This is a thread on this bass posted at TB after I got it back from getting a new bridge, nut, saddle, soundpost, fingerboard dressing and French Polish.
Ken suggested I continue discussion here as well.
.....................Copied from TB..........................
She's back!
Here's me tonight with a bad pic from a guest at the gig. Yes, I took her outside. Couldn't resist. Perfect night. No hint of rain until I'd long since packed her away.
First time I've seen me with it. Looks like it fits.
Nice ass.
On the bass.
Lots of stuff here. I'll try to summarize. Got it back last week, drove straight from Cincinnati to the gig. Arrived at 5:57pm for a 6pm downbeat. I was only five minutes late though. Not bad. Just jumped in with no alone time. What the hell. Played a gig, sounded pretty amazing considering I had no time to adjust anything. Kinda like sitting in on somebody elses bass. Freaking out at the hugeness of it all. The resonance, the tight but huge bottom end. Wow. G string got annoying by the end of the night but considering I felt like I was test driving a Ferrari after driving a Vanagon most of my life it wasn't bad at all.
Next day the crap tailpiece it came with shredded apart while I was at work so she was down all the rest of the weekend while I waited for another to arrive. It was depressing to come home and see a pile of bridge, pickup and tailpiece on the floor in the corner where it lives and strings dangling...:bawl:
Thankfully the soundpost didn't move. I got the new TP yesterday. I put on Spirocores, Mittel A/D/G and the Stark E. Sounded terrible. To much tension. Swapped out the Stark E for a Mittel. Sounded much better across the bass but the E was a wimp compared to the Stark both Pizz and under the bow. Played a rehearsal like that this morning. More depression. Better but unsatisfactory. Buzzy D/G, G is dead as a doorknob. Sounds a note then dies quick. Gets really nasal up the fingerboard and never really drives the box much. Something amiss there.
Some Oliv strings arrive today. Put the Olive D/G on with the Mittel A/E. Very nice. Middle of the bass opens up, G is better, still deadish but the bass regains some thump. Obviously needed the lighter tension. Still hating on the Mittel E. Miss my Stark E. **** it, I put it on.
GLORIOUS! At least mostly. Big bottom, nice punch, full and round. That Oliv D/G is quite a couple of strings. I remembered why I liked them so much. The G is still choked or deadish. Just a quick thunk and then overtones. Bummer. The rest of the bass sounds so great I'm taking her to a gig anyhow.
Big sound on the gig even outside. The G was usable but I had to work around the short note. The spiros are noticably louder than the Oliv but I've been there before. Just gotta get used to it again. Those Spiro Stark E/Mittel A combos with lighter top strings are very big sounding for me on both basses. Dunno why. I just like it. The Gut in the Oliv makes me smile. Not like a Gamut but feels like home more or less. Pretty close to that "sound".
The Stark E on that bass under the bow is a total badass. Roars. Shakes the bass all over the place and has a huge long note all the way up past B. That's worth a whole mess of money right there. Its nice to grab the bow mid phrase and keep the note going into something long and big without a stumble. Can't do that on plywood. Now I gotta learn how to put it down fast enough to get back to the pizz without dropping a beat...
The A string is big too. Strong, rich and full. Shakes the bass around like the Stark E. Sweet.
The D string is also big with either the Spiro or the Oliv. The Oliv has a better transition to the other oliv and it's got that guttish thing I'm a sucker for.
The bottom 3 strings are fantastic. I played most of the gig there.
The G is still funky. Playable but nowhere near what I know it can be. My next suspect is the tuning machine. The G string tuner has a nasty bend in it. I suspect it took a major hit, perhaps when the neck broke. I think it's slopping around in the pegbox. The screw holes that hold the little plate are to big and I think it's moving. I suspect the pegbox may have some slop around the cylinder too. Some disconnect between the key and the wood perhaps. I dunno. Oliv aside it doesn't stay solid in tune.
I don't think it's in the main box itself. Could be...We'll see. Nnick and I will discuss when he returns from vacation....
On with my obsession.
To be continued.......
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I switched strings around on both D/G posts and the G remained short sounding. The tuning keys seem like they are fine. Ken's given some suggestions on grooming the takeoff points for the nut and bridge in more detail that I'll do as well.
I should also say to be clear, this bass sounds amazing as it sits. I'm just nit picking....