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Double Bass Archives

Bass of the Week: Michael Bornhak Viennese Violone
Bass of the Week

Bass of the Week: Michael Bornhak Viennese Violone

This week we’re checking out a gorgeous new instrument with roots that date back hundreds of years. German luthier Michael Bornhak built this incredible Viennese-styled violone, which was an early form of the double bass, and took it out to the Black Forest to photograph it. Complete with beautiful inlays, the bass takes its cues from a baroque instrument. “It’s...

Bass of the Week: The Swedish Harp Bass
Bass of the Week

Bass of the Week: The Swedish Harp Bass

From the mind of Joel Illerhag comes one of the most incredible, dreamlike instruments I’ve ever seen. The Swedish Harp Bass is a double bass fitted with a 3D-printed carbon fiber structure to add 39 sympathetic strings and electromagnets that help to make the strings sound. “The aim of this project is to produce acoustic sound from a musical instrument...

Bass of the Week: Neal Heppleston Panormo Double Bass
Bass of the Week

Bass of the Week: Neal Heppleston Panormo Double Bass

British double bass luthier Neal Heppleston sent us photos of his Panormo model to check out, and I’ve been obsessing over it. Each piece of wood is jaw-dropping, but moreover, it seems every little detail is a work of art in itself. Hand-built in his Sheffield shop, the bass is designed after the work of a famous 18th-century luthier with...

Bass of the Week: Hannah Mayne Gamba Bass
Bass of the Week

Bass of the Week: Hannah Mayne Gamba Bass

I love the elegance of the double bass, especially this gorgeous Gamba model built by Hannah Mayne. Inspired by an 18th-century Italian bass, it’s crafted with Bosnian maple for the back, sides, and neck with an Engelmann spruce top. “I modified the original outline of the bass, along with the dimensions, making it my own design. The sound holes, other...

How to Practice Double Stops (with the Bow)
The Lowdown with Dr. D

How to Practice Double Stops (with the Bow)

Double stops can present a major challenge for double bassists just being introduced to them, specifically in the arena of intonation. Finger spacing, shifting, and dropping and lifting of multiple fingers are all areas that can trip someone up. Below, using a famous passage from Edouard Nanny’s Concerto attributed to Dragonetti, are a few ways to approach double stops which...

Bass of the Week: Roberto Franceschini Double Bass
Bass of the Week

Bass of the Week: Roberto Franceschini Double Bass

This week we’re checking out a cool double bass made by Italian luthier Roberto Franceschini. The instrument features a slimmed down body that makes it more portable while retaining the acoustic sound of a double bass. “Various luthiers around the world have been trying for years to find solutions for building less bulky double basses without giving up any bit...

Bass of the Week: Kanzian & Traunsteiner Viennese Five-String Bass
Bass of the Week

Bass of the Week: Kanzian & Traunsteiner Viennese Five-String Bass

As a double bass player, I love seeing old basses and wondering what stories they could tell. But I also love seeing the creation of new masterpieces, including this Kanzian & Traunsteiner five-string bass. Alex Kanzian and Fabian Traunsteiner are luthiers based in Vienna, Austria that opened their own shop about five years ago. “We are both classically educated violin...

Dealing with a Removable Neck
The Lowdown with Dr. D

Dealing with a Removable Neck

Q: I have read your latest column on the set-up of your bass and that you had a removable neck installed. I never had one and one of the reasons why I’m holding off on this is the fact that a removable neck also means a removable bridge. I mean: the bridge is not fixed on the bass, which is...

Ear Trumpet Labs Introduces Nadine Upright Bass Microphone
Pickups

Ear Trumpet Labs Introduces Nadine Upright Bass Microphone

Double bassists have a new option for amplifying their instrument with the Ear Trumpet Labs Nadine microphone. The medium-large diaphragm condenser mic is specifically designed for upright bass with its low end tuned to give a flat response at the mounting distance. Its cardioid pickup pattern is designed to pick up as much of the bass’s top as possible while...

My Double Bass Setup: Part 4 – Endpin, Removable Neck and Travel Case
The Lowdown with Dr. D

My Double Bass Setup: Part 4 – Endpin, Removable Neck and Travel Case

Endpin I also use an angled endpin while standing. The main reason for this is to take the weight of the instrument off my left hand while allowing my left hand easy access to the complete fingerboard. For more on this, check out this column. Some people have noted that my endpin length and angle seem to have changed over...

My Double Bass Setup: Part 3 – String Spacing and String Height
The Lowdown with Dr. D

My Double Bass Setup: Part 3 – String Spacing and String Height

String Spacing My string spacing at the nut is approximately 8 millimeters between each string and my string spacing at the bridge is about 22 millimeters between each string. By contrast a more traditional setup might be 10 mm at the nut and 28 mm at the bridge. Although this particular change may seem small (8 vs. 10 and 22...

My Double Bass Setup: Part 2 – Number of Strings, Tuning and Fingerboard Length
The Lowdown with Dr. D

My Double Bass Setup: Part 2 – Number of Strings, Tuning and Fingerboard Length

I play a five-string bass with both a higher string and a low C, via an extension. My specific tuning is (from lowest to highest) C, B, E, A, D. The low C string can be tuned via capos (on the C extension) to any chromatic note between C and E (the more standard low string on a double bass)....