Double Bass Completely ignorant sound pole question

[Fractal20]

So I have played double bass for just a little bit and my uncle has an old bass that he is loaning me. A family friend drove the bass to where I am currently at and took off the bridge in order to fit it in the car. Luckily the sound pole seems to be standing fine but I am completely ignorant about them. As far as I can tell it seems to be perpendicular and relatively close the to treble side of the bridge as I understand it is suppose to be. I am not sure if it is okay to tighten up the strings now or if it might be slightly ajar and thus bad for the bass. If it was not previously obvious I am completely ignorant of bass setup and haven't adjusted anything before.

The other dilemma is that I am suppose to drive it across a couple states to get back home and it will be a full car. Hence it would be much easier to transfer without the bridge on. If it made it this far with the sound pole intact will it likely make it the rest of the way? If the sound pole were to fall how much does a shop usually charge to set it again?

Also, should the sound pole be directly below the treble side of the bridge? Where I would want to place the bridge to be between the marks in the f holes is such that it is not directly over the sound pole. Thanks!

 

[Eric Hochberg]

Take the bass home as is, and then take it to a luthier to check the sound post (dropped or not) and set up the bridge. This should cost $20-40. It will be a good idea to have the whole bass checked out at the same time so you know what you've got and may have to deal with.

The sound post is placed its own diameter below the G foot, give or take. Wherever it ends up, based on sound, the ends have to perfectly fit the top and back, just tight enough to stay in place without string tension.

 

[rjspear]

As far as I can tell it seems to be perpendicular and relatively close the to treble side of the bridge as I understand it is suppose to be. I am not sure if it is okay to tighten up the strings now or if it might be slightly ajar and thus bad for the bass.

If the sound pole were to fall how much does a shop usually charge to set it again?

Also, should the sound pole be directly below the treble side of the bridge? Where I would want to place the bridge to be between the marks in the f holes is such that it is not directly over the sound pole. Thanks!

The soundpost is a cylindrical piece of spruce that has the function of coupling the top and the back. This is one of the major differences between a bowed string instrument and a plucked string instrument. It is held in place by friction and has a narrower range of adjustment when the string tension is down than it has when the strings are up to pitch. The post also serves a structural function by transferring the forces under tension from the relatively weaker spruce of the top to the thicker and stronger wood of the back.

Since the post has to be fit after the bass is put together, the diameter of the post is usually less than the diameter of the f-hole at the notches so it can slip through. It is normally set anywhere between one-half its diameter to its full diameter below the treble (G) foot in the up-and-down direction. In the side-to-side direction it is anywhere from the center of the bridge foot to the outside edge of the foot. We try never to have the edge of the post and the edge of the foot in line, and never to have the post outside the foot.

Sometimes the post needs to be replaced, but normally they last for a long time. Should the post fall down, an experienced luthier should not have much trouble standing it back up again, and it should not cost more than $50 or so. The French call the soundpost the "soul" of the instrument; small movements of the post can result in noticeable changes to the sound.