Double Bass What could cause a sudden change in sound?

[NeonIbis]

Dear TalkBass community,

I hope I'm posting in the right spot. I'd be grateful for any advice on what could have caused a change in sound from my bass.

I recently started playing my double bass again (Gliga III with Passione strings, about 10 years old, set up for arco). The sound seemed bad - especially the A and E strings were very 'dead'. The G sounded brighter, but a bit weird (it reminded me of a cello with gut strings). I thought the strings probably needed replacing after ten years and didn't inspect anything else too closely.

Then, from one day to the next, it seemed to come good and sound better - and louder - than I can remember. I don't think my playing has suddenly improved, so I wonder if something was out of place and I inadvertently knocked it back, or if I knocked something and somehow accidentally improved the setup...?

I've taken a look and everything seems to be in the right spot - bridge, tailgut, soundpost (as far as I can tell). The bridge might be a millimetre or so higher on the G side but seems centred and perpendicular. I wonder if the tailgut might have been out of place and got nudged back into position - would that change the sound? It's quite possible I knocked something while transporting the bass.

The only other possible factors I can think of are adjusting to a warm/humid climate, or something to do with rosin, but it seems unlikely that would produce a sudden and lasting change, as opposed to variation with the weather/rosin application.

If I have knocked something, is it possible the new improved sound is the result of something harmful? I'm happy with the way the bass sounds now, but puzzled as to what happened.

Thank you and apologies for the long message.

 

[pdbass]

Wooden instruments like to be vibrated! The more you play them, the better they sound. Sounds like your fiddle is just responding to being played again.

 

[AGCurry]

How long was the bass unplayed?
I would take it to a luthier for a wellness check... and you could probably use new strings.

 

[BassinCT]

If there has been a considerable change in relative humidity, and your instrument is responding to it with dimensional changes, the fit of your soundpost is likely part of it. I would have a luthier evaluate the fit of the post first.

 

[Scott Lynch]

If you really feel that something is off, take a trip to the luthier. If the bridge is still in position but has raised or lowered on one side only, the soundpost could have slipped a tiny bit. This happened to me once and put a bunch of things out of whack on my bass - feel, sound, etc.

I say take a trip to the luthier, though, because when I did, my luthier found that a portion of the top had come unglued and proceeded to fix that up too, in addition to resetting the soundpost. Your bass is young enough to still be settling a bit and it should be receiving regular check ups anyway, if it's not getting them already.

 

[AGCurry]

Serendipity... I took my bass to the shop Monday for sound and playability issues. The luthier JUST called to say it's ready, and he said he found (and closed) an open seam which wasn't visible to the eye. So stuff happens, it's not always obvious, and that's why there are luthiers!

 

[Paps]

Most likely it's just getting played in again.
My Bass is the same. If I leave it for a few weeks or a few months without being played,
it sounds dead the first time, but the next day it is often much better.
Then again, some days it sounds better than others!
They definitely like being played.
My teacher leaves his bass under his wife's Piano which she regularly plays.
As soon as you touch his bass with a bow, it seems to instantly jump to life!

 

[Jason Sypher]

My bass changes every single day. It’s the humidity and temperature. Humidity makes it dead and thick sounding. I call it waterlogged. Dryness makes it papery with a lot of string noise.

 

[NeonIbis]

Thank you so much everyone for your thoughts and suggestions! I'm afraid I don't currently have a luthier who I can get to, but it is reassuring that the change - whatever it was - made the bass sound better and more normal, rather than worse/strange. I've also taken a really good look at it and I can't see anything that looks wrong/different.

To answer some of the questions above, the bass wasn't played for about 2.5 years. I had the bridge upgraded and a few other things done in 2016. I'm now pretty confident the bridge hasn't moved - on very close inspection I can see pencil marks from when the new bridge was fitted and it's still in the same spot. The bass is now living in a warmer, more humid climate than its last home, but the sound seems consistent from day to day rather than changing with the weather. So, a mystery. I will continue to monitor, and try to get it looked at when I can. Thanks again!

 

[Don Hergert]

... The bass is now living in a warmer, more humid climate than its last home...

There are a few things that change with temperature and humidity changes... Wood expands with higher humidity and contracts with lower humidity. Metals and synthetics (like strings) contract with cold and expand with heat.

And there is also geometry, and while geometry also talks about temperature and humidity, it particularly talks about condition, setup and structural integrity... After hundreds of years of acoustic stringed instrument evolution, design at this point typically just works -- when the geometry of an acoustic stringed instrument is correct, it sings.

To my reading of this situation, for whatever reason, the geometry of this double bass is now correct. If that changes for the worse, it will be time to get it to someone who can identify what needs to be corrected.

Glad to hear things are going well; I hope you can enjoy this for many years.

 

[Jason Sypher]

I didn’t mention that for bowing I far prefer the dry version of my bass. It’s more full spectrum and the airiness in the mids give it a more cello-like sound. The humid version is pushy and thick. The bowed sound is more orchestral and supportive. Both are useful in their own ways.

 

[Admiral Akbar]

My bass changes every single day. It’s the humidity and temperature. Humidity makes it dead and thick sounding. I call it waterlogged. Dryness makes it papery with a lot of string noise.

Sounds familiar. I play a 100 yr old bass that can predict the weather change with perfect accuracy. It’s best sound happens about 8 hours or less before and during a period of precipitation, most especially snow. Pizzicato sounds awesomely huge and thumpy.

Interestingly, more subtle, but still apparent, my plank bass guitars also respond similarly to the weather.

I suppose it’s all about the wood.