Double Bass removable E nut

[Patrick BCL]

This is a question for people who have a removable C extension, and a separate nut for the E string, for use without the extension.
How do you fix the E nut in its position? Do you glue it each time, or is there some kind of pin arrangement?

 

[Bruce Calin]

When I take my extension off, which I rarely do, the tension from the regular E string holds the nut piece in place perfectly well. I don't need to swap pegs but it may be necessary in your case. A luthier I know of recommends not gluing the whole nut at all, just relying on pressure from the strings to keep it in place.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

Without any glueing it is possible that the nut moves a bit to the side.
My luthier told me to use a drop of superglue and give a hard impact from the side to break the superglue.
In case of the E part of the nut that part doesn’t need to be glued if the larger part of the nut is fixed.

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

One of my Solanos came to me without the nut being glued in place. I owned it for years before I realized that it was just sitting there under string tension.

Having two nuts, one for use with the extension, seems pretty common.

 

[Patrick BCL]

Thanks. That all makes sense.

 

[Neil Pye]

Mine has a small brass pin to secure it - typical of my wonderful luthier's attention to detail! On that particular visit, he cured a buzz from a tuner, stood the soundpost back up and adjusted it after it dropped during my hamfisted string change, and made a beautiful E string nut from ebony with the pin. All for the princely sum of £60....

 

[robobass]

I'm just curious as to why you would ever need to remove your extension. Wanting to use a string set where a long E/C is not available is all I can think of. In the '90s some people who were using Eudoxa gut were under the false impression that a long IV was not available. Jack at Ideal Music was saying that, but Bob Kurtz was always able to supply them. Any other reasons?

 

[Patrick BCL]

Hi, I don't actually have an extension, but I'm considering getting one installed. As I often play standing my default would probably be not to use the extension, because of the weight. But on the other hand, it would be useful to add it when I'm playing pieces that need the low range. Of course, it may turn out to be a non-issue, but I won't know until I try it.

 

[Don Kasper]

I'm just curious as to why you would ever need to remove your extension.

Exactly.
Thx.

 

[Bruce Calin]

I'm just curious as to why you would ever need to remove your extension. Wanting to use a string set where a long E/C is not available is all I can think of. In the '90s some people who were using Eudoxa gut were under the false impression that a long IV was not available. Jack at Ideal Music was saying that, but Bob Kurtz was always able to supply them. Any other reasons?

In my case it has either been an emergency situation such as a long E that sustained damage and I carelessly didn't have a handy replacement or I wanted to try a brand or type of string without popping for the long E or if the different lengths of strings made any difference in tone. It's easy to swap mine so it's no big deal. A concern that some posters have that I don't is the weight of the extention. Mine must only be a few ounces and the extra weight of the long E is about the same. To me it makes no difference in the sound or balance of the instrument itself.

 

[Neil Pye]

I'm just curious as to why you would ever need to remove your extension. Wanting to use a string set where a long E/C is not available is all I can think of. In the '90s some people who were using Eudoxa gut were under the false impression that a long IV was not available. Jack at Ideal Music was saying that, but Bob Kurtz was always able to supply them. Any other reasons?

In my case, it's simply that the extended string makes the choice of solo strings very limited. For a while, I left the bottom C on and changed the top 3 strings to play solo tuned repertoire, but my luthier pointed out that removal of the extension only involves one (unnecessary) screw, so I can now fit any solo set I want.

 

[the_Ryan]

Hi, I don't actually have an extension, but I'm considering getting one installed. As I often play standing my default would probably be not to use the extension, because of the weight. But on the other hand, it would be useful to add it when I'm playing pieces that need the low range. Of course, it may turn out to be a non-issue, but I won't know until I try it.

Granted, my bass had an extension when I bought it and I don’t know how it balances without one, but the extra weight on the scroll doesn’t impede me if I stand, regardless of if I’m using a straight endpin or a bent endpin. It’s a bit of a pain to play the extension notes compared to sitting, but if I abstain from those I don’t think I’d know if my bass had one or not.