A Bass Photo Album

Unknown member · Nov 8, 2015

I put this together for no reason on particular except leisure enjoyment:

Neck extension. This enables the E-string to play lower without needing to resort to a 5-string bass.

Hungarian girl with bass. I don't know if it's an effect of the photo or not but it doesn't seem that the fingerboard is elevated away from the body the way a double bass should be. I don't know how it could be playable if this is the case. Moreover, the fingerboard is designed like a guitar.

Bass origami

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

This is the stuff, folks.

Crehore church bass, 1780s. A church bass is a small double bass--not a cello but slightly larger. It could be played by strapping it to the body and walking around with it. This type of bass was also popular with itinerant street musicians who played in the taverns and so was called a "beer bass."

Crehore church bass, 1800.

The bass humidifier. You wet it, squeeze it out and insert the tube portion into a sound hole in cold weather and it will keep the inside of the bass from getting too dry. Never use them in warm weather or you could get mold which will destroy your bass.

Beautiful chamber bass.

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

6-string double bass. If I hadn't seen a photo, I would never believe they existed. I don't know how you'd play it especially with a bow as there doesn't appear to be enough string separation but why would you want one just for pizzicato? Well, it's a strange world, as they say.

Old, cheap plywood basses never die; they're just converted into go-carts.

Ben Willard church bass, 1810.

1897 bass with neck extension.

tortkis · Jul 10, 2016

Victor Redseal said:
6-string double bass. If I hadn't seen a photo, I would never believe they existed. I don't know how you'd play it especially with a bow as there doesn't appear to be enough string separation but why would you want one just for pizzicato? Well, it's a strange world, as they say.

This is 7-string double bass. I have not seen this (or even 6-string bass) before.

Improvisation by Paul Rogers on the 7-string double bass.

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

I took this photo at St. Albertus Church in Detroit showing my instructor and some fellow students playing in recital.

Monumental waste of bass.

Double bass mod podged with Zentangle squares made by middle school students of St. Clare of Assisi Catholic School in Houston Texas--Janet Reynolds, art teacher.

United Mastodon Minstrels from a 19th century handbill. At upper center left, there appears to be a man bowing on a bass.

Elgar's Ghost · Nov 8, 2015

The Gibson EB1. Sorry for going all electric on you. :lol:

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

Spiderman gives me nightmares.

My photographic still life showing cat, calendar, African mask, bass and a messy dresser drawer. Somewhere Zurbaran is turning green with jealousy or maybe it's just putrefaction.

Alfred Hitchcock as an extra in "Strangers on a Train."

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

Bassist Johann August Reinhold Bach and his sons. He was a descendant of J.S. Bach (who had 20 children, 10 of which survived to adulthood). As one can see, the music continued to run through the bloodline. J.A.R. Bach died in 1914.

Dr Johnson · Nov 8, 2015

Gibson bass banjo.

And below, the Gibson mando bass:

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

Bass morin khuur (Mongolian fiddle)

Double bass repair and barbershop in Topeka, KS. Yes, really!

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

Memorial to Checkhov and his story of romance and the double bass. This was later made into a wonderful short film starring John Cleese and wife, Connie Booth, around the same time both were writing and appearing in "Fawlty Towers."

Cuba.

My first ensemble--and my last.

Dr Johnson · Nov 8, 2015

Given that we have already had an electric bass here we ought to have the original:

1952 Fender Precision:

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

Washtub bass. It likely came from Africa where hunter's bows were rested on tortoise shells and plucked.

The tea chest bass, British skiffle's answer to the washtub.

"Woman Playing a Double Bass" Suzanne Valadon 1908.

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

Rockabilly

The Resonator Bassoguitar.

Regal Bassoguitar.

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

A custom bass made for my instructor--the same guy who made my bass. He put a Polish eagle on the scroll.

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

Book housed at Oberlin Conservatory.

Guest · Nov 8, 2015

I have a 1977 Fender P bass. Bought it brand new at $500. Try and get one for that price now. I like this one better than the newer models because the newer ones feel lighter. This is a heavy bass but it gives you a DEEP, rich tone with infinite sustain so you'll knock it back with a compressor most of the time but it's there when you want it. Handles beautifully. Also excellent for slapping. Best slapping bass ever, IMO, even better than the Music Man basses which were based off the P bass anyway.

