| Chinese Bass
I played double bass at school and have recently bought a Chinese double bass (Stentor Alysia) which you probably don't know in the States, at a cost of about £1,500.00 after a lifetime playing electric bass guitar. It has a spruce top with what appears to be grain applied within the lacquer (looks a bit fake to me although it is well done). The back and sides are flamed maple and the fingerboard is ebony as is the tail etc. The problem is I know very little about upright basses and feel that I am not getting the best from the instrument due to its set-up. Firstly the strings are cheap and floppy and require to be changed but with the correspondence I read on your forum, this appears to be a complex area with string tension and string height being related, together with other factors and a huge variety of string makes and types. I had the bass set up and the fingerboard, although relatively straight, still has a slight relief of about 2mm and the nut is fairly low. I don't bow much but would not wish my choice of new strings to preclude this in the future. I suppose my instinct is for loud, heavy, tight strings but as I say, I don't know a lot! I always prefer a low action on my guitars but am aware that this can seriously affect the tone and volume. I generally play light acoustic Scottish folk music in one band where I look for volume and tone but often play some slap in my other amplified band (I have a Shadow SH 950 and Bose GEB-7 pedal) with a bit of rock and roll. I should be really grateful for any advice on strings and bridge height etc from any of you experts out there. I expect to pay over £100.00 for strings.
Jack Keddie
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