Excellent tutorial for me and many others who would love to start but scared to approach to this lovely instrument, especially those who love jazz music!
Thank you for this, Yuri! You mentioned you might be making a video demonstrating how to set it up yourself (the planing and leveling of the scoop/slope and getting other things straightened out to help facilitate an easier playing bass)... any chance you’ll be posting that video soon? Love your playing and all this super helpful advice and take on modern/contemporary setups. SO many luthiers are still stuck in the past with the tiresome “old school” setup style. 😅 Makes for difficult playing basses and a lot of us working way harder than we need to be! The bass is hard enough on its own. 😂
Hi Eric, many thanks for your comment, and we are totally on the same wave on this :)) Ah...I had indeed mentioned doing a video on that, you're right, I actually forgot about it! OK, perhaps I should try and do the video, but of course, it is always better to find a luthier who would agree (sic...) to do what they are asked to, as they have more adequate tools and overall skills. However, the main idea (what you can do at home) is to eliminate potential miniscule humps that create buzzes with a tool knife blade and / or a sandpaper. Let's say, you have a buzz on D, but it stops on Eb. That means that there is apparently a tiny hump on Eb which would have to be flattened. And so forth. I'd first use the blade, then sandpaper with some linseed oil on it. But I'll try and do a little video, thanks for reminding! :)
Excellent explanation of the fingerboard lengthwise curve/relief/scoop. I've always wondered how a fixed scoop could possibly cope with the change of vibrating length as you play in different positions. Nice to have it confirmed that it doesn't. The Chuck Traeger book recommendation of a minimum 1/8" scoop seems to me to be only OK if you only play in the first positions. I would not recommend his book. Where I would disagree with you, is when you imply that a bowed string only vibrates between the finger and the bow hair. This is not true. The string always vibrates between finger and bridge, whether plucked or slapped or bowed. Otherwise the pitch would vary with bow position. Anyway, you can easily see that the string is not static where it touches the bow hair!
Many thanks for your comment! Chuck Traeger...that's an interesting book, indeed; sadly, I have only read some bits of it, but one of the things that I remembered was his suggestion to put some material (plasticine..? can't remember now) under the legs of the bridge which - in theory - would go against any common sense! Your comment re the string that would vibrate also below the bow has triggered my curiosity. I decided to play a series of random notes and asked to film the various parts of string while I was playing. What it looks like that the main vibrating part is still between the hair and the LH finger, however there's a tiny bit of vibration also below the bow. I cannot post the video in a comment, but will now upload it separately....
@@Ricobass0 true, but - if you look at the string while bowed, you’ll see that the magnitude of oscillations is far greater between the LH finger and the bow than between the bow and the bridge. Although - of course, there’s also very little string “left” under the bow!
@@yuriobass Of course the string vibration has smaller amplitude between bow and bridge compared to the rest of the string. That doesn't alter what I said. Think about it and if necessary look up the formula for the frequency of vibration of a string. If you vary the length - the pitch changes. Q.E.D. the bow action does not shorten the string.
@@Ricobass0 You are completely right: if the length changes - the pitch changes, too! However, I'm afraid this is not of massive importance in our case: we do alter the string length with our LH fingers, therefore the point of the maximum oscillation is however determined by our LH...
You said you use, "3, 4,5, 6mm", low action. Is this measured as height of string above fingerboard at end of FB. near the bridge, or where, exactly? I'm a pizzicato style bluegrass upright bass player, I don't bow at all. Could I apply this same very low action into the bluegrass genre of music or would the bass volume be too low for practical purposes? Thanks much. Great video.
@@analizandoliteratura9958 hey there, yes, this is how it normally is, and the same relates to the bridge (as we anyway know) :) (To avoid “sinking” the string too much into the wood which is never good for the sound.)
@@dominiquebentvelsen3287 Ah I see. To reset it in case it falls you'd actually need a post setter. The only situation when this may happen (as I see it) is when you are flying with your bass tuning it down to reduce the tension and therefore make it less prone to various impacts. I sometimes do carry a setter with me in my flightcase if I am not sure the post is long enough and is sitting there tightly. But I render resetting it "unprofessionally" an emergency measure just "to save the gig": if you do not possess specific skills, it is pretty tricky to fit it in correctly so that it is not leaning in any direction (an improper fitting affects the sound and the response as well as may damage the instrument) and sits where it should be, as well as remains undamaged (ends of it might get chipped). So if you did have to do this, I'd strongly recommend to bring the bass to a luthier once the gig is over.
