How To Get The Best Out Of My £300 Bass?

[AndyBob09]

Hey guys,

I've had a really cheap (£300) bass for a while now and am only now starting to play it a lot more.

I'm a member of a Studio Orchestra who play a range of things from show tunes to pieces for string ensemble from the classical repertoire to backing pop singers. The other bass players there get much nicer sounds out of their basses than I do - I understand their basses will be "better" than mine and what not.

I also play jazz on the bass so would preferably not like to go for strings that are wholly for arco playing.

I'm looking to get a better sound out of my bass by maybe changing my strings, bow, and/or rosin.

The strings, bow and rosin that I'm using all came with the bass which was new for £300, which I understand to be an extremely cheap price to pay for a bass and with these things, you get what you pay for.

I'm looking to spend a bit of money on these things to hopefully improve the bass until I can afford a whole new bass.

I should also add - I don't really know much about bows, strings or rosin so any help would be grateful.

Thanks in advance.

[stingrayPete1977]

I dont know much about the bass but check out my thread 'french or german?' for some useful info on bows and rosin

[Gareth Hughes]

The strings that came on it are more than likely little more than what are affectionately known as bridge holders. A good set of strings can cost £80-100 which is steep compared to electric bass strings, but the difference they make is worth every penny. Another thing might be to have your bass looked at by a good luthier. Ask your nearest orchestra to find out who does their repairs. It might cost the guts of another £100 to have a fingerboard dressed and your bridge height adjusted, but in hindsight I would pay ten times that to have made my first bass more playable.

Being ignorant about the benefit of a good set-up or strings when I started playing, I suffered the most horrendous bass for about three years before learning that life could really have been a lot more simple.

[Bilbo]

I went for Evah Pirazzis precisely because they are good for both arco and pizz.

[thisnameistaken]

Evahs are lovely but the mediums are hard work for a beginner so weichs might be a better fit. They are at the expensive end of bass strings too - you might be better off with a set of Innovation Honeys which also have a good pizz and arco sound but are nearly half the price.

[oggiesnr]

On my £250 bass, after the luthier had given it a once over for stability and any obvious fatal flaws, I had the following done - new strings (in my case spirocore mediums), neck shot to give some relief, new soundpost properly positioned and I had the tailpiece (which was a chunk of metal) replaced with a carbon fibre one. Total cost just shy of £300 and the net result was a playable bass which sounds across the range and will do until I've passed my Grade 5 (at which point SWMBO has said I can spend some more money ). The only only change I might make would be a new bridge but that's not urgent.

The guy I bought the bass from had a play on it at the weekend and commented on how much better it sounded.

Steve

[fatback]

+ 1 to the luthier setup. Worth every penny.

You might try to save a few quid by buying used strings on here. i did that and it worked out great.