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Email Tom and George Martin about their carbon bows. I think they're about 400. Some are ok some are very good but overall a very good bow to learn on, i have all my students playing with them. A lot of wooden sticks are worse at that price then carbon ones.

Thanks

Out of interest, Where can you get an Fdeck clone made?

Belcanato's have been the lightest string I've used..... There not a high tension string.

[quote name='chrkelly' timestamp='1423008090' post='2679639'] In the right hands (not mine!)...awesome. I'd rather play a crap bass with a good bow than a good bass with a crap bow. [/quote] I concur. All the young bass players over here have laminate bass's but really nice bows like the Claude Marchand. You can learn on a cheap bass but its difficult to get the most out of a cheap bow.

No need to be quite so sarcastic. €850 and in my opinion something which far outstrips the Yita bow and is worth that money more so than the Yita is. People spend so much money on a bass so why not a bow that can help them play the instrument more effectively?

I think about 850 new i got mine second hand for peanuts. It just pulls a better sound, has much better balance and re-acts more like a wooden bow than the Yita. If i had originally got the Carbow i probably wouldn't have moved onto the Bazin. Also I've discover you constantly need to have pressure on carbon fibre so never slacken off the hair or the bow will loose it's camber.

I played a Yita bow for a bout a year then moved onto a really nice wooden stick. I now have a cheap carbow as my backup and it just out class's the yita in every way. There not expensive new and even cheaper second hand if you can find one. The Yita is a quick stepping bow and nothing more from my experience now.

One from a quick photo shoot i had to do....... [URL=http://s298.photobucket.com/user/fatgoogle/media/_MG_0827jm.jpg.html][IMG]http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm244/fatgoogle/_MG_0827jm.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

If you keep your arm still and just move your wrist, as you would beginning any bow stroke, you should be able to start a note. Also another great little tip for getting used to bowing is do the above but use your arm weight so the bow grips but doesn't let go. It shows just how little applied weight you need.

Bowing takes a long time to master. You'll need a mirror in front of you every time your practice. The tip needs to be slightly high most of the time but just a very slight angle. As as been said you need to be very relaxed. Make sure to get clean starts to all your bows and practice long slow bows that have a very linear dynamic. Then begin forte and get piano towards the tip and then begin forte at the tip and end piano at the frog. Piano at the frog, forte in the middle and piano again by the tip and the opposite again. Also another good exercise is start right at the fingerboard and as you draw the bow slide it right down to the bridge keeping the same sound and then go back up to the fingerboard. Slow clean bows are the key to a really good sound. Also get a few lessons. Its very difficult to correct yourself when your beginning. EDIT: also try starting notes just with your wrist and then stop. Also if these are pieces your working on to play with a pianist you'll need to think about projection, playing a bit closer to the bridge and maybe a little more arm weight.

I have a quote here in Ireland for 600 with an E capo plus 60 for every other capo. Seems ok to me.

Yep. I do pit work and just leave it on a stand and play it on the stand. Also i think i wouldn't be called back if i turned up with an EUB, they want a double bass.

I skipped to my grade 8 and preparing for my diploma now. I think the best way to approach the pieces is to take them in small chunks, that you can manage and get them right. There's no point in skipping over little bits. You may as well play to the best of your ability. Which pieces have you chosen. I also find it good to mix in other pieces you want to learn so you don't get de-motivated by repetition. Also get constant feedback.

It could be just a crack in the finish in which case theres no need to worry. Happens to huge number of bass's. Best way to keep it going is to constantly play it.

Presumably you already have it on your upright so it would involve you removing all the strings, unscrewing the threads on the adjusters, taking them off and doing the same on your yamaha. Providing the threads on the adjusters are the same width. You'll also have to make sure your sound post doesn't fall over when you take the strings off your upright. I'd say its a bit of a professional job and i doubt the adjusters are the same width.

It all comes down to good technique and she could play any size bass, granted a 1/2 size would be easier to start with but have a look at 3/4 sized bass's. I had a masterclass with Chi -Chi Nwanoku who is tiny and another guy playing had a massive 4/4 poll man bass, literally bigger than any other bass if've come across. She picked it up and played it perfectly. Again good technique. Good luck in your search and to Cici in learning possibly the greatest instrument.

