Double bass

The parts of a double bass

A double bass shares the violin-family blueprint — carved spruce top, maple back and ribs, internal soundpost and bass bar, four strings over a floating bridge — but the design also keeps several features from the older viol family: sloped shoulders, occasional flat backs, and tuning in fourths instead of fifths. The result is a hybrid instrument with its own playing tradition.

• Top (table): European spruce, carved into a slight arch and graduated by the maker. The largest soundboard of any orchestral instrument.
• Back: maple, either carved into an arched shape (more expensive, “round-back”) or built flat with a heavy crossbrace (cheaper, “flat-back”). Flat-back basses are common and historically respectable — many great instruments have them.
• Ribs: deep maple sides — ~22 cm or more. Internal volume drives the low-end response.
• F-holes: long, wide, sometimes flame-shaped on viol-influenced designs.
• Sloped shoulders: most basses have shoulders that slope away from the neck, a viol-family trait that makes thumb position easier on such a long fingerboard. Some violin-corner basses have squarer shoulders.
• Bass bar: very long spruce strip glued under the top on the bass side. Critical for the low E’s response.
• Soundpost: spruce dowel inside the body, behind the treble foot of the bridge. Larger than a cello’s.
• Bridge: tall, hand-cut maple bridge with adjustable height wheels (rare on violin/viola/cello). Lets the player raise the action seasonally.
• Neck & scroll: maple, often grafted (a separate scroll glued to a new neck shaft) on older instruments. Many basses have machine-head tuners on a slotted headstock instead of a violin-style scroll.
• Fingerboard: ebony, very long. Slightly flatter radius than cello to suit the strings’ thicker diameter.
• Tuning machines: double basses use geared machine heads, not friction pegs. The strings are too heavy for friction tuning to be practical.
• Tailpiece: ebony or composite, anchoring the four strings. After-length is significant on bass and audibly affects tone.
• Endpin: long retractable steel rod, often with a rubber tip. Sets the playing height — tall players need long endpins; shorter players retract.
• C-extension (when fitted): a brass-and-wood mechanism extending the E string up the back of the scroll, giving access to low D, C♯, and C below the standard E. Common on orchestral basses, rare on jazz basses.
• No chinrest: the bass is played standing or seated on a tall stool, supported by the body and one knee.

Sizes

Double bass size is largely standard at 3/4 for adult players regardless of body length. A 4/4 bass is enormous and rare; most professional orchestral and jazz basses are 3/4. Smaller fractional sizes exist for children and are tuned the same EADG.

Fitting is by reach and shoulder height, not just total height. The nut should sit roughly at eye level when playing, and the player should be able to reach 1st position (just behind the nut) without hunching. A teacher should size students in person.

Tuning, range & the C-extension

The double bass is the only bowed-string instrument tuned in fourths, like an electric bass: E A D G. The notes are written an octave higher than they sound — bass clef shows easy ledger-line reading; what comes out is one octave deeper.

• Open strings (sounding pitch): E1 — A1 — D2 — G2. Tuned in perfect fourths.
• Why fourths, not fifths: the bass strings are so long that a fifths tuning (CGDA, like cello) would force enormous left-hand stretches between adjacent notes. Fourths keep the reach manageable.
• Solo tuning: orchestral solo concertos are often played a whole tone higher (F♯ B E A) so the bass projects over the orchestra. Players keep a separate set of solo strings for this.
• Five-string bass: a low B string added below the E (B E A D G) extends the range without a C-extension. Common in modern orchestras.
• C-extension: an extra length of E string carried up behind the scroll with a brass mechanism, giving low D, C♯, and C. Standard on professional orchestral basses; rare on jazz basses.
• Bass clef, transposed: bass parts sound an octave lower than written. A C2 in the bass clef sounds C1.

Tonewoods

Bass tonewoods follow the violin tradition with one major exception: the back can be either carved (curved, like a cello) or flat (with internal bracing, like a viol). Both are historically valid; flat-back basses are common and many great players prefer them.

• Spruce top: European spruce is the standard. Sitka and Engelmann are common alternatives. Top thickness and graduation are critical for low-end response.
• Maple back & ribs (carved): European or American maple, carved into an arched shape. More expensive to build and lighter than flat-back.
• Maple or poplar flat back: a flat back braced internally with crossbars. Less expensive to make, often heavier, and historically the dominant pattern for orchestral basses in many traditions.
• Plywood basses: laminated tops, backs, and sides. Cheaper, much sturdier (good for travel and student use), but less responsive than carved tops. Engelhardt, Kay, Eastman are common builders.
• Hybrid basses: carved spruce top, laminated back and sides. A practical middle ground: most of the responsive top with a sturdy back. Many working jazz players play hybrids.
• Ebony fingerboard: required by the heavy strings. The fingerboard takes more wear than on smaller bowed-string instruments.

Neck & fingerboard

The bass fingerboard is enormous and reaches well past the body for thumb position. The neck is wide and thick and almost always has machine-head tuners instead of friction pegs. There is no truss rod and no fret — just a long ebony fingerboard the player learns by feel.

