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Double Bass Getting some work done

#81
Looks great Ed! I agree about the weight of the tuners changing the tone. I actually just put new tuning machines on my bass this weekend and the bass has more sustain than it did before. Granted, I also changed the tailpiece to a lighter one so that affects the response too...Did you buy a new set of Animas or are you using the strings you previously had on there?
 
#83
Yeah a new set of Animas, they sound pretty "piano"y. But that underlying depth is there, Kate said "it sounds like your bass but deeper". The Pecanic tailpiece is new, but I don't know if it's lighter than the old one.


LEXI - I got some private stuff over the next couple of weeks, but I'll be at SOFIA'S with Charles Sibirsky on Saturday October 8th, Jon and I will be back at SOFIA'S on the 22nd of October and I'll be at Kavehaz with Jeff Silverbush on Saturday the 15th.

I'm gonna try to fall by Ray's gig at Arturo's tonight, if my rehearsal doesn't go too late.
 
#84
Ed,
Your bass is a knockout, especially the tuners! Gawjus! What make are they? Also, do you think Dr. Mike's compensated tail piece may have had something to do with the increase in the depth of tone (you know, increased after length and all that) or just the combination of the work you had done. What type of wood is the tail piece, can't really tell from the photo.
Man, Jeff did an awesome job on your ax, you've got every right to be on cloud 9.
Jim
 
#87
Ed Fuqua said:
Jeff didn't have to trim the neck, that was another reason that I wanted a new board. It still could have taken a couple (maybe) replanings, but the neck was really thin to begin with. The thicker neck is actually easier and more comfortable for me to play. And the job Jeff did on this board; man the sound I get in the lower register...this bass (in the few years) has gotten a sound that is very direct and projects well, but is very warm at the same time. That sound is still there, but now there's something else going on.

The old plate tuners on there were experiencing a lot of play and weren't really accurate (in terms of how much twisting got you a change in pitch), so I did want upgrade the machine. But I thought this particular style was purty...
Click to expand...
Ed, Congrats. Those tuners look great. I assume they are very solid mechanically and make tuning much easier. I know what you mean about the board. My Gagnon has a very thin neck, and the fb has been rather severely scooped. For those reasons I have also been considering a new board...Some day.
 
#91
Nice work Jeff, Ed you got yourself a nice fiddle there!


Chris Fitzgerald said:
Any of the luthier/techie types wanna comment on this? I thought it had been pretty well proven about the headstock weight/sustain relation in BGs, but I never really thought of it in relation to DB until now. Hell, if nothing else, it could give me an excuse to spend a lotta money on fancy new tuners...
Click to expand...

Take a look at the wire frame animations of how the body vibrates. Look at mode 1 through 5 but all modes show the fingerboard and tailpiece moving. Keep in mind that a lot of the movement is wasted and does not translate into SOUND.

Invalid Link Removed

Pluck a hard D or A and slide your left thumb up and down the neck until you can feel the modal line where the neck is vibrating and the nodal line where it is bending and not vibrating. If those vibrations are not helping the bass body vibrate at an important resonance, then the movement is wasted. Now put on a heavier fingerboard and the neck vibrates less and more energy stays in the body where it is making sound. Put on heavier tuners and the nodal (bending points) move up towards the head. Change two or three things at once and then you got to know how to work on basses and adhere to the guidelines that were passed on by trial for the last 400 years.

How is that for techie?


 
#92
Chris Fitzgerald said:
Any of the luthier/techie types wanna comment on this? I thought it had been pretty well proven about the headstock weight/sustain relation in BGs, but I never really thought of it in relation to DB until now. Hell, if nothing else, it could give me an excuse to spend a lotta money on fancy new tuners...
Click to expand...

Take a look at the wire frame animations of how the body vibrates. Look at mode 1 through 5 but all modes show the fingerboard and tailpiece moving. Keep in mind that a lot of the movement is wasted and does not translate into SOUND.

Invalid Link Removed

edit: the link doesn't take you directly to the wireframes. Click on HOME and then on the BRITTISH FLAG to get english, then hover on the VIOLIN PLATE ICON and choose MODAL ANALYSIS then VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF A VIOLIN then scroll down until you see the green wire frame and click on THAT.

Pluck a hard D or A and slide your left thumb up and down the neck until you can feel the modal line where the neck is vibrating and the nodal line where it is bending and not vibrating. If those vibrations are not helping the bass body vibrate at an important resonance, then the movement is wasted. Now put on a heavier fingerboard and the neck vibrates less and more energy stays in the body where it is making sound. Put on heavier tuners and the nodal (bending points) move up towards the head. Change two or three things at once and then you got to know how to work on basses and adhere to the guidelines that were passed on by trial for the last 400 years.

How is that for techie?
 
#93
Paul Warburton said:
Speaking of Gagnon, aren't those machines made by him? I know he made four different styles originally for Barrie Kolstein. These look similar...but I like the turners better.
Click to expand...
I got these tuners from Jaques and had my machinist make a modification to make them smoother. They are still not as smooth as Sloanes or KC strings tuners but they are not bad at all. A few years back disgruntled employees of Jaques stole a bunch of his stuff and went into production undercutting him drastically. Most of the Philipinobass product available here now is from these thieves[unless bought directly from Jaques]. Gagnon was put in pretty dire straits from this turn of events.
 
#95
Old bridge
OldBridge.jpg

OldBridgesideview.jpg


New bridge
NewBridgetopview.jpg

NewBridgesideview.jpg
 
#96
Here's a better one of the tailpiece. JEFEJEFF - I can't remember what kind of wood this was???


Tailpiece2.jpg



Here's a pitcher of the repair to the pegbox; it's that little round dowel/dot near the "flower" on the carpet, just below the nut (in the picture)...

Pegboxrepair.jpg
 
#97
Ed Fuqua said:
I'm gonna try to fall by Ray's gig at Arturo's tonight, if my rehearsal doesn't go too late.
Click to expand...

So I did fall by and hung with Ray and Lexi and apparently every other bassist in the city- Ari Roland was by, buncha guys and 1 gal who I didn't know. Nice scene, but Ray says it was wilder than it usually is; he said the last set is pretty quiet.
 

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