Swingmaster coming my way

[Haderian]

Hello again, sorry I can´t stick to one specific question. Ordered an Engelhardt Swingmaster from Lemur a week ago and it´s on its way to Sweden right this minute. Len and Jerry at Lemur were too good to be true, they took hours of their time to answer my zillions of amateurish questions about strings, sound, carved vs. laminated, etc. Great guys over there on the opposite side of the planet -- but maybe all double bassists are? Had some e-mail conversations with Bob Gollihur too, a totally trustworthy and lovable gentleman as well but he doesn´t ship overseas.

Anyways, I will spare the Lemur guys these stupid questions. Have cruised the Web a lot and have found the advice that you should put your brand new bass in front of your stereo speakers at full blast for a few days (never mind what the neighbors think) to let the different pieces of wood vibrate themselves into perfect harmony -- instead of simply playing the bass for some years to "break it in". Is this only superstition, on is there some truth to it? And would this truth also apply to my Blonde Beast plywood bass?

Also, I already have a very nice bass, a German 100-year old carved beauty, all blackened from age, that sings its songs in a loud beautiful voice. But I hesitate to bring it to gigs at biker bars etc, that´s why I ordered the Swingmaster. Maybe I will be disappointed with the acoustic sound of my new plywood bass. But in my jazz-type weird popular music retro-rock band we always use just a little bit of amplification. I hope I could always electronically add a little more of the frequencies I need more of. Any thoughts on that?

"If you think I have gone crazy, try picking a flower from the garden of your neighbor" -- Charles Bukowski

[Bob Branstetter]

Originally posted by Haderian
Have cruised the Web a lot and have found the advice that you should put your brand new bass in front of your stereo speakers at full blast for a few days (never mind what the neighbors think) to let the different pieces of wood vibrate themselves into perfect harmony -- instead of simply playing the bass for some years to "break it in". Is this only superstition, on is there some truth to it?

Wishful thinking - probably based on what some acoustic guitar players have done. The amount of energy required to set your bass in motion is far greater than you could possibly get from a home stereo at any volume before the speakers explode.

[Johnny L]

...let the different pieces of wood vibrate themselves into perfect harmony -- instead of simply playing the bass for some years to "break it in".

I'd settle for playing the bass some years to both break the bass and myself in. That's my superstition.