Setting up 1st bass

[bestdayever]

Hey everyone, i recently found a engelhardt im hoping to pick up within the next few days and was wondering what it takes to set this thing up for rockabilly. Im completely new to this so any guidence is mucho appreciated.

Thanks,
Jimmy

[skychief]

go for low action on the ebony. Makes for some easy slap-clicking. The trade-off is power but a good (well fitted) pup can make up for this.

[BeowulfKingsley]

If you don't have and adjustable bridge, get your luthier to make yours adjustable. You're gonna want to be able to experiment with various string heights...for me, it's pretty low, but some people are more comfortable with it higher. I'd get the bridge set low, but with the ability to raise it if you wanted to. And in climates where temperatures and humidity changes, the top of the instrument expands and contracts, and the action on your bass changes a lot, so adjusters are a good investment anyway.

[BeowulfKingsley]

Also, if you're looking to play Rockabilly, you'll probably want lower tension strings than the standard medium gauge steels that come with most basses. LOTS of options there. The original Rockabilly guys all used gut strings (well, that was all there was) and the real classic sound comes from that kind of string. But they're also temperamental, difficult to keep in tune and maintain, and break sometimes when you don't expect them to. If you're starting out, weedwhacker strings are a good cheap option...they're actually made from weedwhacker line, but they sound fairly close to gut and are pretty cheap on ebay (or if you figure out the right gauges, at the hardware store!). You might be unhappy with the low E string on whackers though...they're kind of quiet...lots of discussion on other substitutes for this (and lots of good information and opinions) can be found in the Strings section of the DBC forum at dbc Double Bass Forum, Upright Bass Chat - Powered by vBulletin if you're interested...it's a great forum with lots of info for Rockabilly and Roots players. Other good string choices are Innovation Silver Slaps, Innovation Rockabilly Strings, Eurosonic Ultra lights, and Cordes Lambert Strings.

[bestdayever]

Thanks for all the replies. The bass i was looking at got sold locally so im on the hunt for another. I was wondering, do instructors teach slap style, or do they just teach you the fundamentals and you incorporate the slap into your playing later?

Thanks again.

[KStewart]

Originally Posted by bestdayever

I was wondering, do instructors teach slap style, or do they just teach you the fundamentals and you incorporate the slap into your playing later?

Thanks again.

Depending on where you live, there may be some guy who will teach you slap technique. But, because slappin is mainly a right hand technique (or left hand, for you southpaws), I would highly suggest getting proper bass lessons first. Learn how to play it properly first by a jazz guy who will show you how to position your body to the bass, good left hand technique, learning the notes/fingerboard ect... and then start slapping away. This may not sound fun to you now, but you'll thank me later in life when you aren't a 'one trick slappin pony'.

It is also a very good idea to get a handle on the acoustic properties of the bass first before buying a pick up and plugging it into an amp. Really spend time with it and learn how to make it sing acoustically first. Learning to get good tone out of just your hands and the bass alone will help you down the road when pluggin' it into an amp and getting(and controlling) good amplified tone.

[bestdayever]

Ok, progress! Found a teacher near me and weve been emailing back and forth making arrangements. And found another Engelhardt, this time a 2004 ES1 w/ bag and bow in "near mint condition"for 1400.