The endpin is all the way in and he's sitting in a chair. It's a normal busetto Bass. Ask me how I know?
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Double Bass Small, fractional,and travel doublebass thread
- Thread starter aesopslyre
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Check out the masters class Miroslav did at the Kolstein shop. There is video, he plays it sitting down with the end pin in. It is the size of the others.
Consider me biased I live fairly close to Kolstein and have been going to Barry for 25 years. I no longer own a regular DB.
Consider me biased I live fairly close to Kolstein and have been going to Barry for 25 years. I no longer own a regular DB.
You guys should check out David Friesen with his custom bass. Short scale, completely slab, fits in the overhead, very nice tone for what it is and masterful playing, IMO. David's a monster talent. Kind of his signature tone these days but not a 3/4 DB. I miss his 3/4 days.
i had a chance to play it once.How do you know, Steve?
I notice a lot of clicking in his playing -- the strings hitting the fingerboard -- how much of that do you tolerate in your own playing? Is it the bass, is it technique, or is it just something you guys accept when playing?
I noticed that too... I get that with the Chennell, as well. For the most part, I don't mind it
My brain seems to filter it out when i play. I only hear the notes, although the string noise is very pronounced on certain notes with the recording I did of myself. The good news is that it disappears in the amplifier.
I was there sitting next to that camera. I tend to play my busetto with higher string height then how that bass was set up. I do try to avoid that clicking but I also don't play anything like Misoslav.
That being said it's not a characteristic of the bass but I would think you are only hearing it because of the camera mic in a small room that was really quiet. Most of the time you are playing this bass with an amp, drummer and other musicians. And that type of click is not picked by the piezo.
The string click/clack in the DB sound, IMO, is caused by a combination of low action and/or non-tense strings. One of the things I like about higher tension strings set at a medium height is that this effect is minimized.
I tend to do the opposite with the same end result. Lighter strings with higher string height. I have an older busetto with I believe 39" mensure so by default strings have less tension when tuned to pitch.
I've also used this on electric basses. It's easier to press down further a string with less tension so the muscles tend to do a similar amount of work.
In both cases the final effect is that I can pull on the string really hard without getting the clack or play softly. True or not I believe it gives me a wider dynamic range.
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It is interesting to compare the contrabasses of 1/2-size and reduced models (Czech-Ease, Gewa Ideale Jazz etc.) These instruments have approximately the same dimensions, but different lengths of strings and different proportions. Are long strings suitable for a compact enclosure? Does it make sense besides the convenience of a bass player?
It seems to me classical 1/2-1/4 double bass more harmonious in tone and appearance.
It seems to me classical 1/2-1/4 double bass more harmonious in tone and appearance.
A significant change in mensure limits the strings that are available and requires technical adjustments. Certainly has its own set of challenges.
I personally would not want a small body bass without a normal string length. Changing the string length to me makes it a completely different instrument. I just want a normal upright Bass with a small body. Yes it works and it works very well. Seems like it would be counterintuitive.
I can not compare these two approaches, because I did not play on reduced bass. I know that there are solo basses - in which a smaller body size is combined with a shorter string length. And it sounds convincing. I do not know of cases in concert practice when basses with a small body and long strings are used. So I'm wondering - is there any sense in this approach other than the player's convenience or his habit?
Yes, mine is in concert practice pretty much every week and it sounds great. There are some advantages, at least for pizz, to the smaller body I think. I think Dave Holland likes it too judging by the videos I've seen of him playing his small Bass with long strings. Miroslav, charnette moffett, harvie s, also, among others. Rather than trying to describe it to you I guess the best thing for you to do is try one for yourself
I think it's all about fit with the player. You do take a hit on volume with a smaller sized instrument, but as I have mentioned before, for some of us, the criteria for an optimal instrument is a combination of tone/volume, time-to-gig-readiness, and portability. All these things factor into the decision. In my case, I couldn't bring myself to plunk down a couple grand on a 3/4 since the thing felt like such an albatross. All desire left me even after getting a couple lessons on my teacher's 3/4 bass. Plus experienced players indicated there was risk I wouldn't even make it to competence on a 3/4 size. That scared me as I already hated the size of the 3/4.
Given all these risks, the two year breaking in period, and the expense, I felt the smaller sized instrument was the best option for me personally. Musicians I played with didn't care about the size, complemented me on the tone, and I got hired as a side man in the best paying gig of my life on the upright within 9 months of gigging with it.
I originally had plans to go up to a 1/2 or 3/4 after getting the motivational side handled (the smaller sized instrument really motivated me). But I am having trouble seeing the point now as I have been able to do everything I want on the smaller sized instrument now. Maybe if I win the lottery and money isn't an issue
So, for people who want to get out and gig fast, the smaller instruments appear to be viable. I recognize it's not for everyone. And I agree, if the problems with the 3/4 didn't exist (the albatross factor, risk of not making it, portability issues) I would have gone that route first. But in my case, it was a bad fit. At least for now.
I believe when Victor 126 refers to "concert practice" he is referring to Classical concert practice. It is true that there seems to be no historical example of a smaller bodied instrument with the mensur of a 3/4 size bass, such as a 1/4 size bass with a 41" mensur. It as apparently a contrivance of the modern era, invented to suit jazz players who are looking for a travel bass with a smaller body, but retaining the mensur that the player is habituated to frOm their training on a 3/4 size bass. And these instruments only appear in the age of amplification, in which the size of the body is less relevant to the volume produced, as it will be amplified. The question is, is the instrument's timbre affected by the departure from traditional body proportions. Certainly, it must be in some way, as the pressure on the table would be affected by a different break angle across the bridge, resulting in a thicker table, I would think. Therefore, less resonant.The shortened tailpiece would also affect the string vibration in some way. Also, strings are proportionallly thicker as string length decreases.
Of course it is. As luthier Nnick Lloyd described it to me once, a bass is basically two things:
- a fingerboard with a particular set of strings at a particular string height above it at a certain scale length (includes factors of string construction, tension, and perceived tension)
- A resonating box that the above is mechanically connected to that acts like an acoustic amplifier.
Change either or both of these things, and you change the volume and timbre of the instrument. This doesn't mean that "bigger is always better", but it is a fact that changing the parameters of a signal chain will change the resulting sound.
