Getting a Double Bass sound from an Electric Bass

[Nostromo]

Hi all,

My band are working on some material where the bass parts are originally played/recorded on an upright Acoustic Double Bass. I'm experimenting, sound wise, to try and re-capture something as close as possible to an upright acoustic double bass sound from my electric rig. (Ive been experimenting using mainly my US 75 reissue Jazz Bass my SWR 500 Head and Epifany 3 x 10 Cab).

But, however I set up the tone on the bass, or, the controls on the amp, I'm not finding anything even remotely close to the sound of an Acoustic Upright Double Bass ?

I know that for six string guitar players there are umpteen pedals on the market that will allow an electric guitar to achieve a reasonable emulation of an acoustic guitar sound. And a friend of mine has even got a Telecaster with an acoustic guitar emulator built into it !

Im thinking there must be a pedal for Bass Guitar on the market, like a Boss or something similar, that you can plug an electric bass into to give an output that emulates something close to an acoustic double bass sound ? . . surely someone has had a go at marketing such a product ? . . I cant believe its a new idea ?

Any info greatly appreciated.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited February 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Hollowbody bass(dean,gretsch etc)?

[Doddy]

Check this thread out in Theory and Technique.....

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=84261"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=84261[/url]

I don't think you ever will get an electric bass to sound like an Upright.
The Roland V-Bass system has probably the best Upright effect I've heard so far,but even then
something is missing-It just doesn't sound or feel 'right'.

Edited April 13, 2010 by Doddy

[dannybuoy]

You could also try out one if those miniature Ashbory basses with the rubber strings - they're meant to sound like an upright and it'll be easy to carry around in addition to your other gear since it's about the size of a violin!

[derrenleepoole]

Rob Allen basses are perhaps one of the best sounding acoustic-esq bass guitars, but they ain't cheap but do sound lush - jump to 2:15 to hear the bass solo:



The cheaper alternative, and often referred to as the poor man's Rob Allen, is a Godin bass. Basically though, any electric bass will never sound exactly like an upright bass due to the differences in physical shape etc. But, if you get a fretless bass, some nice flatwounds, turn all the mids off your amp and play over the neck you can get somewhere close. The Ashbory system is good as well, but it's so short scale that intonation with such thick strings that break often is a bit of a turn off for me.

Edited April 14, 2010 by derrenleepoole

[cheddatom]

I can get half way there just by playing with my right hand over the last few frets of the fret board.

[geoffbassist]

Palm mute.

[pete.young]

+1 for the Roland V-Bass.

Consolation prize, try and find something with a Piezo bridge. I have a Dean B2 with one of these, and while it doesn't sound like an upright bass, it does make a nice woody quasi-acoustic noise.

Edited April 17, 2010 by pete.young

[LukeFRC]

I got my P bass sounding quite good the other day. On my H&K amp i boosted the top and cut all the mid to the bottom. i then wove a sock around the strings at the bridge and played at the end of the neck. With a fretless and flats it would sound reasonbly convincing i think. socks. the way forward

[MoonBassAlpha]

A tiny amount of very short reverb mixed 50-50ish helps get the resonance too!

[fretmeister]

Maybe roll of the lows, bit more upper mids, bit of sponge under the strings at the bridge, flats.

Have you got a bass with piezo pickups in the bridge? That would help too

[BigBeatNut]

[quote name='derrenleepoole' post='805709' date='Apr 14 2010, 08:56 AM']Rob Allen basses are perhaps one of the best sounding acoustic-esq bass guitars, but they ain't cheap but do sound lush - jump to 2:15 to hear the bass solo:

The cheaper alternative, and often referred to as the poor man's Rob Allen, is a Godin bass. Basically though, any electric bass will never sound exactly like an upright bass due to the differences in physical shape etc. But, if you get a fretless bass, some nice flatwounds, turn all the mids off your amp and play over the neck you can get somewhere close. The Ashbory system is good as well, but it's so short scale that intonation with such thick strings that break often is a bit of a turn off for me.[/quote]
I'll second the Rob Allen recommedation. 'BG that sounds like URB' was my holy grail for a while. I've stopped looking now I have my Rob Allen Deep 5, but that's not because I've found my holy grail, it's because the Deep 5 is, I think, as close as I'll ever get (or possibly as close as anyone will ever get).

I have a friend who said he'd make a pedal for me that did the job (and I suspect he'd do as good a job as anyone, given he's had a long career in music synthesis and electronics for sound engineering ... AND he did some research by extensively miking up an upright) but I've not chased him on it ... the last thing I heard was that the prototype he produced was causing a stir with local bassists ... I must find out how far he got with the idea.

