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Double Bass Pops sucks...Help

#5
I agree. Pops has gotten really bad as of late. Me and my Private Teacher were comparing war stories of how Pops has glooped up our bows beyond playablity. I am currently using the Kolesteins All Weather and loving it. Just stop using pops and get your bow rehaired and your tone problems will be over
 
#6
I don't get it. Switching to Pops solved my rosin problems! Mayby its the different climates, but lots of my colleages use Pops here in New York. I'm thinking that maybe its not as appropriate for warmer climates.
Also, if you are getting glopping kinds of problems it usually means that you are using your rosin excessively to make up for poor bowing technique. If you don't learn to dig in with your forearm, you will be doomed to using tons of rosin so you get some kind of sound, have a real gloppy situation on your bow, and be forced to rehair much too often. A good teacher should know that. YOU play the strings, not your rosin!
 
#7
Dondi said:
I don't get it. Switching to Pops solved my rosin problems! Mayby its the different climates, but lots of my colleages use Pops here in New York. I'm thinking that maybe its not as appropriate for warmer climates.
Also, if you are getting glopping kinds of problems it usually means that you are using your rosin excessively to make up for poor bowing technique. If you don't learn to dig in with your forearm, you will be doomed to using tons of rosin so you get some kind of sound, have a real gloppy situation on your bow, and be forced to rehair much too often. A good teacher should know that. YOU play the strings, not your rosin!
Click to expand...



Dig in with your whole arm!
 
#9
after consulting my bass teacher, I've come to realize that pops is quite good acctually. I know this is an old post, but oh well. My bowing was what sucked, not the rosin I was using. I had the hairs too tight and was tensing my arm too much, as well as trying to use too much rosin to compensate for my ignorance.
 
#10
Yeah my teacher just recently pointed out I had my hairs WAY too tight - I don't know why I did that. I knew the tension that was roughly advised, but for some reason I thought my bow didn't sound good unless I really cranked it. Well i was wrong, because when I loosened it up I needed less rosin and less effort. I wish we'd discovered it sooner, but my lessons are mostly spent discussing transcriptions and theory lately, so he never noticed.
 
#12
The bow rules. As far as hair being too tight or loose, my teacher's advice was not to let the hair touch the stick when I play and have it tight enough to let the bow bounce when I want to make that happen.

As an adult beginner, I always want to hear answers that leave no room for interpretation (read: error). Now I'm beginning to understand that's simply the way it must be and I must grow with my own experience. I'm not sure I'm good enough to turn the screw so that the hair tension remains exactly the same every time I pull the bow out to play, but luckily it doesn't really matter much over time.

Pops rules too. Goes on my bow easy and quickly and gets me to the bass faster.
 
#13
With that i find that i need to vary the bow tension for different applications..for example.....I keep the bow slightly on the loose side because i findthat it gives me a softer tone , however the same bow tension will be a problem on rough loud heavey peaces , so then i tighten the bow as needed...this i find is the best way to do things....(right tool for the job)
 

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