I would like very much to answer this question!

Since you have not posted here in nearly 4 months, I've got to know how it ended!

yeah it has been a few months.....hmm...time flys when your havin fun!!!LOL;)

if your refering to the bass i bought off ebay, i just took ABers advice and waited it out. i never heard back from the guy who stated he was the new york attorney even after i called him back a few days later and left a message containing more questions about the stolen bass(if it was even true). im guessing they where trying to scam me out of my new bass i bought off ebay. i did learn a valuable lesson though, if you post pics of your very rare bass up with info such as serial #s anybody can try to claim it to be theres.

sucks there are actually people out there that do this.

wonder who has the very first fender bass, bet he has alot of problems with scammers trying to take his bass also...

thanks ABers for all your help in that matter. :)

Check out local Schools!

3/4.
http://musiced.about.com/od/lessonsandtips/a/doublebsizes.htm

thanks for that!!

no prob. happy to hear your other bass troubles worked out too.

First off, 3/4 is, for all practical purposes, a
"full" sized upright. That's what 99.9% of normal
sized people play, especially when you see them on
stage in jazz trios, rockabilly bands, and even
big bands.

Yes, 4/4 uprights do exist, and do get played in
symphony orchestras, but this, I'm pretty sure, is
where the stereotype of the tall skinny bass
player came from. You pretty much need to be very
tall, with very big hands, to play a 4/4 upright.

Now, as to ebay, I hope you are not talking about
buying one of those basses from one of those guys
who sells them for about $300.00, and tells you
about how your local music stores are ripping
people off.

For many years I worked for a large music chain,
and we had a very complete repair shop, that did
everything from electronics to brass, woodwinds,
string instruments, and just about anything else
you can think of. In the last couple of years I
worked there, we began to see a lot of people who
bought crappy instruments from those sellers on
ebay. They would bring the instruments in to get
repaired, and get irate because, in the case of
the brass and woodwinds, our shop would refuse to
repair them, because they couldn't get parts, and,
in any event, these instruments were made so
poorly that they wouldn't play well even once
repaired. And in the case of the bowed strings,
even were our repair shop to make them play, the
cost of doing so at normal shop rates would be far
more than what the person originally paid for the
"instrument."

In the case of upright basses, for example, aside
from crappy bridges, hardware, and the like, what
we usually saw were things like fingerboards that
had no "scoop," or relief in them. On a quality
upright, the fingerboard is made of ebony, or
rosewood, and, since the neck contains no
adjustable truss rod, the relief has to be carved
into the fingerboard. This, as you may imagine, is
not something that just anyone can do. It takes a
skilled craftsman a couple of hours to do this.

On the cheap ebay basses we saw, not only was
there no scoop in the fingerboard, but the
fingerboards were made of soft, "white" wood,
which were then stained, or more often, simply
painted black. So, in order to rectify the
problem, the luthier had two options. Either
replace the fingerboard with a real one made of
ebony or rosewood, or to scrape a scoop into the
existing one. The former was expensive in
materials alone, and then, of course there was the
labor. The latter was all labor, but no honest
luthier would perform such a repair, because once
he scraped the scoop into the soft, white
fingerboard, and repainted it, it would quickly
wear out. The paint would go away, and then the
wood would get grooves worn in it. And then the
customer would be unhappy because of what they
perceived as a lousy repair.

If you buy an upright off ebay, please make sure
it is a standard, reputable brand. I, however,
would rather go to a local store, where I could
play a few, and make my decision based on how they
sound.

Kelly

Thanks, I have just started to look for a double bass and was wondering if a 3/4 was the resonable size or if I for some reason would regret not getting a 4/4. - Was just going to post a question about it when I saw this answer.

(Having a daughter playing the cello, I'm used to thinking of a 3/4 size instrument as something one grows out of.. )

M.

