Thanks, both for the "get better" and the link. I'm assuming the D is the more common of the two necks?
I'll ask my teacher what he uses on saturday.
I'll ask my teacher what he uses on saturday.
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Double Bass Getting my first Double Bass
- Thread starter PRUNEFACE
- Start date
Oh, does anybody know anything about pernambuco? Is the wood going to turn out like Brazillian Rosewood? (Made illegal to harvest, most use old stock, thus causing prices to skyrocket)
Like other things, this doesn't really matter. Some players will say that, after they've been playing a while, they use the bottom of their neck to figure out which note they need to go into thumb position for.
Pros will tell you "you should learn so that you don't need to rely on the neck."
Both examples show that it only matters once you've been playing your own bass for a while. If you find yourself reliant on the bottom of your neck, then you would care whether the next bass you buy has a particular neck.
For starting, you focus on playing near the nut anyway. So don't worry about it.
I think I understand; it's like a rivet or an indentation on the back of the neck and on the fingerboard, opposite from the thumb, is the Eb or the D.
Anyways, "rivet or an indentation" may not be the best way to describe it but I think I've got it.
Anyways, "rivet or an indentation" may not be the best way to describe it but I think I've got it.
Not quite; it's just where the back of the neck goes from almost straight to curving toward the back of the bass. That means that the shape of your hand has to start changing because your thumb can't stay back there, and it's the last note before that happens that is used to describe the neck position.
It already is illegal to harvest except for safety if the tree is dying, or for the sole purpose of making bows. But one tree makes a lot of bows and the market isn't that large...
However, it does mean that Brazilian bow makers have a bit of an advantage... they can get at the supply of wood before anyone else.
upton is sellinga Pernambuco bow that appears to be at a good price (1.8k), would it be reasonable to expect tha the quality of this bow would be comparable to a carbon fiber bow of similar value? Quite a few people seem to say that up to a certain price point, carbon fiber is the way to go.
Probably not; Just wanted to know. I have some of my own money too, but I'll probably end up with a bow that is half the price of whatever bass I end up with.
That price just seems rather low.
That price just seems rather low.
Pernambuco bows can be found right down to the bottom of the market. You can be fairly sure that a $1.8k bow is going to be nice whatever it's made of, because at that level it's getting down to matters of opinion. But spending half the value of your bass on a bow is a bit over the top if you're talking $3.2k for the bass and 1.8k for the bow... you'd be much better advised to spend, say, $800 on a bow and put the rest into the bass (and strings and setup if it needs it). For comparison's sake, my bass is worth something around $15k, and I spent around $800 on my bow.
Also, when you're starting out, there is no way to know what you need in the way of balance or weight... you won't find that out until you've been playing a couple of years. Therefore you're likely to change bows a few times in the first five years or so. Which means there is no point in paying a lot for a bow to start with... enough to get out of the junk at the bottom of the market, but not really any more than that.
Also, when you're starting out, there is no way to know what you need in the way of balance or weight... you won't find that out until you've been playing a couple of years. Therefore you're likely to change bows a few times in the first five years or so. Which means there is no point in paying a lot for a bow to start with... enough to get out of the junk at the bottom of the market, but not really any more than that.
okay, thanks. I'll talk to my teacher when I get the oppurtunity about his experiences with bows and the materials that they are made out of. Found out he plays a French bow on wed. so I'll probably learn on one of those too.
PRUNEFACE are you for real? Or do you just spend alot of time asking questions about stuff you'd like to buy? How about posting a few pics of the gear you claim to own:
Spector Euro 4LX
MiM Fender Precision Bass (with Lindy Fralins)
Fender Bassman 250
Alvarez Yairi Dreadnaught (from 1984)
Fender 2008 AVHR '52 Telecaster
Spector Euro 4LX
MiM Fender Precision Bass (with Lindy Fralins)
Fender Bassman 250
Alvarez Yairi Dreadnaught (from 1984)
Fender 2008 AVHR '52 Telecaster
Oh, and on frogs. Is snakewood considered a high-quality wood that is often NOT used due to cost? Becasue quite a few bows have snakewood frogs rather than ebony (which I thought was supposed to be better), so I wonder if it done just to give players the option of a wood other than ebony or something like that. It just seemed to me to be similar to the pernambuco/brazilwood thing -both come from the same tree but brazilwood is much cheaper because the pernambuco comes from the denser, inner part of the tree.
