Jake deVilliers
Commercial User
- May 24, 2006
- 6,349
- 607
- Disclosures
- Owner of The Bass Spa, String Repairman at Long & McQuade Vancouver
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Double Bass Bridge Setup/Adjustment
- Thread starter zeta
- Start date
Jake deVilliers
Commercial User
- May 24, 2006
- 6,349
- 607
- Disclosures
- Owner of The Bass Spa, String Repairman at Long & McQuade Vancouver
Its easy to take shots at Chuck for what he wrote, much more difficult to put in the work necessary to write your own book.
I don't agree with everything in the book but I've learned an awful lot from him, and exploring his more challenging concepts have led me to some useful discoveries of my own.
Putting a tiny radius on the ends of the soundpost just makes sense to anybody who has retrieved a post with a big flake out of one end (or both!)
And trying different endpins to find the right fit for a particular bass is a worthwhile pursuit. Different materials make different sounds and allow fine tuning of the overall output. I haven't had a client yet who has said, "I like the sound of the cheap steel pin better."
I don't agree with everything in the book but I've learned an awful lot from him, and exploring his more challenging concepts have led me to some useful discoveries of my own.
Putting a tiny radius on the ends of the soundpost just makes sense to anybody who has retrieved a post with a big flake out of one end (or both!)
And trying different endpins to find the right fit for a particular bass is a worthwhile pursuit. Different materials make different sounds and allow fine tuning of the overall output. I haven't had a client yet who has said, "I like the sound of the cheap steel pin better."
Hello everybody,
I recently bought Chuck Traeger's book in order to attempt my first bridge and soundpost setup on my double bass.
I'm having trouble understanding the parts in which Mr. Traeger speak of using a school compass to draw a line that duplicates the curvature of the top. (English is not my native language.)
I quote from the book: "Assuming I have had to insert a wedge under the G foot, I now take my school compass, and holding the plane of its points perpendicular to the top, I open it no more than absolutely necessary until, with the sharp end side resting on the top of the bass and the pencil end marking on the face of the bridge foot, I can draw a line on the face of the G foot from one edge to the other which duplicates the curvature of the top."
I am surely missing something in translation: if the point of the compass is perpendicular to the top of the bass it will be parallel to the bridge, which is also perpendicular to the top of the bass, how do you draw a line which duplicates the curvature of the top on the bridge foot?
I recently bought Chuck Traeger's book in order to attempt my first bridge and soundpost setup on my double bass.
I'm having trouble understanding the parts in which Mr. Traeger speak of using a school compass to draw a line that duplicates the curvature of the top. (English is not my native language.)
I quote from the book: "Assuming I have had to insert a wedge under the G foot, I now take my school compass, and holding the plane of its points perpendicular to the top, I open it no more than absolutely necessary until, with the sharp end side resting on the top of the bass and the pencil end marking on the face of the bridge foot, I can draw a line on the face of the G foot from one edge to the other which duplicates the curvature of the top."
I am surely missing something in translation: if the point of the compass is perpendicular to the top of the bass it will be parallel to the bridge, which is also perpendicular to the top of the bass, how do you draw a line which duplicates the curvature of the top on the bridge foot?
Notice that he said "the plane of the points"...not the axes of the points. I think he meant holding the compass in such a way that the line segment joining the two points is perpendicular to the general plane of the top (effectively perpendicular to the rib plane). Using the compass in such a way that the minimum clearance necessary to reach the bridge at all points is transferred across the entire face of each foot, will result in lines that, when joined all around, will approximate the proper fit.
You will still need to fit the bridge feet to the top very precisely. I use some brown lipstick, as a contact medium, and touch the bridge down, firmly, then scrape away the wood only where the lipstick was transferred. I repeat until it transfers smoothly, and simultaneously across both feet. Then I clean the bass face and complete the upper portion of the bridge.
Some people protect the bass by taping some cling-film in place and doing their smearing of lipstick only on the plastic. I suppose that is a better idea, but the brown lipstick I use (found it in a parking lot the day after I heard of this method) seems to come off cleanly, leaving no trace.
You will still need to fit the bridge feet to the top very precisely. I use some brown lipstick, as a contact medium, and touch the bridge down, firmly, then scrape away the wood only where the lipstick was transferred. I repeat until it transfers smoothly, and simultaneously across both feet. Then I clean the bass face and complete the upper portion of the bridge.
