Our pleasure! It's been such a fun project and amazing to connect with so many of our bass heroes! The final instalment of Classical Masters is due out next week which brings these to a close. :-)
A tremendous "thank you" to Discover Double Bass and the iconic jazz bassists in these interviews. This video represents many years of extensive research by outstanding bassists at the top of their field, condensed into 35 minutes. I appreciate the generosity of the artists in sharing.
As a relatively new double bassist (I’ve played electric for 35+ years) who doesn’t know a lot about gear in this world, this video provided fantastic insight into what other great double bassists utilize. Next on my must try list…some of those Pirastro Evah Pirazzi strings! Low End for Life!
Interesting. I guess I'm behind the times. I used to use the realist pickup as it sounded almost like a mike but I switched to a Fishman full circle, that immediately sounded more focused. I used a Fishman preamp for years to adapt the transducer impeadence and filter out subsonic with it's adjustable high pass filter. I however discovered after years to purchase an F Deck impeadence pre amp with it's adjustable high pass filter and my bass tone improved immensely. The Fishman pro pre amp's high pass filter doesn't slope properly.
I love the Fishman Full Circle and it's all I use. The F Deck is very cool too and I can't live without a HPF. I didn't gel with various Fishman pre amps and I wonder if it was the HPF.
Archer Professional 3/4 size. I bought one when they first came out in this country. Being an instrument technician I did the set up myself. It's been in constant use all the time I've had it and I've found it a good all rounder playing everything from classical to jazz, country to folk.. Its construction is hand carved spruce top, hand carved maple back and ribs, Ebony tailpiece and fingerboard. I'm about to do some work on her as there is a slight twist in the neck which needs reshooting to square it up and fit a new bridge and soundpost while I'm at it. I use D'Addario Prelude Strings, and J-Tone reds wing Pickups.
I always use a small diafragm Oktava MK-012-01 hung between the bridge with rubber bands. Works / sounds amazing! Even with the Chinese budget strings called 'Alice' (Spirocore Weich clones)
This was really interesting, Geoff. I bought a 1949 Kay Bass when I first started my lessons about 9 years ago, and I don't even know what strings were on it, but I played them for about 5-6 years. I assumed differences in strings were probably fairly inconsequential to the sound of the instrument... until my teacher offered me his used Labella black (the ones Ron uses) set. I put them on and was amazed at how different the very same instrument sounded. It makes me curious what other differences I might hear if I tried other strings, but as at least one of your interviewees mentioned, it's an expensive thing to experiment with. I'd add that when you think about all of the possible variables involved (bass, strings, pickup, microphones, pre-amp, speakers, etc.) it seems nearly impossible to even conceive of optimizing the sound - every possible change could interact with other changes, etc. Super interesting. Thanks so much for providing these great interviews!
Thanks Ray! Congrats on the Kay, that was a superb purchase and I think you're absolutely right about the variables. It can be really hard to find what works for each instrument but it's so rewarding when you do! I've been using an old set of Spiro weichs for the last couple of years and really like them, but I also love the Evah weichs, so tend to mix it up. Best of luck with your practice search for 'your' sound. Cheers Geoff
In my humble opinion, before one goes down the rabbit hole of pickups, amps ect. you should first discover your "acoustic" sound you love. My expensive string journey stopped at the advice of Geoff's recommendation of the evah pirazzi weich strings. Once you find the right bass/string combination you love, then find the equipment that can most accurately reproduce your sound. For me it's a GK mb 200 head and a seismic audio 2x10 bass cab. Realist pick up.
I didn't know that velvet strings stopped being released, very sad, played on garbo and anima. They sounded great, very similar to gut strings. I noticed that most people choose Evah Pirazzi strings. 10 years ago, most people played on spirocore mediums. Thank you very much for the video, very interesting information, excellent content!!!!
@@mr.catjazzjourney7237 I used Evah's, for me, their sound is too dark and they don't have enough brightness. If you play them without amplification, there is a little lack of volume. Maybe they don't work with my instrument.
Too bad, I wanted to give those a try one day. That said, Gerold Gensslers new Tempera Strings venture might be worth checking out for those who've been using Velvet strings up to this point. As far as I know, the guys at Velvet had worked with Gerold, before they started their own company.
Not that I know of, but it's a great idea! The best place I have found for info is the talkbass double bass forums. There's a few threads on there about the strings of the legendary artists which is very cool.
