May 2008 Bass Works Newsletter In This Issue Robert Nairn Schertler Amplifiers Carbow DIY Bass Care Endpins Quick Links Bass Works Website Newsletter Archive Quenoil Copy Robert Nairn  Robert Nairn will be in Adelaide on June 4th to perform and run a masterclass.   Masterclass Time: 11:00am- 12:15 Cost: Free Venue: Marryatville High School, Stables   Concert Time:12:30- 1:00pm Cost: Free Venue: Marryatville High School, Stables Featured Product  Schertler   The Unico (top) is the perfect amp to reproduce the sound of any acoustic instrument or voice! Every one of its components, from preamplifiers to loudspeakers, has been designed for natural and accurate response.   · CONSTRUCTION: Bass Reflex 8" Woofer / 1" dome tweeter · POWER OUTPUT: 180W RMS, Bi-amplified · FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 40Hz to 22KHz · POWER SUPPLY: 220Vac 50Hz 7 115Vac 60Hz (manual switching) · EFFECT: Spring Reverb · CHANNELS: 3 Independent channels · WEIGHT: 14.5 Kg · DIMENSIONS: 330x390x290 mm Price: $1,640   The BASS subwoofer is the perfect complement to UNICO or DAVID for enhancing the performance of acoustic instruments producing strong bass frequencies. This application activates the low cut feature on the UNICO or DAVID so as to have the BASS subwoofer fully reproduce bass! Price: $1,373     Welcome to the May edition of the Bass Works Newsletter. I would like to thank everyone for the feedback from the first newsletter. It was very helpful. The old five string double bass we restored has found a home in the Queensland Symphony and the Robert Nairn dates and times have been confirmed and are in the left column. We are hard at work with two new  basses (Quenoil model) and we have put some photos up on the website of the process of making the first Quenoil model. Click here to have a look. We have also just started to do a full restoration on a 150yro English bass. Carbow    It is very difficult to get good well balanced double bass bows at a reasonable price. The range seems to consist of the cheap and nasty to the very expensive and not very much in-between. The Carbow is a carbon fibre bow from France that is available in German and French models. They can be customised with different frogs, mounting and weights. In order to get the right characteristics,  Carbow employed master bow maker Jean Grunberger and many other world renowned players in the production process. The result is a bow I recommend without reservation.   Gary Karr, bassist writes, "Every serious bassist ought to own one. The bow feels like a fine pernambuco stick and is virtually indestructible. It would be hard to find a pernambuco bow for that price that handles as well and offers the sound and comfort of this carbon bow. I've used it for years and I've fooled a lot of people into thinking I was playing on a pernambuco bow." DIY Bass Care  Some of the rubber stoppers on the endpins of basses have an effective life of about 2 hours. By that I mean as soon as the weight of the bass is put on them (in a playing position) the rubber distorts and starts to split  leaving a sharp metal point which manages to gouge holes in the floor, back of the car and probably you as it is lifted to and from a vehicle. Better made endpins have a screw on rubber stopper which can be removed when occasionally you need to anchor your bass to the floor for a performance.    It is possible to buy the replacement rubbers for the endpins but why would you bother when the life of the previous one was so short. The solution is a rubber doorstop by Zenith which is available from the hardware store for about $3. It has a convenient hole for a screw which is just the right size for a 10mm endpin. It is important that the ferrulle is still on the endpin as this stops the pointy end from working its way through the rubber. It is large and hard wearing and if you need to refine/customise the shape it can be done easily with a disc sander or course sandpaper.   To see pictures of stopper click here. Bass Works Wooden Endpins             We have discovered an Australian hardwood for these endpins that improves the way a bass resonates. It is quite remarkable the difference it makes when compared to carbon fibre. Francois Rabbath told me his bass vibrates a lot more and the wolf note is diminished. We are now making the rubber balls for these endpins so they can be ordered at a standard length and easily cut down to the size that is comfortable for you.   Price: $80.00 If you have any questions or comments please phone or email us.   Sincerely, Susy   Bass Works   (08) 82782016 info@bassworks.com.au www.bassworks.com.au

 

 

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