Figured since there ain't an upright bass category on this forum we could use a good thread about 'em.
I've been diggin' this band in Surf City called Human Lab. They don't play Surf Music.
They sound more like a 60s band...the Youngbloods. They ARE youngbloods too!!
The leader, Michael Medlin, sounds like Jesse Colin Young & his girl, Miriam, & her sis Xiona Folk from Montana add beautiful vocal harmonies & percussion.
Billy Bass left the band so Marco the drummer switched to upright bass & Miriam plays it on one song while Marco plays accordion.
They're both gettin' real good for young beginners!!
Luke is gettin' damn good on his Tele with a Strat neck tooo
I'm gonna join 'em on drums for awhile. I love them & their songs & music!!!
www.myspace.com/humanlab
Ain't they good? They're my fav band in Orange County.
I still want a full length upright someday. It'd be SO cool to have an instrument the same height as me--6'5"!
I reckon the Bruce Johnson Ampeg Scroll will satisfy my desire for an upright sound tho, once I get the one I ordered 2 years ago in my hot little hands!!
It'll be fretless & have 2 pickups--one for an upright sound & one for a Boz Burrell BAD CO. sound!!
ALL MY BASSES ARE "UPRIGHT"......................when they're on the stand.
Oh wise guy, huh? (Pokes Sk8 Rat in the eyes)
Lookin' forward to the new Stooges movie. Could be good.
Now back to our scheduled programming....
oh nyuk,nyuk,nyuk. why soitenly
Quote from: Rhythm N. Bliss on November 19, 2009, 06:59:03 PM
Oh wise guy, huh? (Pokes Sk8 Rat in the eyes)
Lookin' forward to the new Stooges movie. Could be good.
Now back to our scheduled programming....
New Stooges movie ! I have not heard about that ! "my nerves my nerves"
Jim Carrey, Sean Penn And Benicio Del Toro Cast As Three Stooges
Farrelly brothers will direct award-winning trio in the film, due in 2010.
http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1607739/story.jhtml
QuoteAccording to a report in Variety, the laugh-worthy rumor is actually true: Sean Penn will follow his recent Oscar-winning performance in "Milk" by taking on the role of Larry. The porcupine-haired silent partner in the trio was portrayed for five decades by Larry Fine and became best known for his love of the violin and getting in the middle of the other two Stooges during eye-poke fights. We can only assume that Penn will be bringing back his "Carlito's Way" haircut.
As for the pivotal role of soup-slurping, chrome-domed Curly, it looks like Jim Carrey will be slowly turning, step-by-step and inch-by-inch. Long considered the modern-day master of the sort of physical comedy the Stooges invented, Carrey's work in films like "Liar, Liar" owes a clear debt to Jerome "Curly" Howard. Still, it's hard to imagine an actor that looks less appropriate physically, so expect quite a transformation as Carrey reportedly intends to gain 40 pounds to play the role of the dumbest Stooge.
Finally, the Farrelly brothers are looking to cast Benicio del Toro — last seen in Steven Soderbergh's deadly serious biopic of Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara — as Moe. The leader of the Stooges, the character was originated by Moe Howard and was marked by the loving brutality (heads in vices, nose tweaks, ear twists, etc.) he'd dole out on his associates.
Updated -Penn has wisely bowed out.
Anyone say Upright bass?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZibZ-sB5YJA
He's got dot position markers on the fingerboard! Go to 4:00 in the video... I've never seen a dot neck on an upright before.
I've always been a little intimidated by the upright. I did take a really close look at a Zeta Crossover bass a couple years back. It seemed to be a pretty smooth introduction to trying to go upright. I may still get one, if I ever start making any real money playing.
(http://www.birdlandmusic.net/image.php?productid=1389)
Used to play one 30 years ago---it's the one part of my former life that I still haven't been able to "get back"...a garishly beautiful natural color plywood Englehardt---
I love the crossover stuff Edgar Meyer does...I have heard about the dots before, and I believe it...no one plays as beautifully as he does in the upper register of the instrument...he sounds perfectly in tune and violin-like in a register of the instrument where you need massive physical strength just to play the notes let alone have 'em sound good.
Check out the stuff he does with Bela Fleck.
