me well. I would absolutely recommend a 55-02 then. It can cop the Sterling/Stingray sound, and a whole lot more due to its electronics.
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Mar 18, 2017 03:37
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Yeah, I figured that would be the case. One thought would be rewiring to add a piezo for the neck to better catch the clack and thump, but I have no clue how feasible that might be, and it'd be an expensive experiment. I'll try to convince him to look into a decent hollowbody with tapewounds and see if we can get that working. He is enough of a tinkerer that if I mention the pickup mods, it'll likely get tested out, so if that happens, I'll update and post sound samples. I suspect whatever happens will be interesting, at least.
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Mar 18, 2017 04:09
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Neck piezos are really noisy unfortunately and don't sound that good
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Mar 18, 2017 04:12
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Yeah an electric upright isn't ideal for rockabilly style slapping. An acoustic upright is the only way to get that sound and have it be decent.
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Mar 18, 2017 06:09
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Scarf posted:What do you mean by slightly smaller? I'd recommend a Lakland 55-02, or if you have the bank, Lakland 55-94 or 55-14. Features a coil-tap for the H, and yeah, uses a blend knob as the "selector." A Lakland fiver is not "smaller." 35" scale, 19mm spacing, 46mm nut. It's about as big as a production 5-string gets. The body might be a little downsized vs. a full-size jazz but the neck definitely isn't. Fender's are 19mm spacing, 46mm nut but 34" scale. Ernie Ball / Music Man and G&L both are 17.5mm spacing, 34" scale and a 44mm nut. Going smaller, something like a Warwick or Ibanez may be what you want - 44mm nut and 34" scale length but with even tighter spacing at the bridge 16.5mm. Why do I know all this? Because everyone keeps making big-rear end 35" scale 19mm-spacing fivers because they think it's the only way to make a B string sound good and I can't loving play them. I find the Music Man / G&L size to be perfect, personally. All my Stambaughs are set up with neck specs mimicking a Stingray 5.
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Mar 18, 2017 06:57
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pumped up for school posted:Nice! I've only been able to get hands on with a single Sandberg. I'm not familiar enough with their models but it was more of a standard J, just a very very nice one. Very pricey in the US. It helps being in Germany's hat, Denmark, but it still cost a bit more than an American fender. I don't actually remember the specific model because I just found it in a store and liked it rather than doing any research. I haven't played many jazzes, but I think it feels a lot like a high end jazz with the option of punchy humbucker sound, which is a pretty good substitute for a precision in my opinion. The pickup selection is a blend knob, and the little switch toggles between dual and single coil.
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Mar 18, 2017 10:58
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I have a Stingray 5 and a regular Stingray, and the 5 somehow doesn't feel as bulky (except for the neck of course). The Sterling was almost like a four string version of the 5, so he may like how it feels. I've never tried a Sterling 5 though so I don't know how they made that different.
DrChu fucked around with this message at 15:04 on Mar 18, 2017 |
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Mar 18, 2017 15:01
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You can take my roundwounds from my cold, dead hands. 
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Mar 18, 2017 22:46
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Dr. Capco posted:You can take my roundwounds from my cold, dead hands. This. I use nylon flats for my fretless instruments, but the rest get roundwounds. Pure nickel wound when I can get it.
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Mar 19, 2017 07:48
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Besides the sound I prefer, something about the nickelwounds makes them not shred my fingertips like steel strings do.
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Mar 19, 2017 10:38
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Rugoberta Munchu posted:Besides the sound I prefer, something about the nickelwounds makes them not shred my fingertips like steel strings do. Oh God, yes. Right now, I have Pro Steels from D'Addario on my Precision Bass Special because I use that instrument in a band where we're detuned about half the time, and I can't find pure nickel wounds with a .110 E string. And I'm not a huge fan of the feel, but I need the tension. But nickels... I can play all night on those with no problems at all. And since they're pure nickel wound, the brightness doesn't fade as quickly as with steel-wound strings.
