I just finished a double bass in my shop that came in for a new adjustable bridge and new strings. It was pretty simple work but I had to do a double take with where the tuners were located. They were reversed almost like it was a left handed bass but the bass bar is where it's supposed to be and it was strung with the E on the right side of the fingerboard. I'll post pictures so you can see what I'm talking about. This is the first time I've seen this and was wondering if any of you have run into this? Why would it be made like this?
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Odd double bass in my shop.
- Thread starter ymiller
- Start date
You've posted this in the wrong place. This is the bass guitar Luthier's Corner. I've asked the mods to move it to the right place.
Sorry, I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of this kind of interface. Thanks for the help.
I'm not aware of a general rule for loading the pegbox. Is there an engineering reason for putting the largest string on the nearest peg?
For years on one of my basses I have the highest string on the nearest peg and the lowest on the farthest. This reduces the break angle over the nut for the heavy string. I can't say I've heard any tonal difference, but I feel the string could be happier long-term.
For years on one of my basses I have the highest string on the nearest peg and the lowest on the farthest. This reduces the break angle over the nut for the heavy string. I can't say I've heard any tonal difference, but I feel the string could be happier long-term.
Is it possible this bass was up for consideration to serve as a 5-string?
Or, are those replacement tuners that didn't match the holes in the pegbox completely?
Or, are those replacement tuners that didn't match the holes in the pegbox completely?
This was popular in the 80’s when all the metal players were going with the “reverse headstock” thing.
Some claimed it helped the E string resonate more with the slightly longer string length.
I hope you stuck with the metal theme and added a whammy to that new, adjustable bridge.
Some claimed it helped the E string resonate more with the slightly longer string length.
I hope you stuck with the metal theme and added a whammy to that new, adjustable bridge.
It's also got the Upton scroll, and Upton makes lefty's. Maybe it was a lefty converted to a righty.
i'm confused - your picture looks exactly like my own with regards to tuning peg/string positions, and the E is on the left side per usual. is that pic after you changed the strings? if the E was on the opposite side, maybe someone was trying to play the bass left handed without having a proper lefty setup.
Both of my Uptons have tuners positioned like the pic in the post.
Both of my Uptons have tuners positioned like the pic in the post.
So i guess most basses would have a different tuner positioning? learn something new every day
It is an Upton. The E string tuner (on the left of the picture) is usually in the lower left of the peg box while the G tuner is usually one rung up on the right side of the peg box. Is there a reason that Upton sets the tuners like this?
This is the first bass that I've seen with this setup. Most of my work is on student basses so maybe this is found more often on higher quality basses? Here's how most of the pegboxes look on what I work on.
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Upton made the decision to reverse the tuning peg locations intentionally some time ago and it immediately made perfect sense to me when I saw it.
Moving the E string tuner farther away from the nut is a great idea. I think it should have been done as a matter of course a long time ago.
But I guess that with 4 string pegboxes having evolved from 3 string pegboxes and given the conventions of violin family construction, the E and A string tuners got located where they did and that placement became governed by tradition.
Kudos to Upton for taking the opportunity to improve a basic element of double bass design.
Moving the E string tuner farther away from the nut is a great idea. I think it should have been done as a matter of course a long time ago.
But I guess that with 4 string pegboxes having evolved from 3 string pegboxes and given the conventions of violin family construction, the E and A string tuners got located where they did and that placement became governed by tradition.
Kudos to Upton for taking the opportunity to improve a basic element of double bass design.
This all makes good sense... For Upton to have made this tuning position decision intentionally, and for their basses to reflect that decision, is the perfect explanation.
So, here's a question then -- If a person orders a lefty from Upton does Upton also "right" the tuner position (E high and G low) for that bass?
So, here's a question then -- If a person orders a lefty from Upton does Upton also "right" the tuner position (E high and G low) for that bass?
I restrung my Lidl (which appears to be a house-labeled Strunal) with standard peg locations to G (where E was, closest on the instrument's right) A stayed put, D went where G had been and E went where D had been. No way to do an "A/B comparison" meaningfully, and subject to confirmation bias, but I think it did sound slightly better. In any case I felt a lot better about the poor E string. Main thing is not to let anyone else try to tune the thing. Pretty sure I got the idea from a post in one of the DB forums here. This seems like a compromise where the "expected" tuning key layout to string is preserved while still letting the G take the sharp bend and the E bends less.
If I had the bass above, I'd swap E to the A, A to the D, D to the E and leave G where it is.
Given the way the tuners are, with the pegs crossing the whole pegbox, *any* string can be on *any* peg - it's not like a guitar headstock.
If I had the bass above, I'd swap E to the A, A to the D, D to the E and leave G where it is.
Given the way the tuners are, with the pegs crossing the whole pegbox, *any* string can be on *any* peg - it's not like a guitar headstock.
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To my knowledge Upton has used this setup for a long time. The two Uptons I owned, 2013 and 2015, were set up this way.
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