Bass sounds like piano???

[Oil (erroneus_jones)]

I would like to know if it would be possible to make a bass sound like the low notes on a piano...
 
Other words : If a piano has strings, would it be possible to get those rich lows with that natural equal sound?
 
Scale, strings, other stuff I don't know about bass making... WHAT could give this sound?
 
After all, both instruments have strings...
 
Hope to finally get some answers, cause it would be great to have a piano sounding bass for slap and chords.  
 
Thx Alembiciens, I hope to be one some day too.
 
Olivier

[Wade Handy (oujeebass)]

I used to use a piano string design string by Rotosound. I don't think they make them anymore. I believe they did provide the overtones similar to a piano for about a week. It will be hard to replicate the sound with the physics involved.

[Oil (erroneus_jones)]

Thx for that answer, but what exactly would those physics be? (I know that strings get fret burns, but I have used the same strings for about 6 months now, no wash, and that sound fuller then new strings on a demo in a store)
 
Mica, could you tell me what would bring the future europa to a similay sound then piano?
 
Olivier

[Oil (erroneus_jones)]

I looked at those Rotosound strings, you are right, they use the core end consept like the piano.
 
Alembic says theye electronic give a greater natural sound.
 
The thing is, I hear that Stanley C. uses those same strings, but I do no want that sound (I really want lots of tones, and a vibrating sound)
 
I was going for a medium or a long scale, but if 36 inches could help me get a rich, bright, sustained sound, with no buzz, BUT STILL HAVE A EXTREME LOW ACTION... (I like the action to be unbelivably low, but hate what big string nazal sound.)
 
Hope I finaly found that dream sound...
 
Still hope to get a Pro's opinion. After all, YOU will make that bass.

[Paul Ellsworth (elzie)]

I think first you should look at how a piano strikes the strings and a bass plucks/picks the strings.
 
I have tried this in years past. I would flick my finger to strike the string with the nail side of my finger, as in a piano striking the string. It does sound similar, but I can gaarauntee your fingers won't like you much

[Mark DuFresne (markus)]

Or, you could try Tony Levin's Funk Fingers and hammer on the strings to your heart's content.

[Wade Handy (oujeebass)]

It will be impossible to get the sound of a piano string on a bass string. You'll have better luck with a harp. Thats something that has been overlooked by popular music.

[Oil (erroneus_jones)]

Ya... after all, a bass isn't a piano. But still, it would be great to sound like a left hand on piano, specially with chords and slap.
 
I hope alembic has a sound rich enough to make piano players envy my bass sound

[Wade Handy (oujeebass)]

Absolutely. I have had the idea of that for a while.. You can get close but never will you have a sound that rivials a 5 foot bass string vibrating freely.

[Joey Wilson (bigredbass)]

Having been a piano player all of my life, and a bass guitarist for the last 25, I can tell you this:
 
With the right gear and NEW strings, a bass can approach the sound of a piano.  But, NO BASS will ever sound like the deep end of a 7' Steinway or Yamaha.  I guess you could MIDI with a bass/synth rig to sampled grands, but that's a LOT of aggravation.
 
The physics of the two instruments are just too different.  But I understand wanting that sound.  I remember playing a Bosendorfer grand years ago like it was yesterday.  I remember great grand pianos I've played vividly.  

[Michael DeVincenzo (jlpicard)]

Hey Oil, If your looking for a piano sound from a bass you might look at Neuser basses. They actually make a bass with piano hammers built in to the body  between the pickups that you activate by pressing some sort of levers in the body just below the G string.To quote Frank Z....Bizzare!!!! but it just might get the sound your looking for. Look on Harmony Central for their web address. Mike

[Olivier Jaar (erroneus_jones)]

Thx for that... looks pretty kool, but there is no way I can get my hands on one to try it...