Gollihur Music - Upright Bass Specialists: Instruments, Pickups, Preamps, Amplifiers, and Accessories

Bob Gollihur	"Double Bass Pickup and Mic Systems, Strings, Electric and Acoustic Upright Basses, Strings, Amps, Accessories, and more..."	Shopping Cart \| Wishlist \| My Account
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Gollihur Music - Upright Bass Specialists

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SOUND: How to sound like Ray Brown (or your personal bass hero)

It's easy. Play like Ray Brown.

Don't look to equipment, please don't ask me to sell you a pickup to give you his sound... they can't add sustain or perform magic. That's equivalent to a vocalist ordering the microphone Sinatra used so he can sound like him. It's in your hands.

If you practice with a pickup, stop it! Concentrate on your acoustic sound, use techniques to get that big sound from the bass. You need to put a lot of meat on those strings and play to the balcony!. The action at the bridge has to be high enough to allow the string to bloom.

The point is to create "the sound" at the bass, using the right instrument, setup, strings, and player. Don't look to pickups, boxes, amps, etc., to produce the sound — they should deliver your acoustic sound, not make it.

The Fine Print: The information contained herein is based on what's in my brain and/or my opinions as of today and is subject to change. Like any topic, a great deal more information could be added—but the intent of these writings is to present easy to understand, quick FAQs, to address common questions and improve the reader's general knowledge. What's written here is by no means the authoritative absolute answer, I am not the world's greatest authority on bass (not even close), or on anything else for that matter. I hope the information and opinions here are helpful to you, that's the point!

I welcome email with dissenting and additional viewpoints that help improve my personal awareness and the content pages. If you have a question that you think belongs here, please let me know.
—Bob