Double Bass So, I disregarded all advice...

[bassfacer22]

Oh and I don't think purchasing used strings is a good idea unless they are ridiculously cheap.. Cause I have played on dead strings and that's probably what people are selling to get rid of them.. its not fun and they will sound .. "dead" and have no volume and clear tone.. and may make you think your G on the E-string is not good again!

so as far as strings, try the cheaper Daddario ones..

*in the end, of course depending on what you are really looking for soundwise, the SpiroCores will be your ultimate string.. you will see after a few years and your still searching for that string.. it will be the spirocore haha.

 

[bassfacer22]

here is a picture of a bad bridge cut wrong.. unless your fingerboard was cut like this too to fit exactly this shape!

 

[Bisounourse]

Yep, I got the bag with the bass. As for the bow, it's not a priority and I can borrow a friend's cello bow - not ideal, but should do (?).

No, just plain and simple... NO (as in; don't ever think about this again).

A cello bow is made for another instrument en is just not suited for a DB. You'll have to work very hard to get some response from the DB using a cello bow. (I've played cello as well as DB).

If you really want to bow, and don't want to spend a lot of money, get yourself a Carbon Bass Bow (on Ebay you can find some Chinese ones that get some decent reviews on TB), or you can get one from Thomann for about 75 - 100 €. And don't forget a cake of rosin.

And as all the others have said; PAY A LUTHIER TO LOOK AT YOUR BASS. It might be some money, but at least it will be setip decently and it will play a little bit easier. Remember; this is a large acoustic instrument, not a plank with magnets and screws.

 

[Reiska]

Congratulations for your bass. I messed a lot with couple of beaten up basses in the very beginning of my bass adventure, I was very short of money, had tons of enthusiasm and lots of time. I shaped a couple of bridges and even tried fingerboard planing on a cheap Stagg eub ( you can get whole new neck for these for cheap ). I didn`t loose a lot of money, didn`t make anything, but the eub fingerboard, worse. I learned a lot about the anathomy of these instruments. However, any of these basses ever became good enough to play easily and / or sound good, so I rented a decent hybrid bass and finally got more into practising, rather than spending days covered in maple powder and wondering whatthehell...

My advice is that leave the setup work like bridge shaping and fingerboard planing to a luthier. They have the skill and tools required for this work. You also get a professional wiev on your instrument, that if it`s worth setting up, or too much money and time wasted. Spend your time trying to learn to play, not trying to learn to set up something that might or might not work at all in the end.

Good luck!

 

[DoubleMIDI]

My first bass was a cheap plywood thing with a broken neck that I got as a gift. I needed to invest almost the same like the OP paid for his bass to get strings, a bridge, a tailpiece, a bad and a bow. I tried to fit things myself when I was sixteen, did a very rough bridge feet fit, not tapering the feet, bridge top setup tailpiece cable setup (without knowing that the length should be tuned), but anyway that was a cello tailpiece since a bass tailpiece was not available.
The upper plywood layer was damaged at the edges, so no sellable value, but I played this thing for about 15 years before I ordered a well made carved bass from a German bass builder.
It is not that you cannot use such an instrument, but it depends on what to expect. Some things are rather hard to do correctly by a non-luthier (like a soundpost setting at a good sounding place) some things are hard to correct after you did it wrong (camber, bridge height if you don't want adjusters).

I highly recommend to take a month to read through all the setup and repair threads here (at least from a year ago until today any any thread with a topic you might want to work on) before you take any tool into your hands to change anything on your bass yourself.

There is not much DIY for an unexperienced player that can be done well.
And the bridge top fitting is cheap, the soundpost adjustment too as well as a nut fit.
Delay new strings until the soundpost adjustment is done. If the open E sounds good but fingered notes do not, your left hand grip is wrong. Let the luthier play the G on the E string. If it sounds good the bass may need to change the player ;-), not the player something on the bass.
An aircraft cable might not cost a fortune, but to get the correct length it is better installed by a luthier. Keep the tailpiece unless it has a stability problem.
You can install strings yourself, but one at a time and your luthier can show you how to do it the best way.

