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Old 10-23-2007, 02:51 PM
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Question String Length/Neck Stop ??

What is your favorite String length and why?

The average is 41" - 42" but many Basses fall under and over especially older Basses and some smaller ones.

Also, what is your favorite Neck/Heel stop, D or Eb?

Moving the Bridge up or down by the F-notch area does affect this stop as well.
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Old 10-26-2007, 02:52 PM
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Wow, I'm having vuja de (that's the weird feeling that none of this has happened before.)

I had a 41.5 bass that was Eb neck. Now I have a 43 that is a D neck. Some say different scales are harder to get used to than the D / Eb issue, but for me, the D / Eb issue was more problematic, and I still sometimes go up to a note at the heel and, well, I'm only a half step off at the most....

What was that "blue note" you grabbed on the turn around there, Powell? That was way kewl!

If I was strictly a jazz player, I might want the Eb neck back. It seemed easier to find the horn key notes because I could reference them all at the heel. For folk tune and rock stuff I had all the most frequent chord fundamentals at the open end. But the long 43 and the D neck have gradually become normal, preferred perhaps.

On the matter of changing the scale length, I have noticed that on my D neck there are also other built in references that would move if I fitted a false nut. The overstand point marks the F, C, G, D, A notes and makes it easier for me to find my way up to thumb position. That would shift if the string was shortened. I'm used to that now, so I don't intend to change anything.

If I liked a particular bass for it's sound and overall response, I don't think either the string length or the Eb / D issue would be considered much.
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Old 10-26-2007, 03:21 PM
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Lightbulb False Nuts and why..

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Powell View Post
Wow, I'm having vuja de (that's the weird feeling that none of this has happened before.)

I had a 41.5 bass that was Eb neck. Now I have a 43 that is a D neck. Some say different scales are harder to get used to than the D / Eb issue, but for me, the D / Eb issue was more problematic, and I still sometimes go up to a note at the heel and, well, I'm only a half step off at the most....

What was that "blue note" you grabbed on the turn around there, Powell? That was way kewl!

If I was strictly a jazz player, I might want the Eb neck back. It seemed easier to find the horn key notes because I could reference them all at the heel. For folk tune and rock stuff I had all the most frequent chord fundamentals at the open end. But the long 43 and the D neck have gradually become normal, preferred perhaps.

On the matter of changing the scale length, I have noticed that on my D neck there are also other built in references that would move if I fitted a false nut. The overstand point marks the F, C, G, D, A notes and makes it easier for me to find my way up to thumb position. That would shift if the string was shortened. I'm used to that now, so I don't intend to change anything.

If I liked a particular bass for it's sound and overall response, I don't think either the string length or the Eb / D issue would be considered much.
On the matter of making a False Nut I have only done this with an Eb-Neck that was over 42" combined. I would never do it to a D-Neck as that would make it more of a Db-Neck. If you need to shorten a Bass with a D-Neck short of major surgery, you can cheat the Bridge forward a bit to just above the notches instead of being centered at them.

My Batchelder is an Eb-Neck and my 7/8 Shen a D-Neck. The Shen I moved the Bridge up to get 41 1/2" (or 41 5/8"?) from the original 42". The Batchelder I haven't touched and is a 41 1/4" String length. If it was a D-Neck it would be under 41".

My Loveri was close to 43" and between a D and Eb so I made a false Nut and cheated the Bridge to get it under 42" and a D-Neck.

My Hart is coming out of restoration and the Bridge is cheated just slightly to 41 3/4" with an Eb-Neck. This Bass is super comfy.

My Cornerless Attr. Storioni is between D and Eb and has a 44 1/4"-44 1/2" S.L.. I cheated the Bridge to 44 1/4 and did the Pulcinella Suite in concert a few days after buying the Bass.

Other than stretching my fingers, I have not had much problem changing from Bass to Bass. What I do to get in-tune is warm up with Scales, Arpeggios and memorized parts as well as improvised doodling. I even do this with my eyes close sometimes and just listen to the pitch.

If I had been set with one Bass and made my first change then I could see having a problem but changing instruments all the time has made a big difference in the ability to adapt.

Still I prefer 41-42" but have no preference over D or Eb-Neck. Each type has its own benefits and issues as well.
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Old 03-24-2008, 03:49 PM
Calvin Marks Calvin Marks is offline
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42" for me seems to work well. I've played on basses from 37"-42" and I thought all along that because I have smaller hands I should use a sub-41" string length. My luthier built me a bass with a very nice thin thin making the 42" string length very easy to play on. In fact it's easier than the Hungarian Solo Bass with a 40" mensure. I think a lot of it has to do with action, neck width and set-up. I also prefer a D neck
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Old 03-24-2008, 05:04 PM
Greg Clinkingbeard Greg Clinkingbeard is offline
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My bass has a 43" string length and other than a little minor stretching in half and FP it is just fine. This bass has a D neck which I prefer but I've played on Eb and those somewhere in the middle so it's no big deal. It just takes a bit of getting used to. There are many factors that make a bass comfortable to play. Overall size, size of shoulders, depth of ribs etc.
When I bought this bass, I never even thought about any of those things. It sounds nice to me and is very playable, so that's it.
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Old 08-26-2008, 11:14 PM
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Cool updated prefrence..

