The 5-String Double Bass

[Eric Hochberg]

I spoke with Andy last night and to quote him, the 5 string seemed "a more elegant solution" than the extension. I played his bass and it is very easy to get around on. I assumed all 5 stringers would have massive feeling necks and fingerboards but this isn't the case with his at all. The spacing at the nut felt almost BG like. He told me he worked very hard to get the setup just right for him. An interesting thing he mentioned is the approach German players use with fingerboards relatively flat. To compensate, they lighten up so as not to play adjacent strings and use a very fast bow arm to get the volume they need.