Just feel the need to share this with fellow bass players. Friends as family won't understand
I have an all solid wood bass that I picked up used a few years ago for a steal. It was to compliment my Ply that I use for old time and blue grass jams.
I primarily used the solid bass for the community orchestra.
But I was never very happy with it, I kept changing strings and trying different combinations hoping the G string would come alive or the string balance would improve,
Spiros sounded way too bright and anemic, and there was a massive wolf on the D string A note.
Finally I resolved to sell or trade my solid dud, and found a really nice sounding ply wood, made exactly like a Kay but not labeled Kay (owner believes it's from the Kay shop), that was so easy to play with the bow and had none of the issues.
I even got to comparing my bass with the 'Kay'.
But something didn't feel right trading a solid instrument for a ply wood, even though the ply was better in every aspect.
So I started looking closer at my bass and realized the bridge was not in the correct spot, it was a centimeter or more towards the finger board from the f hole notches. when I put it back I noticed the sound post was basically touching the bridge foot.
So I loosened the strings and tried giving it a tap with a screw driver, and sure enough the thing falls over.
CRAP!!
I managed to pick it up a coat hanger (thanks TB) and get it back upright in a spot I thought seemed right and sure enough, the anemic sound was gone, the string balance also significantly improved.
Turns out moving it around is not so hard and really makes big difference when it's not in the sweet spot.
fast forward 3 days and many taps and trials and the thing just booms with tone for days now and the wolf is gone.
I have an all solid wood bass that I picked up used a few years ago for a steal. It was to compliment my Ply that I use for old time and blue grass jams.
I primarily used the solid bass for the community orchestra.
But I was never very happy with it, I kept changing strings and trying different combinations hoping the G string would come alive or the string balance would improve,
Spiros sounded way too bright and anemic, and there was a massive wolf on the D string A note.
Finally I resolved to sell or trade my solid dud, and found a really nice sounding ply wood, made exactly like a Kay but not labeled Kay (owner believes it's from the Kay shop), that was so easy to play with the bow and had none of the issues.
I even got to comparing my bass with the 'Kay'.
But something didn't feel right trading a solid instrument for a ply wood, even though the ply was better in every aspect.
So I started looking closer at my bass and realized the bridge was not in the correct spot, it was a centimeter or more towards the finger board from the f hole notches. when I put it back I noticed the sound post was basically touching the bridge foot.
So I loosened the strings and tried giving it a tap with a screw driver, and sure enough the thing falls over.
CRAP!!
I managed to pick it up a coat hanger (thanks TB) and get it back upright in a spot I thought seemed right and sure enough, the anemic sound was gone, the string balance also significantly improved.
Turns out moving it around is not so hard and really makes big difference when it's not in the sweet spot.
fast forward 3 days and many taps and trials and the thing just booms with tone for days now and the wolf is gone.
