Marginal interest in upright bass

[LBS-bass]

Sorry for any confusion caused.
I was only referring to fret positions because we are on a bass guitar side and most readers will understand that.

Yes, and I think someone much earlier up there suggested this discussion might belong in DB, but I put it here because I wanted to hear from people who play both and also thought it might be of interest to others who play BG and are considering adding DB to their bag of tricks.

I have a friend whose family owns a music store here, and I texted him this morning to ask if they rent basses. They do. My concerns about a rental would be similar to those discussed by some of you with regard to purchasing the right bass-- making sure it's set up well, etc. I would hope that, since this is a friend of mine, he's not going to dump a bad setup on me, but what should I be looking for? Is there a diagram or something that would help me determine if things are correct in the setup?

 

[Wasnex]

Sorry for any confusion caused.
I was only referring to fret positions because we are on a bass guitar side and most readers will understand that.

I am right in saying the D position in DB terminology?

You didn't confuse me. I just wanted to clarify that the growly quality you can achieve with fingerboard contouring is specif to fretless basses regardless of whether we are talking about DB (upright bass) or fretless slab (bass guitar).

I believe the growl comes from decreasing the break angle between the stopped string and the fingerboard. If you contoured the fingerboard on a fretted instrument the same way, the result would be excessive fret rattle. I am by no means an expert on this, so hopefully someone will chime in if I am spouting gibberish.

 

[Wasnex]

Yes, and I think someone much earlier up there suggested this discussion might belong in DB, but I put it here because I wanted to hear from people who play both and also thought it might be of interest to others who play BG and are considering adding DB to their bag of tricks.

I have a friend whose family owns a music store here, and I texted him this morning to ask if they rent basses. They do. My concerns about a rental would be similar to those discussed by some of you with regard to purchasing the right bass-- making sure it's set up well, etc. I would hope that, since this is a friend of mine, he's not going to dump a bad setup on me, but what should I be looking for? Is there a diagram or something that would help me determine if things are correct in the setup?

I think the thread is in a good place...but it might get more hits on the other side. I don't typically hang out there as I am sometimes viewed as a bit of a heretic when it comes to the string bass.

Often student basses are not setup particularly well. If the store has multiple basses, just noodle around and pick the one you like best.

As a beginner you will probably spend a lot of time playing close to the nut, so I would focus on the tension in the strings near the nut and the overall tone of the instrument. Is the tension even across the strings? Do the strings get noticeably tighter as you play closer to the nut?

The tension near the nut is controlled primarily by how high the strings sit in nut, so I usually have a bit of fun with a file. It's very easy to cut the slots too deep though and challenging to know when to stop . Does the person who will instruct you also work on basses? Will the music store allow the setup to be improved?

You might also look for bridge adjusters and consider how much range is left to lower the strings.

 

[delta7fred]

but what should I be looking for? Is there a diagram or something that would help me determine if things are correct in the setup?

The usual advice given on the DB side is to take your teacher along when selecting a bass.

What little I know.
I believe that string height is usually measured at the end of the fingerboard, not at the octave position as on a bass guitar.

The string height varies with quite few factors, some of which are, whether you want to bow (arco) or pluck (pizz), type of music, and of course personal preference.

If the nut is not cut deep enough the bass will be very difficult to play in the lower positions (the strings will be difficult to press down and you will get rattle and buzz). This is from personal experience so I did a bit of Googling to find out what it should be and got busy with some small round files. I used a set of feeler gauges to make sure I didn't cut the nut slots too deep.

Edit - Wasnex beat me to it.

 

[Reiska]

You want a setup that can be easily plucked and bowed. Slap -oriented setups are not allways like that. String heights are measured at the end of the fingerboard in millimeters. Height increases usually 1 mm from string to string, G beeing lowest. Low setup is around 4-5 mm`s under the G, medium 6-7 mm`s and high 8-. So a standard-ish medium setup would be 6 - 9 mm G - E. This is relative to the tension of the strings, generally heavy tension needs to be low and low tension high. It`s a balancing act between playability and acoustic output. String height affects your pizz technique too, some players want to be able to really get some meat under the strings and set strings accordingly.

Another aspect that affects playability is the scoop, or relief, of fingerboard. This is same thing as is controlled with a truss rod on a BG, but on a string instrument it needs to be planed in the fingerboard. More relief - harder to play / less relief - easier to play. Nut needs to be low enough, you should be able to slide a credit card under the strings.

I`d suggest standard steel or synthetic core hybrid string that works for pizzicato and arco both. You might want light gauge ( weich in german ) for the beginning, with a low-ish action. In reality, some light gauge strings feel medium and some mediums feel light, or heavy. S42 Spirocore light from Thomastik-Infeld is a great starting point. Spirocores are propably most widely used strings outside classical / orchestral use. Some arco-oriented strings doesn`t pizz well and some pizz or slap-oriented strings are nearly impossible to bow.

There are other factors to the playability and setup, like soundpost location, saddle height and tailwire lenght, but bridge ( string ) height and amount of relief are the most crucial. It`s best to have a adjustable bridge as wasnex suggests!

 

[Reiska]

...And read thru the beginners guides on the dark side of Talkbass!!! Plenty of valuable information there.