marvin spangles Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Are any of you guys using the same bass for classical and jazz gigs. If so what compromises if any have you made? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jecklin Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 (edited) That's exactly what I did, although I wasn't involved in straight ahead jazz and played in chamber groups for classical. My bass with inovation honeys gave a fantastic arco sound and a very growly sustaining pizz when I needed it. For orchestral pizz I just plucked higher up on the fingerboard and reduced some pressure with my left fingers. I never really subscribed to X mm of acton for jazz and X+2mm of action for classical or whatever, but I didn't use stage amplification for my "jazz" gigs, so the bass had to do as much acoustically as it would in a chamber group so in effect there wasn't much difference in what was going on. If you're a player that uses a lot of amplification and has a bass with a set up worked around that then there may well be changes in feel that take a bit of getting used to. But I wouldn'waste too much time worrying about it Just try and be as musical as possible on your bass. It may be all you need in time is a set of strings solely for arco, although that said your current strings on your bass may well not bow well. Is there something you feel troubles you with your bowed sound at the moment? Edited April 18, 2012 by Jecklin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvin spangles Posted April 18, 2012 Author Share Posted April 18, 2012 Hi Merchant Thanks for your reply I should have clarified that I am searching out for a significant upgrade to my bass set up. I intend to play quite a few basses. I play both classical and pizz. Although the latter is where I earn money I really have been smitten with arco recently and am considering working up towards a diploma next year. So I want a bass that sings easily under the bow (taking into account my fledgling technique) but still be suitable for Jazz gigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbassist Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 My current bass is great for jazz and works well under the bow with Evah weichs. However the more i play more orchestra stuff I realise that I really want two very different things for jazz/classical. For me a jazz bass works best if it's a mid/small body without too much low end. A low set up and pizz strings/pickup and no extension. For classical I want a larger, more boomy instrument with no pickup, an extension, slightly higher action, orchestra strings. Im now in the process of buying a second bass to make this happen. However I do know guys who make it work with one instrument and if you are not playing arco in an orchestra then it's more a case one great bass with decent hybrid strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLoydElgar Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 just walk that dog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbassist Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 [quote name='FLoydElgar' timestamp='1334778609' post='1621250'] just walk that dog! [/quote] :-) great advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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