I am not a great player yet and this is the first thing Frankenstein and I have written together. The latter section I played lighter, so you can hear the difference in character of Frankenstein’s response and sound. Man, this is such a cool bass to play.
If curious to the recording itself, I used a Rode K2 microphone loaded with a NOS telefunken tube which then went into a pendulum audio MDP1 preamp, through a lynx aurora DAC. The mic was placed 2 1/2 - 3’ in front of the bass, 3’ off the floor tilted down about 20º. The microphone was set to cardioid and there is nothing done to the recording (meaning no eq, compressor, etc).
This is the unadulterated sound of Frankenstein.
For those that don’t know anything about Frankenstein, here was my original post in the lounge:
Really nice, Tom. Cool looking bass, and you get quite a nice sound out of it - especially for having it for such a
short time.
I’m a bass player, and I enjoy the sound of a double bass on the right song, but I’ve been frustrated the few times
I’ve tried to play one. I found it awkward and stiff and hard to play. Maybe I tried on one that was poorly set up.
Now you’ve got me wanting to try again.
Lenny, the setup is crucial. Over the past few weeks, I played sooooo many bases. 9 that were contenders, and I went through every one in Shank Strings’ rack which was about 35-40 more. I got this one at shank strings. Mike is awesome. He had worked on my other DB last year and did a banging setup that has held.
To get in, the least you will want to spend is $1,500. And that is the very bottom, just above junk. Trust me, I have played them all. My first DB was 2k and worth every penny and the money I put into it. In fact, I brought my bass to every shop where I had interest in their bass(es) and my bass outplayed and sounded better (my opinion) than a lot of basses that I was interested in that started at $5k. Aside from the sound which is preference, my romanian bass’ playability crushed all but a few. I like lower action and tighter strings for a punchy resonant and sustaining tone. I can drop the action on my romanian bass down to the finger board without buzz. Now, if you were playing rockabilly, you would want high action and synthetic core or gut-style strings to get that quick note thud with rapid decay. If you do get a bass, get one that has adjusters on the bridge so you can raise and lower the action. If you are interested, I will let you know if I decide to sell my other bass. Still on the fence. But, you should look in your area for a bass shop, not guitar center type places. Some violin shops have basses too. If you search, the correct name is double bass, contrabass. You can also find them as upright basses, but the 1st 2 are the correct name. I wished you lived closer so you could play my basses to get a picture of how they are supposed to feel so at least you would know if it was up tour alley or not.
Yeah, I have been playing for a year year and a half… Cant remember. I took to it like a fish to water. I play every day for at least an hour. Sometimes less sometimes more and I am constantly coming up with “interesting” things LOL. My trouble is all my lyrics seem to me nonsensical or lewd.
Really cool mate, congratulations.
I know nothing of Basses, but it doesn’t seem to have much sustain, is that normal for uprights? Guess that’s what a bow is for
This bass actually has a lot of sustain. Are you listening with a sub? DBs don’t have as much as a solid body EB. I don’t think there is anyway they could since you are vibrating platters of wood which creates the acoustic sound. That takes the energy from the strings whereas a solid body bass does not.
Just listened again, headphones this time, not sure why I thought the sustain was low earlier, sounds much better now.
I do have a decent sub on this media system, but aparently it sounds poop anyway