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Bass, electric bass and EUB (or EDB)?
25 December 2010
Been thinking a lot about bass lately. Not the fish, but rather the musical instrument. I want to play one, at least a lot better than I can now.
Back in the mid-60s, I was in a garage band. They already had two guitarists, so I sort-of played bass, but I played it on the low strings of my six-string electric guitar (a Kent, as I recall). I went on to play rhythm guitar in another band, and later a rather mediocre lead in yet a third band, neither of which required a different instrument. Over the decades, I played guitar, with some added harmonica, sitar, autoharp, dulcimer and even a little keyboard, but didn't return to bass until the mid 1980s.
It was 20 years after I first started in that first band that I obtained a bass guitar and taught myself some of the fundamentals that I had only poorly appreciated on the regular guitar. Fun, and nice to be able to complement other music, but bass was never a focus for me, more something I appreciated in the background. I usually brought it out at jams when there were already more than enough guitars in play. Since it was electric and almost everyone else I jammed with only played an acoustic instrument, I tended to play one of my acoustic guitars instead.
Before we moved up here, I had a room full of musical instruments, including a nice, short-scale Supra bass, that I really enjoyed playing. Sold it 20+ years ago to lessen the load before moving, and have never really considered the bass again for the past two decades. Probably should have kept it.
This past summer I got a Kala U-bass: a 20" scale semi-acoustic ukulele bass, tuned in the traditional E-A-D-G style. Fun, and a bit quirky with fat strings. Playable, nice woody sound, but different. That got me interested in playing (and more properly learning) bass again. That also started me looking into various types of bass.
The U-bass is fun (and enjoyed by many pro bass players, even, apparently, featured on the recent tour with Simon and Garfunkel) but it didn't really light my fire. Instead, it kindled an interest in other bass instruments. My U-bass is currently for sale on consignment at Blue Mountain Music, while I search for a different type of bass to work with.
Bass represents a double challenge, because for almost three years I've been working with ukulele scales, developing my skills on a much shorter neck than the guitars I used to play. Bass, however, goes in the opposite direction, with much longer scales - double or more the length of my tenor ukes.
I've been bouncing back and forth between several types of bass instruments, all of them electric or partially so, each one quite different in style and playing technique.
One is an electric/acoustic bass. This is essentially a large-body acoustic guitar strung with bass strings, relatively quiet, with a pickup for amplified play. The advantages are that it's relatively cheap and semi-acoustic, so I can practice without an amp. These instruments are available locally in the $320-$400 range. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain features one of these instruments. A bit clumsy to lug around.
Another is the electric upright bass (EUB) - a fretless electric bass, usually with a flat fingerboard, essentially an electric bass neck with a stand (or tripod) but not a body. The advantages of this are small size, ease of transport, and cool looks. Dean Pace and Ergo are among the makers of these instruments. Prices range from $400 (for a used Dean Pace) to $700 and then steeply upwards, plus shipping (and any taxes the government applies). The flat fingerboard means they're not suitable for bowed playing. Usually scaled like a solid-body electric bass.
The next step (up?) is the electric double bass (EDB) made by companies like Stagg and Palatino. These include radiused (curved) necks (because they're fretless, you can't call them fretboards... fingerboards? I suppose...) to allow bowed playing, longer scales and ergonomic design to simulate upright (double) bass, but a much reduced body (and scale length). Not at all what I'm accustomed to, but something I'd like to learn (like playing with a bow).
A hybrid instrument that sits between modern and traditional, it's the one in the picture to the left (Stagg). This would introduce me to more typical upright-style playing but on a 3/4 scale. I plan to drive to Barrie next week to look at one in a music shop down there. I really like the look of these.
The final type is the custom Kona Walking Bass, a three-stringed (nylon) instrument made in Hawaii. It's basically a stick with tuners and a piezo pickup. Pretty funky looking, and also fretless. Has a retractable peg that acts as a stand. Priced at $500 plus shipping (and taxes). Advantages are size, ease of transport. The disadvantage is, as I see it, that it only has three strings and they're tuned G-D-B (open G chord, or 'slack' tuning). This makes it tougher to develop any skills that can be applied to a regular bass, although it might make it easier to play along with ukuleles.
Of course, there is also the electric bass like the Fender. I haven't really been giving these much thought because I wanted to go in a different direction, but I can't rule them out.
Fretless bass is a challenge to me. I've played fretted instruments for 45 or so years, from guitar to sitar to ukulele. Developing the muscle-memory for fretless play represents a steep learning curve. I understand the basics of play, just have never tried to make it happen. The acoustic bass is fretted, but all of the rest are fretless. Fortunately, they also have markers on the side of the fingerboard to indicate fret positions. I might even apply markers on the front to help aid me, if I choose one.
Most of these I'd have to buy online, sight unseen. No chance to test them, to play with them, see how they suited me. So it's a big decision, not made easily, and any choice has to fall within my rather strict budget (dictated in great part by what I can sell on Paypal and the sale of my three instruments currently on consignment at BMM). Something to think about, read online reviews, read bass forums where their merits are debated, ask other musicians about them, and watch YouTube videos of musicians using these various types.