But expect 150 to 200€ plus strings if you want all that. If you cannot spend as much, pay the luthier for inspection, let him decide what should be done first and let him do as much as you can pay for. Write down his suggestions, so you can proceed with the tasks to be made by the luthier later when some money is available again.
A cheap bass is no longer cheap if you want a good setup. If you go DIY, you have to live with the results. In that case please don't ask for advice after you ruined it. Better read the already written advice in the setup and repair forum before you do any work and then decide if you can take the risk.

Good luck, whatever you will decide to do.

 

[GretschWretch]

Before visiting that luthier, I would remove the shims from beneath the bridge and play the bass that way, just to see what those shims actually do. They may be there because the fingerboard is so badly dressed that certain notes choke out against it unless the bridge is raised. or because the nylon strings are SO floppy they smack too
loudly against the board, or because the previous owner wanted more string height to facilitate his slapping.

Synthetic strings are notoriously tone deficient, and to me nylon strings plus a pickup just scream rockabilly, a style which requires a bass setup incompatible with most other styles of playing. I would like to know in what way and to what degree removing those shims affects the playability of the bass.

Reshaping the bridge feet to conform to the curvature of the top probably you could do yourself, as it requires only sandpaper and patience, Soundpost setting requires patience, knowledge, and some special tools. Leave that to a luthier!! I can remove and reset necks and remove and replace fingerboards, bit I WILL NOT attempt to
correct a badly dressed 'board. That also is a pro-level task best left to pros. I have read plenty on how to do it, but I do not have the skills required to obtain the experience, nor the tools (and doubt I could bring my plane blades to the sharpness required anyway). Sometimes the right tool is the most important part of the equation.

But those nylon strings just have to go. Even if they are replaced by a dead set of used Spirocores, which CAN be soaked in denatured alcohol to restore some life to them, BTW.

 

[Huy Nguyen]

Before visiting that luthier, I would remove the shims from beneath the bridge and play the bass that way, just to see what those shims actually do.

I highly disagree.

I would not remove those shims unless you know what you're doing.

Those are unshaped/unfitted feet that are completely flat. They will need to be shaped properly or else putting them directly on the bass as is will likely damage the top and probably void whatever return policy the OP might have.

To say he's in over his head is the understatement of the year.

I'm pretty handy and own my own woodworking tools. I tried to dress one of my own fingerboards once thinking it was easy, even if I didn't have any experience. It's not and I gave up after realizing that I was likely causing more problems than I was fixing. I'll do simple stuff. I've even done my own soundpost once or twice and took it to a luthier to check that I did a so-so job. Let me tell you it's one of the biggest pain in the ass' to do it right and took me a couple hours what a luthier can do in a matter of minutes. Bass repair is not a trivial venture. If only it were as easy as electric bass guitar. There is a real reason why luthiers charge what they do for these tasks.

 

[bassfacer22]

Many, if not most basses, have an acoustically weak E string. It's the nature of the beast, and you learn to compensate with good technique. But if your bass is crap, you'll never get a solid note out of it.

I agree with everything else you said absolutely.. but this one quote, ehhh... not so much.

I don't mean to go off on this but just wanted to throw this out there as I"m seeing a lot of "its you... not the bass..." postings.

It should be known that of all the masterclasses and clinics I've been to (alot) I specifically remember Christian Mcbride telling all Us students how to buy a bass and I remember the very one specific thing (which is obvious anyway) - he said to start out with is go to a bass shop, and you'll see the basses just lined up, and you walk down the line and pluck each one single E-string (or bow it..) and then you start only just looking at the ones that had the loudest and biggest E-string sound..

the issue I kinda had with that one single statement is that you shouldn't have to "compensate" for an incorrect setup - like a too wide cut/shaved/filed string slot in the bridge.. or a Nut that doesnt let the string sit correctly etc.. or a sound post that isn't in the right place will most definitely cause you to have tight or funny feeling strings and even loss of sound and you think its you but its actually the sound post location!