Hi Yuri, thanks for this, it's the first time i see something explained properly and not just following some old info from a book. I actually have an upright bass that i basically stopped playing because the scoop was too big (almost 4mm on the G string) and that was set up by a luthier... When i tried to explain to him the scoop seemed too big, he just did not understand what i meant... Anyway, my question is this: would you agree that a flat fingerboard also helps getting that "growl" effect? You know that sound that ie very present on fretless electric basses. I realised that this effect just vanishes when the action is too high and then the bass just sounds like big thumps with very little sustain.
Arnaud, many thanks for your message! Indeed. to convince luthiers to do a flat board is often extremely hard, it somehow goes against their instinct...which has always been a bit of a mystery for me! :) As for the sound: yes and no - I believe there are several factors: the shape of the board (yes), the strings and the instrument itself. For example, many of the turn of the Century German basses just won't work in jazz, as they were built for a totally different type of music. Same applies to some precious old Italian basses, for example... But - the fingerboard shape is certainly one of the factors that helps you get a fretless-like sustain!
@@yuriobass Thanks a lot for your answer man! That confirms what i thought! I might know a luthier that will be willing to do so! As long as i get that "fretless like" sustain, i'll be happy with the sound of my bass (which is far from an old Italian one ;) !
@@yuriobass And i just got my DB back from the luthier, and with a 1mm scoop on the G gradually going to 2mm one on the E string (this is a 1/2 DB) i'm VERY happy with the sound, so thanks a lot for your help again!
What a great and thorough description of the bass setups. Thank you so much!
Thank you for watching!
Excellent tutorial for me and many others who would love to start but scared to approach to this lovely instrument, especially those who love jazz music!
Very informative Thanks so much 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Thank you for this, Yuri! You mentioned you might be making a video demonstrating how to set it up yourself (the planing and leveling of the scoop/slope and getting other things straightened out to help facilitate an easier playing bass)... any chance you’ll be posting that video soon? Love your playing and all this super helpful advice and take on modern/contemporary setups. SO many luthiers are still stuck in the past with the tiresome “old school” setup style. 😅 Makes for difficult playing basses and a lot of us working way harder than we need to be! The bass is hard enough on its own. 😂
Hi Eric, many thanks for your comment, and we are totally on the same wave on this :))
Ah...I had indeed mentioned doing a video on that, you're right, I actually forgot about it!
OK, perhaps I should try and do the video, but of course, it is always better to find a luthier who would agree (sic...) to do what they are asked to, as they have more adequate tools and overall skills.
However, the main idea (what you can do at home) is to eliminate potential miniscule humps that create buzzes with a tool knife blade and / or a sandpaper. Let's say, you have a buzz on D, but it stops on Eb. That means that there is apparently a tiny hump on Eb which would have to be flattened. And so forth. I'd first use the blade, then sandpaper with some linseed oil on it. But I'll try and do a little video, thanks for reminding! :)
Molto bello Yuri! Chiarissimo.
Grazie, Stefano!! :)
What about the height of the strings at the nut?
This is fantastic advice from a master!
Excellent explanation of the fingerboard lengthwise curve/relief/scoop. I've always wondered how a fixed scoop could possibly cope with the change of vibrating length as you play in different positions. Nice to have it confirmed that it doesn't. The Chuck Traeger book recommendation of a minimum 1/8" scoop seems to me to be only OK if you only play in the first positions. I would not recommend his book.
Where I would disagree with you, is when you imply that a bowed string only vibrates between the finger and the bow hair. This is not true. The string always vibrates between finger and bridge, whether plucked or slapped or bowed. Otherwise the pitch would vary with bow position. Anyway, you can easily see that the string is not static where it touches the bow hair!
Many thanks for your comment! Chuck Traeger...that's an interesting book, indeed; sadly, I have only read some bits of it, but one of the things that I remembered was his suggestion to put some material (plasticine..? can't remember now) under the legs of the bridge which - in theory - would go against any common sense!
Your comment re the string that would vibrate also below the bow has triggered my curiosity. I decided to play a series of random notes and asked to film the various parts of string while I was playing. What it looks like that the main vibrating part is still between the hair and the LH finger, however there's a tiny bit of vibration also below the bow. I cannot post the video in a comment, but will now upload it separately....
