Double Bass Attaching something to a fingerboard

[brianh]

I recently got to hang with a great bass player who recomended putting a small piece of velcro on the side of the fingerboard to keep the thumb in a consistent spot for playign pizz. I'm thinking of doing this but with a small piece of leather (velcro seems to be too rough on the hand).

How should I attach this? Super glue? will this damage the ebony?

thanks,
bh

 

[milomo]

That's funny, I have a couple of friends here in NY that study with Ron Carter, and that's something he talks about. Who was the the guy you talked to? As far as installing it, I wouldn't crazy glue it. What if you want to remove it? The nice thing about the velcro is that the sticky underside is tacky enough to hold it in place, even if you leverage a lot of weight on it. If I get a chance I'll ask my friends how they have it set up.

 

[brianh]

It was David Wong who also studies with Ron Carter...

 

[milomo]

That's who I was talking about.

 

[Kevin Hsieh]

It was David Wong who also studies with Ron Carter...

i'm getting a lesson from david wong this tuesday
i'll ask him about it

 

[toman]

Sounds kind of goofy to me, but what do I know... Anyway, I think I'd use something like silicone RTV or maybe contact cement, that way it won't really get into the wood and would be easy to remove.

 

[Mark Perna]

I recently got to hang with a great bass player who recomended putting a small piece of velcro on the side of the fingerboard to keep the thumb in a consistent spot for playign pizz. I'm thinking of doing this but with a small piece of leather (velcro seems to be too rough on the hand).

How should I attach this? Super glue? will this damage the ebony?

thanks,
bh

I'm a little baffled as to why you would want to do this other than someone told you to. If you CAN'T hear that you're not at your optimum right hand position, does it really matter? If you CAN hear that you're not at the optimum position, you'll change it to the optimum position with or without a marker. I don't see it doing any harm but I don't see it as doing much good either.

mark

 

[brianh]

I guess Ron Carter's thing is keeping everything as consistent as possible and this is just one way to make youself get a consistent sound.

 

[milomo]

I guess Ron Carter's thing is keeping everything as consistent as possible and this is just one way to make youself get a consistent sound.

Exactly. You find the spot on the board where your right hand feels most comfortable, and the marker keeps you there, and insures that you always return there.

 

[Mark Perna]

I guess Ron Carter's thing is keeping everything as consistent as possible and this is just one way to make youself get a consistent sound.

Ok. Does Ron actually do this himself or only recommend it to his students? Does anyone know?

mark

 

[milomo]

Ok. Does Ron actually do this himself or only recommend it to his students? Does anyone know?

mark

He used to do it himself, don't know if he still does.

 

[Matthew Tucker]

I wonder if they had velcro and superglue when Ron Carter was a lad?

 

[Bob Branstetter]

I'm thinking of doing this but with a small piece of leather (velcro seems to be too rough on the hand).

How should I attach this? Super glue? will this damage the ebony?

I'm kind of surprised that no one has mentioned that leather can be glued to ebony or most any wood with our old friend hide glue. I had a customer once who glued leather on the side of the fingerboard, but he did it because the back edge of the fingerboard was sharp and hurt his thumb when playing pizz. Of course a better cure for that problem is to just round over that sharp edge.

 

[Paul Warburton]

I had a customer once who glued leather on the side of the fingerboard, but he did it because the back edge of the fingerboard was sharp and hurt his thumb when playing pizz. Of course a better cure for that problem is to just to round over that sharp edge.

After installing a new FB, that sharp edge is always an issue which luthiers sometimes forget about.

 

[Bob Branstetter]

After installing a new FB, that sharp edge is always an issue which luthiers sometimes forget about.

Unfortunately, you also see those sharp edges on many new factory made basses.

 

[Kevin Hsieh]

Hey guys. just got back from my lesson with David Wong. I actually got suckered into using the velcro. It really does keep me conscious about playing in one area of the fingerboard. David pointed out that I move all over the place in order to play on certain strings, and thus get some really different sounds that are inconsistent.

There is velcro stuff that has a tape back side and he just used that.

cheers

 

[brianh]

Hey guys. just got back from my lesson with David Wong. I actually got suckered into using the velcro. It really does keep me conscious about playing in one area of the fingerboard. David pointed out that I move all over the place in order to play on certain strings, and thus get some really different sounds that are inconsistent.

There is velcro stuff that has a tape back side and he just used that.

cheers

Thats cool. David is a really nice guy and a very solid player. I got to hang with him a couple weeks ago when he was in town with Pete Zimmer. What did he work on in the lesson?

 

[Kevin Hsieh]

Thats cool. David is a really nice guy and a very solid player. I got to hang with him a couple weeks ago when he was in town with Pete Zimmer. What did he work on in the lesson?

Technique Technique Technique and then Evenness of tone.
just for now

 

[brianh]

i know he puts the velcro on the side of the board, but how does he position it in relation to his thumb? does it go under the thumb, below....?

 

[Mark Perna]

Time to eat my words.

I had a recording session yesterday. A live jazzy folk session. Kind of James Taylorish but with more sophisticated harmony. No overdubs. No second chances to clean up intonation or bad attacks. And since the acoustic guitarist almost always had at least one tone in unison or octaves with me, there was little leeway with intonation. I was either right on or it stuck out.

On a whim, I put a piece of tape where my right thumb usually lives and it really seemed to help keep my right hand in it's optimum position. And when I moved from optimum position, it was clearly for a purpose. It didn't help my intonation, obviously, but my attack was really consistent.

I'll be looking into this further.

mark