Whats a Acoustic Fretless Bass supposed to sound like?

[mikebailey92]

I've never really been a fan of the sound of pickups on acoustic instruments, so I'd try a take with a mic on it. See if the mic still picks up the buzz.

[Tinderwet]

The problem with micing an acoustic bass guitar is, it has a thinner, smaller body than an upright bass, so it simply can't produce the same amount of lows without the pickup (and has a different resonance as well, which might get in the way on certain notes).
You see the vast majority of acoustic bass guitars are designed to be played plugged in. Only if a person sets it up the way-too-low-action way he got used to on his electric, the buzz will be much more audible, the way you described. lol
You could try to get a very deep sound without any treble present using the bass' onboard EQ, then mic it up and blend the two, using the miced sound only for the mids and treble; just make sure the body resonance doesn't screw things up and get the two sounds playing in phase.

[johnnyv]

So what you have is most likely a Transducer PU system that needs to be repaired, OR your double pre amping. If his bass has pre amp built in then you might want to try plugging it in via a DI box or line in. You might be amplifying the noise of the bass pre amp by routing through a second pre.
Put a new battery in there.
See if the hum is a loose shielding wire
Does the hum increase as you move the instrument around other electronics?

The sound will be unique just like the sound of a any transducer driven instrument, be it a fiddle, guitar etc. They all need good pre amps to make them work, so if the built in pre amp is garbage there's nothing can be done. He needs to be aware that his bass needs better quality components if he wishes to use it for recording.

[yojosephhope]

Thanks folks!

So what you have is most likely a Transducer PU system that needs to be repaired, OR your double pre amping. If his bass has pre amp built in then you might want to try plugging it in via a DI box or line in. You might be amplifying the noise of the bass pre amp by routing through a second pre.
Put a new battery in there.
See if the hum is a loose shielding wire
Does the hum increase as you move the instrument around other electronics?

So I just got some specs on the bass from the player. Its a Micheal Kelly, Fretless bass with round wound strings, Fishman Sonicore transducer pickup, a eq on board with pick up. And I
just found out He never got set up. So Im sure starting at my Local Git tech shop to get it set up will make a difference.Do we get flatwounds?

Also I plug into my UA 710- DI -out of his Nathan East Yamaha EQ. Maybe my radiial JD48 would work better, Also I need to record with drums so miking it , prob wont be an option.
and I found this ]http://youtu.be/TgRh_Jkoxhg[/URL]

[johnnyv]

I vote for flatwounds, that's what I use. The fishman is a good quality system but not sure about which pre amp your saying it has. Is there a battery?

[yojosephhope]

vote for flatwounds, that's what I use. The fishman is a good quality system but not sure about which pre amp your saying it has. Is there a battery?

yes a battery, so I assumed theres a preamp.

[anthonythecat]

Check the battery as well to make sure it has enough charge, a dying battery in an acoustic pickup can sound pretty nasty.

[e3p0]

If the undersaddle transducer/ pickup has a nick or gouge in it, it will have a buzz (sounds like a bad ground). Sometimes if the saddle does not fit correctly in the slot you get the same thing.

If you touch the jack does the buzz go away? This would seem to be a bad pickup. Almost no acoustics use a string ground. (Current Taylor acoustics do so I am sure somebody else does too)

It could be a bad solder joint.

Or, is the buzz just the strings on the (fret)board? If so, that is what a fretless is supposed to sound like.

If he is going for the "Jaco" fretless sound, then stay away from flatwounds.

I just did a search on youtube for "fretless acoustic bass" and there are quite a few examples of decent tones (that sound mic'ed even)
-e

[jdsowa]

Acoustic bass guitars just sound like crap, period (either fretless or otherwise). If you put flatwound strings on it, it will sound cool acoustically (a bit like an upright bass, but without the real 'body', but will still sound like crap when using the pick-up. The only possible thing to attempt would be to mic it (for the mid/high end portion of the signal), while also using the DI. But low-pass filter the hell out of the DI (like at 300Hz or something), so that all you get is basically a bassy sine wave to augment the mic'd signal.

[yojosephhope]

Or, is the buzz just the strings on the (fret)board? If so, that is what a fretless is supposed to sound like.

Yeah, its the strings that buzz, but not a good buzz like an upright.

Thanks for all the great advice Im going to take it to get " set up " at My local git shop tomorrow and Have them check the shielding and pick up and see what they suggest for strings. But I know all the right questions to ask now, Thanks to You All....and Im going to try both a Radial DI and Condenser mic when i record Him next time I also just purchased a rea-mp set up so maybe I can fiddle with some ideas there.

Also I found a few decent acoustic bass sounds on you tube , but nothing really in a band setting.But IMo they sounded close to what my first instinct was on how it should sound ill post files and Let ya know.

[Ukiah Bass]

Your acoustic bass guitar will have more of an upright vibe with black nylon tape wound strings.

[yojosephhope]

Your acoustic bass guitar will have more of an upright vibe with black nylon tape wound strings.

Thanks ! good timing we just dropped the Bass to be set up. Will try ur recommendation!