A lot of electric players play double as well (me included) and a lot of them aren't the best teachers, having just picked one up and got going. Maybe look to see if you can find someone to recommend a good teacher who can work through the grades and teach both classical and jazz. A bow is essential in my opinion to get really good intonation. They'll probably be a youth orchestra in your area as well she can join which are always a great to get comfortable with a double bass and get involved in many styles of music. Renting a half size could be a good way to go but i know many female players (both short and tall) playing 3/4 and 4/4 bass's so see if you can have a go on a few different sizes.

A cloth to wipe down strings, small bottle of rubbing alcohol to clean strings if they get to gunked up. Small fine comb to clean bow hair with. A separate cloth if your hands get sweaty. A pencil and rubber. All fits in a pencil case which you can keep in your gig bag. A tuner and metronome app if you have a smart phone. And maybe a small hand held recorder like a zoom q2 to record your practice so you can review it yourself.

One thing i found to help with feedback was to sit down while playing with my knee damping the back. Not very cool at gigs but works.

[quote name='FLoydElgar' timestamp='1409074715' post='2536081'] carbon bow up to about £700+ don't waste your money on something that isn't pernabuco [/quote] There are many bow makers making bows with snakewood and experimenting with other woods due to the lack and expense of pernambuco wood. Sue Lipkins i think only makes her german bows out of snakewood.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1408970006' post='2535000'] I have been playing mine for over a year now but I still would not be able to tell if a bass was any good really, I know what you are saying but it only works if you can already play fairly well, most people in this situation as I was are beginners or maybe the next step up, taking a good player along might be better but not everyone has a local good player to hand with the time to go and look at basses often 100 miles away do they? If I was a pro that warranted a year long trial of a bass I doubt I would be looking at Gedo basses or G4M I can't imagine many sellers on gumtree or ebay agreeing to any trial other than a dabble in their front front never mind 2 weeks? So that puts us back to shops probably on a sale or return basis, anything even one step up from my Gedo in a shop is going to be £1800+ thats the shops that stock such things most items in that price range at a shop are bows! [/quote] When i bought my first proper bass after my laminate disaster which was probably roughly about the same price as your new gedo (mine had been through a couple of hands by then) i was given a two week trial so i could bring it to my teacher, to a rehearsal, see how i coped with the size (it was a full size and i was quite new) and just generally to see how i got on with it. I did the same when i sold that bass, gave a two week trial to two people who i didn't know. Double bass's in general are hard things to sell, you have to be a bit trusting.

Original 3 strings are very rare because not many of them were actually made. Many 4 strings were converted to 3 strings and then back to 4 strings when more playable strings came into existence and with improved technique. For instance In France they were playing 4 strings at the same time as London orchestras were playing three strings and Berlin was using a lot of 5ths tuning. Id say its only about the 1920's or so that 4 strings tuned in 4ths came about. It's why even in period correct orchestra's you don't see many if any 3 strings as they aren't necessarily period correct. Bottesini used one for tension purposes and thats sort of why a lot of people think they're the norm. Looks a bit rubbish though that bass.

Another thing, since the very first bass i bought (a cheap laminate that wasn't playable) i have never bought a bass outright without taking it on a trial and would recommend that no one does either. Two weeks to a month is generally accepted as good trial time. Some pro's have taken bass's on trials for a year or longer just to make sure its the right one.

My very first bow was a very cheap brazil wood thing which was sh*t. However some people have had great luck with the snakewood offerings of ebay which are supposed to be quite good. Its the problem with buying of ebay, you can never be too sure and while one person might get a great bow, you could buy the exact same one and it could be rubbish. Thats also partly to do with the massed produced nature of them. I definitely wouldn't spend less then 200 on a wooden bow if i wanted something that worked though. It sort of depends what you want from a bow, when your beginning your just focusing and long bows and an even sound across the entire length but as you start having to play tricky Mozart semiquavers you need more spring to facilitate this or if your playing Strauss and theres long fortissimo phrases you need more weight that cheaper bows just can't give you. I am either going to pick up a snakewood bow of ebay or a finale carbon fiber bow as a backup to my bazin. Also interestingly enough my teacher still uses a bow he bought for what is about €120 which he uses alongside his Morizot (€5-6000). There both wonderful bows but it shows you can get something that works for you and does everything you need it to for not much money. Edgar Meyer comes to mind. Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1D30AgYAk4 Watch at 23:06 or so for examples of the Mozart that i struggled to play with a cheaper from its lack of spring.