Double Bass Fingerboard Markers(dots)For Upright Bass

[Bass]

Bluegrass is sort of difficult for me, the progressions sometimes seem a little unusual. And quick to boot.

Dots were very useful as a beginner - I used little round stickers so I'd know where the notes are! But after a couple weeks the dots weren't really necessary. And I'm very glad I don't need to rely on inlays and stare at the fingerboard.

Our guitar player spends most of his time looking at his hands, and I think this looks very stupid. The audience should feel engaged, and we need feedback from the audience. I spend most of my time watching people in the audience to get a feel how the set is going, how new songs are going over, maybe get a date after the show. Etc.

Or watching the guitar player when he makes a stupid move, so I can figure out where he is. Or nodding at the drummer 'cause we're locked in, and the guitar player isn't. Again.

If I hear my fingers moving out of position, a slight adjustment of the hand corrects it. No problem. That said, if I'm really out of whack, I do sometimes rely on an "imperfection" in the wood near the imaginary 3rd fret (G on the E string).

 

[Jack Clark]

One of my pet peeves is the assumption that the bass is the easiest instrument in a bluegrass band . . . .

One of mine, too. Recently a strummy-guitar folk singer I know suggested that bass must be really easy to play because "you only hafta play one note at a time."

I replied, "Yeah? Which one?"

It's really hard to take musicians seriously when they strum-strum-strum and think they "know chords," but they really only know finger positions. (I was one of those in the 60s when everybody "played" folk guitar.)

 

[johnz]

I'm with RustyAxe...

I just have a few tiny dots of "White Out" on the side of the fingerboard, easily removed if I need to remove 'em, and can't really be seen by an audience. They have helped me when I got "tangled up in my throw rope". I've only been on the DB for 11 months, and 40+ years on the BG. Yes, I still need a little guidance, and am not embarrassed to say so ...

When I first started playing the double bass I did this for a while. Maybe it has something to do with old guys picking up an instrument that sure looks like what we're used and then getting really frustrated with the intonation issues (definitely the case for me). I did make it a priority to get beyond the "white-out stage" as quickly as possible. I agree with Bass, we shouldn't be looking at our fingers anyway, but using our ears.

relacey and Jack Clark: I understand what you're saying about how irritating it is to suffer under that assumption that you're playing an "easy" instrument (it's not just in Bluegrass). Perhaps you might take comfort from the following observation (and hopefully, some amusement too!), I've noticed that when I'm really "on it", nobody says a thing. On the other hand, when I'm really off and can't find a note to save my life, I notice that people do comment on how the lead player is having a bad night

 

[Eddue]

Position markers aren't necessarily a bad thing. I don't think it will make you a better or worse bass player but it can help you to know where you are at.

Sometimes, like when you are playing a new or unfamiliar bass, you will find that not all bass necks are the same. And sometimes while playing the bass you are not in a good position to hear your intonation or may have tuning issues (strings, tuning pegs, bridge position etc.)

Position markers can give you a point of reference to occasionally confirm your intonation and may alert you to other problems (tuning, bad strings, bad left hand technique etc.)

 

[Jack Clark]

relacey and Jack Clark: I understand what you're saying about how irritating it is to suffer under that assumption that you're playing an "easy" instrument (it's not just in Bluegrass). Perhaps you might take comfort from the following observation (and hopefully, some amusement too!), I've noticed that when I'm really "on it", nobody says a thing. On the other hand, when I'm really off and can't find a note to save my life, I notice that people do comment on how the lead player is having a bad night

Ha! Good one, johnz. For some reason, that took me back to when I was a very serious baseball umpire. Whenever I had a really good game, nobody noticed me at all. But, unfortunately, in games when I stunk up the place, everybody knew it. I shoulda had a lead guitarist with me.

 

[Fatty Boom Boom]

I've been playing double bass for 20 years, and only now have I started to use any kind of markers on the fingerboard. I agree that bassists need to use their ears to find the notes. Practice will commit those physical locations to muscle memory. Then when you play again the next day, for each note you seek: your muscles will put you in the ball park and your ears will zoom you in. This approach works great for most of the music that we play over our careers as bassists, in large part because we are most often relegated to accompaniment and little virtuosity is expected of us. The trouble for me came when I started trying to play solo repertoire, Bottesini in particular. When you play anything by Bottesini and then go back and play Eccles or any Sankey or Zimmerman transcriptions, they seem like a walk in the park in comparison. Bottesini pieces cover the full range of the double bass. Even a 24-fret electric bass can't cover the range Bottesini wrote for. His pieces show he knew the instrument - there are often many harmonics at your disposal - but they are by no means easy. Ok, so that's what made me start using markers. I already knew Edgar Meyer was doing it for years, but it wasn't until I tried to play something that Edgar might slay that I felt I needed them. Why? Because it's a lot easier to be in tune consistently when you have to jump to a note in the high thumb position, and jump back down.

I use three dots. They are located at what would be the equivalent of the 12th, 19th, and 24th frets on an electric bass. I cut a thin strip of yellow gaffer's tape, and then cut three small squares from the strip - maybe 3 cm each side. On the fingerboard the yellow color makes the dots look like bone inlays. They also are very easy to see in low light. I angle them like diamonds to be a little more slick, and stick them in the middle of the fingerboard where I rarely ever touch them. I have to replace them from time to time, but that's easy enough. All told: a lifetime supply for an unlimited number of basses cost about $5 for a roll of gaffer's tape. And no permanent alterations are needed to the fingerboard.

