Looking to have My new double bass Spruced.

[fatgoogle]

Hi

I finally replaced my cheap chinese orange ply wood bass, with a nice hybrid hora flat back bass. And its much nicer.

Just wanted to have it set up perfectly for me and was wondering somethings.

What strings are good for both arco and pizz, but more arco. And light, medium, heavy, whats the realy difference their. Around 120

Would an adjustable bridge be worth the extra money, i have to get this bridge replaced anyway as someone put ebony feet on it which deadens it a bit and it needs to be re-radiused to match the fingerboard and to make bowing easier. Are they useful?

Currently theirs a fishman bp-100 that doesnt really seem to suit it, its a bit raspy, Anyone want to buy it from me. I was looking at a shadow and an upton pickup. again around 120.

Also my teacher says i really need to get a new bow, now im not sure how much better, but i want to get the bass fully playable first. Are these carbon bows any good, their around 100 which sounds good, or should is stick with a wooden bow ive been lookin at some Gewa's.

Also last but not least, rosin. Im using petz but its very sticky and gets everywhere and has a very bright tone. something less sticky and more dark would be nice.

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks
Sam Homfray

[fatgoogle]

just to show her off.

[velvetkevorkian]

I'm not really qualified to comment on most of that, but if the Upton pickup is the Revolution Solo II I think its great- I get a very natural sound with mine. Nice looking bass though!

[harmonicon]

In my experience less sticky rosin = brighter, not more dark. It's all about how much you apply to the bow. I can't recommend a good carbon fibre bow, but I know that my next bow will be one - i treat my instruments like tools and want them to be hardy; I don't want to worry about bending or breaking a piece of wood. Back to rosin... I really like the swedish rosins. In the 90's there was a kind (in the US) just called "swedish rosin" which I had several cakes of - I think there's a close thing available now, but I can't recall the name... anyway, it's sticky. If you want a less sticky rosin, try pop's - I hate it, but many people swear by it (and it's comparatively cheap).

[quote name='fatgoogle' post='857678' date='Jun 4 2010, 08:55 PM']


just to show her off. [/quote]

[Beer of the Bass]

I think the Swedish rosin is Nyman or Carlsson (I suspect the two may be the same thing, as the tub is identical, with a different label). I lent mine to a fiddle player once and he moaned about the stickiness for weeks! The Upton Revolution Solo II is a decent pickup. I use one, and it does a respectable enough job - still a bit pickup-y sounding but very useable, and probably as good as you'll get without spending huge amounts.

[endorka]

[quote name='fatgoogle' post='857675' date='Jun 4 2010, 08:54 PM']What strings are good for both arco and pizz, but more arco. And light, medium, heavy, whats the realy difference their. Around 120[/quote]

I use the Helicore Hybrid medium gauge, which are well within your budget from Thomann. I find them very good:

pizzicato tone recorded through mic here:
[url="http://programmes.stv.tv/the-hour/news-gossip/128148-horse-performs-her-song-heaven-can-wait/"]http://programmes.stv.tv/the-hour/news-gos...eaven-can-wait/[/url]

arco/pizz tone recorded through BP100 pickup here:
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3nugtKjDo4&feature=player_embedded"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3nugtKjDo4...player_embedded[/url]

I found the BP100 ok for pizz, but not that great for arco, and have since then moved onto a Realist pickup.

Apparently the lighter gauge of the Helicore Hybrids are more suitable for arco, as they "start" more easily.

[quote]Would an adjustable bridge be worth the extra money, i have to get this bridge replaced anyway as someone put ebony feet on it which deadens it a bit and it needs to be re-radiused to match the fingerboard and to make bowing easier. Are they useful?[/quote]

I find an adjustable bridge very useful - the bass tends to "speak" at its best at a certain bridge height, and with the adjusters it is easy to determine this. If you play a lot of arco and pizz it is also easier to find the best compromise for string height with the bridge adjusters. Also, the string height seems to vary over time, presumably with the seasons. With bridge adjusters this can be corrected.

[quote]Currently theirs a fishman bp-100 that doesnt really seem to suit it, its a bit raspy, Anyone want to buy it from me. I was looking at a shadow and an upton pickup. again around 120.[/quote]

Pickups are a very personal choice, and their performance seems to vary depending on the instrument the are on. The best thing you can do is to try one in action on your instrument before buying, if possible.

[quote]Also my teacher says i really need to get a new bow, now im not sure how much better, but i want to get the bass fully playable first. Are these carbon bows any good, their around 100 which sounds good, or should is stick with a wooden bow ive been lookin at some Gewa's.[/quote]

I have one of the Yita "top model" carbon fibre bows - it is very good, highly recommended.

[quote]Also last but not least, rosin. Im using petz but its very sticky and gets everywhere and has a very bright tone. something less sticky and more dark would be nice.[/quote]

A lot of people around here use Nyman's.

Jennifer

[fatgoogle]

Thanks for the replies.

Im currently using a cheap Yita music bow which is good, but quite heavy. So if the yita carbon fibre is good ill get one.

And thse
[url="http://www.thomann.de/ie/daddario_helicore01.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/ie/daddario_helicore01.htm[/url]

[harmonicon]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' post='857987' date='Jun 5 2010, 09:54 AM']I think the Swedish rosin is Nyman or Carlsson (I suspect the two may be the same thing, as the tub is identical, with a different label).[/quote]

Yes! Thank you! It's in the blue tub - Carlsson is the one I've been using. Very similar, but not as good as ol' "Swedish" rosin, which was just slightly less sticky and came in a black tub. I love how it lets me feel like I can really dig in with the bow - that the string would give before the bow would if I wanted it to.