Bass guitar with a double bass sound???

[saxobass]

Arthritis forces me away from my upright. I`d like the same sort of sound from, presumably, a bass guitar with some acoustic properties like a Godin or a Viellette. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Happy Jack]

Buy a vintage Hofner?

[dannybuoy]

Ashbory?

[Cat Burrito]

Any classic bass fitted with Rotosound TruBass strings. They are like double bass strings for an electric bass. I have some on a P-bass and have had several comments about them (even someone coming in from the other room as they thought it was a double bass).

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='681535' date='Dec 11 2009, 05:38 PM']Any classic bass fitted with Rotosound TruBass strings. They are like double bass strings for an electric bass. I have some on a P-bass and have had several comments about them (even someone coming in from the other room as they thought it was a double bass).[/quote]

Sound clips?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

My Danelectro longhorn does it best for me - My Ashborys can be made to sound like an upright as well, but a lot of people don't like 'em.

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' post='681545' date='Dec 11 2009, 05:48 PM']Sound clips?[/quote]

I have no clips of me and YouTube has one video which is a bit rubbish and takes 1.38 for the guy to even start playing

Edited December 11, 2009 by BurritoBass

[JHBASS]

The Ibanez AFB-200 ( i think thats the fully semi-acoustic model)..with as mentioned above, a set of Rotosound Tru Bass 88's. Changed the sound of the bass amazingly. The strings give the bass either a short sustained thump, or mellow tones...really worth the £25 extra to replace the roundwounds as supplied with the bass.

Hope I helped!

[chris_b]

How wealthy are you? Very? Try a Rob Allen bass.

[thisnameistaken]

My old Godin Acoustibass fretless sounded more like a double bass than a fretless bass IMO, even with Rotos roundwounds on it. If you get a Godin A4 (the newer version, £749 new according to Google) stick flats on it and pick up by the fingerboard I reckon that's about as close as you'll get.

Definitely go out and try one if you can find one near you. One issue with them though: They don't balance well on a strap at all, so if you've already got grumpy joints you'll probably want to play it sitting down.

[Pete1967]

[quote name='dannybuoy' post='681525' date='Dec 11 2009, 05:23 PM']Ashbory?[/quote]
+1 great tone, but odd...

[Dom in Dorset]

I built myself an acoustic fretless with fribre glass body partly inspired by a Godin guitar.
There is a sound clip here : [url="http://www.myspace.com/dominicallanbagpipes"]http://www.myspace.com/dominicallanbagpipes[/url]
It's the last track on the media player, you have to scroll the tracks down to find it.
At that time I was using new , roundwound, cheap strings, since then I've put Picato black nylon flats on (the guy in the video looks like he's using something similar). IMO the black nylons have a less DB like sound , but they are far nicer to play.
This bass is now my main instrument. I tend to play nearer the bridge for a more focused tone , but the neck end still has a more DB feel.

Edited December 14, 2009 by Dom in Somerset

[OutToPlayJazz]

Most electric basses will do a fairly good facsimilie of an upright if you play over the end of the fingerboard, but my personal recommendation would be a Stingray with the piezo bridge. Very convincing & adaptable, too. It's like having two basses in one.

[Kiwi]

How about a double bass that can be played like a bass guitar?

My recommendation would be an NS electric cello, it has a 34" scale, comes with a shoulder strap and is small enough to be played like a bass guitar. I have a friend with one and its every bit as good as the electric uprights but in a more portable package.



[url="http://www.nedsteinberger.com/instruments/cello.php"]http://www.nedsteinberger.com/instruments/cello.php[/url]

Oh yes, it comes in 4, 5 and 6 string versions too!

[Kiwi]

Also found they do a bass version of the cello... ...or is that a cello version of the bass?



[url="http://www.nedsteinberger.com/instruments/omnibass.php"]http://www.nedsteinberger.com/instruments/omnibass.php[/url]

Anyway, 34" scale also.

[Happy Jack]

That's a fascinating instrument CK. Have you played it? That high-arched fingerboard looks like a bit of a monster to get used to ...

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='681941' date='Dec 12 2009, 09:22 AM']Most electric basses will do a fairly good facsimilie of an upright if you play over the end of the fingerboard[/quote]
+1... in the heat of a gig, you can carry off by playing over the neck. Flats will help.

[Jacqueslemac]

What about the Variax bass?

[bh2]

Hmm... some interesting options here... I used to get a nice upright sound from my SB1000 if I fingered over the board, just over the heel of the neck. Roundwounds of course.

[roigmarole]

[url="http://www.hotwire-bass.de/index_en.htm"]Click[/url], then look for 'Basses', then 'Double Bass' (you cannot copy the exact link).

Hotwire, however, has this bass called double bass. they wanted to emulate a doublebass sound. there are some soundclips, which don't sound very uprightish to me. but it's a very interesting bass, if you ask me. So if you got enough money, send them an email and they will send you the bass for free (well, you'll have to pay the shipping), so you can test it.


And, I have to agree to the previous posts: rotosound nylons!!!!! great strings, but huge gauge, so you probably have to modify your nut.

[chris_b]

You might get an approximate double bass sound out of any bass guitar by leaving the treble and mid controls flat, turning the bass up and putting a piece of foam under the strings by the bridge.

[Spoombung]

[quote name='chris_b' post='681680' date='Dec 11 2009, 08:28 PM']How wealthy are you? Very? Try a Rob Allen bass.[/quote]


+1

Or a Kinal compact bass:



[i]Very[/i] convincing

Edited December 12, 2009 by Spoombung

[Rich]

Tune WoodBass, if you can find one.

[matski]

How about a Takamine TB10 - it looks like it could fit your needs...

www.takamine.com/?fa=detail&mid=1818&sid=172

[Kiwi]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='682001' date='Dec 12 2009, 11:23 AM']That's a fascinating instrument CK. Have you played it? That high-arched fingerboard looks like a bit of a monster to get used to ...[/quote]
I played it acoustically as he was packing up after a gig at the time. The fingerboard was definitely different and the radius meant that someone who looked at their neck all night might find seeing the G string a bit of a challenge. It was a very versatile instrument though.