Recent content by gsmonks

Hey, you sound like Paul McCartney! He played cello early on and electric bass, which are roughly the same scale (and trumpet, if I'm remembering correctly). Heh- a "quantum leap" is something like -10 to the 35th power. It refers to the quantised expansion or contraction of an electron shell...

I wonder if "piccolo bass" wasn't an alternate name for them? I remember seeing the odd piccolo bass in the late 50's. Not just bigger, but deeper than a cello.

She sounds like a professional luthier. I wouldn't know where to start, putting something like that together. Y'know . . . guys have been playing jazz and blues on cello for well over 100 years. Even back then guys were tuning the cello in 4ths, using various tunings. I've always wondered...

Ha! Definition of a boat: "A hole in the water into which you pour your life's savings!"

There's actually one on YouTube: (2) Tenor Violin / Octave Violin / Tall Man’s Fiddle - YouTube I decided to track down makers and get prices. It took some doing, but I found some: Tenor Violin (half-size cello tuned GDAE) | Gainesville Strings & Things | Reverb This one was made by Singing...

That's mostly what I do on my "G" bass- use a bow. We're playing very old classical music. I find it odd that octave strings for cello aren't a thing. I suppose you could have some made, if you have deep pockets.

Technique has come so far since we were young that'll she'll probably pass you in no time :)

Hey, I had a Hagstrom bass and guitar exactly like that one, many years ago! They do have a characteristic sound. Try 60's and still going. Retirement = time on your hands.

It also depends what you're playing, and who and what you're playing with. My "G" 1/4 bass is for playing in a chamber group, all gut-composite strings, so of course a quieter sound overall. I have books on early strings, but I wish they came with comparative photos plus videos, also with...

That's a fairly popular tuning, although there are guys who tune their cello to C-F-Bb-Eb, including me when I got my first cello. Maybe it's just me, but I found it easier to learn the instrument that way. Some guys have even done that on violin and viola, despite all the squawking it evokes...

Forking out the dosh for custom strings is what I do as a matter of course. Better to be safe than risk damaging your fiddle.

You ask a company that makes strings. I had to ask around when I bought my tenor violin. I also got a fair bit of bad advice, so I'd advise to not automatically go with the first response. I use composite strings of most of my fiddles (gut and silver). Not at loud, but the sound!

That makes sense. I knew a bassist back in the early 60's who used to have a huge 4/4 sticking out of the back of his MG. Whatever happened to big band work? There was lots until the Big Crash in the mid-70's, when the music died and top-40 took over. That came and went, too. And now gigs are...

Piccolo bass! Now there's a term I haven't heard since the 50's! Last one I saw had a short neck but a huge body. Sadly, you don't see the tenor (Eb) or bass clarinet much any more. You even used to see a clarinet section in some orchestras, along with a contrabass. You still see basses in...

The answer is "yes", but tuned to G D A E, and played like an oversize cello. Some refer to this as a "G" bass, which of course is incorrect. I bought one to play bass violin parts in 17th century (and earlier) music. I also have a tenor violin and piccolo.