Double Bass Marvin tailpiece break-in period

[GordyGuy]

Hello

for those of you who have a Marvin Tailpiece, how long before it settled in?

It's only been 24 hours since I installed it, but I'm not noticing any of the benefits. the strings feel like they have more tension, there isn't any extra harmonics except for a bright G string when bowed, and the D string pizz is sounding a little wolfy.

Just wondering if there's an adjustment period or whether is doesn't suit my bass.


Oh, and it's on an Upton Gary Karr bass. Strung Spiro mitts (E & A), pirastro perms (D & G)

 

[MysterMunky]

Hello!

I've had a Marvin tailpiece on my bass for a few years now. I noticed the changes as soon I put it on. My bass, which was ok and had some wolf tones, benefited from this tailpiece in that it eliminated the wolf tones, gave my bass a louder, rounder sound and lowered the string tension a lot.

I don't know why your bass hasn't had its Marvin makeover yet. I hope it does though because I really like this tailpiece and I have recommended it to people.

 

[Don C]

My experience with the Marvin Tailpiece has been exactly like Mystermunky's. It gave my Bass a noticeably more open sound as well.
In fact, after several players heard the differences it made in my Bass, they bought one as well.
they have all experienced noticeably improvement, some more that others.
Like anything else, changes will vary from Bass to Bass.

 

[Ben Mitchell]

I went on the website, and now I am considering ordering one! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Ben

 

[JtheJazzMan]

My experience was less than great. The afterlengths were vibrating out of phase with the open E and G string, and when I muted those afterlengths, more phasing occurred. There was also a massive Ab wolf tone.

Also, when tightening the strings (spiros), I could see the string ball holders twisting. After a while this resulted in the windings being ruined on the string near the bridge.

It may be a bit late now, but when making these changes its important to make a before-and-after recording to make an honest judgement about the difference.

 

[MIKMAN]

In each one of my three basses the Marvin wire tailpiece gives considerable improvement. It increases the sustain of the mighty Spiros, it gives a better arco response to A and E of my Belcantos and it enhances the hybrid character of EP Weich.
However the level of improvement depends on each particular instrument. To my German 7/8 fully carved it behaves better with the Spiros, to my fully carved Chinese it prefers the Belcantos and to my hybrid Strunal 5/27 likew the EP Weich. I spent many hours trying to disntinguish the improvements and i reached this conclusion after a thorough trial period for each one om my basses.
IMHO someone has to try some strings in order to find the best combination. One of my students found the proper combination using Velvet Garbos on a cheap ply bass, which now is transformed from a mediocre instrument into a floor shaking powerhouse!!!
Mike

 

[GordyGuy]

Thanks everyone

MIKMAN, after you mentioned your hybrid bass sounded best with EP weichs, I put my Zyex D & G back on, and now I'm noticing a big difference! Bigger, brighter, better arco!