Learning/playing/buying an upright bass

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rickson Gracie
  • Start date Start date
R

Rickson Gracie

New member
Ive been playing electric bass for sometime now and im very intrigued by upright bass like in the old elvis songs and even some rockabilly.

i looked online and saw some cheaper 3/4 scale and smaller models. will these give me a similar tone?

is upright bass very hard to learn and play?

thanks
 
If you play bass it can be easy to play some simple stuff, but like any instrument it will take some commitment to get really good at it.

I've rented a student bass before - it was a lot of fun. It could be a way for you to see if you wanna stick with it. They'll typically give you a 3/4 size "student" model (cheap, what else?), which is a type of instrument that can be had for under $1000. That should also give you an idea if you want to go with that quality (to me, if I wanted it for rockabilly, etc. it would be acceptable).

Be prepared to have blisters on your plucking fingers and also pain in your fretting wrist.

And do you have a car to transport it?

P.S. From what I gathered 3/4 is pretty much the "standard" size and 4/4 is for bigger players.

P.S. Volume-wise you'll probably want to mic it or use a transducer to amplify it, even if the drummer is playing with brushes (it depends). On the plus size, with a transducer even a cheap instrument can sound good.
 
Rickson Gracie said:
Ive been playing electric bass for sometime now and im very intrigued by upright bass like in the old elvis songs and even some rockabilly.

i looked online and saw some cheaper 3/4 scale and smaller models. will these give me a similar tone?

is upright bass very hard to learn and play?

thanks
Click to expand...


If you can handle a fretless bass you can handle an upright, but they are a pretty good workout to play. The only way you are4 going to know how one sounds is to play it. They have wood ones and fiberglass ones too. They even have carbon fiber ones:D

I have played them several times. It would take quite a while to build up the stamina to play a set of faster paced songs.

Too much work for me:D

F.S.
 
Acoustic bass is very cool in my book; but it may be better, assuming you are going for the sound (rather than the visual impact) to purchase any number of bass fx pedals that offer acoustic bass options. They are really quite convincing aurally - but not perhaps optically.

What are you going for?

K.
 
I play in an acoustic band with an Upright bass player and like it's been stated-you will need a vehicle that can accomodate the bass, its a lot like traveling with a Grandfather clock-luckily it's not that heavy!
I've played it a bit and the scale seems quite a bit longer that electric bass-I really had to stretch for the standard root and 5th for bluegrass songs. The idea of renting one would be the best for giving it a try and to see if it is the instrument for you.
 
My band plays psychobilly and my wife, Lisafurr, is the bass player. She found rockabillybass.com to be a big help.
Now we got TWO big ass basses to haul around.
Avoid the Fishman BP 100 and get a K&K Bass Master Rockabilly Plus. Trust me on this. It is THE standard fer 'billy bands.
 
Anfontan said:
I play in an acoustic band with an Upright bass player and like it's been stated-you will need a vehicle that can accomodate the bass, its a lot like traveling with a Grandfather clock-luckily it's not that heavy!
I've played it a bit and the scale seems quite a bit longer that electric bass-I really had to stretch for the standard root and 5th for bluegrass songs. The idea of renting one would be the best for giving it a try and to see if it is the instrument for you.
Click to expand...
I read several years ago on a bass forum how someone transports his 3/4 bass in a Nissan Sentra. He gave directions for how to get it in and out (without removing seats or other equipment.) :)

Mine easily fits in my Scion xB.

A 3/4 bass has about a 41" scale length, so that will take some getting used to. The strings are under more tension, and generally, depending on your setup, higher off the fingerboard, so you need to develop some left hand and arm muscles. There are no frets, of course, so intonation can be a problem. You have to pull a lot harder with your right hand to get volume. Strings cost $100 to $200 a set, but they last a lot longer. It can be bowed.

I agree that you need to rent or borrow one for awhile until you know if you're committed. By then, you should have an idea of what to look for when you try them out for purchase.
 
Dog house

Upright bass will challenge your ability to play with your ear. Fingering is different, the longer scale of a full sized upright while having to be more precise to get the correct pitch may cause swooping up to the pitch. My buddy has an electric upright similar to the one Tony Levin uses with Peter Gabriel. These are basically a plank, just the fingerboard. They amplify well fit into a long rifle case, can be worn with a strap or mount on a stand and transport easily. The Dog House (Gary Peacocks name for his bass) takes up a ton of room in your car, van, buss, stage or studio. They feedback at low volume and you end up trying to defeat all their acoustic properties just to get a tone.
 
dogonjon said:
Upright bass will challenge your ability to play with your ear.
Click to expand...
for sure!

i've played with my ear

till it was bloody

and it still sounded like ass


maybe i need

calluses on my ear

instead of my fingers



plus, it's hard to

play with your ear

whilst playing bass :D
 
3/4 is the standard size for upright bass. Full sized instruments are rarely used outside of classical music.

For rock and rockabilly, laminated construction is actually preferred by many players. Kay and King are popular brand names. You can probably find a Kay bass used for less than $1K. Spend the money to get a good setup. It will be all out if whack when you get it. K&K makes a very good pickup system at a reasonable price.

