Low-hanging fruit for inexpensive setup tweaks?

[rusag2]

Ok, so we all want to get a little more tone, a bit more volume, a bit more...well, a bit more out of our instruments.

I'm looking for tips that folks might have that are near-zero in cost and that might have some impact on the sound.

FYI, I play pizz only, bluegrass stuff on an old Epiphone B4. I'm looking for fixes and tweaks that might be added by a laymen without the expense of a luthier to enhance the tone, volume etc.

So far:
1. Swap out steel end pin for similarly sized hardwood drumstick ($5.00 or so at Guitar Center)

2. Swap out the rigid "coat hanger" tail gut for some aircraft cable ($5.00 or so at the local hardware store)

3. Practice ($0.00)

4. Lubricate under the strings (at the nut and the bridge) with graphite (or in the case of my Innovation Super Silvers, candle wax) ($0.30 for a #2 pencil, or a couple bucks for powdered graphite at the hardware store, $.99 for one candle at the $0.99 store.)

5. Slide tiny shims under the strings, on the tailpiece and attempt to tune the afterlengths (this is pretty esoteric, but with an electronic tuner, there is near-zero outlay of cash, so why not try?)
($0.00 if you can find some scraps of wood and you already have a tuner)

6. Practice more.

Anyone have a feel on whether spending the $15.00 for a more exotic type (Kevlar?) from Gollihur is worth the money?

[shadygrove]

Here's my two bits on the kevlar cord and afterlength tuning from a previous thread...

Originally Posted by shadygrove

I got 3 ft of 7/64" Amsteel (kevlar) cord from a marine supply place for $ 0.73 a foot, enough to do it twice in case i messed up, and tied it with a carrick bend knot. This knot is not supposed to slip, but still takes awhile to get to maximum tightness and also for the cord to "stretch" (it's not supposed to stretch, so maybe it's the braid compressing, but it definitely was getting longer) Took many weeks to stabilize, and I spent a lot of time tying the knot over and over the first couple weeks to get the string afterlengths tuned. It's been on there about a year with no problems after that. So the synthetic cord worked out OK in the end, but next time I'm going to use aircraft grade steel cable and avoid the hassle of adjusting the knot.

[Matthew Tucker]

Clean your bass, specially neck and fingerboard. $0.

[forester]

bridge adjusters...can be low buck, big time tweak.

[JtheJazzMan]

Maybe skip the tailpiece all together and try out a marvin wire tailpiece.

Sure, its not free, but it is cheap for a double bass component, and the results are well worth the meagre cost.

[endorka]

Chuck Traeger's "Setup and Repair of the Double Bass for Optimum Sound" will give you some great ideas and howto's for this type of thing. I can confirm that installing bridge adjusters is cheap and really helps get the most from the instrument, but as a DIY procedure it is definitely not for the faint hearted!

Cutting the slots on the bridge so that the string action is optimal is a good cheap upgrade. Same with the nut.

Moving the soundpost can be a giggle.

Jennifer

[gbaker]

B4 - nice bass.

Make sure your nut grooves are filed so there is just a business card worth of clearance between the fb and each string.

Check that the bridge is properly placed and the feet fit well to the top. Use thin paper to check all around.

The sound post is well worth tweaking. Cost is what ever a inspection mirror and light (a 120v. x-mas candle works well) may be like $10. You can use BBQ tools, hose pliers or a framing square or such to bump it around or You can buy a $25 post setter.

You may want to get help with this at first, to make sure you don't set it tipped or rotate it so the end doesn't match the plates. Don't move it much, like no more than 1" laterally and 3/8" side to side (if farther you might need to cut a new post) and don't rotate it (I am assuming it is properly set now). There are threads about sp setting. If you get into it PM me and I will give you an additional tip.

In experimenting with the three ply basses I own, I found that only strings, bridge, sound post position and nut make much difference. Others' results have varied.

[bejoyous]

Deep cleaning you strings will improve your sound and prolong the life of your strings.

Do this one string at a time. Loosen the string enough so it can be bent into an "S" around your finger and thumb. Use a facecloth with some methyl hydrate or rubbing alcohol and run it up and down the string until no more black gunk come off. Bending the string into an "S" get the gunk hidden between the windings. Retighten the string and go on to the next one.

Lube the nut and bridge groove with pencil and clean the fingerboard while your at it.

It's almost like putting on new strings and it costs almost nothing.

[kmanley_29649]

Originally Posted by bejoyous

Deep cleaning you strings will improve your sound and prolong the life of your strings.

Do this one string at a time. Loosen the string enough so it can be bent into an "S" around your finger and thumb. Use a facecloth with some methyl hydrate or rubbing alcohol and run it up and down the string until no more black gunk come off. Bending the string into an "S" get the gunk hidden between the windings. Retighten the string and go on to the next one.

Lube the nut and bridge groove with pencil and clean the fingerboard while your at it.

It's almost like putting on new strings and it costs almost nothing.

Is this just for steels, or could it be done with synthetic strings like Obligatos? Will the alcohol mess up the core?

[bejoyous]

I did this with some Evahs near the end of their lifespan (at around 15 months) and I got another 3 months out of them.

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by bejoyous

Deep cleaning you strings will improve your sound and prolong the life of your strings.

Do this one string at a time. Loosen the string enough so it can be bent into an "S" around your finger and thumb. Use a facecloth with some methyl hydrate or rubbing alcohol and run it up and down the string until no more black gunk come off. Bending the string into an "S" get the gunk hidden between the windings. Retighten the string and go on to the next one.

....clean the fingerboard while your at it.

It's almost like putting on new strings and it costs almost nothing.

I had forgotten about this, and did it today without detensioning ('cause they're Dominants), and it made a world of difference. I'm due for a new set of strings anyway, but this should help out until then. Thanks for the reminder!

[Pcocobass]

Originally Posted by bejoyous

Deep cleaning you strings will improve your sound and prolong the life of your strings.

Do this one string at a time. Loosen the string enough so it can be bent into an "S" around your finger and thumb. Use a facecloth with some methyl hydrate or rubbing alcohol and run it up and down the string until no more black gunk come off. Bending the string into an "S" get the gunk hidden between the windings. Retighten the string and go on to the next one.

Lube the nut and bridge groove with pencil and clean the fingerboard while your at it.

It's almost like putting on new strings and it costs almost nothing.

I always forget but I need to make a point to keep a cloth and cleaning solution in my case so I can clean my bass at gigs. Sometimes it gets pretty gunked up after the first set and needs a little cleaning.

What fingerboard/string cleaner do you all use?