Double Bass Bought my second upright, an Eberle, today

[Nofreshfruit]

I own the carved top Roma, and it's absolutely fantastic. Everyone who sees it and hears it goes "Wow! That bass is beautiful!"

 

[Steve Freides]

EJ Dad: You mentioned bow pressure issues with some strings - do you bow French (my guess) or German?

pillion: A carved Roma from Ideal makes a great first bass. I played a week's run of a show with mine and it sounded good.

Everyone: I've got until Tuesday morning to decide, but right now, my friend Sue says she loves Kolstein Heritage, and they do sound fantastic on her bass, and they are available through Ideal, so that's what's at the top of the list unless and until someone here convinces me otherwise. If anyone has anything bad to say about them, this would be a great time.

OT: I hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend. Here in the US, it's a 3-day weekend, with Monday being the holiday in remembrance of those who gave their lives in the service of our country. The weather here in metro NYC is absolutely beautiful and we've been enjoying sitting on the front porch and visiting with our neighbors (one of the joys of living in a small town with sidewalks and other neighbors with front porches).

-S-

 

[Eric_J]

French, the new teacher has helped greatly with less pressure in the R.H.

 

[Phil Smith]

Everyone: I've got until Tuesday morning to decide, but right now, my friend Sue says she loves Kolstein Heritage, and they do sound fantastic on her bass, and they are available through Ideal, so that's what's at the top of the list unless and until someone here convinces me otherwise. If anyone has anything bad to say about them, this would be a great time.

I have a fully carved Eberle and I also *had* the Heritage strings on it and to me they don't work as good for arco as the Helicore Orchestrals which I currently use. The other problem that I had with the Heritage strings is that they had a tendency to fall apart, i.e. I noticed on the E string where the winding was coming apart and also at the ball ends it seems as if they wer're hanging on by one or two metal "threads". That seemed dangerous to me and since I couldn't get them to work for a show I was doing I put the Orchestrals on and didn't look back.

Invalid Link Removed

I don't think the end of the string should be this limp.

 

[Robert Strickland]

I have Pirastro Obligato's on my Eberle hybrid. They sound great and the playability is superb for jazz....nice warm traditional sound, very flexible.

If you want a more modern sound, I suggest the Spiracore Weichs.

For me, Eberle's tend to have a bright sound in general. I like a darker, more traditional sound. The Obligatos gave me a good balance and the sustain is endless on my bass.

 

[Steve Freides]

Brought home the bass today. Decided to leave the medium Heliocore Hybrids on there for now.

Boy, is it nice to have a nicer instrument. Everything about it feels easier, sounds better. I'm a happy camper. Sounds cleaner, somehow both brighter and richer at the same time.

I'm leaning towards Pirastro strings when/if I change them. Evah Pirazzi seems like first choice, Obligato's second.

Ideal is a _pleasure_ to deal with.

I need to do some more regular playing, so I'm going to play with local community band for the summer. Concert bands, in case you didn't know, often have a string bass player. I played French Horn in this one a couple of years back; it'll be fun to return but playing a different instrument.

-S-

 

[Steve Freides]

A few question for everyone, all regarding my new Erberle carved but probably just because I haven't been playing all that long.

1) This bass came with a big rubber "bumper" on the end of the peg - unscrewed the bumper and you get a nice, sharp point to dig into the floor. Questions regarding this:

- Is it worth unscrewing the rubber bumper for rehearsals? My rehearsal with the local community band (if you're not familiar with community bands, think concert band, i.e., an orchestra without strings) was in a carpeted room.

- Unscrewing the rubber bumper makes the bass a little lower - worth adjusting the amount of peg showing? I find I'm kind of sensitive to how tall the instrument is and if it's off, e.g., I'm barefoot or wearing a shoe with a heel, it causes me to mess up until I get used to it, but it seems a little extreme to keep adjusting the peg. Maybe just a newbie thing?

2) Rosin - when it grabs _too_ much, does that mean it's time to take a rag and alcohol to the strings and remove the rosin there?

3) Bow hair tension - I noticed my bow, pernambuco (sp?), has less tension on the hair on the side I tend to start with first, which is the side closest to the ceiling when I'm playing. Is this normal and/or a cause for concern?

4) Height - lining up the nut with one's eyebrows seems to be the normal thing to do but I see a lot of people playing a bass that looks too big for them, i.e., the nut is a _lot_ higher than their eyebrows. Is this just because people want a bigger instrument for its sound, or is there some other reason to have to reach up like that to play in the lower positions.

So many questions, I know. Thanks in advance.

-S-

 

[Eric_J]

1. I keep the rubber stopper on all the time to avoid stabbing my self in the leg as I walk by the bass and not mess up any floors.

2. Too much rosin either:
a. keep playing and don't put any more on for a while (few days). It will eventually wear off.
b. I use a pet flee/tick comb on my bow hair after every use or if I put a little too much rosin on.

3. The bow hair should be equally tensioned, If it is a problem getting a good sound or it is causing the bow to warp left/right when tensioned, get a rehair.

4. The nut/eye brow thing is a general guideline. I've had mine higher and lower. I've seen much better players than me both higher and lower. My teacher has me experiment with the height & angle to find the most comfortable position.