The 5-String Double Bass

[Robert J Spear]

I'm going to have to punt on this one. I don't play enough anymore to have had experience with all the strings that are out there now. I can say that for the low B I would tend to favor a steel rope-core because they are brighter and usually punchier. It's a bit of work to get them going because of that construction, but usually passages where you'd need a low B aren't fast. A string that is warm and mellow just gets muddy on most basses. Pizz is difficult enough without the extra damping.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Robert J Spear

I'm going to have to punt on this one. I don't play enough anymore to have had experience with all the strings that are out there now. I can say that for the low B I would tend to favor a steel rope-core because they are brighter and usually punchier. It's a bit of work to get them going because of that construction, but usually passages where you'd need a low B aren't fast. A string that is warm and mellow just gets muddy on most basses. Pizz is difficult enough without the extra damping.

I agree with you on the string type but there are many many pieces with fast low passaged like in Shost. 5th, Beeth. 3rd, 5th, 6th.. and anything where the basses double the cellos. Many play the lines up an octave but I try and play it as written. For this I want a string that responds quick with the bow. Often the passage is mid tempo and jumps down for a note or two and you need it to grab or you are just playing behind the tempo.

I have used Perm B before but I was told that the current string Thom. Precision is a good 'B' but, it's as old as the bass. I need to but a new string so it's either that 'B' which has a solid core or a Perm. One bass I tried had Flex. 92s but the 'B' was a Jaegar blue/medium and played ok mixed with the 92s. Now that I have the Perm's on the bass which play well, I need a 'B' to match.

[Robert J Spear]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

I agree with you on the string type but there are many, many pieces with fast low passaged like in Shost. 5th, Beeth. 3rd, 5th, 6th.. and anything where the basses double the cellos.

Those guys were seriously trying to see if bassists could take a joke. And I for sure would argue that Beethoven never intended the passage in the 6th to be played cleanly since it is meant to rumble and evoke a storm (one of which is passing overhead even as I write).

We will have to develop a bass that is intended for fifths tuning and that is fast enough to start bringing out these kinds of passages cleanly. That will surely mean another look at what an orchestra bass is supposed to sound like, how it should be played (yeah, I know; really well). This is currently where my head is at in bass development.

BTW, I saw a 5'er not along ago that had the low B string spacing very close to the E. Other strings were spaced about normally. The bridge was modified to get the B out of the way, so to speak. The player said that he needed the B from time to time, but not often enough to give it equal standing. I tried playing the bass (everyone else fled from the room), and the arrangement wasn't hard to get used to. I think somewhere in the forum someone else has already mentioned setting the bass up this way, but it was the first one I'd ever seen.

That's what I like about the bass world. Just when you think you've seen it all, you haven't.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Robert J Spear

Those guys were seriously trying to see if bassists could take a joke. And I for sure would argue that Beethoven never intended the passage in the 6th to be played cleanly since it is meant to rumble and evoke a storm (one of which is passing overhead even as I write).

We will have to develop a bass that is intended for fifths tuning and that is fast enough to start bringing out these kinds of passages cleanly. That will surely mean another look at what an orchestra bass is supposed to sound like, how it should be played (yeah, I know; really well). This is currently where my head is at in bass development.

BTW, I saw a 5'er not along ago that had the low B string spacing very close to the E. Other strings were spaced about normally. The bridge was modified to get the B out of the way, so to speak. The player said that he needed the B from time to time, but not often enough to give it equal standing. I tried playing the bass (everyone else fled from the room), and the arrangement wasn't hard to get used to. I think somewhere in the forum someone else has already mentioned setting the bass up this way, but it was the first one I'd ever seen.

That's what I like about the bass world. Just when you think you've seen it all, you haven't.

They tried 5ths over a century or two ago in France and it failed when they heard the intonation as compared to playing in fourths. Why re-invent the wheel here. I tried 5ths for half a day and my mind was quite scrambled along with my tendons stretched and sore. I prefer under 42" string length with 4ths. I had one bass at 44 1/2" for a couple of years and it was no fun playing that length. Now it's down to 42" and much easier to play.

On the spacing and crowning for the B at the bridge, yes some bridges are cut like that for 5s but if you go and measure 100 bridges, the spacing from center to center in MMs, tell me how many are spaced evenly on even a 4 string. Most basses are not spaced perfectly, even to the eye. I can see the point of doing this to a B making it closer but it might be hard to jump down and not over reach for the B being closer not to mention hitting the C Bout with the bow hairs or the corner with the Frog.

What Beeth. meant to be played and what is required now is way way different. 3 or maybe 4 gut strings with high action playing the sextuplets in the 9th? lol.. in your dreams. That last page was like a pink slip. I think that's why those parts say Cello-Bass, same part. LOL.. Means "Lots Of Luck!" ... lol.. (the other meaning!)