Height of Bass

[Alisonfire]

Hey
I'm 5'1..almost
and my bass is a little bit too big, I think, and I really don't want to sit on a stool..
how do I find out if my bass is actually too big for me?

where is it "supposed" to be in relation to my body?

thanks

[Gubna]

I don't think it matters as long as it feels good to you.



you could try a shortscale model. there are some inexpensive SX basses at Rondo Music

or if you want something really nice, get a Birdsong

[fryBASS]

... it's the DB forum man..

Umm well I'm no pro, but as long as 1/2 position isn't passed your head, I think it should be fine.

[anonymous02282011]

the nut should be at about your hairline (or where your hairline used to be!)

[Marc Piane]

Originally Posted by adbass

the nut should be at about your hairline (or where your hairline used to be!)

and if you face your bass your dangling knuckles should be at about the bridge. Compromise between those two reference points.

One big question...

Are you doing arco? I think that has more impact on deciding height than pizz.

[McGryff]

Does that mean bassists are knuckle-danglers, knuckle-draggers, or just knuckle-heads?

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by Gubna

I don't think it matters as long as it feels good to you.



you could try a shortscale model. there are some inexpensive SX basses at Rondo Music

or if you want something really nice, get a Birdsong

Please use this post as a barometer of the confusion that reigns around here lately. AND, don't ferget to dangle yer knuckles!

[jsbarber]

Looks like Gary Grainger. He's quite a player (BG, not DB). Nice guy too...

Originally Posted by Gubna

I don't think it matters as long as it feels good to you.



you could try a shortscale model. there are some inexpensive SX basses at Rondo Music

or if you want something really nice, get a Birdsong

[Alisonfire]

well thanks everyone !
the nut is actually a couple of inches above my forehead..
i highly doubt that im going to be doing anymore growing (ive been 5 feet-ish, since i was 12...and im 17 now...so no more growing for me i guess)...
ill just have to manage i suppose....
thanks for the help anyway !

[bolo]

I've heard what adbass and fingers said before. But don't get discouraged. Check this pic out too, and notice how high over Ray's head the scroll appears. He may be slightly leaning forward, but still.

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by bolo

I've heard what adbass and fingers said before. But don't get discouraged. Check this pic out too, and notice how high over Ray's head the scroll appears. He may be slightly leaning forward, but still.

Nice pic. What bass is that? It's got a French looking Scroll and rib linings. Huh.

I like the straight up and down thing, no lean.

[Marc Piane]

If you are plying arco the nut height has less to do with it. At least that what I was taught about sizing kids for instruments. If your bass is the right size for you, being able to comfortably get a good arco sound as well as finger the notes without dropping your shoulder is the most important. That is why I call it a compromise between those two reference points.

[Eric Hochberg]

Originally Posted by fingers

and if you face your bass your dangling knuckles should be at about the bridge. Compromise between those two reference points.

One big question...

Are you doing arco? I think that has more impact on deciding height than pizz.

I agree with Marc's comments above. I can tell you, though, there is no hard and fast rule. One top Chicago jazz pro has the nut at nose level, another has his hand above his head in 1/2 position. Some people go straight up and down with the bass, others lean it into their bodies and some are using the angled endpin which puts the bass in another position.

Where the upper bouts touch your body and how large they are will also determine your comfort level with the instrument. Find an instrument that "fits" your body, don't fight a too large bass.

[bolo]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

Nice pic. What bass is that? It's got a French looking Scroll and rib linings. Huh.

OK I know this has been posted before in another link. Copying the link here for convenience sake. Ray lists two basses in the very first response.

Also notice again at how high the scroll appears to be in this pic.

[Paul Warburton]

Originally Posted by bolo

OK I know this has been posted before in another link. Copying the link here for convenience sake. Ray lists two basses in the very first response.

Also notice again at how high the scroll appears to be in this pic.

This is an OLD interview. The last time I played Rays bass, I was shocked at the low bridge adjustment. This was the French one that Ray left to John Clayton.

[Uncletoad]

Originally Posted by bolo

OK I know this has been posted before in another link. Copying the link here for convenience sake. Ray lists two basses in the very first response.

Also notice again at how high the scroll appears to be in this pic.

You know I've seen that before and somehow I've never read it.

Thanks.

[bolo]

Originally Posted by Uncletoad

You know I've seen that before and somehow I've never read it.

Thanks.

Yeah I just reread all four sections of the article. Click on the four aqua blue-ish section headers in the upper left. I'd forgotten how cool they all were to read.

Paul's right, the article's from 1980 from what I see in the footers.

Just listened to Night Train for the hundredth time or so too. From 1962. I can't get enough of the sound on that CD .... er, album.

[bolo]

A bit of a clarification, perhaps just for my own benefit.

I knew Ike Harris had posted re: one of Ray Brown's basses. And here's the post. But then I was confused because Ike said "It's the same one pictured in Ray's method book." I noticed that in Ike's pics the bass has those "machine heads that are open in the centre," and that's not the same as the bass he is playing on the cover of the method book that I linked to earlier.

I think the method book, first published in 1963, includes pictures inside of Ray playing the Italian bass that Ike described. However I think the photos on the front and rear cover of the method book, in its second publishing in 1999, were from much later in his career and are of the French bass that Paul mentioned.

So you were right Uncletoad. French scroll and rib linings and all. And so was Ike and so was Paul.

Anyway, Ray Brown was of course was magnificent no matter what bass he played. Don't know how tall he was. Doesn't matter. I get inspired every time I hear his playing.

[Paul Warburton]

The bass that helped get me into the bass was the so-called Italian bass that we're taliking about. I had a Jones for that baby for years and still do. When I first started playing, I couldn't afford to study, so I would go into record stores to look at photos of Ray on the backs of album covers to cop his left hand positions.
Ray had that bass appraised many times for insurance purposes It's been called many things from Italian to Scottish. It's even been called an Amati. For the few who don't know by now, it was a gift from Ray's wife at that time, some chick singer named Ella something.
This is redundant to most of you since all this has been plastered all over TBTB.
I'm just kind of parroting what Ike said in the link.
IMHO, I Hate the fact that the cat had a mechanical Horst type of extension fitted on this historic insrument, and HOPE that the scroll wasn't butchered as is the case with some of these pieces of ****.
AND i'm not nuts about the new, light colored tailpiece either! AND, I hope there are not any new scratches on it, god damn it!
I need a valium.

[Uncletoad]

Oh man that extension looks like ****. It looks like one of those things that hold a dude's head when he busts his neck up. You know the thing they drill into yer noggin and hook to your shoulders. Yuck.

That's the italian bass.

The one in the pic on the front of the book is the french scroll with rib linings....like my bass.