Had to get one of these. It's a modern one though. the true 60s violin Hofner were cheap, flimsy pieces of shyte. It wasn't meant to be anything high end. But Paul made them famous so Hofner couldn't phase it out (which they most certainly would have done if it were up to them) so they beefed it up. All in all, it's a not a bad bass these days. Still built as much like the original as possible but a lot sturdier.

Schecter Stiletto Studio Model 5 fretless. My first bass with active pickups. Thing of pure beauty. So perfectly put together that it practically plays itself and the sound is unreal. Amazing buy for only $600 brand new.

Torn between getting a Schecter 6-string or a Yamaha TRB but I ultimately went with the Yamaha. Unbelievable piece of power and technology in your hands. It was used and whoever had it did some wonderfully subtle work on the frets so that when you strummed it, it sounded marvelous. You strum 6-string basses, you play them like guitars, full chords and everything. They are not really made to be played like other basses. If a 6-string doesn't sound good strummed, don't buy it. When you hear a real master of 6-string play it, you'll be amazed. These things are entire orchestras in and of themselves. My instructor plays bossa nova on his and it sounds fantastic. But if you're going to buy a 6-string, know how to play it right and find an instructor who knows how to handle one. Otherwise, you're wasting your money and a bass. Properly played, it's one of the most incredible instruments ever invented.

Guest · Nov 9, 2015

Cornerless bass, Spanish, 1740. The rib (side) is made of a single, continuous piece of poplar.

This is why you don't take your bass on a commercial flight. The TSA in Atlanta did this back in September and it was the second that week that they had done this to. The best thing to do is to rent a bass in advance in another city and pick it up when you get there. You do this to my bass and I will kill you to death.

Nice restoration work.

Guest · Nov 9, 2015

Very cool but very insane neck extension.

Only in Japan.

Guest · Nov 9, 2015

From the cartoon "Three Little Bops" about the pigs who jam hot jazz for the hip crowds at the clubs when the wolf barges in blowing his trumpet and tries to join in but his chops are so sour that he drives the crowds away. Rather cute and hilarious at once.

Wellman Braud

The John Robichaux Orchestra from 1896 in New Orleans. The bassist is Oak Gaspard. This photo demonstrates that double basses were already being used when jazz was still jass--ragtime with a bluesy beat.

Guest · Nov 9, 2015

Edward Madenski

While bass-climbing is highly popular in rockabilly, unless you get the ribs and end pin reinforced for this purpose, I would recommend not trying this at home.

A human-sized violin with a violin shop inside it. All the violins are functional.

Guest · Nov 9, 2015

Washtub bass with a proper neck fitted to it. With the basic washtub bass, the neck is a shovel handle that isn't attached. You simply hold it to the corner of the tub and move it back and forth to change the tautness of the string which changes its pitch. Here, you actually finger the string which is more efficient and allows for cool percussive slap effects. Washtub bass string is either binder's twine or weed-whacker nylon string. It has to stretch easily. A real bass string will not work!!!

A screen capture I made from the 2009 animated movie, Coraline.

Break time.

Guest · Nov 14, 2015

Belly plates. The slats of wood fixed to them are bass bars. A bass bar is almost always glued on although some are carved when the belly plate is being scooped out. If glued, the grain must run parallel to the grain of the belly plate. It is virtually always made of spruce. The bass bar runs under the two lower strings and parallel to them. It ends under the foot of the bridge on the low side. It distributes the sound all over the belly plate uniformly.

But to get the bass's full sound requires the belly plate and the back plate vibrating simultaneously. So under the other foot of the bridge on the high side is a spruce dowel that connects to both plates like a pillar. It is called the sound post. It takes the vibration from the top plate and channels it to the back plate. Unlike the bass bar, which is glued, the sound post is held in solely by spring tension and is perfectly fitted to each plate.

This is the same internal arrangement of every member of the violin family.

Guest · Nov 14, 2015

"the sound post is held in solely by spring tension"

I imagine this statement must have caused a good bit of confusion. of course I meant "string tension." I must have been high on dangerous drugs last night.

Guest · Nov 28, 2015

Guest · Nov 28, 2015

Lion-head scroll. The big, wooden knobs, by the way, are string winders. When you first install the strings, you turn the knob and it will take up all the slack quickly and then you use the tuning peg. When you release the knob, it will also unwind the string very quickly. Very handy but most basses do not have them.

A Bass Photo Album

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities