matthew wengerd » Double Bass

Matthew — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:44:24 +0000

An instrument has to sound good. Â I spent a lot of time as a young bassist caring deeply at how my instruments looked. Â I was an electric bass player looking for aÂ furnitureÂ bass. Â I’ve grown a lot since then. Â An instrument has to sound good first and foremost, but beauty doesn’t hurt. Â Double basses can beÂ interesting, but just have a different, more subtle beauty than over the top electric guitars and basses. Â This bass fromÂ Arnold Schnitzer is a different story, though. Â The walnut for the back and ribs came from the sometimes controversialÂ Ken Smith, a wonderful electric bass maker (kind of ironic, huh?). Â This bass just floors me. Â

My bass features a similar construction, but the bookmatched back of this thing is just plain incomparable. Â You can see some great shots of my bass getting work done by the guys at Upton BassÂ here.Â

Â Show me some of your favorite basses.Â

The bass is back in town!

Matthew — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 15:49:17 +0000

Tuesday night, I drove straight from USF to Loch Haven Park in Orlando to meet Rumano Solano and pick up my bass. Some ribs have been doubled for strength and all of the cracks repaired. I have some work to accomplish to get the sound where I want it, but I am very pleased with the results. Even though I get frustrated when my bass is gone, Rumano’s a great guy and I really appreciate how much he cares about younger cats like me who are trying to get better.

mine’s the one in the middle

Rumano with a bass he just completed

Rumano, Mike Hill and I

Laborie

Matthew — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 14:14:54 +0000

This is the Laborie endpin I recently had installed on my 2003 Solano Klotz. It is installed at a 44 degree angle from verticle and can be installed straight back (perpendicular to the back) or angled “out” (from the player’s feet). I elected to get mine set straight back because this is the way it’s invetors, Francois Rabbath and Christian Laborie, intended it.

The advantage of the Laborie is that it moves the bass’ point of balance closer to or behind the center of gravity, lessening the perceived weight of the bass on your left hand. Rabbath, a French bow player, advocates a whole system, including a small, sloped-shoulder bass (such as the Queniol), the Laborie endpin, French bow, and an open stance.

I, however, don’t have any of this besides the endpin. Instead, I play German bow on the largest bass I have ever seen and have a mid-stance (not too closed, not too open). The primary benefit I see with the Laborie is my ability to enter Thumb Position (TP) easily while standing. It also means I don’t need to haul a stool around anymore!

You can read more about Rabbath here