Double Bass What the heck...

[Chef]

is this thing, and has anyone laid hands on one? "Sojing?"
I see this has been covered befpore, just looking for some more info...
http://cgi.ebay.com/Full-Size-BLACK...401140376QQcategoryZ16222QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[bassbob]

I ended up with three of these I bought from a guy. Anyway, I worked on them, redid the bridge and set them up. The sound is actually pretty good given the fact that they come with some kind of generic cheapo chinese metal strings.

I sold two of them and both buyers are happy so far.

The thing to remember is that these basses are prone to shipping damage and are fairly easy to repair. The bass has some kind of piezo pick up under the bridge and an element under each of the bridge feet. I took out the plastic piece under the bridge and let it rest on the elements. Doing that cut down the backround noise etc quite a bit. I also redid the action which comes set up pretty high for a lower jazz BG feel. The EQ preamp works alright and does pump out a pretty strong signal to overcome that classic piezo mega impedance
mismatch. I continue to work on the last one. I thinned the neck down a tad and I am waiting for a set of WW strings to see what they sound like. If that doesn't work out I have a better set of steels to put on the bass.

 

[mikjans]

These basses have flooded eBay lately, almost like the Palatinos.

I´ve seen them sold under the names Jisheng, Sojing, Julliards and Titan. Probably doesn´t end there, though.

Mikael

 

[ChasFL]

Bassbob,

I also bought one of these and it came shipped with the neck completely broken off at the base of the body. I sent it back and the second one came in fine. I play in a classic rock group and only bring it out for some novelty tunes where it can fit (Stray Cats, etc.).

One question: How were you able to lower the action on it. As it is not a bolt-on neck (and I agree, the action is quite a bit higher than I would like) lowering the action would be a great improvement to it. I'm just not sure how to do it correctly.
Other than that, I agree with your assessement of it. It's a little heavy, but that only shows that it is solid. Overall, it pumps out a good strong signal and is fun to play.

Thanks in advance...

 

[bassbob]

Chas,

The best way to adjust the height of the bridge short of going to a luthier is to take a pencil and tape to the end of a 3/8 or 1/2 dowel ( about 2 feet long and use the fingerboard as a guide to trace a line on the bridge. This line should give you a height just high enough to push your finger under the string with a little pressure.

When the line is marked on the bridge ( you may have take off a couple of strings to be able to do this ) You can use a coping saw and sandpaper and take off the excess wood and sand the bridge a little thinner at the top to allow for taper. You could also use a belt sander with a slightly worn belt to take off the excess. ( take your time with this, once the wood is off it is gone for good. ) I had pretty good luck with this and the action came out just right. You can use a file or an exacto knife to cut the grooves for the strings. Be careful not to cut too deep The grooves should be rounded out a little too. The strings should be about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way into the grooves. Try to round out the groove and use some wax and or pencil lead as a lubricant for the strings to slide back and forth.
As you tighten the strings back up to pitch watch the bridge and the tailpiece especially the tail piece cable to make sure everything is lined up. Make sure the cable stays around the endpin while you are tuning to pitch. I also lucked out with a used bridge I got off of Ebay. It came within a few days and I put it on the bass and it fit just right without any adjustment. ( that was 98% luck by the way. )

I also took the plastic piece under the bridge and threw it away. You cut down on string noise when that is gone. I also used some rubbermaid shelf covering to put over the piezo elements to cut down on b/g noise etc.

Let me know how it works out. Where did you get your bass from anyway.

Bob

 

[ChasFL]

Thanks Bob,

I'll try that when I have some time to devote to it. It certainly doesn't sound like something I want to rush. I can see it is something that I want to take down very slowly nitch by nitch because if it goes under, it would take getting a new bridge to have to start over.

I picked it up off eBay from a dealer in Texas for $650 I think it was. He was very understandable about it arriving with the broken neck and replaced it without question. How did you know they are prone to shipping damage?

I've seen them advertised at different prices and different wood texture (some, like mine, are solid color while some show prominent wood grain stripes). I was wondering if there are different manufacturers of different qualitys or if they are all from the same company. I've seen some state they come with a mini amp (mine did not though).

Anyway, thanks again for the help Bob and I will let you know how it comes out.

 

[ChasFL]

Bob,

From what I understand that you are saying, you are are not shaving anything off the bottom of the bridge (in other words the two support legs) but actually rounding off the whole top of the bridge and then renotching the string grooves in the top of the bridge, is that correct?

Since you had such good luck in doing this already, would you be interested in doing this for me as a paid service job. I would hate to start trying to do this and then blow it. Since you have a model to work from and have had success at it already, I could send you my bridge and you could do it for your cost.

Please let me know if you would be interested.

Thanks