Double Bass E STRING NOT ENOUGH BOTTOM.

[sylvaingagnon]

Hi! I recently bought a Chinese bass. It really sings on all 4 strings for jazz but the E STRING has less hump(bottom) than the D and A strings. What can be done to the setup to fix this? Change strings? Sand the fingerboard under the E string? Move the sound post? What else?
Also, what is the quickest way to make a new doublebass open up sound wise?
Thanks in advance to the replies, I think many will be interested in this topic.

 

[Sam Dingle]

Hi! I recently bought a Chinese bass. It really sings on all 4 strings for jazz but the E STRING has less hump(bottom) than the D and A strings. What can be done to the setup to fix this? Change strings? Sand the fingerboard under the E string? Move the sound post? What else?
Also, what is the quickest way to make a new doublebass open up sound wise?
Thanks in advance to the replies, I think many will be interested in this topic.

I would suggest getting new strings first. What are the strings on your bass currently. Might be some knock off string. Get a set of spirocores and see if that helps.

 

[sylvaingagnon]

I would suggest getting new strings first. What are the strings on your bass currently. Might be some knock off string. Get a set of spirocores and see if that helps.

I'm using the cheap Chinese strings that came with it. I will change them first thing next week as planned.

 

[Reiska]

No offense at all here, but do you know about basses and playing the E string? As some will answer on TB, E string is and will be a problem for plenty of reasons, some regarding strings and setup, some the particular bass and acoustic physics overall. I`ve had all of my basses during my journey with DB with lowest string beeing dedicated a contra C or D, a wholestep or minor third below E, at some point, and I never had a problem with the bass, it`s been allways on me not knowing how to handle the bastard when I cleared out it all in the first place. Everything about the E string, be that pizz or arco, is different to the rest of the strings. It`s the last end that leads to nothing and air physically and musically, and we have to deal with that and the fact that our instrument`s capability, and our ear`s, is not at it`s best at replicating that idea of a really low pitched tone.

With this said, I`d suggest another set of strings, and not from the Pirastro line, or other company that has the tension mismatch designed in their philosophy, with weak E and horrible wolf-toned A string. I hate Spirocores, but Thomastik-Infeld is not about BS when it comes to the lowest string on a double bass.

 

[Sean Riddle]

Definitely give Spirocores a try. The E string is next to perfect and puts out low end for days. If the problem persists though, try and see if you can take it in to a good luthier. While I was at the Ravinia Festival in June for a residency, I asked for the bass they were going to provide have a set of Spirocore lights as they are my favorite and go to string. The bass unfortunately had a poor set up and the E string had very little heft and volume to it. Maybe a medium Spirocore E would've helped, but I still think it just needed a better setup. A good setup can do a lot for an instrument.

 

[saabfender]

I like the idea of adjusting the soundpost first.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

I`d suggest another set of strings, and not from the Pirastro line, or other company that has the tension mismatch designed in their philosophy, with weak E

That’s not true. That the E has less tension is by design and is intended to increase clarity of response at the expense of balanced feel.

Consider the balance of tension across a gut string set. The individual tensions are all over the place.

 

[Reiska]

That’s not true. That the E has less tension is by design and is intended to increase clarity of response at the expense of balanced feel.

Consider the balance of tension across a gut string set. The individual tensions are all over the place.

Everybody can check out the marketing facts from the pirastro website, something like " a higher tension A string will make a more balanced tone ", which is IME plain BS as most bassists cries about weak E string and wolfs around A harmonic.

Low string tension is a different animal to med / high tension. When I have my E.P slaps with, or without guts on, I have my strings high enough to not recoqnize these subtle differences, and wolfs are almost gone. When I have my E.P solos on, it`s different, and when I have my E.P weichs on it`s a deal breaker, I can`t play them because when the A sounds and feels good the E does not, too low tension, and the feel and tone of my bass is messed. When I put the reqular E.P E on, the wolves are gone again and the bass feels balanced.

There has been some serious professional players mentioning here on TB that " Pirastro is notorious for their weak E strings ". And I do hate that, if they were concerned enough they would not keep delivering something contrary to the reality and read this post very carefully. However, E.P slaps, without the G, is just about only string I can live with besides guts, and I`m not about to try anything else anytime soon.

 

[robobass]

The heavier A is not throughout Pirastro. Maybe only EPs? I don't like the idea either. My Oblis have a good tension balance.
Pirastro - Strings Handmade in Germany since 1798
Pirastro - Strings Handmade in Germany since 1798

Edit: After a little hunting I see that both Flexocore and Eudoxa indeed have a lower tension E. I've played both these strings and never had a problem. I think a bit less tension on the E might mean better articulation with the bow. My brief exposure to EPs was not very positive though.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

Again, that is simply not true. If the response of the E under the bow on a bass wearing a full matched set of Pirastros is weak, the fault lies with the instrument, not the string.

It is well known that the corpus of your common 3/4 size bass is too small to produce true fundamental on the low E string.

Should one possess or have access to an instrument capable of producing true fundamental, the effect of the measurably lower tension on some Pirastro E strings is negligible in terms of sound production and objectionable only in terms of feel, primarily pizz.

Really. I have put in years of legwork on this.

 

[Reiska]

Again, that is simply not true. If the response of the E under the bow on a bass wearing a full matched set of Pirastros is weak, the fault lies with the instrument, not the string.

It is well known that the corpus of your common 3/4 size bass is too small to produce true fundamental on the low E string.

Should one possess or have access to an instrument capable of producing true fundamental, the effect of the measurably lower tension on some Pirastro E strings is negligible in terms of sound production and objectionable only in terms of feel, primarily pizz.

Really. I have put in years of legwork on this.

KfS, I absolutely believe you yes, and was talking primarily about pizz up there.