Cheapest "ergonomically safe" and "decent" EUB

[sandy_r]

2 hours ago, Paolo85 said:

Meet the UEB - upright electric bass. Stuck on a tattoist arm rest, set up with unnecessarily high action to make the experience more vaguely realistic.

To be honest it is a failed experiment. The bass is very heavy (it's a cheap Fazley that competes with the heaviest Harley Bentons). I did nof feel like chopping the wings and having to redo the electronics.

The center of gravity would really be on the neck. Obviously I could not screw it to the neck.

Result? It wobbles a bit when I play.

To make it work, I should probably find a SERIOUSLY sturdy stand. However, I am tempted to just cut my losses. It was meant to be just a bit of fun. It's ok to play one note per quarter, maybe try a slow two feel, see how far off my intonation is (a lot!), experimenting with using upper arm and shoulder muscles to play on the fingerboard, and see if it's painful or not. That should be all I need while I wait for the right time to buy an EUB to come 

EDIT: let me at least celebrate the acoustic sound of this, which with the superhigh action and plucked like an upright does sound more  "uprighty" than I expected!

 

 

 

 

Cool work!

As my first boss used to say:  "an experiment is only a failure if you fail to learn anything from it!"

 

I agree that it's not worth clipping those bass wings and recutting the controls just for an experiment - you'd want to be sure you were going down the right track first

 

I mentioned CoG above (wrt getting the cymbal stand fixing): "into the body of the bass as near as possible to its centre of gravity"

 

This relates to a fixed support into the bass, but there is another approach and that is to balance the bass on the top of a support - you could try another experiment with a different bass: sit down on a chair (to get the relative heights more aligned), stand the bass upright on a hard floor on its end strap button (maybe resting it on a small folded piece of material to protect floor & button). Balance the bass and let the top part of the neck rest lightly against your fretting hand - now check how the board action feels wrt supporting the bass vs pressing the strings

 

This is how it would work when resting on a stand, unfixed but contained (ie. able to pivot)

 

I've taken a screen shot from a video of a gig where I was using my electro-acoustic bass, unmodified, with this method (its a light bass)

I have also used my Yamaha solid fretless, but as I mentioned above, I wouldn't recommend putting an unmodified solid bass on a stand due to the top-heavy nature of the whole setup

 

As you say, the resulting sound is worth all the arrangememts

 

(...can't see the stand in this photo!)

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by sandy_r

[Nice Guy Rich]

On 17/09/2023 at 10:33, Paul S said:

I modified my Stagg by fixing a stand to it - kept it fairly firmly in place for playing.  I found it much easier than using the spike.

 

What stand did you use and, how did you fix it to the STAGG?

[Burns-bass]

I love all the Heath Robinson contraptions (it was me who used the drum stand for my Wav bass in the end).

 

They’re all pretty wacky solutions but none that anyone would consider to be anything like an EUB or DB.

 

Personally, I’d check out the full size (41”) scale NS basses for sale in the classifieds. 

[Paul S]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Rich said:

What stand did you use and, how did you fix it to the STAGG?

 

A few posts down from that one I explain it.

 

 

[Paolo85]

17 hours ago, Paolo85 said:

Meet the UEB - upright electric bass.

 

Just to report that the UEB is working after all. I taped a small balloon ribbon roll (yes) to the back of the upper horn. It sticks out and rests exaclty on my sternum as I play, and that keeps it fairly stable. The stand now just keeps the bass up, and prevents it from twisting.

Agreed with @Burns-bass that that's not the real thing. Still, fun to use and keeps me away from the temptation of a short-scale EUB. After some playing, no sign of pain in my left hand, wrist or forearm, so I have good hopes that I have some aspects of the upright technique figured out. But the back of my shoulder is all stiff so maybe I am not doing it too well yet 

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by Paolo85

[NickA]

On 17/09/2023 at 14:55, Silvia Bluejay said:

Since I'm so small

Hi Silvia, you're no smaller (vertically!) than the lady who sits next to me at orchestra.  She plays a 3/4 Bryant 5 string (rather better than I do) and would struggle to breach 5ft.

 

[knirirr]

On 17/09/2023 at 10:12, Paolo85 said:

 

 

Would the Warwich Triumph hold stable?

 

I've got one. I've never noticed it spinning around in any way, but it is not quite as comfortable as holding an acoustic.

Also, it has an Eb neck. I happen to like this but apparently it's less common.

 

[Paolo85]

Right, so this month I bought a battered Stagg for cheap on ebay. It's comparatively better than the one I had last time.

The plan was to put it on a DIY stand. But I did not wanted it to be fully vertical "left to right" as it looks to me most DB player keep it a bit of an angle, not just back to front.

While I was trying to figure out how to do it, I was also trying various things standing and sitting. In the end, I think I have managed to find a position to play it standing without squeezing with the thumb. This weekend I have tried a Yamaha SLB and it feels much more natural. Still, I think and hope that I have figured out how to play the Stagg "safely"

[JoeEvans]

Slightly off topic here but which cheaper EUB's have similar necks and scale lengths to actual double basses?

[Paolo85]

I am definitely not an expert on DB but reportedly the Stagg's neck should be similar to an actual DB. And the Harley Benton DB as well. For what I understand, it's the Stagg's bridge (on top of the fact that it's stick shaped) that makes the playing experience a bit different. All strings are pretty much the same height. I have filed the saddles though and that's sorted.

I think some people were saying there were other things with the bridge but I can't remember

[chris_b]

On 17/09/2023 at 04:40, Paolo85 said:

. . . . So I wonder, what's the cheapest I can go to get an ergonomycally safe playing experience?

 

No basses, electric or upright, are ergonomically unsafe. If you are experiencing health issues when playing any bass it's your technique that is wrong, and needs to be corrected.

 

Personal lessons would be the best way to ensure you develop an" ergonomically safe" technique.

[JPJ]

10 hours ago, chris_b said:

 

No basses, electric or upright, are ergonomically unsafe. If you are experiencing health issues when playing any bass it's your technique that is wrong, and needs to be corrected.

 

Personal lessons would be the best way to ensure you develop an" ergonomically safe" technique.

Chris from my experience with first the Stagg and then the KK Baby Bass, getting the bass to stay in one position was the problem for me which necessitated a certain amount of left hand holding of the bass (although to be fair the KK was considerably better when sitting down). I’m now using an NS NXT on the stand and this problem is completely alleviated allowing a much better left hand position. In fact, the NS is even ok on the end pin attachment.

[chris_b]

52 minutes ago, JPJ said:

Chris from my experience with first the Stagg and then the KK Baby Bass, getting the bass to stay in one position was the problem for me which necessitated a certain amount of left hand holding of the bass (although to be fair the KK was considerably better when sitting down). I’m now using an NS NXT on the stand and this problem is completely alleviated allowing a much better left hand position. In fact, the NS is even ok on the end pin attachment.

 

Poorly designed equipment is always a problem.

 

Glad you've got that sorted out.

[Happy Jack]

With narrow-bodied instruments like my Kolstein Busetto (and my old KK and Ampeg BabyBasses) I've always found the solution lies in placing my left KNEE in the correct position, bracing the lower bout and preventing the bass from trying to spin around its axis.