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Mar 19, 2017 16:28
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Dr. Capco posted:You can take my roundwounds from my cold, dead hands. I use stainless DR hibeams on everything except my P-bass (even my fretless  ) but flats do a Thing that rounds just can't, and sometimes that's what you need.
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Mar 19, 2017 18:41
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DEUCE SLUICE posted:I use stainless DR hibeams on everything except my P-bass (even my fretless Have you tried turning down the tone knob? Because that kind-of does the trick.
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Mar 19, 2017 20:38
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Turning down the tone knob is a crude approximation of what flats sound like, sure.
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Mar 20, 2017 01:43
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Works about as well as turning up the treble on your amp to make your flats sound like rounds. I use mostly flats but when I do use rounds I prefer worn in stainless Rotosounds. I guess I just don't like changing strings very much.
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Mar 20, 2017 01:48
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I love how other people sound playing rounds but in my hands they always put me off for how trebly and clank-y they end up being. I just got some TI jazz flats on my pbass, first impressions so far is they feel really good and secondly they sound much better than the chromes I had before.
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Mar 20, 2017 02:53
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TI flats blow Chromes out of the water. The only reason not to use them is if you don't like the lighter string gauges - otherwise they are the best. And no, turning down the tone knob does not make rounds sound like flats. There is a response, attack/decay, upper harmonics and other things that make flats sound the way they do and muffling the tone does not make that happen.
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Mar 20, 2017 04:10
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I wound up trying different string styles on different basses, and keeping what worked for each bass. Tapes sounded like poo poo on my 4003, but sounded by far the best on a couple dark basses with humbuckers and an acoustic. I've got a dedicated roundwound bass, a dedicated flats bass, and the 4003 is about to get flats, just because I've always wanted to gently caress around with a sound like Roger Glover, and I think a Rick will be bright enough to make flats sound interesting, and I don't have a Fender to try them on anyway. I don't think there's one answer. There are cool sounds to be had with all three types, if you accumulate enough basses eventually.
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Mar 20, 2017 04:37
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Gorgar posted:I wound up trying different string styles on different basses, and keeping what worked for each bass. Tapes sounded like poo poo on my 4003, but sounded by far the best on a couple dark basses with humbuckers and an acoustic. I've got a dedicated roundwound bass, a dedicated flats bass, and the 4003 is about to get flats, just because I've always wanted to gently caress around with a sound like Roger Glover, and I think a Rick will be bright enough to make flats sound interesting, and I don't have a Fender to try them on anyway. Oh, absolutely. When it comes down to it my bass collection is a function of what kinds of strings and what kinds of pickups I want to have on hand, nothing really beyond that.
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Mar 20, 2017 06:59
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Crosspostin' from the latest-gear-buy thread: Found a bass combo that I a.) liked, and b.) could afford:  Trace Elliot 715X! The "shape" button sticks, but that's a fair hand-off and an easy enough fix for a $400 combo. The old setup is on the right (GK800RB + Mesa/Boogie Diesel 410) and nobody liked moving that thing around, wheels be damned. Since I popped in during strings/pickups chat, that G&L in the photo has pickups so damned hot that the flat I have on there right now sound like rounds unless I take the tone knob down a smidgen. Anyone have recommendations on replacements for those lava-hot G&Ls?
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Mar 20, 2017 20:16
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Have you tightened the screws up a bit so the pickup sits lower in the body, and further from the strings? That could help settle things down a bit so it's not such a hot signal, but could also affect tone to some degree.
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Mar 20, 2017 21:48
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scuz posted:Crosspostin' from the latest-gear-buy thread: As a G&L owner, I can vouch that the MFD pickups are great for getting a grizzlier tone out of flats when you max the volume and EQ the rest at the amp or in the chain; but, otherwise, you need to have your volume at about 80% for any other applications and, once again, comp it at the amp or in the chain.
