Double Bass Eberhard Weber’s Effects?

[Keith Rawlings]

I’ve scoured the internet and read just about every TB posting about EW and I haven’t found one that talks about what effects he used to get his EUB to sound like that. I hear chorus and delay in there but I’m not completely sure. Unfortunately none of the pictures online show his gear close enough to see if he’s got a specific pedalboard to dial in his sound. I’m pretty sure he’s using a 5 string Spiro set with the high C string; but that’s about all I can decipher—and no visuals of pedals or rack-mounted effects units to give him that beautiful tone.

I know it’s all in his hands too, but I would really like to know what he uses to make that wonderful sound.

 

[Passinwind]

IIRC he used a Mutron Biphase back when I saw him with Gary Burton’s band and also with the Colours group.

 

[damonsmith]

I just got the Colors 3CD box and have it on now. I've had the LPS for years. I wonder if what used changed over the years or if he settled on certain things in '70s and stayed with it.

 

[Jaygetsreal]

Yes I have often wondered this too. Sort of 'meouw' rather than 'mwah'.
Subbed.

 

[Upfromthesky]

This is a great interview/performance video. You can’t see what he uses but but he talks about developing his bass and his approach. I saw something a few years ago where he was demonstrating his use of echo and in the background you could see the rack gear he used but I haven’t found that clip yet.

 

[dperrott]

He has a biography out that I think is interesting, Eberhard Weber, A German Jazz Story. He is not a real gear head. Its probably the same stuff he has been using for years

 

[Keith Rawlings]

I just got the Colors 3CD box and have it on now. I've had the LPS for years. I wonder if what used changed over the years or if he settled on certain things in '70s and stayed with it.

I just bought the same set and it’s amazing! The sound is so much better than the streaming Apple Music service version I’ve had previously. Sand-Glass is my favorite on that group of albums.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I once have seen him playing solo in Nürnberg, Germany, more than 30 years ago.
I cannot remember exactly but it were two Yamaha SPX (I think 900, 1000 or similar) and maybe one more for reverb.
The effects he uses are chorus, pitch modulated feedback, delay/echo and reverb. He wants to keep some of the character of the double bass and so never uses distortion and other drastic effects. And of course looping (with building up an accompaniment before locking it for the soloing) when he plays solo.
On his solo concert he used a stereo setup to build an aural space.

He doesn’t like to speak about his technical stuff like a lot of musicians but rather about his music.

The best sources would be interviews, documentations and your own experimenting with digital delays and reverb.

 

[Keith Rawlings]

IIRC he used a Mutron Biphase back when I saw him with Gary Burton’s band and also with the Colours group.

Those units are cool. I’ve only seen one once in person at a music store in San Antonio years ago. Now they’re $2K+

 

[Passinwind]

Those units are cool. I’ve only seen one once in person at a music store in San Antonio years ago. Now they’re $2K+

There are DIY clones out there, like so: Duo-Phase - PedalPCB.com

And then there's also this, if it ever actually made it to production: Mu-Tron Bi-Phase II is here! - Mu-Tron

 

[Keith Rawlings]

There are DIY clones out there, like so: Duo-Phase - PedalPCB.com

And then there's also this, if it ever actually made it to production: Mu-Tron Bi-Phase II is here! - Mu-Tron

They’re sold out on both sites. I contacted Mu-Tron to see when they might have it back in stock.

 

[Passinwind]

They’re sold out on both sites. I contacted Mu-Tron to see when they might have it back in stock.

Parts supply issues are finally starting to improve a bit for me now, hopefully that’ll be true for them as well.

 

[dylanjohnson]

I think it depends on what era... Colors era he was probably just using a biphase, then went to a rack in the 90's? I found this really fascinating. From the NRK dump a few years ago which was an amazing archive of European (and American) jazz.

Behringer made a ripoff of the bi-phase recently if you can't find a MuTron.

 

[dylanjohnson]

In this video of the Colours band from 76 I'm pretty sure he has an MXR 100 phaser. I randomly have had one of this since I was a kid. I'll have to try it out. I've never seen this.... Very cool.

 

[Les Fret]

Great videos here! Do you think you can get the Eberhard Weber sound (or come close) with the Steinberger CR4M regular scale or a CR4M Omni bass? (I still am not sure which one I want). Did he use a piezo pickup mostly or a magnetic pickup on his EUB?

 

[Francois Blais]

Did he use a piezo pickup mostly or a magnetic pickup on his EUB?

Both. Wilson piezos and custom-made magnetics.
But I couldn’t tell the proportion of each…

 

[Les Fret]

Both. Wilson piezos and custom-made magnetics.
But I couldn’t tell the proportion of each…

Thank! Do you have any idea about what effects he used in the 70s with Colours? That typical hollow sound.

 

[CryingBass]

In this video of the Colours band from 76 I'm pretty sure he has an MXR 100 phaser. I randomly have had one of this since I was a kid. I'll have to try it out. I've never seen this.... Very cool.

Saw him a couple of times, first time at the Amazing Grace in Evanston. He had, and I soon had after, a 5-String EUB ( CRM5 in my case ). Bored the hell out of my buddies, but they were really, really good.

I MIGHT have seen him with Pat Metheny too. But that was a long, foggy time ago

 

[Francois Blais]

Thank! Do you have any idea about what effects he used in the 70s with Colours? That typical hollow sound.

Nope, sorry!

 

[trkkazulu]

The one effect that is most associated with Eberhart's sound is the MXR Phase 100. He used that on stage and in the studio from 1975 replacing the Mutron Bi-Phase which he used between (roughly) 1973 - 1975. He didn't use reverb live. In the studio, particularly on "Pendulum" (1993) Manfred Eicher mixed using a plate reverb with a medium decay and ca. 37 ms pre delay. For live looping he used the original Oberheim Echoplex Digital Pro.