Double Bass Underwhelming E string on a dumpy 50's Kay

[Don Hergert]

Ok, OK...five would be perfect, ...

Who says I'm limited to five double basses???

 

[DJ Bebop]

absolutely plucking. the fiberglass bow a was destroyed by a cat in 2005

“Hey, hey, hey!”

 

[james condino]

Who says I'm limited to five double basses???

You don't have five?????

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Does pizzicato E string really take a significantly different plucking technique than the other strings?

In my experience, yes. Or put differently, the physical orientation of that string makes it difficult to pluck it at the same angle that we pluck the others.

I have never thought of lack of a lower string to rest on , post-pluck, as some kind of draw back, that is interesting.
Does this have to do with the " plane of plucking " implied by an adjacent string? Keeping it vibrating in a certain axis to the bridge?
What are some of the strategies for overcoming the drawback?

The plane of plucking that I see most pizz bassists use is dragging the finger on the fingerboard from the treble side of the string to the bass side of the string, setting the string in motion at the same angle parallel to the fingerboard because the finger follows the arc of the fingerboard, stopping when it hits the string on the bass side. This is difficult to do on the E string because of the angle, and because of the lack of a resting point for the finger in motion.

For players who produce the plucking motion with an “arm/elbow drop”, I often see:

- stopping the plucking finger with a rotation that presses the thumb up tighter against the underside of the fingerboard in a sort of “turn the doorknob” motion

- for those who play with the face of the bass more open, as above, but the underside of the forearm stops the arm motion by hitting the edge of the bass. I use this technique when aggressively hitting a note on the E.

- letting the RH disconnect entirely from the fingerboard because it “flies” from the force of the stroke

- the “Charlie Haden finger snap”, where you pluck with the middle finger and it snaps back into the palm, making that telltale sound you hear on literally every Charlie Haden recording.

 

[loukash]

For players who produce the plucking motion with an “arm/elbow drop”, I often see: […]

As a "DB noob", this is something I'm still trying to figure out, so thanks for the hints!

 

[mambo4]

Judging by the "bullet" ball ends and the helpful Gollihur Music String ID page my strings are Thomastick Spirocore Mittle

As a "DB noob",

As rather a "DB Noob" myself (or unpracticed enough to be one ) I also stumbled on this from Gollihur Music :

It’s a very common oversight – especially for those jumping from electric bass to upright – that they are using their left (fingering) hand to also HOLD the bass in position. One should use the upper bout of the bass against their body to steady and hold the instrument with their body, leaving their left hand free to PLAY it without having to support it.

I've had a few lessons in the distant past, and somehow this was never put to me so explicitly.

 

[loukash]

As rather a "DB Noob" myself (or unpracticed enough to be one ) I also stumbled on this from Gollihur Music

That was also my misconception before I began playing DB last year, falsely thinking my small hands are not "made" for DB!
But hey, I was already 57 when I bought the bass. It's never too late for a DB!
So to avoid as many beginner mistakes as possible, I have watched hours and hours of DB beginner lessons on YT, then practicing these basic techniques in front of a mirror. Also, I used to be a part-time guitar teacher in the 1990s, hence I have some experience in closely watching myself for possible mistakes, analyzing and fixing them.

One year later I can say that as far as my performance stamina goes, I have no problems with a 3–4-hours rehearsal or a 2-hours gig. But… I don't play any "heavy" stuff, mostly blues, r&b, and a bit of latin and afro jazz. What definitely helped was a thorough setup by my local luthier who fixed quite a few issues with my bass to make it more suitable for my needs. That wasn't cheap – it cost more than what I paid for the bass itself – but it was worth it. (Full story of my bass in this thread.)
I still need to work on my right hand technique though, because that's where I usually get tired first, especially if I can't hear myself loud enough and start to "hack". It's the same on the bass guitars, for that matter, electric or acoustic. I often tend to play "full power" with the right hand because I also actually like the effect of such strong attack, so it's a bit hard to get rid of it.
And the E-string on DB is still kinda "problem zone" for me.

Speaking of the E-string, initially I had the full Spirocore Light (Weich) set on it, and I play exclusively in D Standard (!), so on my "almost 5/8" DB (101 cm), the weichs are really soft. The E-string (i.e. my low D) eventually turned out to be too weich, so a couple of weeks ago I've replaced it with a Mittel. Works great for me now.
By the way, I made my luthier aware that I intend to play in D Standard, so he made sure to set up the bass appropriately from the start.

Mine is a "no name" DB, carved, probably from the 1960s, probably of South German origin. No one really knows…

 

[Francois Blais]

Interesting videos:

 

[EdwardofHuncote]

Get an experienced luthier to adjust the sound post.

This, or replace it altogether.