Double Bass raise your hand if you're a wolftone junkie

[Johnny L]

All right there's enough threads to explore on getting rid of a pesky wolftone let's talk about wolftone junkies and their fix.

I'm checking out a carved bass with a G natural wolftone. Sure I can put on one of those eliminators and that's fine but basses make you pay for it.

So for those of you who take pride in having a wolftone and don't want to see it locked up in a closet, do you have a preference for the wolftone's pitch or are you just happy to have one at all? If you do have a preference, is there a target wolftone pitch where basses typically sound their best?

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

My bass has a "wolf overtone" on almost every single note at 34,000 hz. I only know this because my cat gets this super annoyed look and leaves the room the minute I start playing. Does this count?

 

[Johnny L]

Hello Chris sure why not. Let's get the cats and dogs taken care of together in one big basket!

BTW I snooped your dominants demos they were very nice

I neglected to explicity offer a "don't care whatsoever about wolftones" category, but do you mean to say this is where you would fall?

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Hello Chris sure why not. Let's get the cats and dogs taken care of together in one big basket!

Heck, that's nothing - you should see what he does when he hears an accordion.

BTW I snooped your dominants demos they were very nice

Thanks! Someday when I have time enough to practice piano again, I'd like to make a whole duo record that way. How do you like, "Playing with Myself" for a title?

I neglected to explicity offer a "don't care whatsoever about wolftones" category, but do you mean to say this is where you would fall?

Not really - my LaScala has what could arguably be called a wolftone on the open D; it's twice as loud as the surrounding notes, and way louder than any other open string. Over time, I guess I've just learned to tread lightly on it. If I could get rid of it, that would be great, but the rest of the bass is so good, I figure trying to fix it would be like becoming the the main character in Hawthorne's "The Birthmark". I prefer my wife alive and kicking, thank you very much!

 

[Johnny L]

Heck, that's nothing - you should see what he does when he hears an accordion.

Accordion's are nice instruments...I'll have to remember this when my cat pees on the drapes again...

How do you like, "Playing with Myself" for a title?

Hmm...not bad...though were I to do my own I'd brag a little more about how good it felt...something like "Getting Off, Myself" LOL

my LaScala has what could arguably be called a wolftone on the open D; it's twice as loud as the surrounding notes, and way louder than any other open string. Over time, I guess I've just learned to tread lightly on it. If I could get rid of it, that would be great, but the rest of the bass is so good

Yes I know what you mean there, in theory. For me, discovering the wolftone without a bow would be pretty much impossible at this stage of my development. I've discovered wolftones on basses only as low as F# so far. Most hover around A, plus or minus a whole tone. I can't claim that your wolf isn't crying on D without putting a bow to it, but to find that out would definitely expand my experience!

With the bow, it comes out like a stable pitch through a Leslie speaker spinning really fast...I guess it could be called more of a wobble, just trying to associate it with other things I understand. When I pluck it, it almost sounds as though it's a dead note to me rather than what you describe...a losing fight to get out like the other notes get to come out. Plus sometimes if I'm not careful that note will squeal as though the hair doesn't grip it strong enough to pull out the fundamental...more of an accidental portamento(?) sort of sound at best. I never really learned those foreign words to describe string instrument sounds my bad.

Regardless, your recorded bass sound kicks ass man wolftone or no wolftone on D. D is such a fine, wonderful string to play notes with...

 

[Freddels]

With a bow I get whale tones and moose calls but no wolftones.

 

[Johnny L]

Well this thread seems pretty much a bust...plus I don't really know enough about wolftones to offer much of value either...may even be wrong about certain notions.

But I want to give it one last breath and share a recent experience.

This bass I'm evaluating, it doesn't have just one wolftone. It has two. I can get a wolf to come out and speak for both the G and the A. Before this, I thought wolftones only happened on a single note, not more than one.

Anybody have any thoughts or advice on this? Does this mean this bass has some problem or something?