I use a BDEC 30 for practice. And if that was stuff I wanted (and wanted to show off) I have some weird choices
Sorry 'bout no pics, but I haven't had a chance to take pictures. My stringed musical endeavors only started about a year ago, and for the last 15 weeks (and still continuing) I have been extremely sick and I am not really feeling up to taking pics.
Anyways, the MIM Fender was my first bass, got that in late Feb., after a trip to seattle at the end of summer vacation I got some seymour duncan's put in (they were the 57 model but not the antiquities) but they were either installed wrong or they were just EXTREMELY quiet (as in not producing sound loud enough) so I got a Rothstein bass harness thing with Fralins.
THe Spector I got in early September/late August.
The Bassman isn't technicaly mine; I essentially rent it out from the local music store.
I got the guitar in May right after school from my grandma becasue my grandpa was going to pawn it, started taking lessons in early september, and then got the AVHR as a christmas present.
I have to admit, I was starting to wonder the same thing. I started patient and supportive, then got a little entertained, then a bit annoyed, then I started wondering if someone was just screwing with us because they don't have anyone to talk to or anything better to do. Mostly, I'm just over this thread at this point.
In his defense, though, if he posted pictures of his MIM Fender we might be able to use Google Earth to pinpoint his exact location through an elaborate system of spy satellites.
Snakewood is an alternative wood that's arguably more rare but looks particularly attractive. Whether it's "better" or not is up for debate, depending on who's playing it!
As for bows, yeah, when you're starting out, you shouldn't worry so much about getting "the best" to start with. I play with a $99 bow on a $1500 bass because it's what i could afford. I'm looking to get a nicer bow, but price is only a loose guide. You can assume that a bow that costs twice as much as another bow will sound or perform better... but twice as good?
Many people starting out use an Upton bow (recently went up to $129) because they're good bows, and when you do graduate up, you can keep it around as a beater-bow or pass it on to a student or whatever, without worrying about it. When you drop your starter bow on the ground, or whack it against the bass because you're clumsy, you don't feel so bad.
When you have a $2000 bow and you leave it taut for the two week vacation you were out of town on, you feel pretty stupid. You don't feel so bad about the cheapy bow.
For starting out, the limiting factor is the player. As long as you don't get the absolute cheapest stuff out there, you yourself will be the reason you sound bad ;D Once you can play well enough to realize what part of the instrument is lacking, then you'll know you should move up.
As for bows, yeah, when you're starting out, you shouldn't worry so much about getting "the best" to start with. I play with a $99 bow on a $1500 bass because it's what i could afford. I'm looking to get a nicer bow, but price is only a loose guide. You can assume that a bow that costs twice as much as another bow will sound or perform better... but twice as good?
Many people starting out use an Upton bow (recently went up to $129) because they're good bows, and when you do graduate up, you can keep it around as a beater-bow or pass it on to a student or whatever, without worrying about it. When you drop your starter bow on the ground, or whack it against the bass because you're clumsy, you don't feel so bad.
When you have a $2000 bow and you leave it taut for the two week vacation you were out of town on, you feel pretty stupid. You don't feel so bad about the cheapy bow.
For starting out, the limiting factor is the player. As long as you don't get the absolute cheapest stuff out there, you yourself will be the reason you sound bad ;D Once you can play well enough to realize what part of the instrument is lacking, then you'll know you should move up.
Thanks ET
I see that beginning it could be a bad idea to get an expensive bow and leave it out in the florida summer sun
I don't get why you think I'm not "real"! Look at my posts on the BG forums!
I see that beginning it could be a bad idea to get an expensive bow and leave it out in the florida summer sun
I don't get why you think I'm not "real"! Look at my posts on the BG forums!