Back in the mid-60s, I was in a garage band. They already had two guitarists, so I sort-of played bass, but I played it on the low strings of my six-string electric guitar (a Kent, as I recall). I went on to play rhythm guitar in another band, and later a rather mediocre lead in yet a third band, neither of which required a different instrument. Over the decades, I played guitar, with some added harmonica, sitar, autoharp, dulcimer and even a little keyboard, but didn't return to bass until the mid 1980s.
It was 20 years after I first started in that first band that I obtained a bass guitar and taught myself some of the fundamentals that I had only poorly appreciated on the regular guitar. Fun, and nice to be able to complement other music, but bass was never a focus for me, more something I appreciated in the background. I usually brought it out at jams when there were already more than enough guitars in play. Since it was electric and almost everyone else I jammed with only played an acoustic instrument, I tended to play one of my acoustic guitars instead.
This past summer I got a Kala U-bass: a 20" scale semi-acoustic ukulele bass, tuned in the traditional E-A-D-G style. Fun, and a bit quirky with fat strings. Playable, nice woody sound, but different. That got me interested in playing (and more properly learning) bass again. That also started me looking into various types of bass.
The U-bass is fun (and enjoyed by many pro bass players, even, apparently, featured on the recent tour with Simon and Garfunkel) but it didn't really light my fire. Instead, it kindled an interest in other bass instruments. My U-bass is currently for sale on consignment at Blue Mountain Music, while I search for a different type of bass to work with.
Bass represents a double challenge, because for almost three years I've been working with ukulele scales, developing my skills on a much shorter neck than the guitars I used to play. Bass, however, goes in the opposite direction, with much longer scales - double or more the length of my tenor ukes.
I've been bouncing back and forth between several types of bass instruments, all of them electric or partially so, each one quite different in style and playing technique.
One is an electric/acoustic bass. This is essentially a large-body acoustic guitar strung with bass strings, relatively quiet, with a pickup for amplified play. The advantages are that it's relatively cheap and semi-acoustic, so I can practice without an amp. These instruments are available locally in the $320-$400 range. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain features one of these instruments. A bit clumsy to lug around.
Another is the electric upright bass (EUB) - a fretless electric bass, usually with a flat fingerboard, essentially an electric bass neck with a stand (or tripod) but not a body. The advantages of this are small size, ease of transport, and cool looks. Dean Pace and Ergo are among the makers of these instruments. Prices range from $400 (for a used Dean Pace) to $700 and then steeply upwards, plus shipping (and any taxes the government applies). The flat fingerboard means they're not suitable for bowed playing. Usually scaled like a solid-body electric bass.
The next step (up?) is the electric double bass (EDB) made by companies like Stagg and Palatino. These include radiused (curved) necks (because they're fretless, you can't call them fretboards... fingerboards? I suppose...) to allow bowed playing, longer scales and ergonomic design to simulate upright (double) bass, but a much reduced body (and scale length). Not at all what I'm accustomed to, but something I'd like to learn (like playing with a bow).
A hybrid instrument that sits between modern and traditional, it's the one in the picture to the left (Stagg). This would introduce me to more typical upright-style playing but on a 3/4 scale. I plan to drive to Barrie next week to look at one in a music shop down there. I really like the look of these.
The final type is the custom Kona Walking Bass, a three-stringed (nylon) instrument made in Hawaii. It's basically a stick with tuners and a piezo pickup. Pretty funky looking, and also fretless. Has a retractable peg that acts as a stand. Priced at $500 plus shipping (and taxes). Advantages are size, ease of transport. The disadvantage is, as I see it, that it only has three strings and they're tuned G-D-B (open G chord, or 'slack' tuning). This makes it tougher to develop any skills that can be applied to a regular bass, although it might make it easier to play along with ukuleles.
Of course, there is also the electric bass like the Fender. I haven't really been giving these much thought because I wanted to go in a different direction, but I can't rule them out.
Fretless bass is a challenge to me. I've played fretted instruments for 45 or so years, from guitar to sitar to ukulele. Developing the muscle-memory for fretless play represents a steep learning curve. I understand the basics of play, just have never tried to make it happen. The acoustic bass is fretted, but all of the rest are fretless. Fortunately, they also have markers on the side of the fingerboard to indicate fret positions. I might even apply markers on the front to help aid me, if I choose one.
Most of these I'd have to buy online, sight unseen. No chance to test them, to play with them, see how they suited me. So it's a big decision, not made easily, and any choice has to fall within my rather strict budget (dictated in great part by what I can sell on Paypal and the sale of my three instruments currently on consignment at BMM). Something to think about, read online reviews, read bass forums where their merits are debated, ask other musicians about them, and watch YouTube videos of musicians using these various types.
But I liked the feel and loved the sound. I could really get to like their EDB.
Susan, on the other hand, thinks it'll be just another musical fad for me, and after a few months will sit unplayed in a corner, like the shakuhachi and queena did. Or the charango. Something I'll sell in order to move on to the next fad - an electic oud? A cumbus? An electric solid-bodied sitar?
I don't know. I'm always attracted by anything musical. But although my passion for music far exceeds my talent, I enjoy learning and playing. Plus, there's something about that bass sound, about holding a fat upright instrument. Something very Charlie Mingus that speaks to me, or as Allen Ginsberg wrote in Howl,
"...the ancient heavenly
connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night,
who poverty and tatters and hollow-eyed and high sat
up smoking in the supernatural darkness of
cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities
contemplating jazz..."