 

[bluegrass1946]

I have them on the edge of my upright bass fingerboard. I bought the material from Stew-Mac and installed them myself. It's just a stalk of plastic or other synthetic material, and you drill a 3/32 hole in the ebony, then cut it off flush and sand it smooth. They can be helpful if you're playing an unfamiliar song.

As far as being looked down upon, or whether it's "cool"........ who gives a flying hoot?

 

[Fatty Boom Boom]

I just wanted to add that I've noticed that if I change my string height, then I need to adjust my markers if I want them to be spot on the harmonic. Have those players who have permanent markers installed run into this issue?

 

[MattMinteer]

The dots aren't used all the time by Edgar Meyer, they're there to help him if he needs to play a note(s) that would otherwise be difficult to find in a prompt manner. He doesn't advocate a strong dependence on them, they're there for times in music where they can give him a reference point which can help playing something consistently in tune without having to use another means of finding the certain note(s).

 

[Jack Clark]

I just wanted to add that I've noticed that if I change my string height, then I need to adjust my markers if I want them to be spot on the harmonic. Have those players who have permanent markers installed run into this issue?

My instrument is way off point, but that certainly was the case when I went from my original, unmodified guitarrón to a highly-modified one with a raised fingerboard. The original, unmodified guitarrón had string height that was so severely high and such a wide variance in string gauges that it would have been impossible to place dots for anything other than the most general reference. For example, III Position varied for each string by as much as a centimeter or more and it zig-zagged across the fingerboard. You had to know each of the positions for each string, individually.

But now that my string height is much lower and I've decided on the strings that I'll be using consistently, that's no longer a problem.

 

[BlakeJustBlake]

My first double bass lesson my teacher is telling me all sorts of stuff and he says "Now, let me tell you the real secret of perfect intonation..." I sat there with baited breath for what he was about to say, and he turns his bass to the side and says "White out markers!"

 

[Fatty Boom Boom]

I'm personally not a big fan of markers on the side. There's a lot of guide points for muscle memory on the neck (such as the heel and the nut). If a bass guitar was assembled such that the neck met the body at the 9th fret, I doubt side dot markers would be as ubiquitous on them. On the double bass, there's just not much real estate on the neck portion of the fingerboard. However, you get two octaves on the part of the fingerboard above the body, and no help from the thumb (on the back of the neck) to serve as a guide. So dots up there are much more helpful IMHO. In general, I think it's better to get in the practice of not looking at your instrument while playing. If you want good eye contact with others in your ensemble, or a conductor, then you need to stop looking at the neck or fingerboard. In the words of my old musicianship teacher: trust your ears.

 

[Alan Tompkins]

Just another vote in favor of doing what you want. I grew up (35+ years) of playing electric bass before I transitioned to upright. I bought a good old well-worn Kay that had settled in and was set up with a great bridge, etc. I ordered some little mother-of-pearl dots from Stew Mac and had them inlaid on the side of my fingerboard at (what I would call) the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 7th frets, just like my old Fender. I am nobody so it really doesn't matter much what anyone might think about my setup (I'd be honored if they were paying that much attention!), but I find the markers to be quite useful. One of the things that happens too frequently is that we play in places with bad sound, and sometimes I am not able to hear what I am doing over the rest of the band. I know my bass pretty well, so even when I can't hear the note I'm playing, I am pretty sure that I'm on pitch when I'm in the right positions relative to the markers. I'd hate to think how far I might be off if I could not hear the sound and had no reference from the markers. I did the same inlay job on my Eminence upright, with no regrets. I think both jobs look pretty good, and they can be removed and filled by whomever might own my basses next.

FYI, I passed George Shuffler in the hallway yesterday afternoon at the River Of Music Party at the Int'l Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro and he looked good. Moving pretty slow, but he was dressed up in a suit and tie and looking good.

Alan

 

[SRT80]

I know this is a few months old, but ran across this picture of Fred Labour from Riders in the Sky. Looks like he has inlaid dots or somethin' on his bass...

Steve

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Are you sure that's Fred's bass? I remember him playing a wartime German with an ebony board...

 

[SRT80]

I don't know? That's the picture from his wikipedia page.

Steve

 

[Jake deVilliers]

I don't know? That's the picture from his wikipedia page.

Steve

Hmm. All the recent pix show a 5 string Busetto but that photo is of a 4 string bass. I remember Fred playing a 4 string back in the early eighties but I don't recall any dots.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

Hey Steve, I just found this video on their website: http://ridersinthesky.com/index.htm?id=17408

It shows Fred playing the Busetto but its been converted to use only 4 strings! All 5 tuners are still present but no fingerboard dots.

 

[SRT80]

Cool, maybe that was someone elses bass or a backup in that particular picture. Cause I too have searched and don't see the dots in any other pictures.

Steve

 

[rbenson]

I noticed that no one has mentioned Rosette BlueDots or BlueDots Gold markers. They look like professional inlays but they're actually color dry transfer so they are very easily removed if you no longer need them or have raised/lowered your strings. They're designed to be used on the side of the fingerboard and are very inconspicuous. I used the BlueDots Gold because they are easier to see in low light than the original BlueDots (all blue).

I'm getting back into bass after a 15 year hiatus and I really appreciate the markers because my intonation is better with them. I don't need them all the time, but they help me double check and reduce hand drift. If I decide I don't need them anymore, I can just rub them off.