Palatino VE-500 Upright Electric Bass Right Up Your Alley
According to Juan Dies, the only instrument he uses in Sones de Mexico that is not a traditional Mexican instrument is the Palatino VE-500 Upright Electric Bass. Juan overviews the features of the VE-500 and plays us a little sample to show how this bass compares to electric uprights that are up to five times the price.
Aside from the functionality, Juan also thinks this bass is very aesthetically pleasing and fits well with the range of acoustic instruments he uses. You can also use the base of the bass as a harpoon in case you find yourself on a spontaneous whaling excursion, which happens to me more than you'd think.
[SONES DE MEXICO PERFORMING]
JUAN DIES: My name is Juan Dies. I'm a musician in the group "Sones de Mexico" ensemble. We specialize in Mexican Traditional Music.
[SONES DE MEXICO PERFORMING]
[JUAN DIES PERFORMING A DEMONSTRATION OF THE PALATINO VE-500 UPRIGHT ELECTRIC BASS]
JUAN DIES: This is an instrument that I get asked about a lot in our shows, and I have to say it’s the one non-Mexican instrument that we have. This is a Palatino Electric Upright Bass, and it’s made in China and I only paid $600 for it. It actually compares with the other electric upright basses that I’ve seen that go for $3,000 or more, and I’m very happy with it.
It’s very simple construction, kind of like a baby bass. There have been some recommendations that people have made for improving the sound of this instrument, one of them is here at the bridge. I have actually replaced the bridge because there I had an accident. I broke the original bridge, so I had this small bass bridge adapted and we’ve put a little padding underneath. They recommend either one of those sticky things you put on the dashboard to keep your keys from or your cell phone from rolling over, or you can put a bicycle inner tube section, and that gives it a little more cushion to the -- and this is where the pickup is located.
Also, in the equalization, it really detracts from it if you turn it anywhere else then all the way down, it makes it very thin.
[JUAN DIES PERFORMING A DEMONSTRATION OF THE PALATINO VE-500 UPRIGHT ELECTRIC BASS]
You really need to have it cranked up all the way, both buttons basically. You don’t do a whole lot with those.
As far as portability, it sure beats carrying the real thing, the real acoustic, so, and the back it has a preamp and a place for the battery which is a 9-volt battery, and then this, the stand that will collapse to put it away.
[JUAN DIES PERFORMING WITH SONES DE MEXICO ENSEMBLE USING THE PALATINO VE-500 UPRIGHT ELECTRIC BASS]
I’ve been using about half through the show or more. I’ve only been using it for a year but it’s been very versatile and it really is probably my main instrument right now. The gig bag that comes with it is okay. You know, I wish somebody would make better ones. I’ve -- I’d like to see a better one but it doesn’t really protect the instrument that much, and for traveling I had to build it’s own hard case, you know, it looks like a coffin, you know, and put it in and really protect the instrument because the gig bag that comes with it won’t protect it at all.
[JUAN DIES PERFORMING WITH SONES DE MEXICO ENSEMBLE USING THE PALATINO VE-500 UPRIGHT ELECTRIC BASS]
One of the things I like about the Palatino Bass is that it has a very aesthetic shape to it. It blends well with our acoustic instruments. A lot of these upright basses are really futuristic looking or/and they really would clash with the look of everything else that we have on stage so these nice warm tones and the slender bass like shape, you know, it really adds a lot. The authentic head on it, instead of the -- they really don’t need to have all of this but they added all this to make it look nice like a bass.
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