Double Bass Cloth behind Tailpiece?

[Maaaven]

I have seen a couple of guys play with a cloth
behind the tailpiece. I asked one why and he
said it dampended the sound, and was something
old timers sometimes did. Seems crazy to me,
but if they had solid wire tailpiece maybe not...
Comments from young or old?

 

[toman]

Yeah, I do that all the time too. I've had a bunch of people tell me how much it's hurting my tone. I don't buy it. One thing I've found that works well for keeping strings clean though, especially if you use a sticky rosin like Carlson, is to keep a scrap of Scotchbrite in your bib pocket. A few swipes with that will clean your strings right up. Might want to be a little careful with some fragile strings though, I don't know, but it's always worked fine for me.

 

[Maaaven]

I know that wiping off rosin with a rag is common and
do it every time I put a away the bow. I just don't keep
it tucked behind the tailpiece, and wondered out loud.
Jazz players hook up large objects to thier tailpieces,
but I am surprised to hear classical guys do it to.

Last night I saw a local guy with what looked like a bass
drum mic suspended inside his bridge with a large chunk
of foam. The mic looked like it could way 100's of grams.
Not that I am expecting people to conform to a standard.

But yes, I do thing adding stuff may make a difference.
If the rag is loose and the tailpiece heavy, maybe not.

I know one respected repair-person who attaches their
bow to the fingerboard by sliding a string over it, and
can get away without the quiver. Yet another take...
She did not indicate any bow damage ever occurred.

YMMV

 

[Matthew Tucker]

When I am playing amplified in a salsa band, there's NEVER enough room on the stage with the whole crowd banging away on their cowbells and what. So I'm always too close to the amp or the foldback, and always finding horriblw feedback and resonances where I don't want them. I find that a rolled up towel wedged behind the tailpiece dampens the top enough to stop most of the out-of-control body resonances. And as for my tone, well in that context a thunk at the right pitch and the right time is enough ...

 

[JtheJazzMan]

Wouldn't leave home without it! Dampen the Sound? Well, as soon as one touches the Bass, his body dampens the sound. Bow quivers do it even more if your'e a believer. Besides, how many Basses are in its maximum tonal condition anyway without any sort of needs of repairing? Do you really believe a tiny cloth is going to hurt the sound of a Bass?

ive certainly found it does. i just tried putting a cloth between the tailpiece and body and it chokes a lot of depth out of the notes between G on the E string and C on the A string.

were you playing pizz. when you tested this out? the cloth was soaking up the "oomph" out of the note. thats the best description at least.

in fact ive found the tailpiece to be very sensitive to anything touching it.

youre right about most basses not being set up to their full potential, so id say every bass needs all the help it can get, no matter how small something may seem

 

[Bob Branstetter]

I know one respected repair-person who attaches their
bow to the fingerboard by sliding a string over it, and
can get away without the quiver. Yet another take...
She did not indicate any bow damage ever occurred.

YMMV

I don't see that as much today as I did when most players used gut strings. With low clearance steel strings, you can scrape the finish on the stick. Some guys used to leave their bow that way when they put their bass in it's case. I would be afraid that leaving that way for any length of time could mess up the camber, but I've never had anyone complain about that actually happening.

 

[Maaaven]

Ken asks a thought provoking question.

I have not made the measurements to back this statement
up (yet), but I'll bet that the higher overtones are more diminished
than the fundamental. I have found a less massive tailpeice gives
a brighter sound. (think Rabbath)

And it follows that, just like a heavy tailpiece, adding
a mass via a holster, oops I mea quiver (wrong century)
or even a cloth damper you can still get a great big deep
volume but with more deep tone, as the higher overtones
would be likely be reduced.

 

[robobass]

I think the OP was describing a bassist who was maybe actively trying to dampen his bass to reduce feedback problems. I had a bass in my young years that was terribly prone to feedback when amplified. I wish I had thought of this then. I don't think a quiver or small rag is going to affect anything even in solo situations, but if you need to really turn up the amp, some damping of this sort (stuffing a big towel under the tailpiece) might actually improve your sound. whatever works!
Robobass

 

[anonymous8547j7d7b]

That first bass on the left (sorry if I'm getting too technical )is sooo cute. 2nd from the right ain't half bad either
On the subject of string cleaner - I don't play arco, but have found an excellent proprietary brand made by Smirnoff