Silj

Sean sold me some flats back in March and I've just remembered to do the feedback! Sean could not have been more helpful and friendly and the strings are great. Big thumbs up from me. 👍

On 21/12/2020 at 22:01, JadeT said:

Hi there,

I'm hoping to book a lesson or two for my partner to try out Double bass in London. Hopefully near greenwich if possible, but anywhere in London for the right tutor.

He's been learning/practising electric guitar for over 10years now and just wants to test the difference between the two, so ideally the tutor would have a (smaller scale if possible) double bass for him to practise with for the session. 

If you guys know of anyone that fits the bill I'd be very grateful for the recommendation. 

 

This guy is good https://www.musicteachers.co.uk/teacher/1eb289ca6948317f9200  Lives  in Croydon/Purley area. You'll have to ask him what instruments he has available. 

1 minute ago, Reggaebass said:

👍,   You could, if you want, put an ad in the wanted section for a set of short scale flats, someone might have some and lots of people look there 🙂

Oh cool 👍I will go and find the Wanted section. This is a good website...

1 minute ago, Reggaebass said:

I found a set of old rounds in my drawer but they are 37in to the start of the silk, I don’t have anything that short or you could have had them 

That's kind of you Reggaebass - thanks for the thought 🙂

7 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

What’s the length from the bridge to the nut silj 🙂

Hi Rb, it's 30.75 inches for the E string

39 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

As I suspected they are probably ancient Rotosound round-wounds. Yes, age will give them a much more mellow sound. Unfortunately as you have discovered it does also make them harder and harder to tune (and intonate). Another thing I discovered with Rotosounds is that before a certain point (some time in the late 90s) they were incapable of making a short-scale E string that would produce a decent note. Your strings most likely date from that period.

The solution is going to be a tricky one. You could carry on with the current strings (avoiding using the E string like I used to) until one of them breaks; or you could start investigating modern alternatives. String construction and choice has come a long way since that was was last re-strung. I would look for some short-scale flat-wounds that have the same tension as a standard set of Rotosound round wounds - hopefully someone will be along to recommend something suitable, as I'm not really into flat-wounds. What I would say is don't get Rotosounds as they are extremely high tension. 

The other thing to consider is that the the tuning/note definition problems may simply be a character of the bass and not matter what string you use, it won't really be usable. After-all no-one ever wanted one of these "Woolies Specials". These basses are what we bought back in 70s because we simply couldn't afford anything better.

Well yes, you're right, it's a MIJ from Woolies. I know there are going to be limits to how good I can get the tuning and there are a few notes that are never going to sound right - but I don't know where else to find this sound. Other basses will be better for loads of things but this one is just great for Bach and Beatles and I want to make the best of it so thank you for the advice BigRedX, it is all very helpful.

3 hours ago, Maude said:

Short scale yes, but the tuners, while looking rather small, seem to be taking the full width of a standard E. 

@Silj, there's some good info here about short scale strings from Scott Whitley, although obviously only one man's opinion. 

That was really helpful - his description of Rotosound strings speaks exactly to my problems: E string sounds awful, really out of tune at the 5th fret, pitch wanders upwards especially on open strings.  Thanks Maude 🙂

Guys thank you for all the replies - really impressed by this community. I only joined a few days ago. 

I picked the bass up from my Dad's attic last summer. He is nearly 90 and hasn't played it for ages, so the strings can be ancient. They look more round than flat to me, but the sound is really mellow and warm. Perhaps age does that. Everything I've learnt so far tells me I need flats to recreate that sound so I am really pleased to have all the above info. Will let you know which ones I decide on.

Much appreciation

Silj

It's the E string. It sounds really muddy, so much so that my tuner doesn't recognise it. I'll be deeply happy to keep the others if I can find a good enough match. 

Thank you for your advice 🙂

Yes I've heard that and I think it's very likely this one came from a Woolies originally!

Thanks - hope these are clear enough. There is no longer a brand logo on the bass, but I know it is by Audition as there is one on Ebay at the moment with its brand logo intact. Not highly valuable, but I really like the sound. It's a shorty by the way.

Hi there, can anyone help me find the right strings? I have a 1960s vintage bass (from that factory in Japan) that I have really come to like. It has a mellow woody boomy sort of sound, quite acoustic/natural in some registers, and the strings are old. I need to avoid metallic sounding, poppy, twangy strings - I want the sound to stay the same and I don't know where to start! All advice gratefully appreciated especially from anyone who has a similar bass.