• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Double Bass Bass Buggie not working well?

B

Bass_Machine

Oct 29, 2004
366
16
UK
#1
I recenty bought a bass buggie to help me get around town. However, my first few trips out with it haven't been very successful - the bass does not sit very stably in it, and it keeps rolling around. I find myself having to fight to stop the whole contraption veering off to one side. Has anyone had this issue before?

I thought I might be adjusting it wrong but having seen the (admittedly rather sparse) user info I'm not so sure. There is a significant gap on either side between the bass and the buggie - do I need to pad it with something maybe to get it fitting snugly?

I'm quite frustrated at the moment - I used to have an endpin wheel and could walk my bass to the gig and have a hand free to wheel a suitcase containing amp, stand etc. with my free hand. That's not possible with the buggie at the moment, and it seems I've gone rather up in cost for such a drop in functionality.....

Any input gratefully received!
 
#2
It sounds like it might be too loose. There are two adjustments for proper fit: 1) the wheels can be moved closer to or further from the endpin. I like it to be such that the bass will stand upright when tipping it up onto the endpin. This is helpful when grabbing car keys or opening doors; never trust it and walk away. 2) Moving the the plastic piece with the bungie along the strap adjusts how tightly/rigidly the wheel unit fits against the bass. I recommend you get the pad and tighten the fit. The buggie is better for the bass so I hope you can make it work.
 
#3
+1

I don't have the pad—whatever its purpose is—and there is a bit of side-to-side space between my bass and the buggie wheels, which is not a problem. With the bungie tightened sufficiently as Greg mentioned, the bass and buggie form a solid unit (enough so that you can roll it around a tight corner on one wheel). I've had mine for a few years, and I occasionally must readjust the location of the buggie platform along the straps, as it shifts a bit due to irregularities over which it rolls.
 
#4
Thanks for the replies!

I've got the wheels pretty close to the endpin, and the bass stands on end pretty well (really useful feature in fact).

Will play around with tightening the bungee cord and seeing where that gets me. Could be time to pad it (does rattle around a bit), but might find a diy solution here in the uk - shipping costs a bomb. Would you say padding protects the bass a little better?

Apologies if I sounded a little put out in my first post: just schlepped across town to the gig with the bass slipping away from me in all directions. Bit embarrassing, looked like a living Buster Keaton film! For what it's worth, the buggie does roll beautifully when I can tame it....
 
#6
I just got mine, and I definitely had to shorten the buckle where the bungee attaches to tighten things up. It works great now. I did pay the extra $10 for the neoprene pad, but I doubt I'll use it except for those long bluegrass festivals where a certain amount of "off roading" on dirt roads is required. And frankly, any piece of closed-cell foam will do.
 
#7
I made my own personal version of the bass buggie (for several reasons, it was not cheaper if I count the time building it).
I tried to use foam from a garden knee pad, but the bass has different weight on the top and back side, so after a minute or so, one side sinks in more into the foam than the other which is not nice, because the bass might tend to fall on the top side (it does not normally, but might when rolling over an uneven surface). Definately doesn't feel good.

I think rubber foam/neoprene is OK, but not as cheap.

You can put some foam at the wheel sides, but you don't need it.
I have two versions, one with smaller wheels that fits the bass and one with normally sized wheels which is a few centimeters wider than needed. There is not much difference in stability.
Since my bass bag has only 1cm padding I prefer to have a pad on the buggie, with 2cm pading I might not need it except for cobblestone.

For offroad use, better make your own bass buggie clone and use larger baby buggie air inflated wheels.

BTW, I often pull the bass behind me with the buggie. Steering is much easier that way than pushing the bass in front of you (because it easily breaks out to either side if you don't correct immediately).
 
#9
Bass_Machine said:
I recenty bought a bass buggie to help me get around town. However, my first few trips out with it haven't been very successful ...
Any input gratefully received!
Click to expand...

If you bought it from us, you should have received an instruction sheet (written by us) along with it. If you didn't get the buggie from us (or we somehow forgot to include the sheet), PM or email me with your email address and I'll email you a copy. That should clear things up for you.
--Mark
 
#11
Will Yager said:
The standing feature is great, but be careful on inclines and windy days. I've had some scares that way.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think I'd only leave it standing while I was getting other stuff out of the car, or opening the doors, or something. While it's secure enough for that sort of temporary standing, I don't think I'd walk away from a bass "balanced" on a pair of wheels with no brakes.
 
#12
Mark Gollihur said:
Yeah, I think I'd only leave it standing while I was getting other stuff out of the car, or opening the doors, or something. While it's secure enough for that sort of temporary standing, I don't think I'd walk away from a bass "balanced" on a pair of wheels with no brakes.
Click to expand...

That's enough time for a bass to go crashing to the ground.
 
#13
I'm a pad proponent.

The pad is always in place and helps the bass stay put in the buggy as well as offering some shock absorbency – necessary for when I was playing the bass whilst wheeling it around a mall. Whether a DIY pad or the optional pad (which I ordered due to time constraints in rigging up my own pad), I recommend a pad of some sort even when the bass is in a gigbag. I ordered my buggy from the Dynamic Bass Duo "Batman" Bob and Mark "Robin" as the Gollihurs' website was more secure and they were able to get buggy & pad to me in time for that mall gig.

I prefer to steer my bass in front of me where I can keep an eye on it. Adjusted the straps properly, practice-O-plenty during that mall gig and steering is a doddle. I've tried towing the bass, but if it starts to tip around a corner or upset over a bump etc., you can't catch it in time and idiots walk around you and into the bass. With the bass in front of me, I can literally run with it (and often do so).

Standing the bass on end with the wheels is only ever done with one arm still encircling the bass neck while still leaving the hand free to fish keys out of a pocket or open a door etc.

I tried a bass endpin-wheel, and much prefer having two wheels – So much more stable, so much easier to steer, and when you arrive at your destination you don't need to swap out your endpin.

I've broken one of the plastic bobbles at the end of the elastic cord, and the cord itself has very little elasticity in it after nearly two years of rock-n-roll, so to speak. So I'm looking at a replacement bungie soon, but other than that normal wear & tear, it's been fault free.

Vive Le padded Buggy :hyper:
 
#15
Feral Feline said:
I've broken one of the plastic bobbles at the end of the elastic cord, and the cord itself has very little elasticity in it after nearly two years of rock-n-roll, so to speak. So I'm looking at a replacement bungie soon, but other than that normal wear & tear, it's been fault free.
Click to expand...

I've worn out the elastic on mine as well. It still holds things together, but I'll likely replace it with a bungee cord of some kind in the not too distant future.

Aside from that- it's been great! I don't know how I got by without one for as long as I did! :cool:

Joe
 
#16
Floyd Eye said:
What the heck is a Bass Buggie?
Click to expand...

It's a strap on for ... no, that's not coming out right. It's a two-wheeled contrabasse contraption with straps, whips and chains ... no, that's not quite it either.

It makes transporting a DB a breeze. Was thinking of buying one for the longest time and after I finally did I kicked myself for not buying it within days of getting my first upright.

Developed by KC Strings, it's offered elsewhere, too. Here's a pic on the Gollihurs' site:

buggie3.gif
 
#17
Feral Feline said:
It's a strap on for ... no, that's not coming out right. It's a two-wheeled contrabasse contraption with straps, whips and chains ... no, that's not quite it either.

It makes transporting a DB a breeze. Was thinking of buying one for the longest time and after I finally did I kicked myself for not buying it within days of getting my first upright.

Developed by KC Strings, it's offered elsewhere, too. Here's a pic on the Gollihurs' site:

buggie3.gif
Click to expand...

:D
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back