Double Bass Do you have a pizz and an arco bass?

[Alexis Duntov]

I have a nice 2011 carved Stoll Milano bass that bows great but I'm starting to think I'd like another instrument with guts for busking and jazz sessions where I'm not going to be using the bow. Ideally I'd have one instrument that does both well, but I hear guys with guts on cheaper instruments that just boom in a way that I feel mine does not. I know there are the variables such as strings, technique, and physiology to consider, but I'm curious if there are folks who have "pizz" basses and other instruments that they primarily use for arco playing. I play jazz, latin, and classical. Thanks.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

Nope.

 

[LowG]

I do. A bass set up with steel strings and low height and a bass set up with gut strings and high height. Pizz and arco sound good on both, but obviously different. Also if you're playing a lot of gigs in less than ideal conditions it's nice to have a ply bass for that, and in my experience these gigs tend to not be arco-heavy.

 

[Ed S]

Pretty much what LowG describes. My hybrid w/ EPs bows great, while my ply w/ EP slaps plays pizz and slaps wonderfully. It likely reflects my limitations, but neither does the other function as well as the other. I'm able to bow the ply or pizz the hybrid, but I prefer using the different tools for the different jobs. I've never had a session where I had to switch back and forth between prolonged sections of pizz and bowing.

I've commented before on what a great luxury it is. When I bow ensemble music, I fall in love with my hybrid all over again. And then when I drag my ply out to a parking lot for a jam, I fall in love with THAT bass. Makes me feel rich.

I'm not sure what bass I would want and how I would set it up if I only had one and wanted to use it for all purposes. I imagine there likely are threads for folk who set up a single bass for all purposes. I'd imagine the majority vote would be for hybrid/carved w/ spiros, but I'm glad I do not have to make such a decision.

 

[Jefenator]

From a money and physical space perspective it's easier to justify multiple bass guitars.
OTOH double bass is what my clients ask for at least half the time - so it does behoove me to have a little redundancy there - and variety.
I didn't plan it this way, but my full-size 5-string turned out to be much better suited for symphonic playing. It also freed me up to try guts on the Kay, which I love!! I'd like to get back to steel on 3/4 occasionally, and maybe try hybrid or fully carved for that. But three double basses would be too much for my current living space - and gig roster. (I might eventually trade in the full-size - unless my symphonic workload expands significantly.)
Anyway, IME IMHO having a second double bass to run guts on has been absolutely worth doing.

 

[Scott Lynch]

Just one double bass for me, a carved bass with Spirocores. Use case scenario - When I gig on double bass, it's mostly jazz and other pizz-centric work, and I also play classical music a lot in the practice room and sometimes for fun out in the real world. My bass does everything I need it to well enough, but arguably leans a little bit more the jazz side of things than the blend-with-a-section side.

The justification for multiple instruments makes sense if you have multiple sound concepts in your head for various scenarios that can't be reconciled on one instrument. If you need a bass with flexocores for arco work and a bass with guts/Spiros etc. for jazz, that's what you need. It's very common for those of us in the BG world to have multiple instruments for different strings, i.e. a bass with rounds and a bass with flats, not to mention fretted vs. fretless, different pickup configurations, etc. Despite opinions to the contrary - there are situations where the distinctions will be noticeable to some.

 

[Wasnex]

Here is my closest allegory.

I used to switch between an NS Design electric upright and an acoustic upright in some settings. The Mensure of both instruments was around 42".

Playing two different fretless instruments can be problematic for me. In symphonic settings, I frequently cannot hear myself well enough to adjust intonation on the fly, so I really have to just nail it. Also in a large ensemble, it's not really all that unusual for one section to be sharp and another to be flat...meaning the upright bass is caught in the middle. The beats from the two tone centers can cause the body of an acoustic upright bass to vibrate rather significantly.

So I used both instruments in big band (for pizz), but when it came time to do a concert band tours I put the NS Design in its case and practiced Simandl to get my intonation to settle.

I also played a fretted Yamaha TRB6P. I don't feel that switching between fretted bass guitar and upright degraded my intonation. For the record, I never could get comfortable on fretless BG, and the NS Design was my solution.

If I am not loud enough with an acoustic instrument, I use an amp.

 

[AGCurry]

I had planned on having a pizz bass and an arco bass.
I now have three double basses. As it turns out, my cheapest bass is the best for pizz and the best for arco. I might as well just have the one.

 

[Alexis Duntov]

I had planned on having a pizz bass and an arco bass.
I now have three double basses. As it turns out, my cheapest bass is the best for pizz and the best for arco. So I might as well just have the one.

I love it when that happens. Until a little while ago, my cheapest bass guitar (MIJ Fender Sting Precision) was also my favorite.

 

[SAlcott]

Two for me-one with Bel Cantos/Lifeline for pizz/orchestra (I like them) and the big one with Flexocors for orchestra.

