EUB for silent practice

[Tim Pharoah]

I read that some EUBs have headphone sockets. Does this mean that you just plug in the headphones and play? What powers the headphones? Is it a battery in the EUB or is some other device needed to hear the bass through the headphones? Excuse my ignorance but I have never seen or played a EUB. Also, any recommendations on which EUB would be suitable for such silent practice would be very welcome.

Thanks

Tim

 

[Rosie C]

 

I had one of the Gear4Music EUBs and from memory it had a 9v battery inside. But I found it a poor substitute for a double bass - lacking a proper body I couldn't follow the technique my teacher encouraged of using forearm muscles to 'fret' (stop) the strings. 

 

[Burns-bass]

To answer your first question, the Yamaha Silent Basses do have a headphone socket so you can plug headphones into them.

 

The others will require some sort of pre-amp. Or you can use an amp plug or something like the WaZa air.

 

Do you want something you can bow or something you can play with your fingers?

 

The Silent Basses, MK basses, Eminence bass and Kolstein are best for bowing (although none is like a double bass).

 

If it’s playing pizzicato, then any would be ok. You’ll need to find one with a body brace that works for you.

 

If you want to transfer what you know to DB, then choose an EUB with the appropriate scale. (A 34” scale like the Ibanez or some Wav basses is little better then electric bass practice).

 

 

[Grahambythesea]

I have a NS NXT which is passive and to listen through headphones I use a Blackstar Headphone amp. I believe the later models are now active so may be ok to plug in the headphones direct.

[Beedster]

For silent practice on an instrument that feels close to an upright to play the Yamaha SLB-100 is hard to beat 

[simonlittle]

On 23/04/2025 at 18:56, Burns-bass said:

To answer your first question, the Yamaha Silent Basses do have a headphone socket so you can plug headphones into them.

Only the Yamaha SLB100 has the headphone socket. With the SLB200 or SLB300 you’d need something in between (headphone amp, audio interface etc). 
I play an SLB300 and it’s great for silent practice both arco and pizz. Usually plug in through my audio interface. Scale and feel matches my acoustic upright perfectly so everything is directly transferable. 

[Burns-bass]

6 hours ago, simonlittle said:

Only the Yamaha SLB100 has the headphone socket. With the SLB200 or SLB300 you’d need something in between (headphone amp, audio interface etc). 
I play an SLB300 and it’s great for silent practice both arco and pizz. Usually plug in through my audio interface. Scale and feel matches my acoustic upright perfectly so everything is directly transferable. 

Interesting!

 

I assumed the whole point of the silent bass was you could plug headphones into it. Assumed it was standard across all models.

 

I had an SLB200 actually, but I only ever played it through an amp.

 

I don’t doubt the SLB300 is great, but I could never justify the cost. 

 

 

[Tim Pharoah]

Thanks for these insights, really helpful.

Tim

[Beedster]

4 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

Interesting!

 

I assumed the whole point of the silent bass was you could plug headphones into it. Assumed it was standard across all models.

 

I had an SLB200 actually, but I only ever played it through an amp.

 

I don’t doubt the SLB300 is great, but I could never justify the cost. 

 

 

The 100 was designed with orchestral players in mind, the 200 and 300 more with gigging/travelling jazzers and pit players front and centre. The 100 always required a bridge or mag PUP to work live as the piezo/pre were optimised for headphone use and sounded awful amplified, the latter models overcame this 👍