Double Bass How do I open doors when holding my bass??

[Tiddleypidlei]

I know this is probably a really silly question, but I’ve been schlepping my bass around A LOT lately and I can’t for the life of me figure out how to open the door with my bass in my hand. It’s really embarrassing to have to wait outside of gigs or rehearsals for someone to open the door for me.

I use a endpin wheel and I roll it with the bridge facing forward.

Someone please explain and If you can post a video or a picture that would be even better.

 

[LP Custom]

Turn around and back up to the door.

Optional: go “beep beep beep”

 

[Mark_T]

I stopped taking gigs at a hall in Cambridge, MA because they had 2 narrow sets of double doors that were impossible to get through safely without help - they were tightly spring and the outer doors would slam closed on my bass before I could get my arse to the inner doors to push through.

I generally either back through as suggested above, or I carry my bass on my right with a strap and use my free left arm to push the door open in advance of me and hold it there. It's generally easier for me to do all of this myself, because "helpful" observers don't generally grasp my intended order of operations, nor do they know which ends of the bass are more or less delicate. Often they end up standing where the bass needs to go. I usually politely decline offers of help saying, "I've been doing this myself for a long time".

 

[Don Hergert]

It's more difficult with an endpin wheel because the instrument can move around all over.

Try a bass buggy. While no one should ever use a bass buggy as a double bass stand by itself, you can hold the instrument by the neck while it is standing on its endpin, and open the door with the other hand. Then hold the door open with your foot as you wheel the double bass through, often also gently lifting it over the threshold.

It's still nice if someone opens the door for you, but you can manage by yourself.

Next lesson, ascending and descending a circular staircase...

Just look for an elevator instead.

Hmmm, this visualizes like a comedy reality TV show.

 

[Tiddleypidlei]

Turn around and back up to the door.

Optional: go “beep beep beep”

What about doors you have to pull towards you to open??

 

[Mark_T]

What about doors you have to pull towards you to open??

Pull with the arm that doesn't have a bass. Keep your body between the door and the bass at all times.

I should probably just start carrying 2 door stop wedges in my case at all times; then for a problematic door I could put the bass down, wedge the door, carry the bass through, and collect the wedge. Irritating, yes, but also safe.

 

[Ed S]

If you are not incapable of briefly lifting your bass, even if it is on a wheel you might find it easier to lift it in the arm on the same side as the door handle. Balance it with the bass' back on on your hip, angled away from the door, while you reach across with your free arm and pull the door open - essentially across your body in front of you. Then, you just need to hold the door open long enough to get your bass over the jamb. Put the endpin/wheel down, and figure what you need to do to get the rest of your body through the doorway while allowing the door to close.

Sorry if the description isn't clear enough. Pretty early on, once I figured out how to wrassle it through doors, it became far more common to have to politely DECLINE offers of help, as the helper inevitably just got in my way.

I've never used a wheel - only a buggy, and that only infrequently. With a buggy the side of the bass faces forward. Is it common to use a wheel such that your bridge faces forward, as opposed to a side facing forward? Seems like it would make navigating through a whole lot of places more difficult.

 

[Mark_T]

I have been playing a long time, but I have found that I prefer not to use a buggy or a wheel unless I'm going really far, but I'm lucky in that I usually don't need to go that far, and my legs and back are healthy and the lifting isn't a problem. As I get older, I'll probably want to make some adjustments to that strategy, and probably better to start figuring them out before I have an accident with the bass...

 

[Sam Reese]

I schlep my bass all the time and never once stopped to figure out how to get in a door. I guess it comes natural for some? I've mastered the one hand/hip schlep and when dealing with the door, I just protect the bass and deal with the door with a multiplicity of moves and techniques. I like what LP Custom said, "Turn around and back up to the door;" hip check if the door goes away from you or pull and shoulder if the door opens toward you.

