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Double Bass Baby Bass megathread

#62
Hi,
I bought a Colombian Baby Bass about 4 months ago and I have noticed that the instrument body is warping in the bridge area. I would like to know if somebody can repair it in U.S. since shipping the instrument to Cali Colombia cost me about $550 between paying the shipping for returning the instrument and the shipping for receiving it back. Also the sound dont have the punch of my friend's Ampeg baby bass. any help?
 
#64
I play salsa pretty much full time in Washington, and am surprised how rare a real Baby Bass is, even in New York. They only made them for a few years, and people who use them for latin music are highly unlikely to sell them.

If you have full price, Steve Azola's shop is the best option for making sure you get what you want. Otherwise, Ray Ramirez's shop has the best reputation for the non-Ampeg thing. They get the real sound of latin music.

I have heard bassists come back from Central/South America with cheap Baby Bass copies, and the sound is usually OK, but it is not typically anywhere the quality you will get from Steve Azola.

E-Bay is pretty much the only answer.
 
#66
I have an azola made ampeg baby bass that I play old school blues on. It has the double pick-up system and I keep the diaphram p/u mostly rolled off. Given this information does anyone have any thoughts on how this might sound with weed wackers. $20.00 for the strings is cheep, but I dont want to change strings for the fun of it.
Thank you in advance for your replys
fat paul.
 
#68
personally, i love the weed whacker sound. i have built a couple of basses and used those for strings, b/c of price and there is very little tension (you can use a soft pine 2X4 for the neck and it won't bow).

i'm sure others will disagree, but i think they sound very much like an upright, especially when played at higher rock/funk type volumes. well, at the very least they sound way cooler than a bg. to each his own, but they are definitely cheap enough to try, and you could probably get a lifetime supply for $20 if you get them from the hardware store.

IMO you should change strings for the fun of it; your ears alone are the only ones you can trust, and you'll never know unless you do it...
 
#70
Flying a Baby Bass? No experience here, but I'd recommend eye protection at minimum. Probably a warm jacket as well....

I would guess that carry-on would be mostly out, although I've hear mention of some airlines that will deal that way. It'll likely take a whole seat, so traveling the Redeye and a few phone calls ahead of time might get it on that way without an extra ticket. Is there a flight case for those?
 
#72
These seem to be getting more rare, so I thought I'd mention one I saw that's for sale. It's over at Wilson Violins in Birmingham, MI, where it's on consignment for a local player. It's been there for a while, and I asked Rob what it was going for, and he said "Any reasonable offer".

I've heard that these are treasured in stock configuration by Latin players, but I've also seen a fair number of these modded, the original aluminum bridge and magnetic pickup replaced with a standard wooden bridge and a more modern pickup.
 
#73
I phoned yesterday and they are asking $3000 US dollars...

Not exactly a bargain considering there are several on various bass websites for sale in the $ 1400 - 2500 range.

Missed one last year by an hr, it went for $800 Canadian at a shop in Toronto....

My buddy has one I've used on occassion, sounds real good through my GK amp, only complaint is keeping it in tune on festival stages outside.

Their cool to look at though they weight a friggin ton !
 
#74
The lowest I've seen them go is $1300. Not a bad deal since it was coming from a dealer who had a good reputation in the vintage guitar world. He wouldn't ship though. I just got one a few weeks ago and I'm loving it, but, yeah $3000 is way over the mark afaic. They do have some weight to them, but not a whole lot more than a double. The sound is really percussive, not much sustain, perfect for latin music. But through an Ampeg B-15, it sounds good for funk and maybe even a few jazz gigs, if absoulutly neccesary. After much thought, I decided on the Baby Bass over some newer models since it will retain it's value, and if I ever decide to sell, I may make a profit.
 
#75
I should pass that along. Last time I asked Rob about it, he said "any reasonable offer accepted" or words to that effect. It's not his and it's been there a long time. I suspect the owner might entertain a much lower offer.

I remember a friend had one in High School, when they were fairly new, I think. I've seen a lot of modified ones, with wooden bridges fit and different pickups.
 
