Double Bass Vibration dedamping of a DB

[wvdb]

Hello all,

I have searched TB and found a 7-11-2004 thread on "What happens when a bass matures?" I thought I would go one step further in asking for your opinions and thoughts on vibration dedamping of a DB via "artificial play-in", with either speaker sound bombardment, vibrelex or some other means.

I have read everything on it around Violin, Cello, Mandolin & Guitar I can find, however I can't find anything about artificial "play-in" being done on a DB.

I understand it is clearly not as good as playing in the bass by continuous practice, however it would still seem to be a good thing to do to new DBs.

I have read Dr. Gottfried Lehmann's papers as well as Henry Strobel's comments. Located here: http://www.henrystrobel.com/vibrate.htm

Listening intently for your every word.

 

[KSB - Ken Smith]

I don't know anything about artificial "play-in" but a Bass going thru the seasons each year as it settles seems more the topic to me.

The Bass is made from many many pieces of wood that expand and contract with temperture and humidity as well as vibrations from being played. Many Basses made with older aged woods can sound better but the Bass itself is still newly glued together and needs to move around for years and years with whatever repairs needed to fix and maintain it.

A Bass well played will make that bass sound better but old sounding might just need time. I don't know how you can fake time. The Bass adjusts into each seasonal change, relaxes and then moves again the next season. How do you fake that?

Old Basses feel and sound old. New Basses dont'!

 

[bassist14]

hello wvdb,

i have read about this method applied by Prof. v.Reumont (mentioned in the article you linked)
in a german bass-forum there are several very positive reactions from people who applied his method.
if you can read german i can post a link

 

[Blaine]

in trying to get a brand new Strunal to open up a little i layed a polytone amp on it's back, played a cd thru it for a few hours with the bass laying on top of it (with a folded towel to protect finish). i did this a few times over a week. i think it really worked. not real dramatically but enough that i noticed it and thinking about it now i think i'm going to do it again.

 

[WillBuckingham]

hello wvdb,

i have read about this method applied by Prof. v.Reumont (mentioned in the article you linked)
in a german bass-forum there are several very positive reactions from people who applied his method.
if you can read german i can post a link

Please post the link.

-Will

 

[bassist14]

hi will,

here are some links:
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or you can go here:
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and do a search ("suchen") for "reumont"
hope this helps. (and that the links work...)

 

[wvdb]

Below is Babelfish translation of Bassist14 link from German to English:

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So as I understand it Reumont's technique is to use a small motor with counter weights to setup waves through the DB and adjust the rotation speed of the small dc motor based on the output of a strobe tuner. Found a pic of one on H. Stroebel's site see attached...

Further research and I found this from LeftBrainLuthiers:

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I like both ideas better than 1000w of bass speakers pointed into the corner of my basement.

 

[jonas]

I have read everything on it around Violin, Cello, Mandolin & Guitar I can find, however I can't find anything about artificial "play-in" being done on a DB.
I understand it is clearly not as good as playing in the bass by continuous practice, however it would still seem to be a good thing to do to new DBs.

Prof. von Reumont, the developper and inventor of the Vibration Dedampenig technique for musical instruments, is a double bassist. He has worked with many basses, and his technique is applyable to basses without limitations. But due to the deep frequencies of a bass, it takes some hours/days longer than with smaller instruments.

As far as I remember, the dedampening technique was first applied to steel bridge construction projects. So it's no woodoo at all, it's really scientific. If it really helps to make better sounding instruments, is hard to proove - sound quality can't be measured, it's up to your ears. But you can measure the power you need to produce a tone, before and after dedampening. So you can measure that dedampening really has an effect, for sure.

Prof. von Reumont has showed me his technique some years ago, and I always wanted to start some own dedampening jobs. But it's very time consuming, and so far, I wasn't able to find enough time for it. But I believe that, in addition to the more traditional things you can do with a bass, it is an interesting method to improve a bass' sound (or eleminate a wolfe tone).

 

[jonas]

in trying to get a brand new Strunal to open up a little i layed a polytone amp on it's back, played a cd thru it for a few hours with the bass laying on top of it (with a folded towel to protect finish). i did this a few times over a week. i think it really worked. not real dramatically but enough that i noticed it and thinking about it now i think i'm going to do it again.

Prof. von Reumont told me (and wrote in his book) that loudspeakers don't have enough power for double bass dedampening.

 

[Bob Branstetter]

Here is a link to a discussion we had back in 2002. While I have no intention of getting involved in another rehash of this topic, I will say that I have been using Prof. von Reumont's process on basses in my shop for well over 5 years now and it works for me. In addition to "waking up" instruments, I use the process as the final step whenever I'm making major repairs that require removal of the top or back. The only person I've had complain about the process is my wife. She hates the loud racket it makes throughout the house (for two days or more at a time!). Unfortunately, short cuts don't work with this process.

 

[wvdb]

Bob, thanks so much, would it be possible to post a pic of the device you use?