 

[Rebop]

I have have more than one bass for different situations. Interestingly I've been playing the bass strung with guts about 90% of the time. I can't get enough of it.

Good bass, good strings, good setup. That's all you need and you can play anything on it.

 

[Ric Vice]

I have two basses a 5/8ths Mirecourt and a Kolstine Busetto Travelbass. The Mirecourt is the bass that I've had since college it's a instrument that I'm lucky to have. The Kolstine Busetto is likely to small to be used in a orchestra but it works well for everything I do. I play arco and pizzicato with both instruments.

P.S. both basses have Evah Parazzi Weich.

 

[BASSDROID]

I have three at the moment, but two are my primaries:

The Golia 7/8 with CBC extension is strung with Belcanto A D G with a Spirocore for the extension. This bass is used primarily for arco/orchestra.

The 3/4 German flatback is strung with Spirocore starks and is used primarily for music where pizz is dominant, though it is very bowable.

The third bass is a Gibson ply, which is kept in reserve for emergency use. It is strung with Spirocore wiechs.

Both of my primaries are great instruments and more than suitable for either arco or pizz. I have simply gravitated in this direction with them.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

No. I currently have two nearly identical pizz basses. But when I retire (god willing and the creek don't rise), the plan is to have a dedicated arco bass so I can learn to play with the bow for my own pleasure.

 

[Bruce Calin]

I had two early on but the arco bass was too fragile and I ended up using the other one all the time anyway which turned out to be fine and simplified things a lot. One of my main concerns as a professional player has been reliability and good sound under as many circumstances as possible. I do have an old Kay with guts for the very few roots-type gigs I get and to mess with for fun. I've owned a few EUBs over the years but never really used them professionally. I need to change strings soon so will contemplate possibly changing brands but probably not.

 

[statsc]

Two for me, but not the usual arco-pizz divide. For many years I had only one, an 1850's Tyrolean strung with Spiro Mittels that I used for everything. Several years ago I thought that I needed a back-up in case the Tyrolean went down, so I went through a Czech Ease and an Upton Standard before settling on a New Standard Cleveland hybrid as the back-up. However, after the first gig on the New Standard it became my everyday bass. It has a fuller low end and a clearer tone that cuts through the mix of other instruments better, and also projects better with less effort. So the Tyrolean now sits in the closet, except for recording, where engineers seem to prefer its "sweeter" tone. If I played orchestral music I'd probably use the Tyrolean, as it bows better.

 

[Paps]

OK, I feel I'm missing out here with my one bass, but then at the moment I only play Orchestra.
So, I think some of you guys need as many as 6 basses!
One for Orchestra arco, one for solo arco, one for pizz, jazz, one for slap and one for mystic overtone playing.
Oh yea, and you also need a laminate outdoor bass..

 

[Bruce Calin]

OK, I feel I'm missing out here with my one bass, but then at the moment I only play Orchestra.
So, I think some of you guys need as many as 6 basses!
One for Orchestra arco, one for solo arco, one for pizz, jazz, one for slap and one for mystic overtone playing.
Oh yea, and you also need a laminate outdoor bass..

As a member of the one bass school, I can only say that getting down to one you can rely on really simplifies things in several ways: maintenance, repair and supply costs, storage space, adapting to different instruments, etc. Once I made the decision to go with one instrument I could rely on and had it set up for all-around use, it was easy.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

To me, the main differences would be two things: Strings, and setup. Having a dedicated arco string would be a real benefit, especially in the early stages. Sure, Renault Garcia Fons can bow like that on Spiros, but I'm never gonna be Renault.

Then, setup. For pizz, I like a tight bass with tense, stiff, undampened strings that gets an immediate tone with lots of overtones, and I like a very dry and tight and direct sound, which means not super resonant, for amplifying easily. Along with this, a flatter bridge arch helps for ease of string crossings in the right hand.

For arco, it seems to me that a looser string feel and a bass set up to be more resonant would be more advantageous, and the typical orchestral bridge cut has higher D and A heights to facilitate bow clearance. This has been my experience with teaching the secondary classical students over the past several decades. I can't pull that huge Immediate sound out of their Bel Cantos, and the sustain dies too quickly. But they can't bow my Dominants as easily, either, and they sometimes get tripped up by the bridge cut. And I have to admit that those BelCantos are super smooth and easy to start under the bow.

 

[Ric Vice]

No. I currently have two nearly identical pizz basses. But when I retire (god willing and the creek don't rise), the plan is to have a dedicated arco bass so I can learn to play with the bow for my own pleasure.

A Admirable goal Chris and as I'm currently doing just that I highly recommend you do the same. Just be prepared that if you need a "bow upgrade" you'll want to save your pennies or alternatively have the retirement committee do that in leu of the traditional gold watch.