no bass!

[bremen]

Regular readers will know that I'm hot on stingraypete's heels on the bass guitar>eub>double bass road :-)

I tried a couple of basses in my local shop the other day. One Hidersine, one whose name I forget, 1500 and 999 quid respectively. Both three-quarter.

Both were really easy to play, no harder than my eub. The d and g sounded beautiful on both but the low end was RUBBISH. Really useless. I can't exaggerate how weak-tea, unmusical, un-bass they both sounded. No way would I be happy performing or recording with a wimpy tone like that.

I'd have expected the depth of bass to be mostly dependent on the size of the body, but what else could be causing this? Will I need to get a 4/4, spend considerably more than 1500 or is there some setup secret the shop didn't know?

Thanks in advance for advice and reassurances!

Edited May 10, 2013 by bremen

[Beedster]

Strings, setup, and excessive expectations of bassiness compared to the levels got from an EB/EUB all play their part Chris. Keep looking mate

Chris

[Bilbo]

It is well known that the actual [i]price tag[/i] itself can reduce the amount of luscious bassiness that a double bass can project. I recommend you go back and ask them to add a zero to the price.

That'll do it.

[MandShef]

Strings, and set up (string height, bridge height etc), are more likely to be the problem than size, so, for example, the lower string should have slightly more height to it than the highest string (stick your finger under as a gage).

Hope you find a good un' soon!

Edited May 10, 2013 by MandShef

[stingrayPete1977]

It sounds from my limited knowledge that the string height might of been too low if they were as easy to play as the eub?

[ubassman]

Could be a couple of things - some shops will put naff strings onto a bass just to not out price the instrument in this day and age of competition from internet sales. If they put a decent set of strings it would add £150 (or more ) onto the price of the bass.

If its not cheap or second hand old strings it could be that the sound post has shifted and needs to a quick adjustment ...but you would hope that the luthier in the shop would do that so as to eliminate the issue before it hits front of house.

Don't think that its height related although its true that the higher the strings the more tension is carried through the bridge which makes the top of the bass vibrate more ..my money is on cheap strings !!

[thisnameistaken]

It could be that you're not playing the lower strings as well as you are the higher ones. Are you just plucking them with your fingertips? Also how close to the end of the fingerboard was your hand? Those sorts of things make a big difference in the sound on double bass, especially to the power you can get from bass notes.

Also bear in mind you're standing in the worst position to hear how the bass sounds. Get someone else to play it and stand a couple of metres infront of it and see what you think then.

[MandShef]

The E string is the first to go, so it might be just the strings need changing. I would have though the sound post would affect the general sound, not just the lower string? In my experience string height does also make a difference (too low = weaker sound), so it's worth considering. Then you need to decide whether you'd be happy to buy a bass with the potential extra cost of set-up/new strings (I suspect this would need doing more often than not when buying yourself a new bass - you'd be lucky to find one set up exactly as you like it)?!

[ubassman]

Could be either of those MandShef.

The sound post is pretty key actually - if you shift it towards the bass bar the bass notes will be increased ...if its too far to the right f hole then the trebles will be increased at the expense of the bass notes .

Couple of links which hopefully are of interest ! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HhxCRbygrc

[MandShef]

Lol, I guess the gist of this conversation is that without seeing it, it's impossible to tell what the problem is! Perhaps the best advice for the OP is therefore to take someone who knows about double basses with them, so they can take a proper look if possible.

[bremen]

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes, I do need to take someone with me who knows what to look for.

Bilbo: nonsense. My Bitsa P is the best bass I've ever played, and cost me a tenth of the asking price of some of the coffee tables I've tried or owned

[PTB]

I think I would move away from the "local shop" & find somewhere that specialises in double basses. That way, a lot of the issues around strings, soundposts, etc should not be present leaving you with a much easier time.

I got my first & current DB's from Peter Tyler near Maidenhead, a wise chap with a house full of DB's. I can't tell where you live but no doubt BC can help locate something similar if PT is too far away.

Good luck!

[cattytown]

Also are you looking at NEW basses - they do sometime take a little playing in.

Paul.