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  #1  
Old 08-22-2010, 01:59 PM
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What's up with my b flat?

Whenever I play a B flat on the G string, it makes a weird wawawawa sound even though I'm not using vibrato. I always keep my double bass in tune, so why is it doing that? I would much appreciate an answer!
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  #2  
Old 08-22-2010, 02:43 PM
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Wolf tone ?
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  #3  
Old 08-22-2010, 02:51 PM
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Most likely your bass went bad. To fix this take your G string off your bass throw away that bass and put your G string on a new bass.
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  #4  
Old 08-22-2010, 03:01 PM
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Mudfuzz, that really is funny.
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  #5  
Old 08-22-2010, 03:21 PM
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Wolf tone!
  #6  
Old 08-22-2010, 05:20 PM
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I had the exact same thing. Plus some days were worse than others. Notes up the A-string between D and the octave A sucked as well.

Check the length of the string between the bridge and the tailpiece nut. It should be 1/6th the playing length of the string. (ex. if the string length is 42" the after length should be 7") It has something to do with the bridge being in a harmonic node. Do a search in the setup section on after length and you'll find more discussions on this subject.

On my bass the after length was much too long.

Take it to a luthier and have him/her reinstall it.

I tried a lighter Wittner tailpiece at the correct length and that greatly improved the playability. However, the Wittner TP is a 3/4 size one and the bottom of my bass is 7/8 sized so it looked funny floating 3" from the saddle. I then used a wire TP which removed all wolf tones and greatly improved the bass overall.
  #7  
Old 08-23-2010, 10:55 AM
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This thing about string lenght being 6 times what the afterlength is...is this really critical? The string length on my Kay is 41 1/2 and the afterlength is 7 1/2. Does that half inch really make any noticeable difference? It sound OK to me. A well respected luthier just re-fitted the bridge and I have no reason to believe he doesn't know what he is doing. Been around a long time.
  #8  
Old 08-23-2010, 01:33 PM
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Try playing the notes on the afterlengths - if one of them is close to but not quite Bb, it will interact as you describe.

Afterlength tuning is real, even if not everybody knows about it or believes in it.

Sort of like evolution or electricity...

Last edited by Jake deVilliers : 08-23-2010 at 01:37 PM.
  #9  
Old 08-23-2010, 01:50 PM
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  #10  
Old 08-23-2010, 08:08 PM
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Me Too ! At least the afterlength deal .... Not so sure about evolution or electricity.

Last edited by MT Spaces : 08-23-2010 at 08:12 PM.
  #11  
Old 08-23-2010, 09:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Mudfuzz View Post
Most likely your bass went bad. To fix this take your G string off your bass throw away that bass and put your G string on a new bass.
Yea...but that does get a bit expensive after the third one.
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