Choosing the 'right' Bass for you...

[Calvin Marks]

I had a fairly unusual scenario for trying to find the "right" bass for me. I'm sure you're all aware of my constant talks about my physical shortcomings. For me, it was about finding an instrument with narrow shoulders that had a good amount of slope to them. Also a bass that had a very large neck angle and large over-stand.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Calvin Marks

I had a fairly unusual scenario for trying to find the "right" bass for me. I'm sure you're all aware of my constant talks about my physical shortcomings. For me, it was about finding an instrument with narrow shoulders that had a good amount of slope to them. Also a bass that had a very large neck angle and large over-stand.

I am well aware of your situation from reading it on-line. Have you reached the final chapter with this? Bass, set-up, strings, etc? The sound there where you want it?

Hey, it's great to dream. Then at least we know what we really want.

For me, it changes by the day. I know what I said earlier today in the above post and then when I came in to the office I played for about an hour on the Martini. I now know that I prefer an Eb neck, period! The Martini and Gamba are Ds and gonna stay that way. The Gilkes is a finger width short of an Eb so just about close enough in that area. The Hart is a dead on Eb and I just love the added reach I can get with it. The two things I don't like currently are the broader shoulders and the edge on the top of the note when playing the Bass. That edge though fades away as you walk further from the Bass. I remember that the best part of this Bass when I bought it was the smooth Italian sounding 'G' string and that diminished from slightly the D, A and E as you went lower. The Top was sunk in, split all over and the Back was off the upper bass-side cornerblock by a 'hand' sized opening. You could literaly reach inside the Bass there.

The sound of the Hart I believe will come back in a matter of time because it just went thru a massive restoration, the last one being done in 1944, London. At that time we believe the Top was overly thinned in a few spots and that partially caused the stressed condition of the Bass 40 years later when it was retired from use. Now that it is all in tip top physical shape but it just needs to be played. Patience on my part and playing it is the only remedy (unless it gets sold..). The shoulders are broader than the Martini but they are sloped in more at the Neck area. From the level of the shoulders on the Hart you can reach about a whole tone higher on the fingerboard parallel to that position over the Martini. So the slightly broader shoulders are really the only thing that I have to get used to on the Hart. I prefer that challenge over the D neck issue which cannot be fixed as easily on the Martini nor gotten used to.

Lets see which way the wind blows next week.. lol

All kidding aside, I have hardly used the Hart bass but on a handfull of concerts. I was afaraid to take it out most of the time to tell the truth. Maybe if I had this Bass in my hands for 5 years like the Martini the choice wouldn't be as difficult. I used to love my old Italian Bass that I have for 20 years. It was barely a D neck and over 42". Still, I played it almost every day for 15 years and always with a smile. The smile took a few years to come but never went away after that.

For what it's worth, in my situation money is not the factor here because I already have the Basses mentioned above. It's purely comfort. I like my Eb neck Blockless bass more than some of the more expensive D necked pedigrees as well but that's another story. It's just more fun to play.

Fun! Now there's a word we need to put into the official Bass search list. Is the Bass more fun to play or more work. I would venture to say that if it's more work, keep looking!

[Calvin Marks]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

I am well aware of your situation from reading it on-line. Have you reached the final chapter with this? Bass, set-up, strings, etc? The sound there where you want it?

To be honest, I don't think I'm ever going to be completely satisfied with my set-up, strings and sound. I'm quite the perfectionist and it often creeps into how I make music, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

There's always going to be a better set of strings out there or perhaps a slightly better bridge angle. All I can say is, for now I can play the bass without being in pain; this I could not achieve one year ago before I got this instrument.

The sound is very dark, I think I'll have to rest on the fact that it is just a very dark sounding bass, and I'll have to live with that fact, instead of spending more amounts of money on strings and such.

One day, hopefully when I'm in a decent orchestra I'll have the money and knowledge to get a great master instrument that suits my body type, until then I'm perfectly happy playing on a good modern instrument.

[Ken McKay]

Originally Posted by Calvin Marks

I had a fairly unusual scenario for trying to find the "right" bass for me. I'm sure you're all aware of my constant talks about my physical shortcomings. For me, it was about finding an instrument with narrow shoulders that had a good amount of slope to them. Also a bass that had a very large neck angle and large over-stand.

Calvin, what do you mean regarding the last sentence.

I assume it keeps your right and left hands close to your body.

[Calvin Marks]

Originally Posted by Ken McKay

Calvin, what do you mean regarding the last sentence.

I assume it keeps your right and left hands close to your body.

The large over-stand helps me reach to the end of the fingerboard. The majority of my playing is solo-playing, so my set-up is very much like Gary Karr's. Not very practical for "orchestra" playing, but that's my style and it's how I express myself best.

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Originally Posted by Calvin Marks

The large over-stand helps me reach to the end of the fingerboard.

How high is the overstand? The bridge?

[Calvin Marks]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

How high is the overstand? The bridge?

How would you like me to measure the overstand?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Calvin Marks

How would you like me to measure the overstand?

Until Arnold gets back on line, place a small ruler on the Top where the bottom of the Neck sits in the Block. From the Top to the underside of the Fingerboard (or the surface of the Neck that the FB sits on) is the measurement you want. That space is called the overstand. How far the Neck is off the Top!

My Basses that were set by Arnold average 34-36mm of space between and described above. Here are some pics for reference;


This big 4/4 Gamba is set out quite a bit more due to the wider shoulders, longer body length and center bout width. I have seen one other large shouldered bass just recently out of restoration that was set out even more than this one and it needed it to avoid being cut!

[Ken McKay]

From the top plate to the underside of the fingerboard at the end of the neck.

...and the bridge from the top in between the A and D string.


Oh I see KS beat me too it, of course.

[Ken McKay]

Another thing is the angle of the neck in relation to the back.

I am asking here. If the neck angles back too much it makes it hard for the left arm and the player tends to want to lean back while playing in first position and then forward when going up to the higher positions. Right?

What are some landmarks in regard to this? I might need to do some drawings.