software

yeah, leave it to me to throw a curveball

anyhoo, christmas amp; my birthday are commin up, and only about 10 days apart, and well, big 18, so my mom plans on getting me something sort of expensive

at first i was like quot;car parts, this amp; this amp; thisquot; but now, i'm thinkin upright bass. I've always wanted one.

so, anyone have any knowlege about them? I'm wanting to stay around $500, which isn't enough to get my dream one (a king double bass, black amp; white, with a psychobilly skull headstock. Don't ask), but i've seen a few black ones on ebay. Seeing as i know nothing about them, well, i'd like to have some reccomendations on what to get in that price range. It doesn't hafta be pro quality, just sound decent.

thanks

Do you have any idea of what you're getting into with a standup bass? I've been an electric bass player for around 25 years and an upright sends me crying home to mommy. I had one that I was working on for a few months and seriously couldn't do my stuff on there to save my life. I had to dumb down parts, I played poorly, and it was hard on my back in that stance.

Upright bass is a whole new beast. My Buddy play's a pretty mean upright doghouse style. 25 years ago he was in the right place ,at the right time with the wrong answer. That is... Brian Setzer called him up and said I'm going to England. I don't wanna take Leon with me, Can you play upright? Who knew? I gotta say... for a guitarist I'm a fairly desent bassist, But I'm lost on a upright.

AHHH oh man, if that happened to me... jeez

but yeah, i know it's totally different, but in that it's exciting

As long as you know what you're getting into!

It's time to re-learn everything.


Originally Posted by The Golden BoyDo you have any idea of what you're getting into with a standup bass? I've been an electric bass player for around 25 years and an upright sends me crying home to mommy. I had one that I was working on for a few months and seriously couldn't do my stuff on there to save my life. I had to dumb down parts, I played poorly, and it was hard on my back in that stance.I agree totally. I'm a fairly good electric bassist (played a lot when I actually HAD an electric bass) but I play around with an upright sometimes, and I'm just terrible. It's quite difficult.

EDIT: And further, maybe something that you already know you'll love is a better choice. If you end up getting frustrated with the thing and don't play it much, you may be sad that you didn't use the oppurtunity to get something else (new amp, new guitar etc.).

Just my $.02 though.

Its like learning a new instrument... a very hard instrument

Good luck finding one that cheap that isn't made out of cardboard.

thanks for the encouragement fellas (jeez!)

and i can always sell it, psychobilly is getting more amp; more noticed, and an all-black upright (which i've found a few of) would sell QUICK

whats psychobilly?


Originally Posted by drew_half_emptythanks for the encouragement fellas (jeez!)

and i can always sell it, psychobilly is getting more amp; more noticed, and an all-black upright (which i've found a few of) would sell QUICK

DO IT! it sounds like you know what you are getting into, and it sounds like you are ready to learn a new instrument. on top of all that, upright basses are the freakin sh*t.

It's a totally diffrent animal. I'd get a custom shop electric instead. That would be badass


Originally Posted by drew_half_emptythanks for the encouragement fellas (jeez!)

and i can always sell it, psychobilly is getting more amp; more noticed, and an all-black upright (which i've found a few of) would sell QUICK

GO FOR IT ! There is plenty of info on the web and I think even a measage board for standup. There's a few video's on doghouse style and the art of the triple slap. Google Lee Rocker (aka Leon Drucker who's job my buddy could have had ) If he knew how to play standup 25 years ago.
If you listen to Elvis's `That's alright Mama' it's all bass tripleslaps NO DRUMS !

screw that byakhee, uprights are cool

and thanks clit.... i mean clint :P (i thought that's what it said...first glances are always the funniest)

as far as what psychobilly is, well, it's really... broad amp; hard to define. The basic concept is... i've heard it as 'elvis meets the wolfman' aaaand '50% johnny cash, 50% satan', aaand 'the movie hellraiser mixed with elvis', my current favorite is 'chuck berry...but possessed.'

