Cheap eBay bass not holding pitch

[tornadobass]

I'm playing in a chamber orchestra where the other bassist recently purchased a CCBSO (Cheap Chinese Bass Shaped Object) from eBay that doesn't hold pitch.

It had a set of Helicores installed a couple of weeks ago, so they should be settled in by now. I looked at how they were put on the tuning pegs and strings are doubled through the holes, so should not be slipping. She said the original strings did the same thing.

She tunes at the start of the rehearsal, but within a few minutes they are quite flat...like a half step. Repeated tunings over the next half hour do not hold, but after that point, there's less loss of pitch.

Is it possible that the neck is actually bending? I checked the relief at the end of rehearsal and saw that the fingerboard was almost completely flat.

Other things to check? Tuners slipping?

Have there been others with a CCBSO that did the same thing?

[Will Yager]

There are probably innumerable problems with it. A bonfire is the only suitable course of action.

[wdnewman]

Off the top of my head.
Tuners slipping: Don't see how its possible if they are worm and gear tuners unless there are buckets of slop between the worm and gear. If ALL
the strings are dropping pitch equally, I would rule this out.
Neck bending or moving: When tuned, measure the distance between the bottom of the fingerboard (at the bridge end) and the top of the bass. When it goes out of tune, re-measure. Use a caliper.
My best guess: The tailpiece cable is slipping OR the endpin is moving, which means a sloppy fit in the block or a broken or cracked block.
In any case, I like the bonfire idea.

[Krispy]

I'll bring marshmallows!

Sorry, that was uncalled for.

[robobass]

Don't rule out slipping tuners. That's the first thing I'd check on a CCPOS (figure it out).

[Jason Sypher]

So, was it worth it?

(apologies)

[Phil Rowan]

Save it till next winter and use it as a toboggan, then use it for a bonfire to keep warm. If you bring marshmallows, don't forget Hershey's chocolate and graham crackers (yum!).

[drurb]

Too bad we haven't collected all these CCPOSB stories in one place. If we had, we could direct those who post the following opinions to our collection:

1) CCBs are a reasonable alternative for a newbie with limited funds.
2) CCBs can be just fine, once you fix the setup a bit.
3) CCBs are not as bad as the elitist snobs here at TB say.
4) CCBs are worth buying and playing for a while until you upgrade.

[Nagrom]

not to mention...
5) none of the above.

[blendermassacre]

Originally Posted by drurb

Too bad we haven't collected all these CCPOSB stories in one place. If we had, we could direct those who post the following opinions to our collection:

1) CCBs are a reasonable alternative for a newbie with limited funds.
2) CCBs can be just fine, once you fix the setup a bit.
3) CCBs are not as bad as the elitist snobs here at TB say.
4) CCBs are worth buying and playing for a while until you upgrade.

IMO, having come to these conclusions, I think that people, especially, people coming from the electric bass side of things, it's a hard transition. Electric players pass off the " you must spend $1k on a bass to get a decent electric bass". That train of thought is often flawed and downright untrue, and I think, to a point, ingrained into most people who play electric as a downright fallacy.

Then those of us who are thinking of making the transition into upright, try to equate the world of electric bass into the world of double bass, and sometimes take the " you have to spend $2k on an upright" more as snobbery than literal truth. It's hard to take a mental state of being, and turn it on it's head despite it's truth.

[fdeck]

Originally Posted by blendermassacre

IMO, having come to these conclusions, I think that people, especially, people coming from the electric bass side of things, it's a hard transition. Electric players pass off the " you must spend $1k on a bass to get a decent electric bass". That train of thought is often flawed and downright untrue, and I think, to a point, ingrained into most people who play electric as a downright fallacy.

Then those of us who are thinking of making the transition into upright, try to equate the world of electric bass into the world of double bass, and sometimes take the " you have to spend $2k on an upright" more as snobbery than literal truth. It's hard to take a mental state of being, and turn it on it's head despite it's truth.

Those are good points. I think there are a couple more factors as well. First, there are a lot more electric basses and players, so buying a bass and selling it later isn't a huge hassle. Second, the electric bass was invented in the industrial age, so there are fewer "hidden" details of design and workmanship to worry about, and instruments easily survive mass production and shipping. The need to apply pre-industrial criteria to the judgment of instruments is going strike "normal" people as rather fussy.

[blendermassacre]

Originally Posted by fdeck

Those are good points. I think there are a couple more factors as well. First, there are a lot more electric basses and players, so buying a bass and selling it later isn't a huge hassle. Second, the electric bass was invented in the industrial age, so there are fewer "hidden" details of design and workmanship to worry about, and instruments easily survive mass production and shipping. The need to apply pre-industrial criteria to the judgment of instruments is going strike "normal" people as rather fussy.

I agree with this too. Just because you can make an electric bass on a CNC, screw it together, and solder a few wires, doesn't mean that you can do the same with an URB.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by Nagrom

not to mention...
5) none of the above.

Meaning?

[forester]

CCB @ pitch..rest of orchestra going sharp.

[BigOldHarry]

Originally Posted by Will Yager

There are probably innumerable problems with it. A bonfire is the only suitable course of action.

Jess. A bonfire with strong drink.

Cheap often equals bad. Just a thought.

[dan stanton]

Check the bottom bridge for slippage, and/or for loose screws.

[crowsmengegus]

Originally Posted by dan stanton

Check the bottom bridge for slippage, and/or for loose screws.

Bottom bridge? Screws?

If you are lost, follow this link.

[LeslieD]

I just can't imagine playing a CCB in a chamber orchestra! That's probably the WORST situation to try to get by with such an instrument. I can MAYBE understand having one to play in a grungy bar or in a muddy field at a rainy bluegrass festival...but only if the bass was free and I could throw it away at the end of the gig.

[Bass]

Originally Posted by smokey joe

I love the brilliant answers on here. My car wouldn't start this morning so I guess you would tell me to tow it to the junkyard...

If the cost of repair is worth more than the value of your vehicle, yes!

[tornadobass]

Originally Posted by smokey joe

Its not real complicated. Ya turn the keys to tighten the strings. If da string goes flat tighten some more. Something has to give or break. If the neck is bad a little pressure on it will change the pitch. I'm assuming the bridge is properly set. You need someone to look at it to see what you havn't told us. It should be rather obvious to an experienced musician.

To put it simply....the bass gets tuned at the start of the rehearsal. Somewhere into the first piece, it has gone at least a half-step flat. Retuned, the pitch goes way low yet again within a few minutes...and repeats that over the next half hour or longer. By the end of rehearsal, it's close to holding its pitch, which makes me think that something is flexing during its down time and gets bent into a stable position over several retunings.

The problem is more than a matter of pitch tweaking. Further, the bass has been to a good local luthier who fit and thinned the uncut bridge that this CCB was delivered with. He also installed the strings.

This problem reminds me of the time I naively bought a set of Red-O-Ray gut strings before a big band New Year's gig and couldn't keep the instrument up to pitch for even one tune. ...except the bass in question has Helicores that tune easily on a healthy bass and hold their pitch once tuned.