Bass advice

[cemaes]

Hi all,

This is my first posting. Has anyone out there ever played with a group of strings - ie violin, cellos. I'm playing with a group of cellos at the moment and am not happy with the sound of my bass with those instruments. I'm using an older fretless Bass Collection. It's very comfortable to play, but the sound isn't right. I wonder about changing pickups, or looking for another bass altogether. The sound needs to be very centered on the note, so no "wah" of any kind. Any advice?

Edited October 2, 2013 by cemaes

[Machines]

Raise your action and get flats is my advice.

[cemaes]

Thanks, but have already had flats on, and they were worse than the groundwounds I have on now. Haven't tried raising the action though....

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Have you thought about the amplification you are using ?

[Lfalex v1.1]

[quote name='cemaes' timestamp='1380719496' post='2229473'] The sound needs to be very centered on the note, so no "wah" of any kind. Any advice?
[/quote]

Perhaps a fretted instrument? Or is that a no-go area with all the other fretless instruments?

[Machines]

Raising the action should minimise how much string vibrates on th fretboard which usually dictates how much fretless 'mwah' is heard. Also what about a mute ?

[xilddx]

[quote name='cemaes' timestamp='1380719496' post='2229473']
Hi all,

This is my first posting. Has anyone out there ever played with a group of strings - ie violin, cellos. I'm playing with a group of cellos at the moment and am not happy with the sound of my bass with those instruments. I'm using an older fretless Bass Collection. It's very comfortable to play, but the sound isn't right. I wonder about changing pickups, or looking for another bass altogether. The sound needs to be very centered on the note, so no "wah" of any kind. Any advice?
[/quote]

Welcome. Thank you for spelling 'advice' correctly

I play in a weird pop band with violins. I used a fretted Fender Jazz through a POD X3 LIVE. I use the volume pedal a lot to get a cello-like attack in various parts of the songs that I feel merit that kind of sound.

A new bass or new pups won't help you I don't think.

Can you explain why you want the particular sound you have in your head?

[Pete1967]

I spent nigh on 15 years doing pit work for musicals, with all kinds of band combinations. Like all bass players I experimented with kit (still do ) and ended up with a sound that seemed to work well in a quasi orchestral situation - at least the MD's seemed to like it!!. The secret seemed to be that the tone needed to be 'woody', 'organic' and 'polite' to blend with the other strings, but defined enough to punch through and give them something to sit on. My 'golden' combination was a Warwick Corvette, fretted and used passive with nickel plated stings played through 2x10 + 1x15 Eden Nemesis amp (which I still use to this day) with 3db of lift at 500k and 50k and 3db of cut at 250k, but otherwise flat. A smidge of compression - 2:1 with a fast attack and slowish release just to even the bumps out a bit. Like the post above I used a Yammy volume pedal (paired with a Boss O/D stomp for when the moment was right!). I even did Westside Story on this setup because there wasn't room in the pit for a DB. Personally I found fretless to be too indistinct and had a tendency to get lost in the cacophony.

The rest as they say, is in the fingers.

Just my tuppence worth.

P

[cemaes]

Hi everyone, [quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' timestamp='1380726611' post='2229621'] Have you thought about the amplification you are using ? [/quote]
I'm using a Markbass Minimark.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1380728456' post='2229673'] Perhaps a fretted instrument? Or is that a no-go area with all the other fretless instruments? [/quote]
It's a no-go I'm afraid. Intonation needs to be much more precise with the cellos.

[quote name='Machines' timestamp='1380729047' post='2229685'] Raising the action should minimise how much string vibrates on th fretboard which usually dictates how much fretless 'mwah' is heard. Also what about a mute ? [/quote]
I'll certainly give this a go, and see what happens.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1380729199' post='2229686'] Welcome. Thank you for spelling 'advice' correctly I play in a weird pop band with violins. I used a fretted Fender Jazz through a POD X3 LIVE. I use the volume pedal a lot to get a cello-like attack in various parts of the songs that I feel merit that kind of sound. A new bass or new pups won't help you I don't think. Can you explain why you want the particular sound you have in your head? [/quote]
This sounds interesting, and I'll look into it. The sound I have in my head needs to blend more with the cellos, that's why a more "centered" note. Maybe this is difficult to achieve on a fretless?

Thanks everyone!

[cemaes]

[quote name='Pete1967' timestamp='1380748806' post='2230165'] I spent nigh on 15 years doing pit work for musicals, with all kinds of band combinations. Like all bass players I experimented with kit (still do ) and ended up with a sound that seemed to work well in a quasi orchestral situation - at least the MD's seemed to like it!!. The secret seemed to be that the tone needed to be 'woody', 'organic' and 'polite' to blend with the other strings, but defined enough to punch through and give them something to sit on. My 'golden' combination was a Warwick Corvette, fretted and used passive with nickel plated stings played through 2x10 + 1x15 Eden Nemesis amp (which I still use to this day) with 3db of lift at 500k and 50k and 3db of cut at 250k, but otherwise flat. A smidge of compression - 2:1 with a fast attack and slowish release just to even the bumps out a bit. Like the post above I used a Yammy volume pedal (paired with a Boss O/D stomp for when the moment was right!). I even did Westside Story on this setup because there wasn't room in the pit for a DB. Personally I found fretless to be too indistinct and had a tendency to get lost in the cacophony. The rest as they say, is in the fingers. Just my tuppence worth. P [/quote]
Thanks for all this, this sounds very interesting. I get your point about the frettless getting lost in a pit band, but we're doing chamber music I suppose. I'll look further at your suggestions though! Thanks again.