Bloopdad1

Hiya I'm in S Wales. Plenty of decent luthiers around here plus one of the very best in the UK - Martin Jones, he's based in Caerphilly (does all our instruments in the BBC Orchestras and WNO) He could easily give you an accurate appraisal. Or send me some pics, I'll give you a decent stab at a value. Remember, the bridge, fingerboard, strings, tailpiece, endpin and even neck are not that important in a classical bass.... Its all about the front - (wood quality, condition, grain structure, blockless etc..) As an alternative to Martin in Caerphilly there's always the superb Luthier Martin Penning in Frome. Happy to advise and help out. I'm not looking to buy - I've got 3 classical basses already! But I do have a couple of friends who are looking, plus my colleagues in the bass section know others that might be looking for an old bass. (I'd strongly advise against Cardiff Violins - not for basses anyway). I'm guessing your folks are in the Swansea, Neath, Llanelli area? Cheers B

A proper Luthier would never ever ever ever sand down the feet of the bridge, they only use very sharp Knives and profile blades to cut the shape. This allows for a perfect contact and frequency transfer into the top (which is why they take a day and charge us around £400 to do it!). If the bass isn't that valuable then a cheap imperfect absolutely last resort would be to sand it, but it's really not the done thing... Lowering the crown of the bridge is more acceptable and simple. Just keep the spacing correct and make sure the strings aren't embedded in the bridge - you're looking for half of the string diameter in the bridge and the other half exposed (you can use round needle files to get the perfect profile). Average string height at the end of the fingerboard is around 9mm under the G to 13mm under the E (or something like that - can't be arsed to find a measuring stick to go check!) If you are still struggling in thumb position then you either need more practice(!!) or your fingerboard relief needs attention. (Or if you want to really get technical... Difficulty in thumb position can often be down to an incorrectly set sound post. If it's even slightly too long the pressure on the top will detract from playability and cause the strings to be VERY "tight" to press down. Also if your bass bar is not correct that will have the same affect. And easy way to test this is to firmly pull the D string towards the G and with the other hand firmly pull the A string towards the E... If you can't see the top flexing a little there's a good chance that your post is too tight. This is what we call having a "tight bass". My Cole bass is partially susceptible to temperature changes so when I take that bass out I always carry another shortened soundpost so if it gets tight I can quickly pop it in and open up the sound again. - DON'T TRY THIS UNLESS YOU'RE USED TO FITTING POSTS! Told you it was technical..) 😂

Yep, the "thumb pad" at the tip of the thumb. Apart from one of my fellow section members (he insists on using a Rabbath pivot!) we all use the same "grab-a-pint" hand shape.. (unless we're playing that stupid bit in Beethoven 6th...then it's every man for himself!!! 🤣)

How to get the perfect left hand position.... 1, sit at a table with a standard pint glass in front of you. 2, In a relaxed way pick up the pint with your left hand. 3, look at your hand position around the glass. 4, that's the perfect technique... Simple Relaxed hand, fingers mobile, thumb basically opposite the second finger, slight curve in the thumb joints. On the bass it'll obviously just be the ball of your thumb and finger pads in contact with the neck / strings. (I bet you're all doing the pint thing now 🤣) You're welcome.

Err... I guarantee that if an orchestral player consistently played out of tune they would quickly get sacked! (Unfortunately I've worked with a few...).

Agreed, the best and simplest way to improve a £900 Chinese instrument is to stick a set of Evahs on it. It'll instantly make it sound like a bass worth at least double.

Trust me, it still hurts dropping a grand on strings even if the bass is worth £100k! Classical guys are the tightest people I know... Rosin for example. Nobody buys any! we just mooch around for an old Sankey dried up block and share it around the section or often we nick some off the cellos (and destroy it!! 😅) Often country, blues, jazz players and students spend much more on kit. (yes, in orchestras the basses and bows are a bit special but the cases are ripped and decades old, stools are falling apart, strings are ancient, no rosin, clothes falling apart and my pencil must be 20yrs old! 😂)

Years ago the Pirastro and Thomastic reps used to walk down the section and literally dump sets of strings at the bottom of the music stands (all string sections). There are some old pros who have NEVER bought a set of strings.. Unfortunately that has died away these days. My desk partner who has been playing for 50yrs was shocked when he found out the price of strings - he'd always had them for free! He still refuses to buy them, relying on his stash accumulated freebies. Often many orchestras actual own the bass (and other large instruments), it's been with them for centuries. In this case they insure, maintain, string and transport the bass. But of course the player still needs his personal bass for freelance stuff and if he get the sack!

"Why anyone needs guts" .... I'd say +70% of classical section players use gut based strings. It's a superb thing to hear a section of 8 (or even 10 basses) blasting out the start of Mahler 2 or the nice bit in Mahler 6. The last 10 years I reckon the price of gut has gone up by around 40% - a set of Olives are around £650 and if you want to go for the "full fat Soopa-doopa" Eudoxas they're around £900. (then of course us 5 string players need another £220 just for the damn B string!) Apart from a couple of orchestras in town the days of the Pirastro rep turning up and filling up the box with lovely free strings in the bass room has long passed... (Those were the days! - although the schmancy LSO and a couple of others still enjoy this perk). But to answer the question, gut is very much alive and in demand in the classical world - just so bloody expensive! Ive used a worn set of Evahs, Belcantos and tried the Passiones, they're great but for me and my basses, definitely lack that "money shot feeling" that gut gives you. (to keep costs down I do blend sets though - currently running Eudoxa G, D and A, worn Belcanto E and Tempera B. Gives me a nice balanced even tension warm sound)

Exactly. The importance of the bow is often misunderstood and usually ignored. I know many players who save up for years and trial many basses, eventually settling on their dream instrument costing +£20k and not think if their bow is suitable for the new bass ... Then after 6months state that their bass "isn't speaking" as they'd like.. The bow is the double basses amplifier and how you can express your personality and musicality through the bass. (but you also don't have to spend thousands on one either.... It just needs to suit your style and bass).

That would be interesting to bow!

Expensive game for the good 'uns! Eudoxas are knocking on almost £900 for a set..