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Mar 21, 2017 00:13
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scuz posted:Anyone have recommendations on replacements for those lava-hot G&Ls? The answer is always Nordstrands.
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Mar 21, 2017 00:25
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String Question Alert I haven't read this thread in ages so I'm sorry if this has been asked a hundred times. My little dorky indy-funk band is on hiatus and I've decided to spend some time practicing music I actually listen to. I'm starting with some Between the Buried and Me. Dan Briggs plays in G# standard, so my 5 string is tuned down pretty darn low. I'm toying with the idea of keeping my bass tuned this way, and relearning MY band's songs before we get back together. My B string is pure fart noise, and my E string sounds kinda sloppy as well. I'm wondering if there is a recommended string set that shines in this tuning, and stays tight with low action. I'm playing an Ibanez soundgear 505. Thanks for any recommendations! https://youtu.be/19UZd_DKs2Q
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Mar 22, 2017 01:02
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http://store.kaliumstrings.com/index.php/electric-bass-guitar.html has all sorts of crazy gauges. However I can't find the calculator they used to have to tell you what gauge/tension you would want for a certain scale length and tuning.
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Mar 22, 2017 02:06
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The Between the Buried and Me dude uses medium gauge strings on a 35" scale Spector. Your Ibanez has a 34" scale. Increasing gauge to make up for lack of tension will not get that sound you want.
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Mar 23, 2017 10:59
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Thanks for the responses!
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Mar 25, 2017 23:51
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scuz posted:Crosspostin' from the latest-gear-buy thread: I put some Quarter Pound pickups in my $40 bass and they sounded pretty gnarly, here's a good video of clean and dirty, first 2 minutes, then way too much feedback, then all dirt until we blow the power. You can't really tell in this video, but the amount of bass coming from my cab was insane, camera mics can't even gently caress with it. Pickups: http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/quarter-pound-p-bass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAJJK9Fy8NI
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Mar 27, 2017 02:34
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So how stupid would a 30" scale 12 string guitar tuned like a bass VI be? Because I just noticed you can do that combo on Rondos website and that sounds like it could be super fun to play around with. I played a bass vi for the first time a week ago and liked it a bunch.
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Mar 28, 2017 00:01
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Thorpe posted:So how stupid would a 30" scale 12 string guitar tuned like a bass VI be? Because I just noticed you can do that combo on Rondos website and that sounds like it could be super fun to play around with. I played a bass vi for the first time a week ago and liked it a bunch. This a terrible Idea and I will almost certainly end spending money on it
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Mar 28, 2017 00:15
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Looks like you'd be able to buy a Squier Bass VI for what a custom Rondo would cost.
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Mar 28, 2017 05:00
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After a lot of dithering, I ended up getting an Idiotbox Blower Box: This thing is gnarly. It can go from a fairly clean boost to a roaring distortion. There's no low end loss at all with the bass boost dialed in, and the treble boost gives a ton of cutting high end. With a bit of tweaking, I was able to get a great tone that hovers right at the edge of breaking up with a lighter pick attack, but really slams when I dig in.
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Mar 28, 2017 10:10
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Rugoberta Munchu posted:Looks like you'd be able to buy a Squier Bass VI for what a custom Rondo would cost. Very true, but what I'm thinking about would be more like a Bass XII or something. Lower octave notes would be normal Bass VI, and the higher octave set would be normal guitar tuning.
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Mar 28, 2017 10:59
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If you're interested in having bass strings on the bottom and guitar strings on top, check out Charlie Hunter. https://youtu.be/0HJQJzUwRMk
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Mar 28, 2017 21:33
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| # ? Jun 7, 2024 03:36 |
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Charlie is loving insane... Oh hey, instead of trying to convey my ideas to a bassist, I'll just play both, at the same time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B7btsk6ASE
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Mar 29, 2017 01:02
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