Double Bass Need a tail-piece cable?

[Fogducker]

I play a 1947 Kay with Innovation Super Silvers and it does fine for me with no problems. Just lately I've heard mumblings in the forecastle about trouble in my future with the old Kay wire tail set-up. Should I preemptively change to the airplane cable thing (I can do that stuff) and if I do, will I then sound like Ray Brown?

Fog

P.S. I went ahead and installed a 3/32nd endless stainless steel loop using a "Nico" press ferrel. Hard part was finding a swaging tool, a friendly airplane mechanic let me borrow his and I did the job on the living room floor. I think the bass sounds better and sustains more for sure. I sound a little like Ray Brown/Charlie Mingus when I strum the open "E" but I will NOT quit my SS/pension thing!

 

[SAlcott]

No, but your bass will sound and play better.

 

[james condino]

My main giging bass is a '47- those postwar models are my favorites. The original rigid soft steel tailwire on your '47 Kay is going to break; they all do, at the worst time, in the middle of an important gig. Replace it with one of the braided wire and adjustable ferrule kits from Lemur or such for $15. Problem solved.

j.
www.kaybassrepair.com
www.condino.com

 

[Mr Ralph]

Question for James. Why do you prefer the post war Kay's? I have a 1941 0-100 what would be the difference between my 41 and the post war basses? Thanks.

 

[james condino]

It is just personal preference and the way I play, which is in a very aggressive loud jazz band. The post WWII Kays always tend to sound better for me and are built a little more solid than the early years, so they cut through the mix just a little better and the inside layers are maple so they are much easier to work on. That is huge for someone who works on basses all day- they break, they fall apart, they get pounded on every single week until the entire club is worked up into a wild frenzy, they get repaired and rebuilt all of the time and go straight back to the trenches. By the time you get to the early 1950s, the insde layers are tulip poplar which tends to delaminate and make a mess when you remove the top. They also seemed to get a much better handle on finish work by then so the classic rootbeer sunburst was looking good. There are a couple of years in the early 1950s where they had spectacular figured maple.

j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com

 

[Paps]

It is just personal preference and the way I play, which is in a very aggressive loud jazz band. The post WWII Kays always tend to sound better for me and are built a little more solid than the early years, so they cut through the mix just a little better and the inside layers are maple so they are much easier to work on. That is huge for someone who works on basses all day- they break, they fall apart, they get pounded on every single week until the entire club is worked up into a wild frenzy, they get repaired and rebuilt all of the time and go straight back to the trenches. By the time you get to the early 1950s, the insde layers are tulip poplar which tends to delaminate and make a mess when you remove the top. They also seemed to get a much better handle on finish work by then so the classic rootbeer sunburst was looking good. There are a couple of years in the early 1950s where they had spectacular figured maple.

j.
www.condino.com
www.kaybassrepair.com