Members The Keester Posted August 15, 2008 Members Share Posted August 15, 2008 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bnyswonger Posted August 15, 2008 Members Share Posted August 15, 2008 If you're already an electric bass player, you've got a leg up in that you know how bass lines are constructed and how it's tuned. Bonus points if you play fretless. Otherwise, it's a very different animal. Cheap basses are not necessarily bad, but you would be wise to hook up with someone who plays upright to help find a winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassgirl9 Posted August 15, 2008 Members Share Posted August 15, 2008 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. Old Elvis songs are Rockabilly. Rockabilly is basically rock and roll with an upright. Sometimes there's a touch of country like Johnny Cash and sometimes it's flat out punk like Vince Taylor. 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 Here is Paul McCartney with Bill Black's bass and it appears to me that it is 3/4 bass. Sooo, yes you can certainly play Rockabilly on 3/4. The cheaper ones will give you a similar tone, but they are harder to play. [YOUTUBE]3uzC5KC_260[/YOUTUBE] Upright is easy as heck.... once you get past all the bleeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Keester Posted August 16, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 16, 2008 thats a great vid. now im even more inspired Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bassius Posted August 16, 2008 Members Share Posted August 16, 2008 check out this youtube channel for some good URB tips (more traditional techniques). also you can look up rockabilly on youtube and find some good stuff.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members solderjunkie Posted August 16, 2008 Members Share Posted August 16, 2008 thats a great vid. now im even more inspired Where do you live??? There are plenty of upright-friendly luthiers around, but we need to know where to send you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pjmburg Posted August 16, 2008 Members Share Posted August 16, 2008 Most uprights are 3/4 scale. I'm not sure where the terminology came from, but "full-size" uprights are rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members solderjunkie Posted August 16, 2008 Members Share Posted August 16, 2008 Most uprights are 3/4 scale. I'm not sure where the terminology came from, but "full-size" uprights are rare. "Full size" uprights were for orchestral use... their acoustic sound needed to keep with the volume of the entire orchestra. 3/4 is now the industry standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bholder Posted August 16, 2008 Members Share Posted August 16, 2008 These days, 3/4 is pretty much considered "normal full size" and 4/4 is more like "extra jumbo circus freak size". I still want one, even though experts like Bob Gollihur say that's crazy. I'll cop to crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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