Quote from: gweimer on November 20, 2009, 01:16:32 PM
I've always been a little intimidated by the upright. I did take a really close look at a Zeta Crossover bass a couple years back. It seemed to be a pretty smooth introduction to trying to go upright. I may still get one, if I ever start making any real money playing.
Don't be intimidated by an upright. Get a good teacher and you'll be just fine. Strangely, I find it easier to play in tune than my fretless P bass. And more rewarding.
I used to take a round piece of paper from a hole punch, and (using cellophane tape) tape it to the side of the neck to use for a fifth fret marker, even in conservatory...
It worked for me, but then again I guess that's why I'm a CPA and not in an orchestra.
I do remember my arco sound being pretty awful...this is one tough instrument to make "sing"
I always liked the weird looks that the Englehardt (looked like it belonged in Elvis' band) would get from the sophisticated "artsy" music school types...I didn't care--I had a steady gig playing rock n roll for a living, and could pay for my own damn music school.
Quote from: ilan on November 20, 2009, 01:04:06 PM
He's got dot position markers on the fingerboard! Go to 4:00 in the video... I've never seen a dot neck on an upright before.
I saw them on the Woodsongs program last night. The dots are there and the bass is a 1769 Gabrielli made in Florence. He talked about how the bass made it to the States in the 1950's and that his Dad located it in 1958 (2 years before Edgar Jr. was born!) and they were finally able to buy it from that owner in 1983. It is a great sounding instrument.
Has anybody actually tried to play an EB-1 origional or reissue with the telescoping pole for any period of time? Seem pretty awkward to me............... :-\
The old Gretsch John Holmes model may be easier to handle.
(http://i37.tinypic.com/ziw2s4.jpg)
I have never seen any advantage in playing a bass guitar in upright position. It doesn't make the bass sound any more "upright" than it did horizontally. It just looks a bit stupid IMHO.
Didn't get a chance to watch the video yesterday cause I was in the office...very cool.
Damn~ That vid is amazing! wow
The guy in Pentangle is goood tooo
Quote from: Grog on November 20, 2009, 06:50:01 PM
Has anybody actually tried to play an EB-1 origional or reissue with the telescoping pole for any period of time? Seem pretty awkward to me............... :-\
Hey~ I oughta try that.
I'll let ya know how it goes....
I play an occasional gig on upright. I'm not very good at it, but I love it. This is me:
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-5/735419/John-upright.jpg)
The old bassplayer from HumanLab runs a music store here in Surf City.
He calls himself Billy Bass & plays upright. Hadn't been to his store til this weekend & dropped in to off a guitar which I ended up sellin' to someone else.
He gave me a Bass Player mag with a famous Jazz guy on the cover playing upright, forget his name but he played with Bill Evans Trio & died at age 25 in a car wreck.
Article said he transformed Jazz. He practiced 8 hours a day.
The mag has an ad for a URB pickup endorsed by Ron Carter.
Forget the name too, sorry. SUCKS to get old. :-\
I saw Ron at the Hollywood Bowl 34 years ago with CTI All Stars featuring Freddie Hubbard on trumpet & Hubert Laws on flute, Herbie Hancock on keys.
Nice change from Classic Rock.
Scott Lafaro
Haven't seen the article...guess I need to go buy a copy (one of my favorites).
Yeah, that's him: Scotty.
Great article on Bill Laswell too with a great title:
The REVOLUTION Will Be IMPROVISED
This ain't URB but it's cooool:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSPrSM3vGYk
I started playing upright about 6 or 7 years ago, the hardest part for me was learning how to use the side of my index finger to pluck, if you play them like a bass guitar with two fingers they sound thin. Slapping is also not real easy. I use a magnetic pickup and I can play as loud as I want right in front on an SVT and it sounds very clear. I played in a loud rock a billy band for a while that played a lot of very fast stuff and uprights are a blast to play. I'm still better at electric though and probably always will be. I found it to be quite an adjustment.
i like a lot of things laswell does, especially the painkiller stuff. the buried secrets record was totally improvised but has a nice cohesive feel to it. laswell used a pink t bird through a marshall on that album.
As the owner of an Englehardt EM-1 and a Dean Pace EUB, I can honestly say I am addicted to uprights. I placed exactly one gig with my electrics last year and that was because of travel circumstances (The Dean will solve that problem). I can see myself playing uprights for the long term.
(http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/99/l_5c6209fc6b484c0992a5957023dc824a.jpg)
I even borrowed this one for a gig when I could have used an electric...
Diggin' ol' Pentangle today:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFuxq_J1VuA&feature=related
Danny Thompson on bass.
House Carpenter is a cool song too.
Bert on banjo & John on sitar!!
Here's Kelley & the Cowboys at ElvisFest this past weekend...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GjBQU7RA4E
Pamlicojack - me too bro! My two main gigs are primarily upright now although admittedly, I do still play a couple of tunes on electric. I'm hooked .......
This Rain Song clip is labeled Zep but tho it's Page & Plant with Jones on Bass...
It's Charlie Jones (Plant's son-in-law) on Upright bass:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6QWQS-pRR8
It's rainin' cats an' dogs this week in Surf City! El freakin' Ninyo
These just popped up on Craigslist, http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/dak/msg/1562316277.html .
I wonder if they are the origional tooling for upright basses from the old Epiphone factory. When Gibson bought Epiphone in about 1956, they were after the upright bass tooling. They were unaware that they had purchased the guitar part of the company also.
Interesting. Might be worth it to a builder.
What I don't get about uprights is the notation. You start with bass clef, at about high D (like 7th "fret" on the G string) they start writing in tenor clef, and thumb positions are usually in treble clef. I just can't get used to it.
A bass guitar has the same number of notes and when you go up the neck and want to avoid too many ledger lines, you write "8va" and write an octave below the fretted note. Simple and effective. Why do classical players use 3 clefs for a 4 string instrument? I just don't get it.
Think it's a vestige from the past. The only place I've encountered it is in classical music.
I don't mind reading treble clef...I read it as poorly or as well as I read bass clef...'
Was handed a sight reading piece back in school at boards a billion years ago that was in tenor clef....I think the original was a trombone part maybe. Of course I had no idea what to do with it.
Hurdy Gurdy Man LIVE in L.A. with an extra verse added that was written by George Harrison & it's got upright bass:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec138326tfE&NR=1
And now the original, complete with sitar (or is it just a tamboura?) & Bonzo on drums & Page on guitar...& JPJ on Bass? maybe
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lKCUuyojDI
Classic!!
A buddy of mine has an Ampeg Baby Bass from the '60's that he lets me borrow on occasion. Next time I use it I'll snap some pics of it with the Portaflex
Here's a question I can't find an answer to. Why do German bows have lapping and thumb pads? They are needed only if you hold the bow like a French bow. My guess is that all bow sticks were created equal and then the frog and button are added, determining if this will be a German or French. So the lapping and thumb pad were there before the bow was German style. But that is just a guess.
Picture of the '64 Baby Bass all set up now and ready to gig. I added a custom walnut bridge that is shorter than the original aluminum one so that I could lower the neck and adjust it properly. I also added a Schaller "Kontrabass" pickup which sounds amazing. I run that into channel 1, and it has lot's of vintage old school thump that can actually be heard and is usable. Switching between the P-bass and the Baby Bass is no problem now. I left the stock diaphram pickup in, and ran that to channel 2 of the Portaflex in the event I decide to do some bowing as an effect.
(http://i554.photobucket.com/albums/jj401/stiles72/Ampeg-SLM/babybassparts035.jpg?t=1290614616)
love that bass. one of my few GAS items left. One of these days. I have a few electric upright basses now but really want one of these
Quote from: stiles72 on November 24, 2010, 09:08:19 AM
Picture of the '64 Baby Bass all set up now and ready to gig. I added a custom walnut bridge that is shorter than the original aluminum one so that I could lower the neck and adjust it properly. I also added a Schaller "Kontrabass" pickup which sounds amazing. I run that into channel 1, and it has lot's of vintage old school thump that can actually be heard and is usable. Switching between the P-bass and the Baby Bass is no problem now. I left the stock diaphram pickup in, and ran that to channel 2 of the Portaflex in the event I decide to do some bowing as an effect.
(http://i554.photobucket.com/albums/jj401/stiles72/Ampeg-SLM/babybassparts035.jpg?t=1290614616)
All Right! 8)