Folks

come off the fence you EUB lovers and tell me ... can you get an URB tone out of an EUB? You know that lovely Christian McBride-type-mellow-hollow-lush-pizzicato tone.

Davo

Not completely. But then they're two different animals.

A lot of that an upright tone depends on your attack. I play with a somewhat traditional upright right hand attack. I keep my index and middle fingers together, and they run almost parallel to the strings. It helps give the attack more of a beefy sound.

As for the signal chain? I may do one of a number of things to my tone. First, a little bump in low end EQ, and some high mids to accentuate the attack. I may also add a little chorus and some reverb, too.

There's also a semi-unique control on the NS Design WAV4 that I use. I keep the polar pickup set to the lateral vibration position. That's optimized for a better bowed sound, and I get a better pizzicato sound that way.

And despite my enjoyment of my WAV4, I'd definitely like to get an acoustic URB at some point. Not in place of the EUB, but in addition to it.

The only way I was able to get a real acoustic bass sound was to get a real acoustic bass.

My EUB is a Messenger made by John Knutson. It's a great instrument and the tactile points make it very easy for someone to transition back and forth between acoustic and electric upgright, but I never truly learned how to play it correctly until I got an acoustic bass and learned how to control that sound coming out of the f-holes. Just my $0.02

No. Not exactly.
But you can get a great sound.
And, as Nick said, a lot is in the technique.
And, if depending on how you amplify the signal you can get a ropey sound out of a URB so they're all electric to some extent unless you're playing in a small room unamplified.
They're a lot more affordable and portable than URBs though.

Actually, truthfully, I have a hard time discerning on which songs I played the electric and on which ones I played the EUB. I run them through the same amp at the same settings, and to my ears it all sounds like me playing them.

I bought an electric upright because that is what I wanted. I am satisfied with the tones I get out of it, and to me that is all that matters. That, and the portability.

You're an f-hole.

As the owner of both a WAV 4 and a doghouse, I must answer with an emphatic "NO!"

That said, try to carry a Romanian made 3/4 double in a Toyota MR2.

Gig with the doghouse, reherse with the WAV 4. Except the classic rock band I spell with sometimes, then I take the WAV. Otherwise one of the toothless meth munchers will try and crawl inside it or something stupid.

Again...no. I've tried a couple somewhat higher-end EUBs in music stores in the past and some of them can come a good bit closer than the WAV. Combine that with intelligent signal structuring and technique and you can get a fair approximation for ensemble playing. Still, though, it's not going to sound just like a URB.

I played my WAV at a rehearsal last night for the first time and was astounded at how horrible I was sounding. It was a combination of the fact that it was going straight through the PA since the bass player who usually leaves his gear there took his amp home for the week and I had just assumed that my URB skillz would carry over. I've only tinkered with the WAV a handful of times in my room since I got it and didn't spend any time really working it. Now I'll be hitting the shed hard every day until the next rehearsal.

Yes, it takes some work to get the best out of the WAV. It needs a little bass EQ boost too, I find.