Andy

[Ghost_Bass]

A little bit of foam stuked betwen the strings and the bridge will do the trick without spending more money in pedals or basses. If you want a permanent on/off solution take a look at this thing:
[url="http://www.bassmute.com/"]http://www.bassmute.com/[/url]

[tauzero]

The real defining difference between an acoustic DB and an EUB is that tallboy-sized box at the end of the sticky-out bit. What you need to do to get that sound is apply a fairly thick reverb with a short decay. Depending on what strings you've got on, you also might need to cut the treble too.

[OutToPlayJazz]

On most electric basses, you can get the db effect by playing over the end of the fingerboard and backing off the tone control. Add flatwounds for full effect.

[funkle]

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='828341' date='May 5 2010, 12:34 PM']A little bit of foam stuked betwen the strings and the bridge will do the trick without spending more money in pedals or basses. If you want a permanent on/off solution take a look at this thing:
[url="http://www.bassmute.com/"]http://www.bassmute.com/[/url][/quote]

I've had one of these lying around for a while (had it for about 5 years I think, got it when the exchange rate was decent, so wasn't expensive at the time), and after hitting a lot of music shops trying out acoustic and semi-acoustic electric basses and not finding the right sound/feel from different instruments, I remembered this device and stuck it on my Squier. I am satisfied with the results.

It ain't a double bass, but it gets some of the way there....and easier than buying another instrument!

Edit: For my bass, the best sound for 'acoustic' is rolling off the tone knob most off the way, and rolling down both volumes to around 50-70%. I don't think of the knobs on the Jazz as volumes, really more 3 tone knobs...

Edited June 26, 2010 by funkle

[xgsjx]

Funny how this topic's came back to the top page not long after me looking at [url="http://www.shukerguitars.co.uk/art.htm"]These[/url] !

[redstriper]

[quote name='funkle' post='878286' date='Jun 26 2010, 05:27 PM']I don't think of the knobs on the Jazz as volumes, really more 3 tone knobs...[/quote]

I absolutely agree and I only realised this fact recently after 30 years of having the volumes either full on or off - doh !

[funkle]

[quote name='redstriper' post='878536' date='Jun 27 2010, 12:26 AM']I absolutely agree and I only realised this fact recently after 30 years of having the volumes either full on or off - doh ![/quote]

I only realised it this year. Made the same mistake. Also d'oh!

The true power of passive single coils....

I still can't find a jazz humbucker I get on with...

[cheddatom]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='831252' date='May 8 2010, 10:12 AM']On most electric basses, you can get the db effect by playing over the end of the fingerboard and backing off the tone control. Add flatwounds for full effect. [/quote]

yeh, it's weird no-one else has mentioned this, it really does work.

[Nostromo]

[quote name='BigBeatNut' post='827476' date='May 4 2010, 02:21 PM']I have a friend who said he'd make a pedal for me that did the job (and I suspect he'd do as good a job as anyone, given he's had a long career in music synthesis and electronics for sound engineering ... AND he did some research by extensively miking up an upright) but I've not chased him on it ... the last thing I heard was that the prototype he produced was causing a stir with local bassists ... I must find out how far he got with the idea.

Andy[/quote]


Any News from your friend on that Pedal andy ?

Cheers,

[pantherairsoft]

I get a double-bass-esque tone from my fretless, but rolling to the neck pickup only, boosting the mids a tiny bit and rolling off the bass about 10%, then I pluck the strings around the 12th fret and play only between the 1st and 7th frets (on y 6 string I can get away with not needing to go far down the neck).

Te tone is closer to a double bass than my friends Dean Pace is. Its still not a true upright sound, but it does sound more like an upright than a traditional electric fretless.

[Nostromo]

[quote name='BigBeatNut' post='827476' date='May 4 2010, 02:21 PM']I have a friend who said he'd make a pedal for me that did the job (and I suspect he'd do as good a job as anyone, given he's had a long career in music synthesis and electronics for sound engineering ... AND he did some research by extensively miking up an upright) but I've not chased him on it ... the last thing I heard was that the prototype he produced was causing a stir with local bassists ... I must find out how far he got with the idea.

Andy[/quote]


Any news on your pals Acoustic Bass emulation pedal Andy . . . . . . I'm sure there's a markert for it ! . . . . . . .

Cheers,

[Walker]

Just tried my Kala Ubass with a Boss AC-3 (in piezo mode) through my PJ Suitcase. I think my personal search for the UB sound is over. I'll try and record it when I get back from Greenman.