Posted on December 27, 2020May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Bass String Choices Bass String Choices by Frederick C. Lyman, Jr. Originally published in American Lutherie #5, 1986 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 Fifty years ago, basses had gut strings, usually the top two plain gut and the lower two wound with wire. Whatever techniques a bassist wished to learn, classical, jazz, or the various folk/ethnic categories, they had to be within the limited possibilities afforded by this kind of string. Gut strings were at their best in the deep background tones of a symphonic bass section because they had a strong, true fundamental that stayed back where it belonged. Plucked, they had a punchy jazz rhythm sound in the lower and middle register, sometimes producing a delayed response that was known popularly as the “walking” effect. For solos of any sort, the range was limited because the high notes were feeble and uncentered. The first steel strings for bass, with a solid wire core, were stiff and had a harsh, metallic sound. But improved strings were developed with flexible, stranded cores and multiple windings. These were developed along the lines of two different design philosophies, and musicians had to choose between them. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 9, 2020May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips In Praise of the Plywood Bass In Praise of the Plywood Bass by Frederick C. Lyman, Jr. Originally published in American Lutherie #4, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 see also, Building a Plywood Bass by Richard Ennis It has been said that in order to produce fine wines, one must have had generations of alcoholics in one’s family. Only then can one approach the problem with the necessary patience, devotion, and understanding that will result in superior, classic vintages. Mere cleverness or mere industry will not suffice; one has to be locked into the project by the merciless and irreversible forces of destiny. Similarly, those who are involved in the production of bass sounds seem to require a kind of demonic motivation. They must be attuned, in a special way, to the pulsations of the subaudible register, the tone-feelings that seem to arise from the nether regions. From this unholy obsession with the depths of auditory sensibility comes a fundamental understanding which will forever elude the fiddlers and flautists. What we mean is that bassists have a deep need to make those sounds, and they will find a way to do it. It’s not a question of what is practical or expedient or wise: Bassists are driven. They have a pathological fascination with deep sounds; they are not well without them. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 11, 2010May 29, 2025 by Dale Phillips Letter: Sloane Bass Tuners Letter: Sloane Bass Tuners by Fredrick C. Lyman, Jr. Originally printed in American Lutherie #66, 2001 Dear Tim and Deb: Sorry to learn of the passing of Irving Sloane. I met him at a convention in Pennsylvania. He was displaying his precision guitar machines and I remarked that there was nothing comparable for the bass viol. He asked if there would really be a market for such. I said there really were no good bass machines and all bass players were agreed about that. I have been so out of touch that I have not seen his bass machines, but it appears that they are the new standard of the industry. I drew pictures of strange imaginary instruments for years before I got Irving’s book and found it was really possible to build something. It’s great that you have been reaching a young audience that has the possibility of developing their work over a sufficient time to solve the problems. In retrospect I should have done many things differently. I did build a lot of the instruments that I was interested in, but it was not a really sustainable enterprise and I found myself too old and feeble to go on. In January I discovered that I had the same disease as Irving Sloane. I had drastic surgery and it seems to have been a success, but my overall vitality is not great.