Hi from Bordeaux France ! Quite sad to learn about Velvets death... I had used all velvet strings avaible : Compass 360 (weak sound and your finger got black !) then Garbo (G too thick) and finally Anima, the best for me, and better as they get older (up to 7 years !) My copper Realist suits pretty well with my Acoustic Contra amp. I'd love to try lifeline but my bridge isn't adjustable. . Faithfull to D.D.Bass. Cheers. Rol
@@cartereddy8829 No, because a bass-friend told me velvet blue felt a little sticky after some time and I was ok with velvet anima, despite their higher price !
@@rolandjullin I’ve tried them and they’re very nice. Pretty similar to animas, just a little bit brighter. I never experience the sticky issues before. But I’ve been lucky and just found an unused set of Animas, which is pretty awesome.
Thanks for watching. They are Pirastro Perpetual. There's a full list on this page in case you need it, discoverdoublebass.com/lesson/gear-jazz-double-bass
Such a great Video. Please more of one´s like this. John Patitucci mentioned that he is using a Pirastro Perpetual G-String. There are two of them: the regular one (called medium) and a thicker one called stark, but still relatively low tension. Can you tell which one he is using? Thanks
I'm glad you liked it. I'm afraid we don't know which gauge, but I hadn't realised there was a Stark so that might have been released after we published this video... meaning it's the regular. ... but I'm not sure.
I'm completely new to this and thinking of investing. Can u use rockabilly bass to play jazz and orchestra / classical music? Just asking cause I found a clear color upright bass that looks nice and it just happens to be a rockabilly (whatever that genre may be...) Thanx!
It's very hard to say without knowing what the strings are, but it's certainly harder to bow most rockabilly strings than sets typically used for jazz and classical. Jazz strings may be a good compromise, but I've not got experience in rockabilly to know which would work well for slap, pizz and arco. I'm sure whatever you have got, you can start practising and working on your playing whilst you figure out what's the best set.
I find Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Weich which have a synthetic core easier on my hands than most steel strings, but it depends what set of steel strings you are comparing them with. Steel and synthetic are both a great option and some of it is personal preference.
I play a John Bedingfield 1996 5-string 7/8 size double bass, currently using Piastro Evah Pirazzi medium tension strings. I need to play jazz and classical / orchestral music on the one bass, without having to mess with the action, and this seems to work quite well. (I must say that I had Thwaites fit a better-cambered fingerboard to make it playable into thumb position). When needed, I use the Shadow SH965 NFX-B pick-up. I also own a David Gage Realist, (which I ought to try again soon), but the Shadow works well, and has the advantage of embodying a pre-amp which mitigates against high-impedance buffering and pick-up/interference issues. I also play (excellent, old) Yamaha TRB-5 fretted and fretless bass guitars, and use the Euphonic Audio Doubler for all - a great (tiny / light) full two-channel amp. My (early) version has an always-on cooling fan, which renders it unsuitable for quiet solo practice, but I gather that the the later version has a temperature-controlled fan (that is unlikely to switch on during solo practice). My speaker cabinets are the Barefaced (barefacedaudio.com/) Big Baby 2, and an early One-10; both are great - I corresponded with Alex at Barefaced (see barefacedaudio.com/) before buying, and was convinced of his engineering 'bona-fide'. An old BMW 1-series packs all the above stuff for a doubling gig (should they ever happen again). I use an anonymous white-haired German bow (tried lots at Thwaites, thanks to Bill), Pops rosin, Thwaites gig-bag, and Konig & Meyer stand (check the bottom screws don't come loose), that's about it!
That sounds like a wonderful instrument! I love 5 string basses and I've heard good things about John Bedingfield's instruments. I also love the TRB basses, I used to own a series one, five string fretless and loved it.
I bought a 2014 Chinese plywood Thompson from String Emporium for a very modest 4-figure price, strung it with Pirazzi Weichs and a Gage Lifeline, and all that has been surprisingly good for live gigging. Or as a first instrument. It's a very durable instrument that's taken a good amount of live gig abuse completely in stride. The plywood is definitely not as loud acoustically as the vintage carved instruments these guys all own, nor as juicy, but after 5 years, the acoustic tone of the Thompson is improving. Here's the kicker - if you plan to introduce a piezo pickup, everything else in the signal chain impacts the final tone at the PA more than the acoustic tone of the instrument anyway. I've heard some very old carved instruments sound like garbage once amplified with a piezo, played by very capable players who just don't understand or care about the electronics. Conversely, some cheap plywood instruments that sound great with proper attention paid to the signal chain. So it's almost a different set of criteria for success when playing acoustically vs. amplified. This is somewhat tangential to your question, but I hope that helps anyway.
Nothing sounds better than only a microphone.. John Clayton's sound is so amazing..
Thank you to everyone at Discover Double Bass for these wonderful interviews!
Our pleasure! It's been such a fun project and amazing to connect with so many of our bass heroes! The final instalment of Classical Masters is due out next week which brings these to a close. :-)
These have been so useful!
Very nice to have such great musicians speaking so openly about equipament choices. I will stay tuned!
What a lovely bunch of people and great players. Their kindness and generosity is as inspiring as their playing.
Agreed! :-)
A tremendous "thank you" to Discover Double Bass and the iconic jazz bassists in these interviews. This video represents many years of extensive research by outstanding bassists at the top of their field, condensed into 35 minutes. I appreciate the generosity of the artists in sharing.
Thanks for your kind words Stacey, we're so pleased you enjoyed it. The artists were incredible and it's one of my favourite series at DDB. :-)
As a relatively new double bassist (I’ve played electric for 35+ years) who doesn’t know a lot about gear in this world, this video provided fantastic insight into what other great double bassists utilize. Next on my must try list…some of those Pirastro Evah Pirazzi strings! Low End for Life!
Thanks Scott! Glad you enjoyed it. If you do try the Evahs, I would re recommend the Weich (light) gage. 👍
Interesting.
I guess I'm behind the times.
I used to use the realist pickup as it sounded almost like a mike but I switched to a Fishman full circle, that immediately sounded more focused.
I used a Fishman preamp for years to adapt the transducer impeadence and filter out subsonic with it's adjustable high pass filter.
I however discovered after years to purchase an F Deck impeadence pre amp with it's adjustable high pass filter and my bass tone improved immensely.
The Fishman pro pre amp's high pass filter doesn't slope properly.
I love the Fishman Full Circle and it's all I use. The F Deck is very cool too and I can't live without a HPF. I didn't gel with various Fishman pre amps and I wonder if it was the HPF.
Archer Professional 3/4 size. I bought one when they first came out in this country. Being an instrument technician I did the set up myself.
It's been in constant use all the time I've had it and I've found it a good all rounder playing everything from classical to jazz, country to folk.. Its construction is hand carved spruce top, hand carved maple back and ribs, Ebony tailpiece and fingerboard. I'm about to do some work on her as there is a slight twist in the neck which needs reshooting to square it up and fit a new bridge and soundpost while I'm at it.
I use D'Addario Prelude Strings, and J-Tone reds wing Pickups.
Great to hear and i's fantastic you are doing the set up yourself!
First rate video. It's interesting and informative. And of course, it features major bassists.
Thank you kindly! I'm glad you enjoyed it. :-)
I always use a small diafragm Oktava MK-012-01 hung between the bridge with rubber bands. Works / sounds amazing! Even with the Chinese budget strings called 'Alice' (Spirocore Weich clones)
What can I say? Another excellent video in an amazing series. You are the man!!!!
Wow, thanks! We really appreciate that. The final video in the classical masters series is also due out next week. It's been an epic project!
This was really interesting, Geoff. I bought a 1949 Kay Bass when I first started my lessons about 9 years ago, and I don't even know what strings were on it, but I played them for about 5-6 years. I assumed differences in strings were probably fairly inconsequential to the sound of the instrument... until my teacher offered me his used Labella black (the ones Ron uses) set. I put them on and was amazed at how different the very same instrument sounded. It makes me curious what other differences I might hear if I tried other strings, but as at least one of your interviewees mentioned, it's an expensive thing to experiment with. I'd add that when you think about all of the possible variables involved (bass, strings, pickup, microphones, pre-amp, speakers, etc.) it seems nearly impossible to even conceive of optimizing the sound - every possible change could interact with other changes, etc. Super interesting. Thanks so much for providing these great interviews!
Thanks Ray! Congrats on the Kay, that was a superb purchase and I think you're absolutely right about the variables. It can be really hard to find what works for each instrument but it's so rewarding when you do! I've been using an old set of Spiro weichs for the last couple of years and really like them, but I also love the Evah weichs, so tend to mix it up. Best of luck with your practice search for 'your' sound. Cheers Geoff
Cool! Great Video, as always!
Thank you so much Nenad! Best wishes from the U.K :-)
I enjoyed this way too much. Thank you so much for all of these, they really helped make this summer memorable for GOOD reasons!
Glad you enjoyed it! It's been a crazy year and we have enjoyed doing something a bit different.
this video is aweseome!!! thank you so much for these nuggets of information
Lovely video Geoff, thanks for making the best of the situation at hand & compiling all these helpful insights!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Discover Double Bass rocks!👍
Great video, keep them coming!
In my humble opinion, before one goes down the rabbit hole of pickups, amps ect. you should first discover your "acoustic" sound you love. My expensive string journey stopped at the advice of Geoff's recommendation of the evah pirazzi weich strings. Once you find the right bass/string combination you love, then find the equipment that can most accurately reproduce your sound. For me it's a GK mb 200 head and a seismic audio 2x10 bass cab. Realist pick up.
Agreed, that's great advice.
00:04:36 Ron Carter: ”…and a Juzek made around 1910.”
That’s what i heard!
Yes, that's spot on. Our transcriber had missed that so we've updated the captions. Thanks for the heads up.
Great , wonderfull and very instructive information coming for all these amazing artists! Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it! This series was a joy to put together. :-)
I didn't know that velvet strings stopped being released, very sad, played on garbo and anima. They sounded great, very similar to gut strings. I noticed that most people choose Evah Pirazzi strings. 10 years ago, most people played on spirocore mediums. Thank you very much for the video, very interesting information, excellent content!!!!
Yes, it's a real shame as a lot of incredible bassists use Velvets.
@@mr.catjazzjourney7237 I used Evah's, for me, their sound is too dark and they don't have enough brightness. If you play them without amplification, there is a little lack of volume. Maybe they don't work with my instrument.
Too bad, I wanted to give those a try one day. That said, Gerold Gensslers new Tempera Strings venture might be worth checking out for those who've been using Velvet strings up to this point. As far as I know, the guys at Velvet had worked with Gerold, before they started their own company.
Great clip! Is there a spreadsheet of the strings used by renowned bassists?
Maybe from 1900-current?
That’d be a FABULOUS resource!!!
Not that I know of, but it's a great idea! The best place I have found for info is the talkbass double bass forums. There's a few threads on there about the strings of the legendary artists which is very cool.
Geoff, great work again!
Thank you! Cheers!
A lot of lifeline pickups. Maybe I should check it out. I mean the pros would know...
Great information! Thank you so much for this.
Glad it was helpful! :-)
Ron Carter….❤❤
Another fantastic video.!
Hi from Bordeaux France ! Quite sad to learn about Velvets death... I had used all velvet strings avaible : Compass 360 (weak sound and your finger got black !) then Garbo (G too thick) and finally Anima, the best for me, and better as they get older (up to 7 years !) My copper Realist suits pretty well with my Acoustic Contra amp. I'd love to try lifeline but my bridge isn't adjustable. . Faithfull to D.D.Bass. Cheers. Rol
Hey Rol, yes it's sad to hear of such a great brand leaving us. They made a unique kind of string which will be missed.
Have you tried the velvet blues?
@@cartereddy8829 No, because a bass-friend told me velvet blue felt a little sticky after some time and I was ok with velvet anima, despite their higher price !
@@rolandjullin I’ve tried them and they’re very nice. Pretty similar to animas, just a little bit brighter. I never experience the sticky issues before. But I’ve been lucky and just found an unused set of Animas, which is pretty awesome.
Awesome👍
Thank you very much. Very informative, especially for everyone who is new to the double bass. :-)
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.
these are beautiful people. thank you! Masters!
Thanks for watching :-)
Great video! Wish Mr. Israels had mentioned what strings he was using on his bass. Can anyone who recognizes those let me know what they are? Cheers!
Thanks for watching. They are Pirastro Perpetual. There's a full list on this page in case you need it, discoverdoublebass.com/lesson/gear-jazz-double-bass
@@DiscoverDoubleBass Thanks for the link. Although in the credits it lists them as being Pirastro Perpetual strings.
@@refonbass my mistake, they are Perpetuals.
Such a great Video. Please more of one´s like this.
John Patitucci mentioned that he is using a Pirastro Perpetual G-String. There are two of them: the regular one (called medium) and a thicker one called stark, but still relatively low tension.
Can you tell which one he is using?
Thanks
I'm glad you liked it. I'm afraid we don't know which gauge, but I hadn't realised there was a Stark so that might have been released after we published this video... meaning it's the regular. ... but I'm not sure.
What strings were on Chuck's bass? I don't think he mentioned that. Were they Perpetuals?
Yes, they were Perpetuals. There's a full gear list for each artist on this page: discoverdoublebass.com/interview/gear-jazz-double-bass
@@DiscoverDoubleBass Thanks so much!
I'm completely new to this and thinking of investing. Can u use rockabilly bass to play jazz and orchestra / classical music? Just asking cause I found a clear color upright bass that looks nice and it just happens to be a rockabilly (whatever that genre may be...) Thanx!
It's very hard to say without knowing what the strings are, but it's certainly harder to bow most rockabilly strings than sets typically used for jazz and classical. Jazz strings may be a good compromise, but I've not got experience in rockabilly to know which would work well for slap, pizz and arco. I'm sure whatever you have got, you can start practising and working on your playing whilst you figure out what's the best set.
Bass Gods
Anyone knows if Brian Bromberg and MarkBass are still working on an amp together?
I’ve not heard that, but it would be an exciting partnership!
@@DiscoverDoubleBass I'm not sure anymore but isn't that what he is saying a 2:00? Maybe it's me...
@@SiLevesque Yes, you're right. He does say that, but I don't know how the collaboration turned out.
So will the piastro string have an easier tension if coming from steel strings?
I find Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Weich which have a synthetic core easier on my hands than most steel strings, but it depends what set of steel strings you are comparing them with. Steel and synthetic are both a great option and some of it is personal preference.
great !
I play a John Bedingfield 1996 5-string 7/8 size double bass, currently using Piastro Evah Pirazzi medium tension strings.
I need to play jazz and classical / orchestral music on the one bass, without having to mess with the action, and this seems to work quite well. (I must say that I had Thwaites fit a better-cambered fingerboard to make it playable into thumb position).
When needed, I use the Shadow SH965 NFX-B pick-up. I also own a David Gage Realist, (which I ought to try again soon), but the Shadow works well, and has the advantage of embodying a pre-amp which mitigates against high-impedance buffering and pick-up/interference issues.
I also play (excellent, old) Yamaha TRB-5 fretted and fretless bass guitars, and use the Euphonic Audio Doubler for all - a great (tiny / light) full two-channel amp. My (early) version has an always-on cooling fan, which renders it unsuitable for quiet solo practice, but I gather that the the later version has a temperature-controlled fan (that is unlikely to switch on during solo practice).
My speaker cabinets are the Barefaced (barefacedaudio.com/) Big Baby 2, and an early One-10; both are great - I corresponded with Alex at Barefaced (see barefacedaudio.com/) before buying, and was convinced of his engineering 'bona-fide'.
An old BMW 1-series packs all the above stuff for a doubling gig (should they ever happen again).
I use an anonymous white-haired German bow (tried lots at Thwaites, thanks to Bill), Pops rosin, Thwaites gig-bag, and Konig & Meyer stand (check the bottom screws don't come loose), that's about it!
That sounds like a wonderful instrument! I love 5 string basses and I've heard good things about John Bedingfield's instruments. I also love the TRB basses, I used to own a series one, five string fretless and loved it.
Nice but what about cheap double basses for beginners? Gear4music or Thomann sell cheap instruments... Anyone tried them?
I bought a 2014 Chinese plywood Thompson from String Emporium for a very modest 4-figure price, strung it with Pirazzi Weichs and a Gage Lifeline, and all that has been surprisingly good for live gigging. Or as a first instrument. It's a very durable instrument that's taken a good amount of live gig abuse completely in stride. The plywood is definitely not as loud acoustically as the vintage carved instruments these guys all own, nor as juicy, but after 5 years, the acoustic tone of the Thompson is improving. Here's the kicker - if you plan to introduce a piezo pickup, everything else in the signal chain impacts the final tone at the PA more than the acoustic tone of the instrument anyway. I've heard some very old carved instruments sound like garbage once amplified with a piezo, played by very capable players who just don't understand or care about the electronics. Conversely, some cheap plywood instruments that sound great with proper attention paid to the signal chain. So it's almost a different set of criteria for success when playing acoustically vs. amplified. This is somewhat tangential to your question, but I hope that helps anyway.
C est possible d avoir la traduction française ?,
I'm afraid we only provide English subtitles.
♥️
#509 like the video