Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Double Bass New bass - How long to open up?
- Thread starter buffalobillh
- Start date
My travel bass took a while to have much change, I was not getting it out and playing it quite enough. After almost two years it is really settling in. What people say about the ply basses is true. It will mellow a bit in a year or two, but it will take decades to hear real change.
My mid century Romanian basses is really getting rich, the upper register is really beautiful now. Of course, it is an old bass now and gets really grumpy. I did prefer less rich and more stable!
My mid century Romanian basses is really getting rich, the upper register is really beautiful now. Of course, it is an old bass now and gets really grumpy. I did prefer less rich and more stable!
playing and age are two different things.
as far as age, around 10 years I noticed my shen plywood really started to sound like it has been played in. for a plywood/not that old bass, it really does sound mature. I have had a shen dealer/luthier comment on how nicely it has aged. the label reads 2006.
as far as playing? Gary Karr says just a few hours of the right type of "opening up exercise" gets it going just fine -
I actually agree with the Karr method, playing 3rds, major and minor, all the way up and down the instrument. those vibrations will be more than enough to get the instrument ready to vibrate. Just don't do it where anyone can hear, cause if this is done properly most of it is really annoying.
as far as age, around 10 years I noticed my shen plywood really started to sound like it has been played in. for a plywood/not that old bass, it really does sound mature. I have had a shen dealer/luthier comment on how nicely it has aged. the label reads 2006.
as far as playing? Gary Karr says just a few hours of the right type of "opening up exercise" gets it going just fine -
I actually agree with the Karr method, playing 3rds, major and minor, all the way up and down the instrument. those vibrations will be more than enough to get the instrument ready to vibrate. Just don't do it where anyone can hear, cause if this is done properly most of it is really annoying.
When my arco bass sounds sleepy I wake it up by alternating fifths and flat fifths, on all strings in first position, and as loud as possible.
I’ve heard Arnold Schnitzer say he’s tuned basses to open Dmaj chords, removed the frog from a German bow, reassembled with the hair above the strings and the stick below, and opened the bass up with an open D chord on all four strings.
I’ve heard Arnold Schnitzer say he’s tuned basses to open Dmaj chords, removed the frog from a German bow, reassembled with the hair above the strings and the stick below, and opened the bass up with an open D chord on all four strings.
AES #34 (2013) is sounding better all the time. I wish I could be around to hear it 50 years from now.
Long loud notes very near the bridge, with slow bow. Open strings and stopped (this is tiring!!)
Double stops, all kinds of them. But I assure you, you'll notice a difference immediately after playing major and minor seconds!!
(this is tiring!!!)
Good thing is, both of those things really put your technique in check, in both hands!!!
But mainly, just playing the hell out of my bass for 3 years has opened it so nicely, a colleague of the orchestra asked if it was an old italian!!!
Double stops, all kinds of them. But I assure you, you'll notice a difference immediately after playing major and minor seconds!!
(this is tiring!!!)Good thing is, both of those things really put your technique in check, in both hands!!!
But mainly, just playing the hell out of my bass for 3 years has opened it so nicely, a colleague of the orchestra asked if it was an old italian!!!
I just got my plywood back from the doctor's, and have to say that the luthier took what I thought was a good sounding bass and turned it into a richer, fatter better 'feeling' instrument.
I had some 'major' work to do, but the key was he moved the soundpost quite away from it's "normal" position to free up the top a bit. As soon as I tried it, I could feel the difference on my hip.
This is a 60 year old instrument mind you (the soundpost was light as a feather!), but I think there's something to explore there.
I had some 'major' work to do, but the key was he moved the soundpost quite away from it's "normal" position to free up the top a bit. As soon as I tried it, I could feel the difference on my hip.
This is a 60 year old instrument mind you (the soundpost was light as a feather!), but I think there's something to explore there.
