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Double Bass The Requisite Bass Pr0n

MingusAmongUs

MingusAmongUs

Nov 11, 2006
941
13
Newtown, CT
#1
My NS Cleveland came home from the maternity ward last week and I finally stopped playing it long enough to take a few pictures. It's an all-ply, in case you're wondering. It's hard to tell by looking.

PA290037.jpg


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PS: Sorry for the varying image quality. Different days, different degrees of good light. Finicky camera.
 
#7
Man that looks great. That darkish shade is superb.

I Love mine. It looks similar.

Those things sound fantastic. I noticed mine got even richer after a year or so of gigs. It got nice and deep. Really great.


Enjoy!


....another thing, try turning the full circle so the wire comes out the top toward the neck or the bottom towards the tail. Seems to sound better that way on mine.
 
#8
Kevin Hsieh said:
has arnold made a fully carved Cleveland? I'm seriously thinking about commissioning one in the future. (dont have the cash now. maybe after college)
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Apparently they made at least one. I couldn't say if they'll do it again but I'm sure they could tell you. 6th one down.
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Kevin Hsieh said:
so gorgeous!
mingusamongus - why'd you have to post these... i'm drooling now!
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I know. I'm sorry, but I thought it was required around here, hence the title (requisite). Several people asked for pics so I felt obligated! Gotta share my pride and joy.
 
#9
Nice photos! Great use of the natural light. And that bass is gorgeous. I've always liked the broad upper bouts on those and the f-hole designs. They remind me a bit of the Prescott basses. Definitely my favorite New Standard design. The La Scala is pretty, but I have a bias toward gambas.

Are those Helicore Hybrids on it? I had those on bass and they were not so great arco as they were pizz. Definitely a trade off. They might sound better on a better bass. I had them on my old Czech plywood.

I see you've let the dog get a few licks in on it. My dog likes it when I rehearse. And he guards all of my basses like they are his own bones. But whenever I wipe them off there is this inevitable tongue smear on one of the lower bouts. Dogs are funny animals. They have to taste everything.
 
#10
Silversorcerer said:
Are those Helicore Hybrids on it? I had those on bass and they were not so great arco as they were pizz. Definitely a trade off. They might sound better on a better bass. I had them on my old Czech plywood.
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Yeah. I contributed to a thread about them and was surprised to find the overwhelming majority of posters did not like them, mostly because they got duds out of the box. I first tried them on my Epiphone last time around and was happy with them. I thought they were very comparable to the Spiros, with a much shorter break-in time (that awful new-string twang goes away within a week or so), and I actually found them easier to bow. Weird how the same strings react to different instruments. I will very likely try different strings on this bass but I want to give them all lots of time. And this bass is so different to play. The action is much lower, the notes much more even, and with a clarity I've never had on a bass before. It's so easy to play. So it'll be a while before I really feel like I need a change.

Silversorcerer said:
I see you've let the dog get a few licks in on it. My dog likes it when I rehearse. And he guards all of my basses like they are his own bones. But whenever I wipe them off there is this inevitable tongue smear on one of the lower bouts. Dogs are funny animals. They have to taste everything.
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This dog is as weird as any but he hasn't tasted it yet, that I know of... just sniffing it so far -- the varnish is still smelly. But he is incredibly nosy and insists on always being the center of attention. He gets a bit hyper sometimes but is otherwise a great dog. Got lucky at the shelter. Now who wants to take a guess as to his breeding? Yours is as good as mine! I guess you can't tell from only his head.
 
#11
Uncletoad said:
Those things sound fantastic. I noticed mine got even richer after a year or so of gigs. It got nice and deep. Really great.
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Looking forward to that. Pretty deep and rich already for a new hunk of wood with metal strings.

Uncletoad said:
try turning the full circle so the wire comes out the top toward the neck or the bottom towards the tail. Seems to sound better that way on mine.
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By that do you mean actually turning the bridge adjuster where the wire comes out? I haven't really used the pickup yet, haven't even checked it out really, except for playing it thru my amp for a minute.
 
#14
MingusAmongUs said:
By that do you mean actually turning the bridge adjuster where the wire comes out? I haven't really used the pickup yet, haven't even checked it out really, except for playing it thru my amp for a minute.
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Yes, turn it so the wire is facing parallel to the neck either towards the neck or TP. I point my wire towards the neck. Sounds weird but the transducers are placed in a way that depending on the orientation the sound changes.
 
#15
I'm guessing Mingus has some pit-bull dog in him. Could be some other dogs, too, but that sweet profile and that jaw muscle below the ear looks like a pit-bull jaw. They are generally great dogs.

I did like the helicore hybrids fine for pizz. A bit more focus than the orchestrals, not so smooth with the bow, though. I've used D'addario strings for everything from my classical and electric guitars to my double bass and I've found that from about 2 weeks old to a year or more they sound the same. It helps if you only need to replace one string that it doesn't twang out too much more than the older ones and settles down fast.
 

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