I know who Joel Quarrington is and what he's accomplished. I also know of at least one other. I'm not doubting their ability to play the music; I'm just curious to see how they do it.
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Double Bass Tuning in 5ths vs. a five string
- Thread starter spebald16
- Start date
Sorry for the 'mansplaining'
I thought you wee looking for video clips of guys playing in fifths
To reiterate: I would be interested to see how a 5th tuning player with an orchestra-size bass negotiates the standard audition excerpts from Mozart 40, Beethoven 5 and Ein Heldenleben, simply to get an idea of how they do it. The obvious way to do that would be via video.
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Nathan. But I only have one bass right now and I have to keep it in 4ths tuning for teaching and because I have been subbing with other orchestras. Even so, I don't see anything to gain by posting videos of myself playing excerpts. I do it for students and people I know but I wouldn't want it out on the web. Sure enough, some trolling haters would start in with a whole anti-5ths tuning harangue.
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Trolls.... what a menace to a kind loving peaceful world.
Have you tried a soundpost adjustment in addition to a higher-tension C string? This can help with getting a balanced response. Also the clipped bridge wings a la Quarrinton will really help in terms of increasing pizz response.
Thank you for the advice. There is a double bass luthier about 100 clicks away. My involvement with the bass is, I read, I listen to live music, I woodshed, I enjoy playing.
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I want to bump this old killer thread and also jump into the conversation and say that the Shen 7/8 41.75” 5 string makes a beautiful C G D A E bass with RM spiros CGD and gut A E. I got the gut from Damian Dugluleki, but he’s retiring. Talked to Gamut and they’re down to make my next set, though. It’s an amazing tuning and now that I’ve gotten used to it, switching between standard E A D G and this 5ths 5’r is no big deal - they feel like different instruments and it makes it easy to decide which tool to use for which job. BUT, if anyone is on the fence about a CGDAE - do it! I’ll post some video once I get some repertoire under my belt.
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I heard the RM Spirocores were discontinued?
What has the 5ths hive-mind replaced them with? The low G worked well on my instrument, and F#'s often didn't feel great.
What has the 5ths hive-mind replaced them with? The low G worked well on my instrument, and F#'s often didn't feel great.
Nay, only the Weich was discontinued. It’s a shame, though, because I much prefer that set on my La Scala. The 3/4 mitts are the ones that I’ve got on the five string blending with the gut. I bumped the low C string up to a low B string tuned up 1/2 step for a little extra girth. I’ve got a used Oliv D on its way to experiment with bridging the Spirocore and the gut, but it’s not essential - it’s pretty seamless as is. The plain gut A string is glorious.
Gollihur still sells them, Lemur does not.
The one's I got are not branded "Red Mitchell" but are still listed on the Thomastik website.
Spirocore Tuning in 5th Double Bass | Orchestral Strings | Products | Thomastik-Infeld Vienna
The one's I got are not branded "Red Mitchell" but are still listed on the Thomastik website.
Spirocore Tuning in 5th Double Bass | Orchestral Strings | Products | Thomastik-Infeld Vienna