Some people protect the bass by taping some cling-film in place and doing their smearing of lipstick only on the plastic. I suppose that is a better idea, but the brown lipstick I use (found it in a parking lot the day after I heard of this method) seems to come off cleanly, leaving no trace.
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Thank you very much 1st bass, so If I got it right I've got to keep the compass lying on the body of the bass and open it till the pencil point slide across the bridge foot lenght, right?
May I ask you another question: do you use template to shape the bridge curvature?
I saw this one: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Will it be useful?
Thank you.
May I ask you another question: do you use template to shape the bridge curvature?
I saw this one: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Will it be useful?
Thank you.
The compass point should be lying on its logitudinal axis, just kissing the top plate.
Open the compass until it reaches the height of the biggest gap under the bridge foot when the bridge is in the proper position, angle, etc.
Then use the sharp pencil on the compass to draw around the bridge foot, keeping the exact same relationship between the compass point and the top plate at all times.
I don't have a bass template, though I do have them for the smaller instruments. What I tend to do, though, even on the smaller instruments, is to determine the distance between strings at both the nut and the bridge, and mark them, and, before I ever begin the bridge, I go ahead and file the nut to a very close approximation of the final shape, knowing I may deepen the string grooves later.
When I begin to cut the top of the bridge. I use a pencil (and stick, in the case of the bass) to project the shape of the fingerboard out to the bridge, then lay out the string locations. I give myself plenty of extra room, as cutting off too much is an expensive error, but I am laying out the curve at the height I expect the strings to be on the finished bridge.
Then I cut the curve to the tentative height and curvature, cut shallow string grooves in the correct locations, and set it up with strings. (This is a good time to check the relative distances between nut and bridge/bridge and tailpiece, too. I shoot for a 6:1 ratio.) The actual heights of the strings above the Fingerboard, once at the desired heights, together determine the shape of the top of the bridge. I can carve, and file it to an aesthetic shape, but the location and height of those grooves has to be correct. I try to file away enough at both the nut and the bridge, that 1/2-2/3 of the string is in the clear above the wood.
I extend the grooves on the pegbox side of the nut far enough that I can see that the string will not cross a sharp edge. At the bridge, I follow that same idea, but, habitually, I have probably extended the grooves further than was necessary, in both locations. (Room for improvement.) Finally I polish the nut, complete all the final cutting away of excess wood on the bridge, and lubricate the grooves with pencil graphite.
Open the compass until it reaches the height of the biggest gap under the bridge foot when the bridge is in the proper position, angle, etc.
Then use the sharp pencil on the compass to draw around the bridge foot, keeping the exact same relationship between the compass point and the top plate at all times.
I don't have a bass template, though I do have them for the smaller instruments. What I tend to do, though, even on the smaller instruments, is to determine the distance between strings at both the nut and the bridge, and mark them, and, before I ever begin the bridge, I go ahead and file the nut to a very close approximation of the final shape, knowing I may deepen the string grooves later.
When I begin to cut the top of the bridge. I use a pencil (and stick, in the case of the bass) to project the shape of the fingerboard out to the bridge, then lay out the string locations. I give myself plenty of extra room, as cutting off too much is an expensive error, but I am laying out the curve at the height I expect the strings to be on the finished bridge.
Then I cut the curve to the tentative height and curvature, cut shallow string grooves in the correct locations, and set it up with strings. (This is a good time to check the relative distances between nut and bridge/bridge and tailpiece, too. I shoot for a 6:1 ratio.) The actual heights of the strings above the Fingerboard, once at the desired heights, together determine the shape of the top of the bridge. I can carve, and file it to an aesthetic shape, but the location and height of those grooves has to be correct. I try to file away enough at both the nut and the bridge, that 1/2-2/3 of the string is in the clear above the wood.
I extend the grooves on the pegbox side of the nut far enough that I can see that the string will not cross a sharp edge. At the bridge, I follow that same idea, but, habitually, I have probably extended the grooves further than was necessary, in both locations. (Room for improvement.) Finally I polish the nut, complete all the final cutting away of excess wood on the bridge, and lubricate the grooves with pencil graphite.