 

[Ketbass]

I use the right shoulder hoist/bag strap technique. I bought a strap pad to make it a bit more comfortable. The funny thing was, it was the first thing I had to learn to get out of my own house! So lots of practice. I tried a small cart once but couldn’t figure out how to negotiate the door, opening and getting through with it. If a door opens out, I turn around sorta sideways and back into it. If it opens in, I back into to straight on. I also have a well padded bag that sometimes I have to take the bass out of before I go in. More things in life no one ever explained could happen..

 

[Ed S]

I use the right shoulder hoist/bag strap technique. I bought a strap pad to make it a bit more comfortable. ...

It is funny how much your bag can dictate things. I started off w/ a Gollihur bag which did not have a shoulder strap. It became absolutely natural to reach across and grab the lower handle with my right hand, such that the neck went over my right shoulder. I never really understood why folk would use a shoulder strap.

After MANY years of use and abuse, that bag literally disintegrated. When I bought my new bass from Upton, I bought one of their bags. I didn't pay attention to the straps/handles, so was mildly dismayed when it came and lacked the handles where I expected them, and instead had this long strap! But the second or third time I had to move the bass, I slipped the strap over my shoulder and couldn't BELIEVE I had ever carried a bass any other way!

Some time later, I'm not entirely sure one way is necessarily better than another in all situations. Perhaps the ULTIMATE option would be to have all of the Gollihur handles AND a strap... But instead, I suspect there is a pretty comfortable and convenient way to haul a bass in pretty much any bag. And no matter where the handles/straps are, you are still maneuvering around a large piece of furniture.

Maybe next I'll buy a bass w/ 2 shoulder straps that I can wear like a backpack!

 

[Sam Reese]

This topic is what makes TalkBass a priceless resource for bassists!

 

[Ketbass]

It is funny how much your bag can dictate things. I started off w/ a Gollihur bag which did not have a shoulder strap. It became absolutely natural to reach across and grab the lower handle with my right hand, such that the neck went over my right shoulder. I never really understood why folk would use a shoulder strap.

After MANY years of use and abuse, that bag literally disintegrated. When I bought my new bass from Upton, I bought one of their bags. I didn't pay attention to the straps/handles, so was mildly dismayed when it came and lacked the handles where I expected them, and instead had this long strap! But the second or third time I had to move the bass, I slipped the strap over my shoulder and couldn't BELIEVE I had ever carried a bass any other way!

Some time later, I'm not entirely sure one way is necessarily better than another in all situations. Perhaps the ULTIMATE option would be to have all of the Gollihur handles AND a strap... But instead, I suspect there is a pretty comfortable and convenient way to haul a bass in pretty much any bag. And no matter where the handles/straps are, you are still maneuvering around a large piece of furniture.

Maybe next I'll buy a bass w/ 2 shoulder straps that I can wear like a backpack!

I guess you’re right. My Shen came in a bullet proof padded gig bag made by Protec. It has a bunch of handles all over it and the strap was in a pocket. After discovering that I clipped it on. But because it wasn’t padded, I didn’t really use it until, yep, couldn’t open a door. I looked at it again, went on Amazon and picked up a D’Addario padded strap and it was golden! I liked it so much I bought one for the lousy strap on Messenger EUB gig bag and it to became instantly comfortable to lift and travel with. Why no one could of done that at manufacturing for such bulky, heavy instruments is beyond me. My Mono gig bags for my electric basses are like having a cloud on my back they’re so comfortable.

 

[Don Hergert]

Maybe because it's my DB is aluminum, but I very rarely put it in the bag at all. But mostly because I have physical limitations, away from home I always use the Bass Buggy...

In the house my DB sits naked in a corner in the living room, secluded by mic and music stands from curious cats, sitting on a secure stand where I can grab and play it whenever I want to.

When we travel to 1-day road trip gigs, first I install the Bass Buggy on the DB itself, then I lay the DB in our car, over its extended-but-closed bag which is very heavily cushioned, and further cushion it with pillows between the car wall and other instruments' cases, with the elevated scroll bungee-corded to the back of the front passenger seat, and the endpin held solidly in place with travel mesh. The DB and the other instruments can't move anywhere under normal driving circumstances. With this strategy I can loosen the bungee-cord and travel mesh and pull the DB out of the car and be ready to either buggy-schlep it somewhere or to play it in less than 2 minutes.

