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Double Bass Temporary Position Markers

T

the_stone

Nov 3, 2007
376
115
Fort Worth, TX
#1
I'm subbing on a gig later this month, and I have to use the regular bassist's upright. The problem is, there are position markers on the side of the fingerboard. AND, they're not in the usual place, like on BG; they start at F-sharp. I'd like to put some temporary markers on my bass, just to get used to them, but I don't want to mess up my fingerboard. Would masking tape work?

Thanks.
 
#4
I vote for none of the above. Both electrical and masking tape will leave nasty sticky residue on your fingers and on the bass, which will require toxic industrial solvents to remove. I don't know about whiteout, but I find the best thing is the stickers they sell in kid's school supplies sections in department stores. You can get dots in multiple sizes and colors (I like flourescent pink dots, but you could maybe even get tiny little Spongebobs!), The adhesive on these won't make nearly the mess as with tapes.
Robobass
 
#8
robobass said:
I vote for none of the above. Both electrical and masking tape will leave nasty sticky residue on your fingers and on the bass, which will require toxic industrial solvents to remove. I don't know about whiteout, but I find the best thing is the stickers they sell in kid's school supplies sections in department stores. You can get dots in multiple sizes and colors (I like flourescent pink dots, but you could maybe even get tiny little Spongebobs!), The adhesive on these won't make nearly the mess as with tapes.
Robobass
Click to expand...

Not a sggestion for use on instruments, but cooking oil (olive oil, vegetable oil, whatever) will remove that adheasive residue. Just a freindly tip for a solvent free life.:)
 
#9
What's wrong with a little pencil dot? It's not permanent, doesn't leave any residue or stains, and nobody else can tell it's there. I had my G# marked during my last concert because we had to shift from half position to octave (thumb) half position in one beat... nobody knew it was there but me. :hiding:
 
#10
As a public school strings teacher, I must say that the white-out pen is the most useful invention in a long time. I use it at the beginning of the year with my beginning class to get their hand positions correct and it wears off by the end of first semester when their ears are getting developed. It is wonderful stuff and a lot easier to place on a fingerboard than a sticker or tape. (which do move on the instrument...)

I also use it with my private bass students to get their thumb position spacing correct and it wears off right when they are "figuring it out".

FWIW
 
#11
not to rain on the parade and i'm not itching for a fight..but i can attest with regular certainty that white out and the such,WILL and DOES penetrate into FB's. i have spent countless hrs.scouring,sanding and diluting the "chalk lines" that shadow across the width of the FB. worst yet, is the colored vinyl tape wrapped with several layers of scotch/packing around the neck..Grrrrr.i find the easiest to remove is the "Don't Fret" plastic aplique,it covers and protects the whole board and peels off w/ relative ease. made for all strings BUT bass. i suggest pencil dot on side of board.....
 
#12
Easy there Subaru-dude, I was only suggesting a little dot on the side of the neck, not a full paint job! :)

I agree with you about the stickiness of some tapes used to mark positions on the smaller violins. Its amazing how tenacious some of that stuff is - I keep a gallon of naphtha under the bench for those.

Even though I've never met her/him, I love the teacher that uses 3 strips of pinstriping tape - that stuff pulls off cleanly & quickly. And instrument and the case is clean and the bow has all the tension removed. Aaaah........ :D
 
#13
Thanks for all the replies, guys.

I was thinking of going with small pieces of tape on just the side of the FB. It's not really to help my intonation in this case (although it can always be better :),) but to get used to looking over at my hand, and not having the dots on the house bassist's FB mess with my brain. This way, once the gig is over, I can take them off my bass, and go back to good old-fashioned ears.

What about the tape house painters use to cover moulding? Isn't that stuff pretty residue-free?
 
#14
"Even though I've never met her/him, I love the teacher that uses 3 strips of pinstriping tape - that stuff pulls off cleanly & quickly. And instrument and the case is clean and the bow has all the tension removed. Aaaah........"

hope springs eternal !! did i mention the moron pecks that mysteriously and coincidently find themselves positioned.. you know where on the FB.

da stone.. yep the side,just keep it small
 
#15
A related experience... my kids are now taking string lessons, the little angels. :smug:

Anyway, under the Suzuki program, they put tape and stickers all over the instrument! I had to swallow my pride and allow it, even though my own 'cello training from a strict German teacher forbade markings of any sort.

I bought a 1/4 size violin off Craigs List, for when my daughter outgrows her 1/8. Step one was removing the stickers, including a huge swath of mole skin bandaging covering the entire chin rest and around to the bottom of the fiddle. So far so good.

Removing the position markers left a bunch of sticky goo on the fingerboard. I decided to clean it up with "goof off" which I think is the same as lighter fluid or xylene.

That's when I found out that the fingerboard was painted black, and the xylene took off the paint. :eek:

I think in the final analysis, stripping the fingerboard and cleaning it up left enough black stain to look OK, but it seems much more playable than a painted board. And I am sure that this fiddle will serve my daughter for the time that she uses it.

So I think the moral of the lesson is to avoid anything sticky if one is not 100% certain that it can be removed without solvents. And also, I would now consider cooking oil first before applying xylene.
 
#17
Forrester,

I only use a small dot about the size of a pencil eraser... It isn't a swath across the FB... :eek:

I have never had any leach into the FB of my students instruments... it wears off too fast. Hey, maybe mine practice?:hyper:

I am not one of these people that have a "gadget" for everything, but I do use a small dot of self-adhesive velcro for thumb positioning for the beginners... again, not big enough to damage. ;)

I do have a student that takes private lessons and her instrument looks like a piano there are so many markers on it. I just want to yank up her private instructor and ask, "What are you doing?!?!?" That is ridiculous...

FWIW
 
#18
sooo. you're the one w/ the velcro patch..;).. i have nothing against the markers.. or the makers of the markers! i am just overly sensitive to the damn things..we spent $$ epoxy coating the concrete floor of the shop in an effort to keep "stickies" from building up knee deep in the work areas,helped a lot..but i still pick them up on my soles and transport to car/home etc... frequently they are the most time consuming part of set/up...i apoligize if i have offended anyone..not my intention.
 

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