Upright string bass

[Charlie C Chowder]

I have a hankering for an upright bass. I was wondering if you doublers play plywood, hybrids, or all solid carved woods? As to me and what I should get, I am going for what I can afford that gives me the best sound. Right now that is a Czechoslovakian hybrid at a local Bass shop. As I may never play it in a group, it is just a vanity purchase to add to my other musical toys.

Maybe Clown Around With,

Charlie C. Chowder

[pecktime]

Plywoods tend to be used more for folk, country, rock-a-billy, bluegrass early jazz as they tend to have a punchy uncomplicated sound. Plywoods generally do not bow as well as solid wood basses.

I have a good plywood (New Standard Cleveland) and a good solid wood bass (Romanian no label) and like them both for different things.

A good setup and good strings are a must. I like a gut G string with Spirocore A D E. The Velvet blues are good and easy to play too.

And please call it a double bass!

And get some lessons! Good technique goes a long way. I hate seeing guys play it like a vertical P bass. ewww.

[tyrell1111]

I got a Stagg eBass off of eBay for about $500 this summer. It works for what I use it for. (Jazz, mostly) it came with a crack in the body, but I might make it a summer project to make a new body for it. It sounds nice, and plays comfortably. Not a bad learner bass

[BopEuph]

I play a 1945 Kay M-1. I use it for jazz and musical theatre, and the occasional legit gig. It handles arco wonderfully, and conductors of the official US tours of the Broadway shows have had no issues with the sound. Arco-wise, it's HUGE.

I have a set of d'Addario Hybrids that I haven't changed in eleven years. They say you're supposed to change them annually, but they sound great to me, and to my colleagues.

What's great about a Kay, when you find them, is that they don't cost a whole lot. I probably couldn't sell mine for much more than $2500.

As for a Chubby Jackson, I've recently thought it would be nice to have one of those!

But if you like that Czech, bring a bass friend with you to check it out and see what he thinks of it.

[Z-Tuba Dude]

I am concerned about the effect of dry, forced-air heat on any double bass acquisition.

Can anyone speak from experience, to that issue?

[Three Valves]

I am concerned about the effect of dry, forced-air heat on any double bass acquisition.

Can anyone speak from experience, to that issue?

That is precisely why God invented plywood basses!!

[tubapix]

i like this solution to the space issue

http://foldingbass.com/see-and-hear/videofold/" target="_blank

[Donn]

Like many others it seems, mine is an old Kay - real old, if I remember right it's late '30s. Other comments here have covered the main issues as well as I could, but I just want to emphasize that in a wide range of performance situations you'll be dealing with amplification. I would love to be free of that - that's one of the things I like about the tuba - but for me, if it's going to be electric anyway most of the time, then I'd just as soon be electric all the time and play electric bass. I get some "push back" on this, but as best as I can make out, it's more about looks than music, and I'm not good looking enough to be any kind of eye candy. I use a nice looking electric bass and flatwound strings, and it's really fun to play.

[Søren]

I already double on electric bass, and at a certain point bought a double bass to have that in the arsenal as well. And I am not an expert at that instrument (some would call me a beginner), but my experiences are:

- Get a fairly cheap plywood bass, but setup correctly by your local expert
- Be aware that while brass instruments will bend upon impact, wooden instruments break! Get used to dragging the cheap one around before you invest in something more expensive.
- I found the best pickups to be Wilson pickups (http://wilson-pickups.com/topics/double-bass/). The single K1 eliminated all the problems I had with various other pickups.

Good luck with it. I really enjoy fooling around with mine!

[Three Valves]

...if it's going to be electric anyway most of the time, then I'd just as soon be electric all the time and play electric bass. I get some "push back" on this, but as best as I can make out, it's more about looks than music, and I'm not good looking enough to be any kind of eye candy. I use a nice looking electric bass and flatwound strings, and it's really fun to play.

"Like"

[bigtubby]

i like this solution to the space issue

http://foldingbass.com/see-and-hear/videofold/" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Making a string bass be vaguely the size of a tuba would be a yuge improvement!

Brad Litwin designed and patented a very similar guitar:
https://youtu.be/JEiZhZLmoAc

[Charlie C Chowder]

If size was a problem I could get a Bass ukulele with a built in pickup. As I said this is just a vanity purchase. I may never play it with anyone around. I have a couple of electric basses and play bass lines on my guitars and cellos all the time as well as on my tubas. But as I have the means and the desire, I am looking. I can pick up a stick electric fairly easy around here. But an "Upright Double Bass" would probably be a one time purchase. They are kind of like a grand piano, I only have so much room in my house for one. There is an old Kay at a local shop, but I have not tested it out yet.

I am a great believer in "Play it before you pay for it."

Charlie C. Chowder

[iiipopes]

I have a double bass. I bought a cheap-Chinese-bass-shaped-object off ebay so I could learn how they work and set it up myself, which was quite a chore to file the nut slots properly, contour the neck and fingerboard properly, trim the bridge so the strings were at a playable height, position the soundpost, install a pickup, real strings, etc., ad infinitum ad nauseum. But I got to know my instrument better than most people, and it made me significant income over the past few years that I played in various swing/jazz/dance bands and other occasional gigs, paying for itself many times over.

If a player is going to play the traditional literature, I believe a double bass is necessary for many of those gigs. I started in one band some years ago on one of my electric basses. Good as far as it went: good pitch, intonation, etc. But the band, a 9-piece dance club band, felt "forced." I realized it was my bass. The electric, in spite of old flatwound strings, piece of foam under the strings at the bridge, etc., was too compressed and had to much sustain and "drive" for the traditional literature.

After I got my double bass, set it up, and woodshedded at home on it, I took it to rehearsal. As I played, I listened very carefully to the band for any ensemble differences. The differences were immediately apparent to me: instead of the band "driving" the songs, the bloom of the double bass, as a contrast to the drive of an electric bass, helped the band relax and "swing" the charts better. Surprisingly, I played not one note different on the charts than the previous rehearsal, and I don't think they realized how much more "authentic" the horns all sounded in ensemble. But they did say everything "felt" better.

It is underestimated the effect that the proper bass instrument has in supporting an ensemble, not just for intonation, articulation and tempo, but for style and artistic interpretation as well.

Good luck on finding a good double bass to add to the arsenal. It is well worth it.

[Art Hovey]

Vince Giordano uses an aluminum bass exclusively, and gets a good sound out of it.
I have exactly the same model, but mine doesn't sound so good; I haven't used it for 50 years. I now use a half-size plywood bass with solo tuning strings tuned to Bb, F, CC, GG, and DD. It's very comfortable in the keys commonly used by traditional jazz bands. I put a good pickup onto the bridge and use it with a small Gallien-Kruger amp. With a small modification to the bass I was able to eliminate feedback completely.

[Three Valves]

Who needs four strings??

Or five or six??

[Charlie C Chowder]

I fixed the dilemma today. I found a up right acoustic string bass on Craig's list for $250. It had been leaned against a wall hearer and was burned on the back. It sound fine for what it is, an inexpensive plywood bass. But it will do the job I want it for. I am not a slave to looks. You can tell that by looking at me. Already got the fretless.

Charlie C. Chowder