Possible de-rail here, but can someone explain why D standard tuning makes it easier to learn to play the DB? It's still tuned in 4ths, just down one step? Is it genre-specific, based on the music being played? Or something else?
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Double Bass What is this thing...
- Thread starter ctrlzjones
- Start date
I guess I was trying to say they both change the active string length.
I'm not a D standard user, but if a person is playing songs primarily in G, C or F, it might make it easier based on walking and the open notes. Plus that low D might be fun to have around. Other than that, the lower string tension might make learning fingering easier.
Although we've seen a few folks talking about it here lately, I do get the impression that "D standard" is more of an electric bass guitar thing, but I could be wrong.
Could it be some kind of camera? I think 94 was well before gopro but maybe something similar? Whatever it is, it looks to be in the way 
Looks like this is a video screencapture. Do you have a link to the video?
If I can move it fast enough, it's just what I need to play "Fever" as it modulates from A minor to Bb minor to B minor. No fingering changes! 
I found the video. Unless he's tuned down to Eb, I don't think it's a capo.
Also, that's some of the worst saxophone playing I've ever heard.
Also, that's some of the worst saxophone playing I've ever heard.
Wild guess, but maybe its like of those hair scrunchie things certain bassists put around their bass necks by the nut that limits how twangy or bright the strings are?
This device appears to completely cover the strings for its length. It's hard to imagine it as anything other than an extended nut or a capo. It appears to be removable on the fly. My guess is still some sort of capo. Just a guess though, I'd sure be interested in finding out some real details about it.
Some love Kenny G., others love Peter Brötzmann, there are many paces in the universe of sound. The funny thing is that eveybody claims to know very well what is good and what is bad.
And for being “the worst” Archie Shepp (did) have quite a career…
Precisely.
I made the switch to D standard when I was applying for a BG job in a band where I was supposed to replace a 5-string bassist. I didn't get the "full" job – but I did play several gigs with a semi-acoustic subset of the band – but I started to like D standard.
From this perspective, considering the shadows and reflections, it looks hollow to me.
My best guess, since his open strings seem to be sounding in standard tuning, is that it's just a physical aid to prevent him from playing F, Bb, Eb, Ab flat? I dunno, it's a strange one.
near the end of the video he plays near it and you can see it's soft
My guess is he has a false nut and this just covers it, and prevents him sliding his hands all the way back and playing on the false nut
My guess is he has a false nut and this just covers it, and prevents him sliding his hands all the way back and playing on the false nut
That makes the most sense to me. The height of the peg box seems to match this guess--that he was shortening the string length on a large instrument
The open strings are sounding EADG though. So he's tuned down to Eb standard?
No, he would be tuned to E. (Or any other tuning--it wouldn't be a capo in this scenario)
The low profile of the extended/false nut might make it easy to try to play on top of it by accident, and the device covering it is a tactile cue to prevent him from doing that, arched to not touch the strings, so that he could still tune. Could just be black construction paper taped to the neck/fingerboard.
The low profile of the extended/false nut might make it easy to try to play on top of it by accident, and the device covering it is a tactile cue to prevent him from doing that, arched to not touch the strings, so that he could still tune. Could just be black construction paper taped to the neck/fingerboard.
yeah kind of, if you removed the false nut.
the false nut just shortens the string length, to make big basses more manageable to play.