@@yuriobass The action of hair and rosin on the string is a constant grab, slip and release which causes a "sawtooth" oscillation.
@@Ricobass0 true, but - if you look at the string while bowed, you’ll see that the magnitude of oscillations is far greater between the LH finger and the bow than between the bow and the bridge. Although - of course, there’s also very little string “left” under the bow!
@@yuriobass Of course the string vibration has smaller amplitude between bow and bridge compared to the rest of the string. That doesn't alter what I said. Think about it and if necessary look up the formula for the frequency of vibration of a string. If you vary the length - the pitch changes. Q.E.D. the bow action does not shorten the string.
@@Ricobass0 You are completely right: if the length changes - the pitch changes, too! However, I'm afraid this is not of massive importance in our case: we do alter the string length with our LH fingers, therefore the point of the maximum oscillation is however determined by our LH...
You said you use, "3, 4,5, 6mm", low action. Is this measured as height of string above fingerboard at end of FB. near the bridge, or where, exactly? I'm a pizzicato style bluegrass upright bass player, I don't bow at all. Could I apply this same very low action into the bluegrass genre of music or would the bass volume be too low for practical purposes? Thanks much. Great video.
Bellissimo!!!
Hello Yuri, is it good idea that the strings also pop out by half diameter from the upper nut ?
@@analizandoliteratura9958 hey there, yes, this is how it normally is, and the same relates to the bridge (as we anyway know) :)
(To avoid “sinking” the string too much into the wood which is never good for the sound.)
@@yuriobass Thanks for the information
Master bassist
Very informative, great explanation of the fingerboard curvature :) what I wondered about: why do you advise against setting up your own staple?
Hi Dominique, apologies, saw your comment only now! What do you mean by "staple"..?
@@yuriobass sorry, I meant ‘sound post’ - my luthier once told me how to do it in case of emergency (just tape a knife to a stick)
@@dominiquebentvelsen3287 Ah I see. To reset it in case it falls you'd actually need a post setter. The only situation when this may happen (as I see it) is when you are flying with your bass tuning it down to reduce the tension and therefore make it less prone to various impacts. I sometimes do carry a setter with me in my flightcase if I am not sure the post is long enough and is sitting there tightly. But I render resetting it "unprofessionally" an emergency measure just "to save the gig": if you do not possess specific skills, it is pretty tricky to fit it in correctly so that it is not leaning in any direction (an improper fitting affects the sound and the response as well as may damage the instrument) and sits where it should be, as well as remains undamaged (ends of it might get chipped). So if you did have to do this, I'd strongly recommend to bring the bass to a luthier once the gig is over.
@@yuriobass thank you for the advise and will do! Carrying a setter on flights is actually a pretty smart precaution :)
Hi Yuri, thanks for this, it's the first time i see something explained properly and not just following some old info from a book.
I actually have an upright bass that i basically stopped playing because the scoop was too big (almost 4mm on the G string) and that was set up by a luthier... When i tried to explain to him the scoop seemed too big, he just did not understand what i meant...
Anyway, my question is this: would you agree that a flat fingerboard also helps getting that "growl" effect? You know that sound that ie very present on fretless electric basses. I realised that this effect just vanishes when the action is too high and then the bass just sounds like big thumps with very little sustain.
Arnaud, many thanks for your message!
Indeed. to convince luthiers to do a flat board is often extremely hard, it somehow goes against their instinct...which has always been a bit of a mystery for me! :)
As for the sound: yes and no - I believe there are several factors: the shape of the board (yes), the strings and the instrument itself. For example, many of the turn of the Century German basses just won't work in jazz, as they were built for a totally different type of music. Same applies to some precious old Italian basses, for example... But - the fingerboard shape is certainly one of the factors that helps you get a fretless-like sustain!
@@yuriobass Thanks a lot for your answer man! That confirms what i thought! I might know a luthier that will be willing to do so! As long as i get that "fretless like" sustain, i'll be happy with the sound of my bass (which is far from an old Italian one ;) !
@@yuriobass And i just got my DB back from the luthier, and with a 1mm scoop on the G gradually going to 2mm one on the E string (this is a 1/2 DB) i'm VERY happy with the sound, so thanks a lot for your help again!