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Double Bass Problems with Arco

A

Arrigotti

Jun 6, 2009
8
0
Turlock, CA
www.reddogash.com
#1
I've been a long time reader of this forum, but haven't posted.

I am relatively new at the double bass (3 years or so), but have been doing quite a bit more playing with a bluegrass band, and have started to venture out into swing and acoustic music.

I don't use the bow much, and and very unskilled at it, but it seems like it is getting harder and harder to produce good tone from the bass, especially on the low G.

My bow is a cheap chinese bow from Lemur music (I think it's the $149) bow. I've had the bow for 3 years, and have only occasionally used it. To be honest, I really don't know the proper tension to have on the bow or the proper amount of rosin to put on it. I experiment all the time, but can't seem to find a consistant method to produce a good steady tone.

I know a lot of this is due to my lack of experience, but it seems like I used to be able to play arco a little easier.

So my question is: What should I do? I thought of going back to my bass teacher for at least a refresher, and some feedback. I also thought that maybe this cheap bow is only going to get me so far, but the thought of spending $1000 on a bow is hard to swallow especially since I rarely need to play arco.

Thanks for any feedback.

Eli Arrigotti
 
#2
The first thing that comes to mind is 3 year old hair in that bow. Even when not used, hair goes bad, same with rosin. After you exhaust any 'free' options, I would try a rehair and new cake of rosin. Depending on the tone you want to get from your bass, you might want to consider a non-white hair. There are a few variations, but the standards are black hair, which is the coarsest and gives the most grip, but it isn't the cleanest sound out there to put it politely. You'll also see what's called 'salt and pepper' which is a mixture of standard quality white and also black hair. This attempts to add grip without sounding too harsh. This is often what you might see in high school player's bows. Another option is one I've been using recently with good results, called 'cinnamon'. It's a mixture of white and brown hair. The brown hair is not as coarse as the black, but still provides more grip than white. It gives a pretty clean sound, with just a touch more grip.

White hair comes in multiple qualities, but the highest quality white is sometimes too smooth for bass players, depending on the play style.

As for the rosin, I'd try either Carlsson or Nyman rosin if you are in a warm area, Pops if you are in a cold area. And yes, it does matter :)
 
#3
So, I agree, sounds like you need a rehair. Maybe your string condition has something to do with it (you didn't say what they are or how old). And probably a technique refresher as well, that never hurts.

You don't have to spend $1k on a bow, an entry level carbon fiber bow will do you very well.

Proper tension is simply enough to barely avoid touching the hair to the stick with a bounce stroke in the middle of the bow. Rosin should be as little as you can get away with.
 
#4
Agreed on the rosin and the rehair. Your bow will probably be fine after that, although your teacher would be a good judge of whether or not it's holding you back. Follow these three steps:

1. get a lesson on arco
2. go home and practice with your bow
3. return to step 1

Getting comfortable with a bow takes time and patience. Rosin amount, proper hair tension, etc. are all things that work themselves out over time.

Some strings are easier than others to bow, what kind of strings are you using?
 
#5
Thanks for all of the feedback.

I know this answer is going to show my lack of experience, but the strings that are on the bass are the ones that Upton Bass recommended when I ordered my bass. They are intended to work for Bluegrass and Jazz Pitz with some arco. That probably doesn't mean a whole lot, but that's about all I know.

My bass instructor played them and never mentioned anything about them being inappropriate for bowing, so I assume they are just run of the mill, middle of the road strings.

I may have to invest in a little better bow since I am starting to get called for session work that includes arco. As a matter of fact, the ability to play arco is what most of the studio guys are looking for.

Thanks again.
 
#7
Arrigotti said:
the strings that are on the bass are the ones that Upton Bass recommended when I ordered my bass.
Click to expand...

If they have a synthetic core, they're dead. Get some new strings. Go over to the strings board to read through what might best suit you. Maybe some "gutlike" synthetic core like obligato?


Those lemur $150 bows look like a basic starter bow, and should probably play and sound fine if you are just getting your arco chops going.

A lot of people will advocate carbon fiber bows for a step up, but I would go play as many bows as you can (in all price ranges), then try to decide if you need a new bow and if so how much you want to spend.
 
#8
ROSIN!!! its huge... i was talking with some bassists from the colorado symphony today... and they said that you should get a fresh cake of rosin ever 3-5 months... as it goes bad after a while.

And you can get a newer and higher quality bow for any price above what yours is worth now... the symphony men told me that carbon fiber graphite bows are excellent... so i personally am trying one out now.

and if your not willing for that... i recomend getting your bow rehaired... 3 years is a long time and the special oils in the hair are probly gone etc.

hope this helps :)
 
#9
I had a luthier friend take a look at my situtation, and he suggested cleaning the strings off.(Rosin build up) I seriously don't know anything about maintaining my instrument. That did end up helping some of the issues I was having, but I think that my rosin needs to be replaced. The stuff I have is probably over a year old. It's Pop's rosin, which I know should be relatively soft, but this stuff is like a rock. I'm going to see how that works, and then get my bow re-haired eventually.

Maybe one day I'll get a higher quality bow, but I think this one should be okay for a little while. I was wrong about the quality of this one. It was actually made in France (or some of it was). It was a $250 bow from Lemur.

As far as my strings go, I think they are just fine. They sound great with Pitz still. Actually my bass sounds much better than when I first got it, although some of that is probably due to my skill level getting better.

Thanks again for all of your feedback.
 

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