the basic concept is, well, break it down, psycho, and billy. So you got your punk amp; a little metal on the psycho side, then you got the billy, which ranges from eddie cochran to brian setzer. This is where it gets broad because i've heard everything from basic punk with an upright amp; different lyrics to like motorhead amp; chuck berry to...just any variation you can find in the term itself...there's a band doin that

So, everything i've heard so far, you got drums with a mix of the typical punk/rock drumming, and a lot of shuffle patterns, my favorite psychobilly bands tend to use gretsch kits, sound real low amp; boomy, rules

i can only think of 1 band who doesn't use an upright bass, and it's really a critical part of quot;the soundquot;, mainly because it's, well for one there's way less sustain so you gotta slap the hell outta it, #2 you play it different, chromatic runs amp; crap, #3 it's a very percussive instrument, a lot of times the slaps are just as audible as the notes

for guitar, well, gretsches seem pretty popular, nekromantix i know use like a 6120 through a marshall for dirt amp; a roland jazz chorus for cleans. Reverb is pretty standard, slap echo is common, and tremolo i've heard used quite a few times on slower songs.

my favorite psychobilly band is the nekromantix, their guitar work, to me, sounds like motorhead mixed with chuck berry, got the typical psychobilly lyrics about...cars, horror movies, psycho killers, crap like that.

a few good songs by them are alive, nekronaughts, nice day for a ressurection, and... well gotta say a slower song, so, haunted cathouse

they do write about some ridiculous stuff sometimes, but, gotta love 'em

psychobilly was a term coined by Reverend Horton Heat if I recall correctly for the type of music he does. Since then it's kinda taken off.

My personal favorite at the Horror Pops

Hi there! I played upright for about 7 years but had to quit after highschool cuz I had no space to put one let alone the money for anything decent. But I did research it some and I can tell you right now- you'll be hard pressed to find a decent instrument for 500 bucks unless you buy used and shop hard. For 1500-2000 you can get a fairly nice sounding one new and for around 4000 you can get a really top quality one worthy of playing in a pro orchestra or the like. I tried some at kennelly keys which were garbage and I can tell you from playing my little brothers cello that the chinese stuff on ebay is pretty much trash. As others have said it's a waaay different beast than electric but to this day I still think that it may have been my favorite instrument, so if you know what you're doing I definitely encourage you to get one and learn- just shop hard and shop used. And remember, looks don't matter as long as it sounds good.


Originally Posted by CapoFirstFretpsychobilly was a term coined by Reverend Horton Heat if I recall correctly for the type of music he does. Since then it's kinda taken off.

My personal favorite at the Horror Pops
nope, hahafirst known usage was a johnny cash song, the one where he builds the cadillac by stealing parts, he calls it a psychobilly cadillac

as far as when it was first made a genre, well, P Paul from the meteors (first ever psychobilly band, early 80's) made a really...pure mix of like early british punk with rockabilly, he took rockabilly amp; injected some brit into it. At the time he didn't know what to call it, someone asked him what he sang about to try to figure it out, and he said quot;horror movies, psycho killers, and rockabilly, so in a word; psychobillyquot;

and it kinda stuck with similar bands, even through the progressions. Comparing koffin kats to guana batz is night amp; day, but neither is pre or post psychobilly, it's just....psychobilly

bump, still need info

First of all have you tried playing one? Psycho/Rockabilly slap is not the easiest thing in the world. I'm an electric bassplayer and i have tried a few uprights and it's just not my thing. Have you tried a fretless acoustic bass? Check out a brand called Rob allen on the net, they make a fretless acoustic bass strung with nylon strings that sounds a bit like an upright.

yeah, i tried playing one, was pretty clueless, but that's one thing i liked about it

i don't want a guitar style one though, mainly cuz...well they're just not as cool, and why buy something that sounds kinda like something else when you'd rather play that something else amp; get the full effect?

i think if i woodshedded for a few months on upright i could be pretty decent at it, good enough for a band, anyways

i remember when i got kicked outta school amp; was at home for 3 months before going to an alternative school. At the time all i knew was bar chord punk, not even a scale, but after playing for 4 or so hours every day, well, i got better QUICK, and now i'm one of the better guitarists in town