First off let me say that experience within your own playing is what helps a person decide what he likes or what works best for him. People often change slightly in preferred specs or even drastically at times. Sometimes you go back and forth depending on various factors. Sometimes you just go one way or the other with extreme opposition to change. Some people just go with whatever.

I am writing now to give an update due to a recent experience. I had mentioned in the past that I use both D and Eb Neck-Heels depending on whatever or I just learn to play 'that' Bass however it is.

Before going into the actual 'eye-opener' or experience let me lay some groundwork so I can be better understood.

When Playing Jazz or any other non-Classical Bass/Symphony Orchestra format you more often than not improvise quite a bit and can choose what notes you play. I have done about 20 different B'way Show books (most of them in NY on B'way!) and there you usually have to play the written notes. Playing Shows like that however written or not is still no where near as demanding as playing the Orchestra Rep which many may not realize until you are doing it, me included!

With that out on the table let me say that the D or Eb Neck Heel is one of the biggest dilemmas to some of todays Bass shoppers. I have been told by some that the world is set mainly on a 41-42" String length with a D-Neck Heel, Period!

Ok, so that might be the case 'sometimes' but it is not a Law!

I grew up professionally playing one Bass at a time until about 1973-1975 when I had about 4 Basses in rotation. I sold 3 of them and kept only the best sounding Bass which was an old Italian. This was not in anyway the easiest Bass to play. It was just the best so I did what I had to in order to play it and get around the shoulders. I even had to carve the Heel down myself to get it to a D-Neck as it was closer to a Db after the restoration when I bought it. The Bass was 44" S.L and ended up a tad over 42" with no block-cut. Just a shorter Neck from Eb to Db and the Bridge cheated slightly.

That is a good example of having a choice in Heel Stops and then ignoring it completely to play the Bass you like and learn to play it as it is. Today, people often shop by numbers first, not sound or feel. The time we spend now on the Internet was Practice time back then or at least partially. With all the Violin type Books I have I often find myself reading rather than playing so I am no less guilty of not practicing when I should.

A few months ago I looked at next seasons concerts I have to do with the Orchestra I mainly play in under contract. I went and pulled out all the Music I had in books and started working on 2 or 3 of them. One I had done a few years ago but know now what parts of it I need the most work on. Some other piece I have to play in the first concert is some Danish composer so a few weeks ago I load in my Zimmerman CD (from Cherry-Classics) and find the actual part there. I print it out and see it has a few notes that look nasty to say the least and read thru it roughly. I decided to put it away and work on something else. Then, one Saturday I am at the office and look for a Utube of the Piece and find the 4th movement by 2 different orchestras. One is the BBC and the other, a Danish orchestra, the home of the composer. This is Nielsen's 4th Symphony. I watch the Basses come in and my eyes pop. It has 6 Bars of 32nds, 4 of the Bars continuous. I watch the Bass section a dozen times and then I email my Conductor with an opening line like "where did you find this?". Commenting as if I was being punished. I then told him that the Bass section needs to be warned if they havent played this before. I have a Thread on this but this Post is about the Eb or D Neck-Heel.

Ok, moving forward. The Key on this section is E (4 sharps) but the D is natural, not sharp thru the entire run. The range is from the Low E to the high C# above the octave G. The final descending run is C#, B, A, G#, F# E, D, C#, B A, G# etc. down to Low E. Going up into TP, I use my Thumb on the F# in both directions. I play up the D for the G# and A up and down as this works best for me. Going in and out of Thumb Position I find myself more comfortable with an Eb neck in this Key or at least on this Run than a D-Neck.

Try this; Place your thumb in the Heel of your Neck and play an F# with your Pinkie/4th finger. Tell me if it's comfortable to hold that position. I measured this distance on 4 or 5 of the Basses in my shop. I got anywhere between 5 1/2" to 7" in distance from my thumb to my pinkie/4th. The 5 1/2" stretch is of course the easiest. The two easiest Basses with 5 1/2"-6" stretch is an Eb/41 3/4" SL and a Bass almost an Eb/41" SL.

Playing comfort when you are playing for yourself or improvising Jazz is to me way different demand-wise than playing Orchestra Rep and it was this 6-Bar section that I have been working on for 2 weeks that has been a wake-up call to me.

Not everyone in Orchestras use 41-42" D-Necks. I have played Basses with Ebs and 42+ owned by Orchestra professionals only to realize that there is no Law, only preference.
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