3/4 is a 41" scale length = bridge to nut saddle is the most common size. Sorry not good with metric measures.
7/8 is a 44-46" played by some orchestral and jazz players.
4/4 is more like 48-52" scale length occasionally seen with full size orchestras. Monsters to play and I suspect the cause of my hand & shoulder injuries.
1/2 size is a 35" scale a common starter bass for younger players also used by many pro players as a piccolo or solo tuned bass= Ron Carter, Ray Brown, Percy Heath. FWIW My current upright is a nicer carved 1/2 size that a is comfortable for me to play, easier to transport and still has enough volume for most acoustic sessions and records extremely well.

Thanks! Is it possible to tune a 1/2 size bass like a normal one? And how loud can it be then? One of my uses for a double bass will be to play unamplified together with an unamplified steel string guitar. Will it then have enough volume for that?

Could be interesting.

M.

Morty -- what's up? I'm playing an Azola EUB with a 39 1/2" inch scale, but it uses 3/4 size strings. It plays at regular pitch. I think the main thing is that a smaller bass will have less volume than a larger one, all else being the same.

Compared with the scale lengths mentioned higher up, that looks like a 5/8 size ;-) Would you say that bass would work well together with a singer and a guitar?

Here things are going good. No further cruises planned for you?

M.

I'm doing a few jazz things here and there. No, no cruises. I got a job teaching history at a high school on Cape Cod. I'm hoping to pick up some work around here with some new musicians. How about yourself? And how is your lovely family?

The family is doing great. Hanne is still working on her farm projects. The girls growing. They are both engaged i music - one playing cello, the other recorder - both on piano.

M.

I am glad to hear that your daughters are learning music. My step-son plays both guitar and drums, and both of my daughters sing -- my step-daughter is a dancer. It is a great joy to see the next generation bring new life to the arts.

And yes, the Azola works great in a duo setting. A wonderful bass -- I love the sound of it, and the high C string is a real convenience.

Thanks!

M.

I have mine in standard tuning. Volume wist it should be more than enough for that setting, I use mine in a 20 piece chamber orchestra and there is plenty of volume.

Great! I had totally written of 1/2 size - although I didn't know if I could get a 3/4 size in my car...

M.

Transport is one of the reasons I am playing a 1/2 size the other is to save my hands. It's really hard for me to make the stretch and keep any endurance in my left hand any more on 3/4, a few minutes or a song fine but a whole set or gig no way. Both my eub and upright are the same scale so it's pretty easy to keep it up.

I am relatively big all ways around - including the hands, but no matter that is another valid reason for a 1/2 size. Just for curiousity - how large is your 1/2 size db - total length and width.

M.

Just under 50" in over all length and 30" wide lower bout.

Mort,

Yeah, with a violin or cello, a 3/4 size is
generally for kids. For some reason, violas are
measured in inches, rather than sizes. And then
there are basses, which have more sizes than
violins and cellos. With basses, there are
certainly things like 7/8, or even 5/8, although
most of the companies that make "affordable"
basses stick with the same measurements as their
violins. 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4. Most in this category
don't make 4/4 basses.

As an aside, upright basses are pretty much the
same as acoustic guitars, regarding construction.
The student ones are made out of plywood. Better
ones have solid tops. the best ones have, as a
minimum requirement, all solid wood. This, of
course, is over-simplifying a bit, because the top
must be arched, so a top on any bowed instrument
is much more complex than that of almost any
guitar. Where on guitars, arched tops and neck
relief can be accomplished through technology, on
a quality bowed instrument, it takes a skilled
luthier and carving.


Regarding size, if you are pretty tall, you may
find that a 5/8 is a better instrument for you.
However, this comes with its own set of problems,
like finding a decent case to cart it around in.
3/4 cases abound, but 5/8 cases, while certainly
available, cannot be purchased from just any
manufacturer, and are therefore a lot more
expensive.

Regarding tuning, yes, they all tune the same.
And, the longer the scale, at a given pitch and
string gauge, the tighter the sound will be. Just
like electric bass. All else being equal, the
larger bass will be louder and sound better. You
basically have to weigh the trade-offs, and for
most people, the 3/4 is the best choice.

Kelly

Sounds like sound advice Kelly...and made for an
excellent read !
Cheers
Peace Ed

Thanks, Ed, glad you enjoyed it. :)

Kelly