Regular Care
Always be wary of the bridge, if this gets knocked over the pin inside the bass is likely to fall over and it is a HUGE pain to get it all back up and working properly. When resting your instrument lay it on its side with the bridge facing the wall, and carry the bass as you have been taught. When traveling always keep the bass on its back or side, and place foam or a pillow where the neck meets the body to keep the neck/scroll suspended.
Double basses are very sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity. The instrument should be kept at minimum 30% humidity, ideally 40%.
Once you have begun heating your house:
Bow Care & Rosin
• Do not touch the bow hair directly with your fingers.
• Tighten the bow hair by turning the metal screw clockwise.
• The bow hair should be tight enough so that it does not touch the stick when played but still maintains a gentle curve towards the hair.
• When not in use, loosen the bow until the hair touches the stick.
• Apply rosin by pulling the bow hair across the rosin cake 6 to 8 times using complete, long strokes.
• Store rosin in a cool dry place.
Tuning
• See Mr. Reid for a demonstration if you are unsure about tuning your bass
• Bass strings are tuned G, D, A, E (highest to lowest)
• Use an electronic tuner, a tuner app for a phone, or online tuner such as this one: ONLINE TUNER
• When tuning using the machine handle, adjust slowly UP to the proper note, listening to the pitch change while plucking the string.
• Be careful not to over tighten string above correct pitch as this can damage the strings and the bass itself. If you find that you have turned a tuning machine 360 degrees STOP and contact Mr. Reid for advice.
• After playing for a few minutes, check and adjust the tuning.
Always be wary of the bridge, if this gets knocked over the pin inside the bass is likely to fall over and it is a HUGE pain to get it all back up and working properly. When resting your instrument lay it on its side with the bridge facing the wall, and carry the bass as you have been taught. When traveling always keep the bass on its back or side, and place foam or a pillow where the neck meets the body to keep the neck/scroll suspended.
Double basses are very sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity. The instrument should be kept at minimum 30% humidity, ideally 40%.
Once you have begun heating your house:
- store the instrument in the case to minimize loss of moisture to the dry air in your house.
- store the bass in the lowest level of your home (basement) where the humidity is highest.
- place a bucket of water in the room
- never leave your bass next to a heat source
- see Mr. Reid for a humidity reader
- if the humidity can't be kept above 30% see Mr. Reid again for more advice.
Bow Care & Rosin
• Do not touch the bow hair directly with your fingers.
• Tighten the bow hair by turning the metal screw clockwise.
• The bow hair should be tight enough so that it does not touch the stick when played but still maintains a gentle curve towards the hair.
• When not in use, loosen the bow until the hair touches the stick.
• Apply rosin by pulling the bow hair across the rosin cake 6 to 8 times using complete, long strokes.
• Store rosin in a cool dry place.
Tuning
• See Mr. Reid for a demonstration if you are unsure about tuning your bass
• Bass strings are tuned G, D, A, E (highest to lowest)
• Use an electronic tuner, a tuner app for a phone, or online tuner such as this one: ONLINE TUNER
• When tuning using the machine handle, adjust slowly UP to the proper note, listening to the pitch change while plucking the string.
• Be careful not to over tighten string above correct pitch as this can damage the strings and the bass itself. If you find that you have turned a tuning machine 360 degrees STOP and contact Mr. Reid for advice.
• After playing for a few minutes, check and adjust the tuning.