Newish EUB day.

[MacDaddy]

I've recently bought a Stagg EUB (courtesy of @Burns-bass). 

Regular readers may know I already have an Ibanez UEB, and this I took to quite quickly, no doubt helped by the 34" scale. The Stagg with it's 3/4 DB scale and no stand, is a different proposition altogether. 

I took it to rehearsal last night and tbh it's was a struggle. I tried it first with the fake body bits, then took them off for a while, then put just the one I lean on, and this was a bit better. But I'm still not sure how high to have the pin. With the Ibanez I have the nut at roughly forehead height. Should it be the same for the Stagg? I was often thrown by the bigger scale. 

Any tips appreciated.

 

 

(Pic from @Burns-bass sale listing)

[ezbass]

11 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

I have the nut at roughly forehead height.

I do this for my WAV4.

[TorturedSaints]

Forehead height (level with eyebrow) was a good starting point for me with my WAV4 too. For consistency,  I marked the stand with pencil marks to make sure I got it in the same place each time. Although now I have a DB, I’ve subsequently increased the height to match that.  
Are you trying to play the Stagg with a one finger per ‘fret’/semitone technique or fingers 1/2/4 ? I imagine the former would be difficult unless you have very big hands. 

[MacDaddy]

6 hours ago, TorturedSaints said:

Are you trying to play the Stagg with a one finger per ‘fret’/semitone technique or fingers 1/2/4 ?

 

It's one finger per 'fret' on the Ibanez, on the Stagg there's currently a lot of moving the whole hand.

[Norris]

I think I have mine on the 8th notch of the end pin. I always seem to set it too low and then have to raise it 😂

 

Similarly I only fit the one "fake body bit", the one that leans against your hip.

[TorturedSaints]

 

7 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

 

It's one finger per 'fret' on the Ibanez, on the Stagg there's currently a lot of moving the whole hand.

Without wishing to teach Granny etc, there are some good YouTube videos on the “Discover Double Bass” channel and online courses from them that got me started, although I did have a few in person lessons to start with.   It’s a rabbit hole from which I haven’t really emerged. . . 🤣

[Paul S]

I had one that I modded to sit on a tripod stand a la NS Design.  I found that easier to manage, albeit the playing experience wasn't quite authentic DB  Also moved the bridge up a bit so it would take regular DB strings.

 

Edited yesterday at 09:41 by Paul S

[tinyd]

The Ibanez uprights looks really good, but you can still translate a lot of BG technique directly to them, whereas once you go full scale you'll need to change things with both hands. 

For left hand, definitely worth starting with Simandl technique (you don't need to wade through the whole book, but get used to the fingering). For the right hand, watch some videos on the technique there as it's a lot more "vertical" than BG. You _may_ be already doing this on the Ibanez but most videos I've seen involve the players aligning their fingers more horizontally (like a BG turned on its side). For full scale you need a lot more meat under the string so even if you can get notes with the horizontal plucking it won't sound as good.

In terms of playing with others, I'd start simple with lines that you can play down the bottom of the neck, and bring another bass so you can change when you get tired rather than risk injuring yourself. It won't take long for you to start enjoying playing the thing....