Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas Erickson
This is a little aside the original topic, but considering the topic, heheh... I'm curious - for the players who do experience a lot of seasonal change and use an adjustable bridge to compensate, how much overall height adjustment would you say you're using over the course of the year? Are you using a significant amount of the range of your adjusters? And also, do you change soundposts or just try to keep a "happy medium" fitted year-round? |
I want to add one more reason why adjusters are good to have in my opinion.
I have experienced within the same day or week going from one place to another feeling the strings higher or lower due to humidity/temperature changes. A slight turn of each adjuster, maybe evenly and maybe not, gave me the set-up I needed for that job.
Next, one day I might be doing a jazz gig. For Trip/Duo/Combo work with bass solos, I need lower action. For Big band or Singer/Show type back-up work, I want the strings higher.
For Classical Orchestra, I usually go as high as it is comfortable. If I have a solo or for chamber music, I might go a little lower.
All of these situations can happen within a given week or month for a full time professional freelance bassist. I was one of them in NY. My main bass then was an old Italian Flatback, now used in a Finnish Orchestra with a Rogeri label.
With some Roundbacks, I see move movement because the Back is not braced and more free to shift. Flatbacks shift too but the braces attempt to hold it stable. In the case of the bass changing between seasons they both move.
So, if you want your bass the way you want it day in and day out, use good adjusters and I have several kinds within my basses. Some turn easier and some not so easy. I am more concerned with that than what or how they effect the sound. I need the height I need. I can play louder or softer at a greater degree than any adjuster can affect a Bass's tone in my opinion.
Now as far as the Soundpost goes (aka SP), Roundbacks(RB) in 4-season areas experience more variation than Flatbacks(FB). Over time, the SP on a RB needs more attention than that of a FB.
If fitted in the summer or spring, either Back type, it might need to be shaved down a mm or so in the winter. If you can while you are having your RB bass restored, put some kind of center brace in there. This will help save your Back over time from splits in case of drastic changes or hard knocks. I demand this with most of my basses whenever possible. They even sound better afterwards and I think the move less afterwards. Somewhat between a FB and a regular RB. So, a RB with a center brace is a bit of a hybrid.
Just have the tightness of the Post checked in the early winter or if you suspect its too tight which you might hear in the change of the sound. Read all audible signs as something to look at and take nothing for granted with these BIG Violins!
One last thing about adjusters in my reference above to playing various styles from day to day. Imagine your Bass having a fixed Endpin. Some days you sit, some days you stand. Sometimes you stand straight and sometimes you slouch. Some music you want the bass higher and some lower. An adjustable endpin fixes that problem in the same way bridge adjusted do your string height.
I have a few fixed endpins but I also carry the adjustable rod with me as well.
Flexibility is important.