Double Bass Bow Quivers and Tone Loss

[Jeremy Darrow]

I put my bow quiver on a few weeks ago for a gig that required it. Since than I felt that my bass was sounding a little dull and that some character was missing. I though it might just be time for a seasonal adjustment. Lo and behold I took the quiver off today and the tone I was used to mostly returned. It's still probably time for a seasonal adjustment, though.

I tried a search with no luck. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Yes. Even a dry Dampit in the ff-hole will dampen the response in my experience.

 

[Ron Plichta]

I played my bass with and without the quiver today and noticed that it felt more resonant without. It's now off for good.

 

[Jeremy Darrow]

I'm relieved to know that if I'm crazy, I'm not alone.

 

[aaronallen]

Yes, attaching a big hunk of leather to a part of the bass that must vibrate freely will diminish its sound and make the strings feel stiffer too. I cringe when I see a bass thats been loaded down with "accessories."

 

[Jeremy Darrow]

Yes, attaching a big hunk of leather to a part of the bass that must vibrate freely will diminish its sound and make the strings feel stiffer too. I cringe when I see a bass thats been loaded down with "accessories."

So, should I also take off my iPad mount, my cup holder and the little bracket I made that holds an American flag above the scroll?

 

[Jake deVilliers]

So, should I also take off my iPad mount, my cup holder and the little bracket I made that holds an American flag above the scroll?

Yup - lose the friggin' CB radio too, good buddy!

 

[dkimbrobass]

I really noticed it when I had my Marvin tailpiece on my bass, the quiver definitely affected the tone. I switched back to Spiros and put my old tailpiece back on. I don't think it has as much of an effect on the standard tailpiece, which makes sense, since the whole idea is that the Marvin vibrates more freely. I took all the stuff off my bass, including the pickup, back when I did my senior classical recital at UT, and have taken them off for recording sessions, but since the majority of my playing these days is amplified with a good bit of arco-ing, it makes sense to leave the quiver on and lose a bit of that little something something.

Ditch the cupholder, but do like I did, mount a new one (with handsome chrome lining) into the upper E-side bout. Looks great!

 

[Violen]

Do you sit? Attach the quiver to your stool.

 

[Jeremy Darrow]

Do you sit? Attach the quiver to your stool.

I don't sit, it's not really an option for most of the gigs that I do. When I have to use the quiver I'm almost always on a pickup, so the tone loss is not such an issue. When I don't need it, I take it off.

 

[Thumpie]

The particular quiver I have is very light. I bought it from a guy who made them out of his home out of synthetic material. On close inspection, it might not be the most beautiful adornment, but it works fine. When I'm on stage, I remove the bow from the quiver on pieces where I don't need it. So, most of the time, there's very little weight on my tailpiece, and very little tone change...

On my 2nd bass, I don't have a quiver, and I'm experimenting with just keeping the bow close at hand. (Right now the stuff I'm doing doesn't require many quick arco-to-pizz changes, and I'm mostly able to get away with it.) Mingus never kept a quiver on his bass, and on a lot of footage you see him just all of a sudden have a bow in his hand...

 

[dkimbrobass]

Jeremy, did Andy Moritz have a quiver on his Eminence? I guess I could ask him...sometimes on these fly dates I wish I had the quiver,but on this particular trip I'm not arcoing too much. Now that I'm thinking out loud, it's probably not worth the trouble to put yet another thing on the bass when trying to get it settled and back together after heading to 30,000 feet and back...man, I'm rambling.


If Mingus had a quiver, he coulda kept a shotgun in there. Just sayin

 

[Jeremy Darrow]

I don't think he did. I think he kept it on his amp, but I could be wrong. If I had my way, I'd keep a little table, or even a stool around to set the bow on. But that's not always an option.

 

[Thumpie]

I don't think he did. I think he kept it on his amp, but I could be wrong. If I had my way, I'd keep a little table, or even a stool around to set the bow on. But that's not always an option.

In the '70s, when he was sick and needed an amp, he did use it that way.

I hear you, but carrying around a little table or stool is way more hassle than a quiver. Sometimes I put it on my music stand.

 

[Jeremy Darrow]

In the '70s, when he was sick and needed an amp, he did use it that way.

I hear you, but carrying around a little table or stool is way more hassle than a quiver. Sometimes I put it on my music stand.

I think we're talking about different people.

For these gigs, there isn't usually a stand and the stage is frequently pretty crowded already.

 

[Don Higdon]

IMnotHO, much ado about nothing.