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07-13-2010, 12:08 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Larisa, Greece | | | Another bass with unbalanced sound
Dear friends, yesterday i laid hands on a Bulgarian double bass. She is a real beauty, 20 years old, with a flamed maple roundback and a densely grained spruce top. The bass has a mellow, deep and warm sound but the D string is discernibly louder than the other three. This fact remains the same, either in arco or in pizz playing. I tried to balance the sound, playing with the soundpost and the bridge's height, to no avail. The bass came with Helicore Orchestra strings, so i tried EP weich and Spiros mittel, with the same results. I faced this problem once in the past and i tackled it with a new soundpost, slightly shorter. In this case it doesn't work.
Has anyone of our experienced luthiers any idea about what to do? The bass belongs to a young doctor in the University's Hospital and i'd like to help him to take the best of his instrument.
Mike
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07-13-2010, 12:24 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: alabama | | | Sounds like the bass has a good sound, it`s just the one string is too loud, correct ? If it were me - and I`m no expert - I would try to figure a way to dampen the D, rather than alter the instrument`s entire sound. I would imagine there are any number of ways to accomplish this to a suitable degree.
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Originally Posted by *insertcoolname  1nce at a gig i roxed the crowd so hArd that all teh gurlz were liek "i want u" an all teh bands were liek "u roxed evry1 2 hard" and i waz liek "yea i no cuz i am teh mastr uv base" | |
07-13-2010, 05:43 AM
|  | Student of Life Forum Administrator | | Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Louisville, KY | | | You could try cutting the bridge down under the D, which would lower the height of that string, and likely the volume. What are the height measurements of each string at the end of the fingerboard? I find many basses have an overbearing D string volume for pizz, and have my basses cut down a bit at the bridge accordingly. |
07-13-2010, 08:57 AM
| | Registered User
Luthier, Dallas Strings | | Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Dallas, Texas | | | You might try a weighted wolf tone eliminator. The usual side effects of using one is that it dampens tone. If you put it in the right spot, there's a chance it would target and dampen the D. |
07-13-2010, 09:11 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Denver, Co. | |
+1.
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Oh, no.....have we gone OT yet again?
"The opportunity was there...but it never presented itself." Phil Urso, 1980. :atoz: |
07-13-2010, 09:32 AM
| | Inadvertent Microtonalist | | Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Portland, ME | | | I'd start by changing the room.
a) It's entirely possible that if you played it outside the problem would change or vanish.
b) No offense, but it's entirely possible that if you were standing 20 feet in front of the bass problem would change or vanish.
Good luck!
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07-13-2010, 11:03 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Larisa, Greece | | | Thank you friends for your kind suggestions!
The strings height is 5,6,7 and 8 mm (G-D-A-E). I raised the adjusters and played with the height, to no avail.
I listened to the sound of the bass as it was played by my friend. Same results, either in a distance of 3 m or 15 m .
Tommorrow i'll put the wolf tone eliminator. It's my last hope
It seems that my modest skills in DB lutherie are not up to this challenge.
Mike |
07-13-2010, 11:56 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: alabama | | | Try a different brand or type of D string. And I never tried it on a bass, but a banjo player I knew would rub Chap Stick on a new string where he didn`t play on it. It took the zing out, and he could pretty much match the new one to the old ones.
__________________ Quote:
Originally Posted by *insertcoolname 1nce at a gig i roxed the crowd so hArd that all teh gurlz were liek "i want u" an all teh bands were liek "u roxed evry1 2 hard" and i waz liek "yea i no cuz i am teh mastr uv base" | |
07-19-2010, 06:54 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Larisa, Greece | | | Cody's advise, seconded by Paul, was the right one. The wolf tone eliminator "muted" somehow the D string and now the bass sounds balanced in all strings. I tried a wolf tone eliminator which i took from a friend's cello, not so heavy, which i placed in the middle of the afterlength. I found four different types of eliminators but the heavier the eliminator the more the mutting effect (not surprisingly
eh?). Also i played with the position in the afterlength and i settled in the middle after trial and error.
Thanks friends for all your opinions.
Mike |
07-19-2010, 09:05 AM
| | Registered User
Luthier, Dallas Strings | | Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Dallas, Texas | | Quote:
Originally Posted by MIKMAN Cody's advise, seconded by Paul, was the right one. The wolf tone eliminator "muted" somehow the D string and now the bass sounds balanced in all strings. I tried a wolf tone eliminator which i took from a friend's cello, not so heavy, which i placed in the middle of the afterlength. I found four different types of eliminators but the heavier the eliminator the more the mutting effect (not surprisingly
eh?). Also i played with the position in the afterlength and i settled in the middle after trial and error.
Thanks friends for all your opinions.
Mike | Sure thing buddy. Glad it worked!  |
07-19-2010, 10:39 AM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Denver, Co. | |
+1.
__________________
Oh, no.....have we gone OT yet again?
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