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Double Bass I know this has been covered to death but...

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#21
Matt R. said:
Cool, thanks for the responses. I won't be getting this bass. And to the guy who suggests learning right handed- you must have missed the bit where I said I'm left handed:rollno:

Seriously, I appreciate the advice guys (except for the play righty crap:hmm:), thanks.

Cheers.
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We know you are left handed. This idea that one must play a left-handed instrument seems ingrained in guitar players since it's so easy to find or modify guitars to be left handed. I know several left-handed musicians, all of them play right handed instruments (violin, viola, cello).

Since you've been playing BG for a long time, it will of course be much easier for you to develop DB technique left handed. IMO, your situation should depend on if you ever want to play in an orchestra.
 
#23
Matt R. said:
Cool, thanks for the responses. I won't be getting this bass. And to the guy who suggests learning right handed- you must have missed the bit where I said I'm left handed:rollno:

Seriously, I appreciate the advice guys (except for the play righty crap:hmm:), thanks.

Cheers.
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I too am left handed and trying righthanded on the upright. What I find is that I am much too slow. If it were an advantage to play right handed then don't you think all the right handers would be playing lefthanded? They just want you to do it their way. Another thing I have found on here is play what instrument they play on here. They all believe you need professional grade instruments. I bought a chinese bass before thanksgiving and have no complaints, it serves the purpose for me. The bass bar and sound post is backwards for a lefty but I reversed the strings on a fiddle and it will do. Just didn't have the volume and perhaps the tone of being right handed, but it served the purpose. If you're playing to make money then you can get one custom made.
 
#25
smokey joe said:
If it were an advantage to play right handed then don't you think all the right handers would be playing lefthanded?
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:confused: No, if there were an advantage to playing right-handed, then the right-handed folks would keep on playing right-handed.
 
#26
smokey joe said:
Another thing I have found on here is play what instrument they play on here. They all believe you need professional grade instruments. I bought a chinese bass before thanksgiving and have no complaints, it serves the purpose for me.
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smokeyjoe, are you a troll perhaps?:eyebrow:

This is not an issue of talkbass snobbery. Most people on this site will tell you not to buy a cheap chinese bass because of many, many bad experiences with cheap chinese basses. At worst they explode, crack open, necks warp, fingerboards buzz. At best their setups are unplayable. They sometimes sound like they're made of metal and have a bedsheet stuffed in them. In the best case, after fixing these problems you have spent more than $1000 and you still have a cheap chinese bass. This experience is not a rule, it's just a real possibility.

If you like your CCB now, great! I don't think anyone on this site would have a problem with that.

TBers don't recommend professional grade to beginners, they recommend beginner instruments that the community has had good experiences with. A professional grade DB can easily cost as much as a new car.

EDIT: Oh boy, here's a bad experience with a cheap chinese bass in progress!
 
#28
eBay is the absolute worst place to buy an instrument like a contrabass. And you can't learn all too well on a noticably junky bass. There will be setup issues, as well as other problems--and unless you know how to correct and overcome the problems, you're not going to be learning right. This isn't to say the method you use to learn will be directly affected, but the physical concepts of playing the instrument may not be developed in a good manner.
 
#31
Bass said:
Ha, this is so true. I have noticed that people don't listen to what they don't want to hear (this is true for life in general, not just internet forums).

What the OP really wants to hear is something like this:

"Hey Matt! It sounds like you're very enthusiastic, and just want to get your hands on a bass and learn to play. Just go for it, buy the e-bay bass!! It's really cheap, what have you got to lose? Better to play something than nothing right? Maybe when you're ready to upgrade you can sell it and recover some of your money. And if it needs a couple minor repairs and a set-up, no problem! Just do-it-yourself and learn some basic luthiery."

This has been a pretty good thread, I especially enjoyed Baldy McBalder's tale of despair.
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I bought one of these basses. No regrets, no plans to up grade and yes I set it up myself, but I know what I.m doing and know how to take care of it. Plenty good to play around the house. Why would I have bought it if I wanted something better? Had it 6 mo now and no problems.
 
#32
Well I for one am glad I didn't listen to you guys. I am very happy with my cheap bass. What ever floats your boat. Just use it to beat on around the house and when friends come over. BTW they are none the wiser. I play mostly for fun. And it has been fun for 6 months now and no explosions of which I was warned about. As long as it makes me happy I don't care what anyone else thinks. Now that I didn't sink all that money into a bass I can buy that guitar I always wanted.
 
#35
drurb said:
Although I wouldn't go near the thing, I doubt it has the string length that would correspond to what we'd call "4/4" size. Those sizes are far from standard in double basses but, more often than not when you see that in those adds, the seller has no idea what he/she is talking about. I'm guessing it's really what we'd call a "3/4" with a 41-42" string length.
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A 3/4 bass is about 41and1/4 and a 4/4 is about 43 and 1/4. Only 2 inches in string length and the bass itself is about 2 inches longer. More common is the 3/4 because the notes are not as far apart. Thats what 99% of people want is the 3/4 size. A half size bass is not really half the size of a 4/4.
 
#36
smokey joe said:
A 3/4 bass is about 41and1/4 and a 4/4 is about 43 and 1/4. Only 2 inches in string length and the bass itself is about 2 inches longer. More common is the 3/4 because the notes are not as far apart. Thats what 99% of people want is the 3/4 size. A half size bass is not really half the size of a 4/4.
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You are incorrect about the nominal string lengths that are typical for these bass "sizes" and you are incorrect about a 4/4 bass being "2 inches longer" than a typical 3/4. No such rules even close to apply. After 35 years since starting to play, I'm well aware that most people play a 3/4 and the the notes are "not as far apart" on a bass with a shorter string length. I, and most experienced players, know that a 1/2 size bass is not half the size of a 4/4. Look up the word "mensur."

P.S. There's much more to this than reading Gollihur's table, helpful as it is. Seems you just found it and quoted the measures and Bob's discussion.
 
#39
drurb said:
You are incorrect about the nominal string lengths that are typical for these bass "sizes" and you are incorrect about a 4/4 bass being "2 inches longer" than a typical 3/4. No such rules even close to apply. After 35 years since starting to play, I'm well aware that most people play a 3/4 and the the notes are "not as far apart" on a bass with a shorter string length. I, and most experienced players, know that a 1/2 size bass is not half the size of a 4/4. Look up the word "mensur."

P.S. There's much more to this than reading Gollihur's table, helpful as it is. Seems you just found it and quoted the measures and Bob's discussion.
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Are you telling me I don't know how long the string length is on my bass? It is 43.25. Don't need anything but a tape measure.
 
#40
I met Elvis Costello once and noticed that he was using his left hand to write with, but he played guitar right handed. I asked him about it and he said (making fingering motion with the left hand) "I do all the hard stuff with me left hand". But, I have no idea if that's a good idea or not.

The interesting social question here is, anyone who did a search first like this OP did, knows that they're not going to get our approval, so why ask for it and why the dust up when it doesn't come?

It seems that if someone is wanting to buy a Cremona on eBay, reads here that we think it's a bad idea, but still wants to...why ask us for our blessing? I don't get it.

This one seems to have listened and I do think he got good advice, but someone else crawls out of a crack to argue is case for him. Geeze, it's tiring.
 
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