The only situation where my DB is in its bag is if we're traveling on the rare, longer than 1-day-trips either in the car or in our RV. Either way I'll have the Bass Buggy installed over the DB bag for quick buggy-schlepping. In the car, in travel situations where I'll want to bring the DB into a motel/hotel room overnight, the bag provides bump protection and some level of curiosity prevention. In the RV the bag provides bump protection and cushioning against other instruments as I store them all out of the way, secured in place in the over-cab bed (Class C).

The toughest DB schlepping situations for me are the bluegrass cruises that we used to participate in before the pandemic. For us they have all stopped since 2020, although they could potentially start up again. In 2019 we took such a 7-day bluegrass cruise from Seattle to Alaska. We drove from SoCal up to the port of Seattle, staying overnight 4 nights at hotels on the way up and on the way down, schlepping all the instruments into the hotels for safety overnight...

At the port, we had to walk some distances through all the various levels of the boarding process; we had a folding wagon for the smaller instruments and various accessories, which my wife pulled along as she also pulled her wheelie suitcase with the other hand. I pushed the DB in the Bass Buggy as I also pulled my wheelie suitcase with the other hand. It was somewhat of a parade getting through security and through all the boarding processes, and then onto the ship...

The memorable thing for me on this trip was security -- we were actually quite concerned about getting through the inspections with so many instruments and various woods that might be a CITES or USDA travel problem... But security only had a bomb-sensitive dog sniff all of our instruments, no hand inspection or document check or anything. For other cruises we literally had to document and un-case each instrument and show the security person around them.

Once on this Alaska cruise, just about every door on the ship was a heavy, heavily sprung door which made DB schlepping difficult enough... But then, at one gig venue where I assisted on DB for a daily musical workshop, primary access to the downstairs stage was via a long, glass circular staircase. This was of course sort of over the top visually, but it also was incredibly difficult to schlep a DB through. Due to the circular nature of the staircase, every step up or down represented a potential bump or a scrape. I had to muscle through each step making sure not to damage the DB, at the same time watching my balance so I didn't fall. I was exhausted at the end of the staircase...

I almost decided to forego this gig, but fortunately on the 2nd day I spoke with on-board staff and they directed me to an employee elevator which took me down to the stage and up from the stage at that venue, through a hidden back door. That made this daily gig do-able for me and it actually worked out very nicely.

The only other really tough venues for me are outside venues with difficult natural terrain. Bass Buggies do not do well in loose sand, high grass and extremely rough, rocky ground; they are best on smooth sidewalk, paved roads or indoor floors. For those more wild situations I have a large handmade wooden DB cart with two large pneumatic tires; it uses the same mounting and pushing theory as the Bass Buggy, but it is very very heavy duty. It works well for cross-country schlepping, but it's bulky and heavy, so I don't bring it along unless I know I'm going to need it.

 

[Jason Hollar]

I’m getting to that age where people are offering to open the door for me!

 

[John Chambliss]

I use a wheel, but I have the bridge facing toward the left; I stop the wheel with my left foot, still holding onto the bag with my left arm, and leaning it back a bit against my hip, and use my right arm to open the door. No problem for me. At least I think this is the way I do it

 

[unbrokenchain]

Neck heel in the armpit, left hand on a violin or gamba corner or a similarly located handle on my bag, and the bass side upper bout making contact with my belt. Leaves my right hand free to open doors, schlep an amp or a drink, or flip the bird to anyone who calls it a cello. Just have to mind the bridge and scroll on the doorframe (lean back..)

 

[Kevin Hailey]

Can’t believe no one said this yet..
“How do I open doors when holding my bass?”

Carefully.

 

[Mark_T]

I have another rule that I forgot to mention - I don't move the bass around without its case on. If they need to be in different places (for storage), I always move the case to the bass, and not the other way around.