Hello, I recently acquired a cheap upright and had a question about the bridge placement. I see people saying you should line it up with the center lines on the f-hole and I also see people saying you should have it over the soundpost to support it. Any advice? Currently it is close to the soundpost (which is beneath/below the f-holes) but there is extra buzz on the E string that I think would disappear if I moved it up centered over the f-holes. Should I worry that this might be too much downward force on the top without soundpost support? Thanks!
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Double Bass Question about bridge placement
- Thread starter tavaputs
- Start date
It should be centerede between the f-hole notches, with the sound post about one soundpost diameter below/south of the g-side bridge foot
Thanks! I figured it might be that my soundpost was mis-aligned (it's further south than that) but wanted to double check before I moved anything as I am new to the double bass (long time electric bass player). I really appreciate it.
Arnold Schnitzer has a new book out you may find very helpful. It has everything you need to know and how to do it. It looks like it’s temporarily sold out, it took a week or two to restock when I got it a couple weeks ago.
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Hey, thanks for the advice. I moved the bridge up to the proper placement and the buzz is gone.
You may be aware, but the soundpost is also moveable, it is held in place by string tension. Soundpost adjustments for tone and volume, or season changes, are very common. This is optimally done by a setup pro.
Soundposts are vital to the structural integrity of a bass as well as the key factor in the sound of a double bass and should only be adjusted by a double bass luthier.
I had a similar problem when I put a set of Zyex medium on my bass. I had a buzz on the G string when I played an Ab, B, or Bb. The old strings were Corelli 370 and somewhat thinner than the Zyex. As I raised the bridge adjusters the buzz would go away on the Bb, then the A, and finally the Ab as I raised the bridge. At this point the adjusters were most of the way out and all the force was carried on a couple of turns of thread. This worried me but I played it this way for a few weeks.
I kept thinking on it and digging through TB threads for ideas on how to fix it when it occurred to me to check my scale length. The published spec is 40.5” but when I measured the bridge was 41.5” I’ve had the bass 20 years and either the bridge worked its way south with time or I set it up wrong when I got it from Upton. Although as I recall their instructions were pretty clear, so I’m guessing the former. Anyway, I moved the bridge up to a 40.5” scale length and now the adjusters have only about two turns exposed and no buzz. Plus, the strings which were an improvement before now sound huge. There is so much more energy going into the sound that a couple of loose screws in the tuner plates started to rattle and I tightened them. Sometimes one inch is all you need.
I kept thinking on it and digging through TB threads for ideas on how to fix it when it occurred to me to check my scale length. The published spec is 40.5” but when I measured the bridge was 41.5” I’ve had the bass 20 years and either the bridge worked its way south with time or I set it up wrong when I got it from Upton. Although as I recall their instructions were pretty clear, so I’m guessing the former. Anyway, I moved the bridge up to a 40.5” scale length and now the adjusters have only about two turns exposed and no buzz. Plus, the strings which were an improvement before now sound huge. There is so much more energy going into the sound that a couple of loose screws in the tuner plates started to rattle and I tightened them. Sometimes one inch is all you need.
I ordered the Schnitzer book. The link has moved to Schnitzer: The Handy Double Bassist: Maintenance, Adjustments and Minor Repairs for the Non- Luthier. It should be here next week.
You need your fingerboard dressed.
Don’t do it yourself, go to a luthier and watch how he does it and ask why and how much at this spot.
If you understand how, why and how much and that you need to check often, you might solve a high spot later yourself.
It is easy to ruin a fingerboard completely by removing wood at the wrong place and that is much more expensive than a short visit at a luthier.
It might work with the adjusters, but this is not a good way to solve that.
Don’t do it yourself, go to a luthier and watch how he does it and ask why and how much at this spot.
If you understand how, why and how much and that you need to check often, you might solve a high spot later yourself.
It is easy to ruin a fingerboard completely by removing wood at the wrong place and that is much more expensive than a short visit at a luthier.
It might work with the adjusters, but this is not a good way to solve that.