Get a bow and learn to use it. It's the only good way to dial in your intonation. It can be an inexpensive one. You aren't likely to perform with it.

I played an upright in a country band for a while. I was terrible but nobody cared. It was tons of fun.
 
Milnoque said:
3/4 is the standard size for upright bass. Full sized instruments are rarely used outside of classical music.

For rock and rockabilly, laminated construction is actually preferred by many players. Kay and King are popular brand names. You can probably find a Kay bass used for less than $1K. Spend the money to get a good setup. It will be all out if whack when you get it. K&K makes a very good pickup system at a reasonable price.

Get a bow and learn to use it. It's the only good way to dial in your intonation. It can be an inexpensive one. You aren't likely to perform with it.

I played an upright in a country band for a while. I was terrible but nobody cared. It was tons of fun.
Click to expand...


thanks - would it be an ok idea to get a 1/2 scale rather than a 3/4 to save some room and make it easier to transport?

do you record with the pickup system as well? if not what mic setup would u use?

ive seen a lot of basses on ebay for around $500. should i consider one of those?
 
I don't recommend th 1/2 scale. They don't project well the strings are kinda floppy at pitch and they have no resale value. The cheap chinese ones are hard to keep in tune and are made from wood that could have been seasoned better. As a result they don't stay adjusted with changes in atmospheric conditions. If you got one of these to learn on and mostly kept it climate controlled and humidified it could serve it's purpose. You might want to keep an eye out for a school that's dropping it's band program and get one of their beat all to hell warhorses for next to nothing like a friend of mine did.

Never tried to record one so I can't help you there. Someone on this board will know.
 
Rickson Gracie said:
thanks - would it be an ok idea to get a 1/2 scale rather than a 3/4 to save some room and make it easier to transport?

do you record with the pickup system as well? if not what mic setup would u use?

ive seen a lot of basses on ebay for around $500. should i consider one of those?
Click to expand...

Whatever you do, DO NOT be tempted by $500 Ebay basses. Get a 3/4 bass.

I am a professional double bass player of 20+ years. There is no way around spending at least $1500 on a playable instrument (unless you get lucky finding a used one cheap). There are some great reputable dealers that will hook you up with a great starter bass. Understand this: A cheap bass will be difficult to play, require additional money to keep in playing condition, and you will not be able to sell it for what you have in it. A decent bass from a reputable luthier will play well, not cost additional money, and probably retain most of its value - or appreciate in value.

A great source for info is talkbass.com. Check out the newbie links in the double bass forum.

You will probably need a pick up for live sound. It takes some years of playing to get a big enough sound to go with just a mic. I stopped using a pick up, and I go with just a mic (or no amplification if it's a small enough gig). It's great to be able to do that - but it takes some effort to get there.

For recording, there are probably numerous threads here about what mics work well. Many prefer good LDC's. Some like ribbons. I tend to like small omni mics. Depends on the situation.
 
The 20+ year veteran is right, get something reasonable. If your commitment goes south you can sell it and recoup! If it waxes and you stay enthusiastic, you have a decent axe.

Fingering is huge- don't try to play it like you play your electric, it's an entirely different way of thinking about your fingers on the board. It'll take some time and focus to get into new patterns/habits...

Now, I don't think that's right about pain in your wrist. Pain is bad when it comes to playing- muscle soreness is alright if it's the right muscles, but not pain- stop if it hurts. If it hurts then you're doing something that needs to be straightened out, I think.

Talkbass is a good place to go, yep- and stop listening to me- I'm a 30+ year bass player but a newbie at upright. I just wanted to really say those two things- about a good instrument and that pain bit... no offense to anyone though.
 
Samuel Shen makes about the only chinese bass worth a crap, and they can set them up in house to play like butter (house tech is a great player himself) even their lowest end bass sounds a head and shoulders above anything else in the market, and while at a list of almost $2000 the sound is better than anything I have heard.

Now one big thing to look for is an ebony board anything else other than maybe rosewood will wear out or because of the sweat you put into them start to swell up and buzz the strings. Make sure it has a REAL ebony board.

Also most of the cheep basses out there have what is know as "routed and packed" neck joints where they route a channel in the neck block then they stick the neck in there and then pack the space with epoxy! While they will make that hold up almost as long as the warranty I have noticed that the nick can and WILL break loose and need to be reset, which will mean most likely spending more money than the bass cost you to get it right again.... or else just buying another bass.

Shen basses have a true dovetail joint and to my knowledge not many need resetting because they are built the proper way for something with that much tension on it.

I have no connections with the maker or any financial interest at all, only that I know when I play the one at a shop here in town, my hand never hurts after and I never lack volume in my bass lines, also a set of strings with the right flex in them will REALLY make it a lot less pain on your plucking hand.
 
i remember seeing one of the music store websites offering unfinished 3/4 basses for $500 or $600 - that'd be great for a rockabilly outfit, cuz you could spray-paint it or do whatever kind of design/finish on it.

sorry, i don't remember the site - it wasn't a "big one" - i just remember searching for upright basses.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top