you don't "compensate" for a bad instrument.. Of course you can, but why have a bad time? then why are you playing that instrument? I can't imagine that idea, it's like racing with a ford pinto and then people tell you "its the way you drive why you can't win races.." no, you have a Ford Pinto! haha


of course there may be situations where you have to play a gig where you use a bass that then you are forced to compensate because it not's yours.. but you certainly don't learn how to play good on bad instruments. all your learning to do is how to deal with incorrect setup basses. that's just fighting and nobody wants to fight the instrument to play music.. why should you fight to play music?

also there are some cases of people who have gained something from bad setups.. the biggest example is if your action is really high and you are really pulling the string, well that could potentially give you more dexterity and endurance than those with lower action strings etc..

for drums its like buddy rich playing on pillows to train himself so he can play easier when he has to play on a real drum.. the pillow allowed him to force control the rebound of the stick since there was none on a pillow!

in that case it's a training thing.. not "compensating"

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear.

What I meant was that, in terms of producing and projecting a true fundamental of the notes down on the E string, the box of your typical 3/4-size bass is barely adequate in most cases and often inadequate. That seems to be especially true of el-cheapo basses.

I wasn't referring to inadequate setup at all, but rather the physics of sound production. I'll try to be more clear in the future.

 

[bassfiddlesteve]

Reshaping the bridge feet to conform to the curvature of the top probably you could do yourself, as it requires only sandpaper and patience

Using sandpaper to fit a bridge to the top is not ideal and usually results in a poor fitting bridge. A knife is the right tool for the job, and acquiring the skill to use it requires some trail and error. In my case, I never got past the "error" portion, so I leave this work to the pros.

- Steve

 

[bassfacer22]

actually what you said was fine.. and you were clear.. you know how text/typing is.. no inflections and feelings and nobody knows how to interpret things and everything is taken as totally the opposite of what you want.

all that jazz..

ha.

anyway I get too serious about little things.. and my long posting came from a deep dark past of me always seeing how people talk about technique and the player rather than realizing, maybe, just maybe the instrument is a problem and causing the player to fight etc..

I'm coming from a perspective of having had absolutely terrible instruments growing up and when I think back on it today, It bothers me because I could have had so much more fun and actually wanted to play an instrument that was actually fun to play and now that I kinda know how to setup instruments, I actually feel like wanting to practice on them and play them because they are fun to play now..

and imagine the kind of chops a kid can have with a properly setup bass and learning on that kind of instrument that doesn't fight you..

if only people knew..

 

[Reiska]

Just for reference, I just got a new bass, worth app. 8000 euros. My luthier needed 5 hours for final setup work and that included repairing 3 small cracks on the ribs, fingerboard planing, bridge curvature shaping and soundpost adjustment ( not completely finished yet as I`m still learning a new instrument ). I tune in 5ths and use plain gut top under steel strings and that features tons of hazard for just about any luthier. However, he did fantastic job in those 5 hours. That`s what I call SKILL. I work in a bicycle repair & maintenance shop at the moment and the mechanician guy changes 3 inner tubes, adjusts the derailleurs, swaps some cables and drinks some coffee in the same amount of time that I get sorted out that whats the problem. This luthiery thing ain`t no magic or rocket science, but it`s about deep knowledge and sheer skill of craftmanship, that comes along with insane amounts of studying, working and the repetition. No BS at all, you will find out if you try. It`s not about you absolutely couldn`t do it yourself, it`s about someone doing it in 5 mins, rather than you going the 5 - xxx years of studying, making valuable error / trial, all that stuff. My advice still is to go for skillful luthier, to clear the situation that how deep in the rabbithole you`re aiming. If repairing these beautiful things, string instruments, is your goal, go for it! If your aim is playing one, leave all of this for a professional and go for the music instead!!!

Best, Reiska

 

[bassfacer22]

Amen Reiska.. you are spot on and absolutely 100% correct.

by the way, I'm going to be traveling to Helsinki not too long from now.. I only know some music store there named something like musik? i think..

Feel like showing a fellow talkbass bass player around town??

