don’t think you’ll need the ebony bumpers, once you’ve start playing you’ll have a hard time putting it down…
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Double Bass Brock Radelet basses
- Thread starter Mike Goodbar
- Start date
I’ve got movable saddles, find them quite usable. I don’t tune the individual strings, but set an overall afterlength, 1/6 of the stringlength. Some suggest 1/5, but 1/6 gave me a noticeable clearer and more focused sound. Shorter than that proved negative, especially on the low strings. More important than afterlenght is tailgut length. I asked Jim Ham about this, and he had arrived at the same conclusion. Try setting the afterlength to 1/6 of the string length and the tailgut to 1/6 of the afterlength as a starting point.
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1/6 of the mensure? So if 106 cm. mensure then between 17.5 and 21 cm (roughly). Brock seems to have them staggered so longer on the E, then A, then D, then G.
my vibrating string length is 105 cm, afterlength is 17,5. (the mensure is something else: Useful Measurements). You could experiment with different settings, but in my (and mr Hams) opinion the focus should be on the tailgut length.
think it's a heritage of Gary Karr, didn't like a vibrating fb, saw it as a waste of energy, better steer those precious vibrations down the bridge were they may transform into sound...
My bass has been delivered. In addition to being remarkably beautiful it has an extremely resonant and clear tone and is more responsive than any other bass I have played. I am delighted and will report back as I play it more.
It has a single scallop underneath. I assume that the thickness of the board means that there is no structural advantage in a split like yours. But maybe it's just the way Brock does it.
Not looking to rush you or your new bass, but have you found it’s sound? Has it found you?
My experience is new instruments, even new bows, need to played to come alive.
I enjoy the process. How is it going?
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Thanks for asking. Brock strung it up with Spiros for the trip. For me fresh Spiros were way too bright so I switched to tried and true Temperas. I may get some gut core Gensslers. The bass is extremely responsive, loud, and even up and down. I absolutely love it. It's coming into some depth of tone -- kind of burnished gold like the finish -- but this will take a long time obviously. It's been interesting getting used to the different bows on such a different bass. WIth my late 19th c. 5 string with a high C ( scroll down ) and guts I came to prefer my Hermann bow. It's super light and ideal for guts -- nearly a baroque bow. I may like it best with the Radelet too, but my other bows each bring out something different. I guess this is part of the learning curve.
I had a 4 month bass-less period as I waited for the Radelet so I am still getting back into shape. Lots of slow C scales. I will keep on reporting on this thread. But I couldn't be happier with the bass. And I couldn't recommend Brock more. He is a builder with the highest level of professional skill but an amateur's artistic heart (in the best sense).
Last thing -- the Hamm style neck joint is awesome. You can change the height of the strings on the fly and use a bridge without risers. Amazing and a must for New England or Canadian weather.
did you go from d to eb neck (like me in my pollmann commission)? I found the transition harder than expected
I did. So far I'm not finding that transition too difficult. What I found difficult at first -- strangely -- is how much easier it is to play above the 5th harmonic node. I had gotten so used to playing up high on a 7/8 orchestral bass with relatively big shoulders so the easy access was confusing.
I've been doing a Petracchi-style exercise from David Moore's Fractal FIngering every day where I start in thumb position on the D on the G string and play a chromatic, a semi-chromatic and a major and then move up a half step. and repeat until I get to the D above the G harmonic. It only uses 1-2-3 but it has been great for getting a sense of the bass.
what do you think about the smaller string spacing? Guess 26mm is “standard “, I had my at 24, your is 22. I kept 10mm at the nut, don’t like it to change too much along the board. I can really recommend a smaller spacing, makes life easier, and good for the sound also, according to Brock.
My string spacing was at 23 on my five string so it's pretty much the same. I really like it, especially for more Meyer-style fingering -- i.e. thumb all over. Because of the fingerboard arch the bowing isn't a problem.
