Double Bass Advantages of three string bass?

[groooooove]

GDG was also popular in England for a long time. I even have a PDF of a Carl Fischer method for 3 string bass tuned in this way.

according to jeff bradetich, bottesini used this tuning as well- up a step- so, A E A.

Torello, on the other hand, used his solo bass as a three stringer his whole career. This is a conservative holdover from an older time in the tradition he learned, and although it amounts to the same practice, one is "progressive" historically informed performance practice, and the other is "conservative" to the point of being somewhat dinosauric. I think it is good to be aware of this distinction.

absolutely right!

 

[Ortsom]

John, I thought it relevant to point at these modern 3-string players, and appreciate the fine distinction you make.

Walter, thank you for that link!

 

[Walter Areia]

Despite all the controversy, I'm using it and loving! -->

 

[Walter Areia]

I'm looking forward to using a 3 string in a gypsy jazz setting. One difference is that it will be tuned in fifths with a low G and a High A. The neck is getting finished within the next few months so I should have it ready to go for summertime gigs. I'll report back once it is setup.

Have you concluded your bass?

 

[Oscar Stern]

Usually w/ 4 string Double Basses they increase the overstand to allow for more volume

 

[aesopslyre]

Hi!

Just remove Your E-string, wait two or three days and listen if the sound improves.
Until ca. 1800 the Violons were very common in orchestras and they were 5- or 6-stringers! The modern 5-String bass was "invented" by Mr. Otho in 1881. At the same time, Mr. Glaesel invented the C-extension.

Thomas

True enough regarding Violons, but we’re talking gut strings.

 

[Francois Blais]

He was possibly talking of the violone, ancester of the bass.

 

[groooooove]

True enough regarding Violons, but we’re talking gut strings.

true, but bottesini was also playing on (3) gut strings. violone vs double bass is quite different in general anyway, perhaps too much to bother with any comparison.

tuning and number of strings across most bass instruments has never been really consistent.

less tension, all else being equal, typically results in a "better" sound. the low end gets really deep and big especially.

if one chooses to play on three strings and notices they like it, or for historical reasons, it's super cool.

there certainly were 5 strings in Viennese tuning, 3 or 4 string basses tuned all sorts of ways, viols and other things... too many for there to be a hard consensus on much of this topic.

but, it is fair to assuming less tension = better sound.

 

[Mark_T]

less tension, all else being equal, typically results in a "better" sound. the low end gets really deep and big especially.

(snip)

but, it is fair to assuming less tension = better sound.

If you have no tension, you have no sound. There is a balance to be struck and it is inevitably going to depend on the construction of the instrument (the weight and stiffness of the top, the graduation and arching, etc) and probably on the technique of the player. I agree with the idea that we've spent the last few decades somewhat blindly ramping up pressure with heavy, tense, steel strings, but I think it's important to be careful not to over generalize.

To give an example, I think the loudest strings my bass ever wore were Pirastro Perpetuals, and at my bass's mensure they're between 25 and 32 kp according to DoubleMidi's chart. I also tried Corelli 370Ms which are a bit less tension, and they're substantially softer. I've tried a variety of other strings on my bass and the volume does not seem to be strongly correlated with the tension.