#76
I bought a very nice ABB today that had two gut strings on the G and D strings and Redtops on the A and E. Best I can tell, it was last played by the original owner around 1990. When I got home tonight after my regular gig I had time to give a serious test drive and found it to be very percussive and I dig the mag coil pickup sound. But I was wondering what other ABB players have for strings on their basses. Any comment's or suggestions you may have will be appreciated.

Steve and Jill Azola don't live farway so I plan a trip up to their "Rancho" I hope they can find some time so that Steve can give it a "once over" before next weeks latin gig.
 
#77
When I owned an Ampeg BB, my favorite strings on it were Pirastro Pizzicato wound guts. I find them too bright and sustaining on a double bass, but those qualities worked well for me on the BB.
Some players also have good results with LaBella black nylon tape wound baby bass strings.
Slight changes in string height will also have somewhat of an effect on the sound.
 
#78
I have a late '60s one. I like mine a lot. They get dissed around here quite a bit. They aren't well respected for anything else but Latin styles where they rule the roost. Salsa music is at it's best with that sound holding up the Tumbao.

I have tried many different strings on mine including the black tape wound Labella strings, all the gages of spirocores, and a bunch of varied Pirastro and Corelli strings. Mine had old gut strings on it when I got it. They sounded fantastic but don't hold tune very well and the wound strings were coming apart.

The most common string Latin players use on it are the Thomastic Spirocore Solo gage set. They have a great feel, they make up for what the bass lacks in note length and brightness and last forever. For me they are the gold standard on the Baby Bass.

I liked Spirocore Solos and Velvet 360's on mine the best. Right now it has the Velvet 360's on it. They sound great. I think the super low tension strings sound better and feel better overall on that bass. Low tension strings like those have a focus in the low end that blooms well and sounds fat across the whole bass, especially in the middle register around the neck joint where the Tumbao seems to sound best.

Velvets 360s are a weird string and although I like them the best so far I'm always afraid they are going to break any minute. They are made with that synthetic core like a Dominant that doesn't like being wound around the key and the afterlength is almost touching the bridge. They don't fit very well. I got them used and so they were cheap. At $250 a set new I don't think I'd feel very good if I broke them. Try them at your own peril.

I've got the set of Baby Bass Black Tapes in a drawer if you want to work something out for them. They weren't on there very long as I preferred the Spirocore Solos over them. They sounded very similar but had much higher tension. Everyone like something different though. It may be just yer cuppa.

I roll the treble tone all the way down and have the volume all the way up. Those controls never move from there.
I use a second pickup, a bassmax clipped right to the metal bridge with an old bp100 bridge clip. Works nice mixed in with the original. Gives it a bit of top and a bit more note length. I use a Raven Labs MB1 to mix them both. When I was doing latin music on it I was just using the original pickup with the spirocore solos into whatever amp I had and it was perfect.

I have an Azola baby bass bridge that I've used on there from time to time. It doesn't sound as good on the salsa stuff as the original equipment bridge but with the Bass Max and the Azola bridge I can get a very excellent electric upright sound from the bass.

I put an alan wrench in a hole just above the endpin tightening screw to keep the thing from swiveling to much and to keep it from sinking down when I play. Both of those are a common theme with that bass. I most often have it sitting in a Hamilton style stand and play it while it's in the stand holding itself up. The angle's aren't the same as playing a double bass but it gets rid of the swiveling problem altogether.

The tension adjustment on the tailpiece does interesting stuff. Somewhere on the net it a copy of the original owners manual. Read that for details. The neck adjustment on the back is crucial for getting a good sound. I usually lower the strings toward the neck until they just start to buzz in the middle register and then increase the string height from there just enough to make the buzz go away.

I had Nick Lloyd in Cincinnatti recut the fingerboard so it plays like butter and sounds even all up and down the neck. That makes a huge difference.

Have fun. Love em or leave em there's nothing like a Baby Bass.

Edit: Oh yea and one other thing. Regular DB tecnique doesn't work so good on that bass. Turn it up real loud and play super light like a regular electric bass and it works better. Otherwise it gets a nasty thonk that really sucks.
 
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#79
Dr. Thomastik Spirocore or Superflexible solo gauge strings. Most everybody I know .... including myself, love these strings. But my friend Sal Cuevas, loves Ned Steinberger's NS roundwound strings on his Zorko baby bass.
 

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