Help with my String/Bridge Height

[Arnold Schnitzer]

What Ken said...

[Calvin Marks]

Thank you VERY much for your reply. It seems that I definitely need to get the bridge/fingerboard plained correctly once and for all. I must admit it is a bit of a chore playing in thumb position considering the heights are so out of whack...I also can't really dig into the E string because of how low it is.

I had an audition the other day, and I actually got to the finals but the committee told me to raise my string heights...ha!

It's a bit tough in this city to find a repair person who also plays bass. Most of them are violinists at general music stores.

It seems 4,5,6,7 would be good, now I just need to find someone to do it!

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Calvin, 4mm under your G string is not going to allow you to bow aggressively. Typically, classical players keep the G at about 6mm. Good luck with your set-up, hope you find someone to get it right for you...

[Calvin Marks]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

Calvin, 4mm under your G string is not going to allow you to bow aggressively. Typically, classical players keep the G at about 6mm. Good luck with your set-up, hope you find someone to get it right for you...

I like the 4mm on the G cause I'm playing a lot of solo repertoire. In order to win a job you need to play orchestral excerpts and a concerto/solo Bach. I could easily do the excerpts at 6mm+ on the G, but definitely not anything solo related.

If I had a job already I'd set my bass up with G at 7mm, but I don't really have that option.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Calvin Marks

I like the 4mm on the G cause I'm playing a lot of solo repertoire. In order to win a job you need to play orchestral excerpts and a concerto/solo Bach. I could easily do the excerpts at 6mm+ on the G, but definitely not anything solo related.

If I had a job already I'd set my bass up with G at 7mm, but I don't really have that option.

When people try my basses here at 4-5mm, they ask me to raise it for them. My Martini is about 4mm and a tight feeling bass as far as the tension goes. If it was not as tight, 5mm would work better. With Flexocor or BelCantos, 4mm is fine for me but with Evah's, 5mm works better. These being the lowest possible heights for playing softly. For digging in, they need to be higher and my FB camber/curve is nearly flat. My Gilkes (Jilkes) has a bigger camber just due to the wood settling itself in the neck and FB and is usually tight as well. That Bass plays better slightly higher than the Martini. Go figure..

Arnold (above) has worked on both of these basses and has seen many many top pros play on them in his shop. He can go into better detail as far as the various heights here and there vs the playability soft thru heavy playing.

Now, if you just bought some old German shop bass with a long Eb neck and a thinned fingerboard I could understand you having problems due to the bass being out of repair set-up wise but, I am under the impression here that you have a brand new handmade bass. In my opinion, we should not be having this discussion. It is no rocket science to get a bass to play fairly well especially if it just left the makers hands. Did someone mess with the bass since it was made or has been fiddled with over and over by someone else who is not qualified to be doing so?

I have to say that between strings and set-up issues, you have been on at least 2 forums 'hunting' for answers way more than you did about the actual build of the bass before hand.

Please fill us in on how you got to this point and condition of bass IF we are talking about the new one you just had made.

[Calvin Marks]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

When people try my basses here at 4-5mm, they ask me to raise it for them. My Martini is about 4mm and a tight feeling bass as far as the tension goes. If it was not as tight, 5mm would work better. With Flexocor or BelCantos, 4mm is fine for me but with Evah's, 5mm works better. These being the lowest possible heights for playing softly. For digging in, they need to be higher and my FB camber/curve is nearly flat. My Gilkes (Jilkes) has a bigger camber just due to the wood settling itself in the neck and FB and is usually tight as well. That Bass plays better slightly higher than the Martini. Go figure..

Arnold (above) has worked on both of these basses and has seen many many top pros play on them in his shop. He can go into better detail as far as the various heights here and there vs the playability soft thru heavy playing.

Now, if you just bought some old German shop bass with a long Eb neck and a thinned fingerboard I could understand you having problems due to the bass being out of repair set-up wise but, I am under the impression here that you have a brand new handmade bass. In my opinion, we should not be having this discussion. It is no rocket science to get a bass to play fairly well especially if it just left the makers hands. Did someone mess with the bass since it was made or has been fiddled with over and over by someone else who is not qualified to be doing so?

I have to say that between strings and set-up issues, you have been on at least 2 forums 'hunting' for answers way more than you did about the actual build of the bass before hand.

Please fill us in on how you got to this point and condition of bass IF we are talking about the new one you just had made.

Same bass. It came with these string heights from the maker. I also put in about 2 years of research as to what I exactly wanted, and I got that, apart from the fingerboard camber issues. I'm honestly just looking for advice. You guys are used to playing great basses, so all I want are answers.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Calvin Marks

Same bass. It came with these string heights from the maker. I also put in about 2 years of research as to what I exactly wanted, and I got that, apart from the fingerboard camber issues. I'm honestly just looking for advice. You guys are used to playing great basses, so all I want are answers.

Playing even a Plywood bass, it must be set-up correctly. Bad set-up is just that, bad unplayable set-up. Even a 100k bass can have a bad set-up.

If you want answers and demand them to guide you perfectly, HIRE a Bass set-up consultant. Short of that, you are stuck with the answers given on the Forums. Sorry!