A lot of sustain but low volume

[Mike Mandelas]

Dear friends we have in our orchestra a fully carved Romanian double bass with beautiful flamed tonewoods, two years old. The bass has a warm, focused sound with a lot of sustain but the sound's volume in pizzicato playing is low. Compared with some other instruments in our collection (some carved, some hybrids) it produces the most mellow sound but also the lowest. We tried a lot of solutions, dealing with strings, soundpost, bridge, mode matching etc, to no avail. As times goes by and the instrument matures it produces more sustain but the volume remains unaltered. I wonder if it is a matter of construction or of a poorly made set up. As a decent luthier is nonexistent around here, any opinion is welcome.
Michael

[Ken Smith]

How high is the center of the Bridge between the D and A strings from the Top/body of the Bass?

Pressing down the E string by the Nut on the fingerboard and at the root of the Neck at the same time, how much relief is in the Fingerboard a.k.a. Camber. Also, pressing down at the Nut and end of FB, what is the relief overall? Is this about the same under the G string with both measurements?

How high is each string off the end of the fingerboard from the end to to underside of each string?

I don't see Basses getting that much louder as they mature but do see them getting fuller sounding. On a new factory Bass, the sound change can take years. I played an old Wilfer made about 1966 or earlier that I got in 1972 and a few years ago when it was already 40 years old or older, in the last decade or so the Top split under both sides of the Bridge up the soundpost area and the Bassbar, full length on both sides. It took over 30 years before it got its first crack and it just about exploded when it did.

When basses are restored with a New Bassbar, it usually takes 1-2 years before the new 'Bar starts to break in. After 2 years, the next few up to 5 it gets better. I have had so many old Basses restored I can't begin to count them all. The time line is usually 2-5 years before it's back and relaxed to where it was.

With a totally new Bass, it is even longer as we might not live long enough to see it mature. Factory Basses are often made for economics and many quality features are left out. Although these may be slight or small differences, they add up and separate a fine handmade Bass from an economically produced one by leaps and bounds. The better quality the Bass, the better and faster it usually matures.

I wish I had this Bass of yours in my hands to examine. There may be things there that are as obvious as there are mysterious factors. Go talk to the Tree, tell me what it says..

[Arnold Schnitzer]

If your bass is a flatback, take a look at the back braces. The Romanian flatback basses I've seen have enough lumber in the backs to build a workbench out of.

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

If your bass is a flatback, take a look at the back braces. The Romanian flatback basses I've seen have enough lumber in the backs to build a workbench out of.

Not just the Romanians Arnold. I have seen pics of a two newly made American makers where there is so much Brace & Strip wood in the Back, that the Back plate itself looks secondary!

[Arnold Schnitzer]

Originally Posted by Ken Smith

Not just the Romanians Arnold. I have seen pics of a two newly made American makers where there is so much Brace & Strip wood in the Back, that the Back plate itself looks secondary!

What maker is doing that?

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Arnold Schnitzer

What maker is doing that?

Shh.. I shouldn't really say here in public but you know who I mean.. I think.. You have a PM..

[Mike Mandelas]

Thanks all for your replies. The bridge is 16.5 cm high in the center (between the A and D strings). The camber is 3.1 mm in the E and 3.15 in the G string. The strings' clearance is 5 mm,6 mm, 7 mm and 9 mm in the G,D,A,E sequence. I made the bass set up following Ken's suggestions in the forum and i raised the FB camber from 2.8 mm to 3.1 mm following Chuck Traegers guidelines. I'll try a Marvin wire tailpiece, which in my own bass caused a dramatic improvement, as a last hope to increase the volume. Thanks again for all yor input.

[Eric Swanson]

I have a very heavily-wooded Romanian bass that also lacks acoustic pizz volume and arco response, but has good pizz sustain. I put a Marvin tailpiece on it, as a inexpensive gamble/experiment.

While the Marvin certainly improved the pizz and arco notes' clarity, evened out the registers, and eliminated wolftones, on my particular bass, the benefits are relatively minor, in terms of volume, pizz or arco.