problem playing high notes

[philopadaumus]

i'm a student on the double bass for almost two years now. Here's the problem. when i play high notes i get a irritating concrete scraping sound especially when playing chords. i understand that the string has less room to vibrate, but i still want the sound to come out smooth. i'm not sure if the problem is within the bridge. what should i do?

 

[Zoltan Dekany]

Hey P, how high is your action? May be you could raise it slightly? The kind of sound you describe happends with low actions, as the strings hit the fingerboard.
It can also do with how hard you pluck or bow the strings with your right hand. Hope this helps a bit..
Cheers,z

 

[philopadaumus]

Hey P, how high is your action? May be you could raise it slightly? The kind of sound you describe happends with low actions, as the strings hit the fingerboard.
It can also do with how hard you pluck or bow the strings with your right hand. Hope this helps a bit..
Cheers,z

Aww Man!! thanks for this. the action is exactly 1/4 in away from the fingerboard. I think the problem is that the strings don't vibrate enough when playing that high. i'm also going to try using some solo strings and tune to eadg. i can imagine with less tension the playability will be much smoother, I hope!!

 

[Zoltan Dekany]

No worries man, yeah thats a good idea to use solo strings tuned down to eadg, that way they'll be looser and feel much nicer and smoother to play on. I think the tone will be warmer as well. I think bass shops use this little trick, they detune normal orchestral strings just a bit lower so when you play the instrument in the shop the strings feel real nice and soft and sound quite warm.
Also, make sure that you really use your fingertips on your left hand to stop the notes, the better contact you have with your left hand the better your sound will be...