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Double Bass NBD: Palatino!!!

Bijoux

Bijoux

Aug 13, 2001
1,272
540
Denver-CO-USA
#1
http://youtu.be/3LxG86Y4CHE

This is my new bass!
I've been playing upright for over 20 years and I never thought I would go EUB.
But I think this one has future. Mostly for those real loud gigs when people ask me to play upright, or double.

Anyway, I can't seem to find a sweet spot for the bridge. an little movement changes the sound dramatically.

It has a thrus-rod..??? does that thing really works as it does on an electric bass guitar? ... if so I wish to get the neck a little more straight. it has a lot of camber right now.

is there another type of tailpiece that can be used for this model.

also my end pin thing is broken, where can i buy replacement parts?

thank you.

and BTW, I just started reading the Megathreads, but the first part has about 51 pages!!! so it' gonna be a while before i am educated about EUB's. Thank you.
 
#2
Congratulations, and welcome to the family! I play most of my gigs these days on one of Bill Merchant's Vertical Bass electric uprights. There's a lot of peace of mind to be had playing a bass that's basically a fence post with strings on it that won't crack, or break easily if you slide your car in the snow on your way to the gig, or...

Talk to a luthier about the excessive camber. I'd be surprised if the truss rod will have much effect on the neck. Whom did you buy it from? I'd talk to them about a replacement endpin.
 
#4
The Clevinger EUB and the Stagg EUB have no tailpiece. To avoid unpleasant resonances I damp the underlengths with some rubber foam or a sponge. You can put that under your tailpiece if you want. (If it is a fixed block of wood with some holes in it, like on the Stagg, I won't call that a tailpiece.)

I don't understand why you would like to get rid of the tailpiece.
The bassists I know only use the wire tailpiece if they have problems with any tailpiece they tried until then (as a last resort).
 
#7
Update!!! :)

Haha! so I got this bass almost 4 years ago, and I just used it for the first time for a Xmas show I did this last December.
I do this Xmas show every year and they asked me to use my upright bass in addition to my electric. It's a decent size Orchestra with a bunch of special guests , kids come up on stage etc. etc. I didn't want bring a real bass so I thought the Palatino would be perfect. I didn't even bring it home. I just left it there on stage.
Anyway, it's a decent bass if you just need to get through a show. Everybody told me the sound was great. To my ears the G string had a thin hollow sound. Other than that they other strings sounded pretty good. sort of like an electric bass. I found the tone control pretty useless. If i have the tone control all the way rolled off I get a decent sound. Sort of like a active P-Bass. But if I try to open up a little it gets immediately nasal and trebly... I also noticed that moving the angle of the bridge greatly changes the sounds from trebly to a more beefy sound.
the end pin is garbage !
in fact there is nothing of good quality on this instrument and if I remember correctly I only paid about $300 for it...
If you are playing in a pit or in a situation where you only need the upright to get through a couple of songs backing up a vocalist... this is perfect!!!!
Personally I can't justify spending more money on a EUB.
Maybe I have to think of it as being a third instrument between electric and upright...
I can see how a lot of people might be interested in this type of instrument. I think it's an instrument that has it's place.
at the end of the day it's about making music right?
 
#8
Bijoux said:
Update!!! :)

Haha! so I got this bass almost 4 years ago, and I just used it for the first time for a Xmas show I did this last December.
I do this Xmas show every year and they asked me to use my upright bass in addition to my electric. It's a decent size Orchestra with a bunch of special guests , kids come up on stage etc. etc. I didn't want bring a real bass so I thought the Palatino would be perfect. I didn't even bring it home. I just left it there on stage.
Anyway, it's a decent bass if you just need to get through a show. Everybody told me the sound was great. To my ears the G string had a thin hollow sound. Other than that they other strings sounded pretty good. sort of like an electric bass. I found the tone control pretty useless. If i have the tone control all the way rolled off I get a decent sound. Sort of like a active P-Bass. But if I try to open up a little it gets immediately nasal and trebly... I also noticed that moving the angle of the bridge greatly changes the sounds from trebly to a more beefy sound.
the end pin is garbage !
in fact there is nothing of good quality on this instrument and if I remember correctly I only paid about $300 for it...
If you are playing in a pit or in a situation where you only need the upright to get through a couple of songs backing up a vocalist... this is perfect!!!!
Personally I can't justify spending more money on a EUB.
Maybe I have to think of it as being a third instrument between electric and upright...
I can see how a lot of people might be interested in this type of instrument. I think it's an instrument that has it's place.
at the end of the day it's about making music right?
Click to expand...
I've been playing a palatino for over ten years and have been very pleased with it. No, it's not a replacement for a DB, but if you set it up right, it can get the job done without the hassles of an acoustic. I love my DB, but find it difficult sometimes to transport and amplify. And I don't always play it enough to have the chops to get through a job. (I know, that's my problem.) I've found that a good EQ/pre-amp can do wonders for your tone. I use a Fishman Platinum Plus. There is a ton of info on TB about simple mods that can help too. I won't lie, if it disintegrated tomorrow, I would look to replace it with an Azola or something of higher quality, but it keeps on ticking. For the money, it's a serviceable instrument. Hope you get some enjoyment out of it!
 
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#10
Just recently I realized my Palatino is a great tool for practicing.
As people send me charts for upcoming gigs I can just sit in front of the computer and sightread them as opposed to mess with the Real bass. It's just very convenient and even if I am tired or just feel kind of lazy it's just super easy to practice with an EUB. Who knew?!!!! :smug:
 

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