Double Bass Stenholm VS English(Barnaby)

[SUNBA]

I would like to hear from experienced professional ORCHESTRAL player in a major orchestra ONLY(please no offence but NO junior high,jazzers,or people not in a major PROFESSIONAL orchestra!!!!It all comes down to that daily usage in a section when you are under the gun.
This discussion is STRICTLY machine ONLY.NO fingered,gates please!!!!!.
I would like to get serious feedback from users of Stenholm and or users of the English(Barnaby) machine to discuss the pros and cons of each machine.Remember this is NOT a contest ,I realised there is NO perfect solution,JUST preferences.
Thank you .

 

[jallenbass]

I don't believe anyone from a major orchestra (the big 5) frequents Talkbass. Good luck.

 

[Cory Palmer]

Since this is a good topic and you will be waiting a long time if you plan on having a discussion with just professionals in major orchestras on here I say that anyone that uses a stenholm or english on a daily basis should jump in.

I have had experience with both and have heard comments about both from professionals.

For me stenholms seemed too clunky and can make some noise if you are not very careful opening the extension. The English machines can be the same way. Stenholms also tend to be very shiny so they can be good for blinding people with the stage light reflection. There are pros that swear by the stenholm though. They do last a long time without major problems.

The English extensions are very nice. I had one on my bass for two years or so. The problems I had with it were that the pads on the levels pushing down the string were wearing down. That is a minor problem that is easily fixed. The other problem was that one of the levers that I pressed down with my fingers could come unscrewed so sometimes it would turn when I went to press down that note really fast. I fixed it by putting superglue in the hole that it screwed into. Overall I was very happy with the machine and besides those minor things it served me well.

My problem with machines in general is that they are heavy and reduce the sound of the bass, especially the low end. When I took the machine off of my bass there was a huge difference in the sound from the lower register of my instrument.

Out of these two types of machines I'd go with the English.

 

[bejoyous]

I had an English extension on my old bass.

PROS: - The finger levers were in pitch order rather so it was if there was a C-String there when playing the low notes.
- The finger levers could be height adjusted so you could feel what note you had your finger on without looking.
- It was silent to operate.
- I took the spring mechanism off because it was too finicky and always caught on the inside of the case (and sometimes my hair). I replaced it with thick elastics from Broccoli stalks. I could also use the elastics to hold down the Low-D for baroque pieces.
- I found the extra weight on the scrool increased the low end of my instrument.

CONS: - It was a bit big and people would ask why a piccolo was attached to my scroll.
- It was a bit finicky until I took the spring mechanism off.
- Don't lose the tiny Allen wrench!

Overall, I much preferred it to the Stenholms I tried.

Now I use a Low-D tuning with a small fingered extension to get the Low-C and C#. It is much more discreet and has improved the sound of my bass.

 

[Dave Whitla]

I have heard that one problem with the keys being in pitch order on the English extensions is that it makes playing c# very difficult, if not impossible, to reach. The Stenholm has the keys reversed so fingering a c# while holding down the key is more manageable. It's not that common an interval (Daphnis & Chloe?) so I guess guys manage all right in spite of the difficulty. I haven't had a bass with either extension for many years so this is all second hand information...

 

[Cory Palmer]

I never had a problem with playing any of the notes on an English machine. The c# didn't seem any harder to get to than the other notes. I find the reversed pitch order of the Stenholms to be more confusing.

 

[Dave Whitla]

That's just what was relayed to me by one or two people who found the reach very long. As I remember, the C# key on the English machine is down near where an F is on the E string- that's a big stretch for most people to reach to the C# on the A string. At any rate, whichever direction the keys are going players seem to get used to it through practise (what a concept!)

 

[SUNBA]

Thanks to cory,dave for some info.I know u machine users are out there so please don't shy ,time to chime in.
Remember this is not a contest,but rather a discusion of each machines pros and cons.No winner or losers here,JUST PREFERENCES!!
So please chime in with your personal experience(people that have used them PROFESSIONALLY week after week, concert after concert,u know who u are.