 

[GretschWretch]

I highly disagree.

I would not remove those shims unless you know what you're doing.

Those are unshaped/unfitted feet that are completely flat. They will need to be shaped properly or else putting them directly on the bass as is will likely damage the top and probably void whatever return policy the OP might have.

There is a real reason why luthiers charge what they do for these tasks.

I do not really disagree with any of what you said. The effect on the return policy of removing the shims had not occurred to me. But, to me at least, the pic indicates that the shims are flat as well, so top damage may already have occurred. It was never my intention to suggest the shims be left off completely; I was unclear there. I was suggesting an A/B comparison with the (implied) shaping/fitting of the bridge feet to come later.

Unlike you, I do not have all the tools. Hand tools I'm pretty well covered, but I need to get a bandsaw and a larger drill press (and at present I lack space for these).
I will not attempt to dress/plane a fingerboard, but I will build back up a small low spot from a badly-done previous dressing. The only thing that keeps me from attempting a top removal is that I know the ribs are going to spring out; and without building that yacht-sized outside mold to maintain rib integrity, I'll never get the top back on correctly. That game is not worth the candle I would have to burn to play it. Time to consult a luthier.

"Go to a luthier" is unimpeachable advice that shows up in many threads in this forum, but I get the impression that people who most often say this have the impression that bass lutheirs are as prevalent as CVS pharmacies: a 1.5 mile drive in any direction will get you to one. That just isn't the case. Which is why, when it comes to maintaining my own instruments, I adopt the approach I used for maintaining my own automobiles back when I was a student (and the engine actually was visible once the hood was poppped -- not like today when everything is buried under a snarl of hoses and computer cables): everything I can do myself, I do. That way, I save money for the big jobs that are beyond my grasp and require the attention of a professional.

 

[GretschWretch]

Using sandpaper to fit a bridge to the top is not ideal and usually results in a poor fitting bridge. A knife is the right tool for the job, and acquiring the skill to use it requires some trail and error. In my case, I never got past the "error" portion, so I leave this work to the pros.

- Steve

Probably the best approach would be sandpaper *and* the knife. Sandpaper for the rough shaping and the knife for the final fitting. And it takes a special kind of knife (and skill). I live forty miles from a large importer/distributor of bowed string instruments (been watching them grow over the past three decades), and to be hired as a set-up tech for them you have to be able to carve a violin bridge using the knife alone. It's not the only place I've heard of that applies that litmus test.

 

[Reiska]

Amen Reiska.. you are spot on and absolutely 100% correct.

by the way, I'm going to be traveling to Helsinki not too long from now.. I only know some music store there named something like musik? i think..

Feel like showing a fellow talkbass bass player around town??

PM is coming to you sir.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

It helps to look what a luthier does and letting him explain why he does it this way. Most luthiers would do that as long as your questions are few and straight on the point. It shows interest in their work and that you appreciate what he is doing.
I did it that way when my luthier planed the fingerboard of my good acoustic bass a few years ago. Afterwards I corrected very carefully a few buzzing spots under my high C string over some weeks and got rid of them. Thad lag weeks I made a complete camber on a Stagg EUB rosewood neck that I got cheap but with a bump instead of a camber (so I had to make it plain before starting with the camber). But it was no big risk since I still have the original neck and if I would have ruined it, it was less than US$100 for the neck. But I already had some little experience, was informed how to do it and had the tools.
Some stuff you can learn from your luthier this way, but sometimes the knowledge needed is not easily transferable.

 

[Jay Corwin]

To summarize for the OP:

1. that setup is a train wreck
2. you don't know what you're doing
3. take it to a professional for evaluation

 

[KUNGfuSHERIFF]

And may I add:

4. Skip all of the above and try to get your money back.

 

[Reiska]

^+1. For learning to play, you`ll need a properly set-up instrument. Fot learning to how to play, what the heck, you need to know how a properly set-up instrument is, or someone who tells exactly what it needs, and you still need to know what to do. So, it`s about a skill set that absolutely requires you knowing how to play, and set-up a double bass.