amped double bass... does it make a difference?

[petercullenbassist]

hey all, Im having some trouble deciding what to do with my double bass. atm i play a cheeeap laminate double bass what I play live every single week in a duo called The Nomads, the bass is amped using a Dave Gage Realist pup, a Fishman Plat Pro preamp pedal, then in to a markbass amp.
now how much difference would it make using a better bass with a solid top, or solid top back and sides for that matter.
the bass i use is a big orange box! i have found a late 50's cech lam bass that loooks awesome, but it just sounds the same to the one i have when recorded with a condenser mic.

so my question is would a better bass improve the sound using the set up i use? i know through a mic it would be better but i rarely need it for that. so if a better bass doesnt improve the sound then i might as well get this 50's laminite bass that doesnt look like a orange box and go for looks.

slightly confusing lol

let me know what you think. many thanks

Pete

[attachment=131258:Untitled-1.jpg]

[fatback]

Nice to have a choice.

My baby is an old Czech solid top, and it seems a good compromise between sound and general resistance to feedback, temperature / humidity changes etc. I think an all solid bass would be going too far for the rough gigging we do.

Go for the Czech laminate, I'd say. It's a cool bass.

Edited March 28, 2013 by fatback

[TheG]

Hi Pete I have recently gone from a laminate bass to a full solid bass (6 months ago) and I love it for various personal reasons. Some people do infact prefer laminate basses for acoustic and wear & tear reasons. So that is going to be your choice in the end. There are so many reasons why one would be preferred over the other that it may not be one single reason and so you end up going with your own personal gut feeling.

I feel myself that if you compare 2 basses side by side in a room it can be difficult to tell differences (within reason) BUT I feel that the best way to test a bass is on a gig with other musicians. (not always possible I know)

Looking at those 2 basses above one is a lot older than the other and will therefore have been "played in" more which can give it more of a natural organic sound. It looks cool as well, from the back.

My experiences of changing from my old bass to my new bass is that I have more consistent notes all the way up the fingerboard rather than the notes becoming deader as you go up. I never really played up that end but now I do a bit more "because I have the choice to do so as it doesn't sound horrible".

When things get loud on stage I used to not be able to hear the notes very well. I just thought it was a volume thing but it seems that now I can still actually hear what notes Im playing even if it gets loud. This means I don't have to thrash around trying to pluck harder and getting nowhere fast therefore less hand fatigue. Thankfully I don't do too many of those kinds of gigs.

The sound of my solid body bass also has more of an organic sound to it too. Organic as in when I play louder it sounds nice and when I play quieter it sounds nice but in a different way. My plywood bass used to have one nice sound when it was plucked hard but thats about it.

I have another laminate bass with a solid top but acoustically it doesn't sound as good as my full laminate or solid body bass. I don't see this as an open and shut comparison though but as a lesson that things aren't that straight forward to compare in that way. I'm planning on seeing what I can do with this bass in the future by way of changing strings etc to see if I can make it more viable for myself as a spare bass.

In the end you need to match the bass with the player whatever that bass ends up being. I tried 40 basses out when buying my new one and only 3 stood out to me as being possibles. It wasn't that the other 37 basses were bad its just they didn't fit with me personally.

I did use to throw my very sturdy plywood bass around (not literally) but now I do tend to be a lot more careful with my solid body just incase.

I spoke to "THE" Dave Holland a few years ago who said to me "it is the player that makes the sound not the bass". He also pointed me in the direction of his bass tech who said he set up a bass and amp on stage for Ron Carter and Rufus Reid, they each played half the gig each. The bass tech guy wasn't in the room at the time of the performance but just outside. He said you would have thought they sounded like 2 completely different basses but when he went in to pack the gear away he noticed the amp setting hadn't been changed from what he set them on before the gig started.

Anyway those are my own personal experiences and may not fit in with others because as I say its a personal thing. Listen to your gut feelings.

This was only supposed to be a quick reply sorry.

[zero9]

IMO the most important factors in getting 'good sound' (subjective) are:

The player
Type of strings
Quality of the set-up
Type of pickup

If all the above are 'sorted', then the type of instrument starts making a difference. As has already been stated, it's down to personal preference. Some laminates can sound as good, if not better than fully carved instruments. A more expensive laminate is probably better than a cheap carved jobby.

Once you start amplifying the instrument, the type of instrument you're using becomes less relevant and a lot of it will be down to the type of pickup and preamp / amp you're using. A more expensive solid top / fully carved instrument may sound 'different', but how much 'better' is going to be very subjective, and may not necessarily translate well or be of benefit in a 'live' situation. If the Czech beauty you've got you're eyes on playes nicely and feels good, Id say, go for it.

Edited April 2, 2013 by zero9

[PaulKing]

If you're amplifying, any acoustic difference in the bass itself starts to make much less difference than your technique, strings, pick up and amplifiers used.
For anything other than orchestral / concert performance that Czech laminate should give you awesome amplified tone ... though I'd recommend Underwood / Bassmax / Shadow / TM / Schatten over Realist.

Markbass gives accurate transparent sound. If your set up is good, it'll sound great thru Markbass. Alternatively, if it sounds crappy, Markbass won't fix it.

[4-string-thing]

That 50's Lam wouldn't be the one that was on ebay a few weeks ago would it? Just up the road from me! I was sorely tempted, but it was a bit over budget and probably too good a bass for me....

[3below]

You are going to have to try it if possible, acoustic and amplified. My solid front laminate back is ok acoustically, no more, no less. Used with Schaller pickup and my usual bass guitar kit I really rate it. The big bonus is being able to play at volume and no feedback issues. Depending what volume you play at any acoustic subtleties from one bass to the next may be easily lost - guitarists and drummers spring to mind.

[Rabbie]

[quote name='PaulKing' timestamp='1364914274' post='2032536']
If you're amplifying, any acoustic difference in the bass itself starts to make much less difference than your technique, strings, pick up and amplifiers used.
For anything other than orchestral / concert performance that Czech laminate should give you awesome amplified tone ... though I'd recommend Underwood / Bassmax / Shadow / TM / Schatten over Realist.

Markbass gives accurate transparent sound. If your set up is good, it'll sound great thru Markbass. Alternatively, if it sounds crappy, Markbass won't fix it.
[/quote]

+ 1 for this and Zero9. Great advice, straight to the point. This is how it is.