Double Bass Switching between bow and pizz during a song

[AaronFish]

My question is largely for live performance settings. I play with a lot of singer/songwriters and very often I am switching back and forth between pizz and arco during a song and from one song to another. I find myself leaning back to my amp constantly and rolling off the volume and treble and then back up.

So... is there a good pedal type of solution for this? A way to basically switch back and forth between two eq’s at the stomp of a switch??

Thanks in advance!

 

[damonsmith]

Often the bow can cut without an amp, a volume pedal can be the answer.

 

[birgebass]

A volume pedal is nice, especially if playing heavily or even moderately amped. Also, the answer may lie in your pizz attack. Different ways of pulling or digging into the string produce different results.
As far as a pedal goes, I can't think of anything off the top of my head except for maybe a boost pedal that guitarists sometimes use. I'm sure there is a preamp out there that essentially does the same thing with one signal, but I am not knowledgeable enough to recommend one, unfortunately.

 

[Don Hergert]

Or, a stand mic, and turning the bass slightly away from the mic when playing arco...

When I'm plugged in and switch to arco, I first reach behind my quiver to my pre-amp and turn down my wing pickup a notch, then I grab the bow. Conversely, when I'm going back to pizz, I put the bow in the quiver first and then turn up the wing pickup back up a notch.

3) Pre-amp And Wiring, Driver Side

• Don Hergert
• Feb 6, 2019
• 1
• alcoa #342-244 electronics

 

[devnulljp]

My question is largely for live performance settings. I play with a lot of singer/songwriters and very often I am switching back and forth between pizz and arco during a song and from one song to another. I find myself leaning back to my amp constantly and rolling off the volume and treble and then back up.

So... is there a good pedal type of solution for this? A way to basically switch back and forth between two eq’s at the stomp of a switch??

Thanks in advance!

Bassbone or some other 2-channel preamp with a stomp switch?
I just play lighter with the bow and I have a limiter on the end of my chain.

 

[s van order]

Bassbone or some other 2-channel preamp with a stomp switch?
I just play lighter with the bow and I have a limiter on the end of my chain.

I roughly use that idea. An A/B stomp. The volume diff between pizz and arco on cello is even larger than on bass. Queue the jazz cello A string plink plink sounds please, lol.

 

[turf3]

Can't you just play softer when arco? (I'm assuming arco is louder).

 

[210superair]

I also switch between the two, often in the same song, and just let touch be the volume. No pedals needed.

 

[unbrokenchain]

When I used a bridge wing pickup, I would engage an EQ pedal for arco that would both boost the signal and cut the high end. Now I use the copper realist and don't need the pedal anymore, it's balanced arco/pizz. Ymmv of course.

*edit, just realized I wrote boost when I meant cut. EQ pedal would cut the gain when in arco mode.

 

[TomB]

When I used a bridge wing pickup, I would engage an EQ pedal for arco that would both boost the signal and cut the high end. Now I use the copper realist and don't need the pedal anymore, it's balanced arco/pizz. Ymmv of course.

That's pretty much what I was doing too, though it's been a while for me. EQ pedals I've used have a volume slider as well as bypass.

 

[Don Hergert]

Can't you just play softer when arco? (I'm assuming arco is louder).

When amped for pizz, arco is humungously louder. Playing arco soft works for playing acoustically, but the transition for amped is hard to predict given all the equipment and venue variables, so that means the first few arco measures can be totally out of the volume spectrum and the situation may not even be perceptible by the player on stage. That's why it's nice to have a way to predicatively control it in hardware.

In my experience, having a wife either on stage or in the audience also helps.

Edit: It's the same with slap... If you don't have your slap pickup and wing pickup blending and volume settings ready to roll on the first notes, you may get an elbow in the ribs as a gentle reminder.

 

[John DeWitt]

Try a SansAmp for arco - you can cut the volume and boost the bass (or whatever you need) to get a balanced arco sound, then hit the footswitch to bypass the SansAmp and you're back to your pizz sound.

 

[marcox]

The Fishman Platinum Pro preamp has an adjustable boost pedal, which would tackle the volume (but not EQ) problem.

 

[Dr. Love]

Why not just use a regular EQ pedal? Set it for arco, and turn it off for pizz.

 

[sean_on_bass]

When I used a bridge wing pickup, I would engage an EQ pedal for arco that would both boost the signal and cut the high end. Now I use the copper realist and don't need the pedal anymore, it's balanced arco/pizz. Ymmv of course.

This is also my experience with the Realist. I also echo those to say to simply play softer arco. Practice playing softer at home while still getting a pleasing tone.

 

[Sean Riddle]

Same deal here with the Realist too. The only time I find I have to be weary about the bow sounding too loud through that pickup is when I’m playing at really high volumes. While still a piezo, it definitely gets a pleasing sound arco and is quite usable in a lot of amplified settings. While I don’t have one yet I should get a volume pedal to help with that. One thing I will say that if you simply adjust by playing arco lightly when amplified after playing pizz for a bit, you might wind up attacking the string a bit too lightly and wind up with an airy and not clear tone rather than a solid clear fundamental. Amps can really expose some not too pleasant sides of your arco chops. Now if the OP doesn’t have a Realist, the previously mentioned EQ pedals sound like a great option though.

 

[lurk]

Some teacher - Rufus Reid? - suggested I practice Arco amplified as a way to really put my bow technique under the microscope. I've never put that into practice cause I've lived in apartments where I've got neighbors to consider, but I think it might be good. To echo several previous posts, I've found the Realist to be the most bow friendly piezo.

 

[Groove Doctor]

+1 EQ pedal with volume control and stomp on/off switch would be the most transparent MBOL.

Some preamps with the features above would work too. The colour they impart might actually be desirable.
eg. Sansamp ParaDriver

 

[AaronFish]

Thanks! These are some good thoughts. I do use the Realist. I totally echo the technique thoughts and would always lean towards that as a first step. Amplified loud through a loud pa, it can sometimes just be too much. Also sometimes the tone you are after is a big aggressive sound which you can’t achieve by playing arco lightly.

I like the idea of an eq pedal to stomp on and off. That’s kind of what I’ve been thinking. Been considering the new Radial bassbone. Just don’t really want it to color my tone too much. The built in di and separate eq’s would be pretty slick. I would normally tend more towards the Fishman but it only has the one channel.

Anybody used these and have any wisdom?

 

[Dr. Love]

I have a bassbone and it’s never let me down. I use it mainly for DB/BG doubling gigs, but it would work for the pizz/arco switch too. There are only two disadvantages compared to a small stomp box eq pedal: the eq isn’t as extensive but if it’s mainly just to cut highs and volume a bit it’ll work just fine. The second thing is it requires a power source where other smaller pedals can work on a battery. Not a big deal, but it’s a thing to consider.