Calling out BS?

[-Asdfgh-]

on a molecular level, all sorts of possiblities arise when a vibration is constant upon organic matter. noticing any difference is always the culprit, as in this case.

That's testable. Put sample of wood on a vibrating test pad. Vibrate for a year or something, analyse, and analyse control sample from same block of wood left in same climatic conditions. I am sure it has been done by someone given that wood is used as a structural element in buildings.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Program that machine to play my set list while I sit in the audience, relax with friends & beer, and collect my cash at the end of the night, then I'm in.

With a telepresence robot (as seen in the Big Bang Theory) you could even be at home and send the robot to the bar to be with your friends.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Thats fine and dandy for pick players but I want one for finger style. Maybe use cadaver fingers?

Good point. Would it learn the wrong way to resonate and so be of no use to me?

 

[Awesome Sauce]

Indeed, if this was connected up to an amp both could be done at once, saving time.

Finally! I had given up on anyone catching on. Good on ya first six letters on the left middle row of the keyboard guy. Good on ya, indeed.

 

[MegaSwing]

I like the way I do it already.

 

[Jazz_bass2664]

Hey I got an idea, why don't you play your bass?!!

 

[96tbird]

I have a trained llama to break my basses in. While he's doing that I can knit sweaters with his fur. Try it. 8)

 

[JLS]

I nominate this for Most Fun Thread In Awhile!

 

[gravesbass]

Well, they say the more vibration a body takes, the better the wood is seasoned and actually sounds better. I would just play the crap out of the bass personally.

 

[line6man]

Even if we're buying into the notion that you can break in an instrument with a machine that plays it constantly, why are they doing it that way? It's just aggressive and un-musical picking of four notes. They need to spread the frequency span out a bit and get some notes on the fretboard. A better way to do it would be to just attach a vibrator and go through some frequency ranges. Or just play a recording of bass playing into the wood.

Also, doesn't that machine wear out the nut? Nuts aren't meant for constant pushing and pulling, from the way the strings are being picked.

 

[Awesome Sauce]

Well, they say the more vibration a body takes, the better the wood is

Do I even have to type further?

 

[awilkie84]

This reminds me of that acoustic guitar break-in process where they put a vibrating sucker thing on the body and let it sit for a week. Apparently the tone improvements are phenomenal, even though all you've done is vibrate the wood & glue, potentially weakening it.

 

[Rich Terry]

BS is BS

 

[groucho]

I put a lot of stock in sonics effecting wood. They just seem to acquire the characteristics of what's played through them after a while, I honestly believe. That's why some older instruments just have a certain vibe.

I don't know about a machine though. I'm talking about sounds, tunes, tones, rather than some mechanically repetitive action.

A lot of that change may well be the wood changing as it ages, the seasoning / drying process continues as it were.
But I will say that in my days working a music store, I got to play "vintage" (60's) Fenders that were bought and stored without
the interaction of being played, and despite their age, many lacked the "tone" actively used instruments possessed.
i don't claim to know why that is for sure, but some say actual use does cause a "settling in" of the wood (?)

 

[bonespatrol]

i like what some old school folkies did with their axes. just rest it up against a stereo speaker and crank it. there you get different keys, major, minor, etc.

 

[Means2nEnd]

Agreed 100% Gravesbass but we are talking 20-30 years of hand playing which makes sense. In front of amplifiers etc... This is a different ball of wax for sure.

 

[gravesbass]

Supposedly Fender puts the Road Worn guitar bodies on a machine and it vibrates for some period of time before assembly. Now I "heard" this but do not know 100% confirmed correct. Just heard this. Either way play the instrument and give it your own mojo!

 

[JoeWPgh]

If there is a value to breaking in a bass through vibration, I don't see how this contraption is going to do very much. If the assumption is that 40 years of string vibration affects the tonal characteristic of the wood, it would follow that the various wavelengths of those vibrations would be a part of the voodoo. And then, assuming this assumption is correct, how long do you have to leave your bass on the contraption? If you play, say, 4 hours a day, one full day on the contraption buys you an entire 6 days of "break in"!! Woo hoo!! At that rate, it would only be 8.33 years of 24/7/365 to get your Pre CBS mojo!

 

[Marikk]

IMHO. it comes from two things. First from emotion. That feeling you get from picking up an instrument you know has stories, a history. It's been around. Basements, bars, festivals who knows. That's part of the thrill

Secondly, good old fashion real aging. The drying, how it's been worn in various places, etc.

You can't fake that, you can fake the look. But the rest can only come wit time

 

[BROCK WOOD]

Used to be we always heard the Surgeon General of the United States say this or that is bad for you.....only to reverse their findings a year or so later. So, there became 3 professions in which the patient was never healed. Of course the first 2 are Psychologist & Chiropractor. Years ago a university in Chicago did a study to reproduce Stradivarius' techniques right down to the varnish. Their test gear made rocket scientists blush with envy as it seamed there was no limit to their budget. When all was said & done: We would have beat the 400 year old Stad if we could have only aged the wood. LOL. There is an extremely longstanding belief that aged wood has a tonal advantage. Personally, I find any 'building on that belief' by doing this or that 'for a price' ludicrous. I don't buy rosewood or mahogany from old caches for it's age. I buy it for it's dimensions. These are now only veneer or 4/4 at best & that will not do for my needs. I buy maple from fresh harvests & am pleased. Moisture content really becomes the issue - but only for building purposes.