• Scale length: ~104–107 cm (about 41–42″) on a 3/4 bass. Roughly three times the violin scale. Massive left-hand stretches at the lower positions.
• Fingerboard radius: slightly flatter than cello to give the bow clean access across heavy strings.
• Thumb position: from about the octave point on the G string upward, the player’s thumb leaves the back of the neck and presses across the fingerboard as a movable nut.
• Action height: bass action is much higher than guitar — sometimes 8–10 mm at the end of the fingerboard for orchestral arco players, lower (~5–7 mm) for jazz pizzicato. Bridge wheels make this seasonally adjustable.
• Headstock: often a slotted headstock with machine heads (orchestral and most modern basses). Some carry a violin-style scroll for tradition.

Bridge & soundpost

The bass bridge is tall and elaborately cut, often with adjustable height wheels that let the player raise the action seasonally as the body responds to humidity. The soundpost is large and sets the entire instrument’s response.

• Bridge: hand-cut maple, fitted to the specific bass. Aubert and Despiau make standard bass blanks. The cutter shapes height, kidney cutouts, and string slots.
• Adjustable bridge wheels: brass wheels at the feet of the bridge let the player raise or lower the action by a few millimetres. Useful for seasonal humidity changes — no other bowed-string instrument has this.
• Bridge placement: between the inner notches of the f-holes. Always check after restringing — the heavy strings can pull the bridge forward.
• Soundpost: large spruce dowel inside the body, behind the treble foot of the bridge. A luthier sets and adjusts it; small movements have audible consequences.
• Bass bar: very long spruce strip glued under the top on the bass side — the largest bass bar in the violin family.
• Wolf eliminator: some basses develop wolf notes; small clamp-on weights on the after-length damp them.

Strings

Bass strings come in three broad families — gut, steel, and synthetic — and the choice is the most important sound decision after the instrument itself. Jazz pizzicato players, orchestral arco players, and bluegrass slappers all want different things.

• Gut strings (Gamut, Aquila, Pirastro Eudoxa): the original bass string. Plain gut on top strings, gut wound with copper or silver on the lower strings. Thick, warm, slow-attack — perfect for jazz pizzicato, slap bass, and historical arco. Sensitive to humidity. Used by many traditional jazz and bluegrass players.
• Steel strings (Thomastik Spirocore, Pirastro Permanent, D’Addario Helicore): steel core wound with chrome, nickel, or other metals. Bright, sustained, very stable, loud. Spirocore is the worldwide jazz standard for both pizzicato and arco.
• Synthetic core (Pirastro Evah Pirazzi, Obligato): Perlon-core strings with metal windings. A middle ground — warmer than steel, more stable than gut. Common on solo and orchestral basses.
• Hybrid strings (Innovation Honey, Velvet, Animala): proprietary cores combining gut warmth with steel stability. Popular with jazz players who want the gut feel without the humidity hassle.
• Orchestral vs solo gauges: orchestral strings are tuned EADG; solo strings are tuned a whole tone higher (F♯ B E A) and are made lighter to compensate. Always order the tuning you need.
• Lifespan: Spirocore steel can last several years without losing focus. Gut strings change tone gradually and are often used for years. Synthetic strings sit in between.

The bow — German vs French

Double bass is the only bowed instrument with two completely different bow designs in regular use: the German (Simandl) bow held underhand like a viol bow, and the French (Bottesini) bow held overhand like a cello or violin bow. Players almost always commit to one and stick with it.

• German bow: shorter and heavier (~135 g) with a tall, deep frog gripped from below by all four fingers, palm facing up. Traditional in Germany, Austria, Eastern Europe, and parts of the US. Strong, leveraged tone; said to favour the lower strings.
• French bow: longer and lighter (~125 g) with a frog held overhand like a cello bow. Traditional in France, Italy, the UK, and most of the US. More articulate spiccato; slightly more flexible feel.
• Stick: Pernambuco (CITES-restricted), brazilwood (student), or carbon fibre. Carbon bass bows are excellent and increasingly common.
• Hair: ~250–320 strands of horsehair — many basses use black hair (coarser, more grip) for the lower strings.
• Length: ~70–72 cm overall — shorter than a violin bow despite the bass being so much larger.
• Rehairing: every 6–12 months for amateurs, more often for orchestral players who use the bow constantly.
• Rosin: bass rosin is the softest and stickiest of the family — Pop’s, Carlsson, Nyman, Kolstein. Hot weather softens it further; many players keep two grades for summer and winter.
• Pizzicato (no bow): jazz, bluegrass, rockabilly, and slap bass all play without the bow, using the index and middle fingers (or all four for slap technique). Many bassists own a bow they use only for occasional bowed sections.

Amplification & pickups

Acoustic basses run out of volume quickly in any band larger than a string trio. Amplification is the norm for jazz, bluegrass, country, and rockabilly, and good pickup choice is the difference between a natural amplified bass tone and a thin, plinky one.

• The Realist: a thin copper-foil pickup that sits under one foot of the bridge. Natural-sounding, the most popular jazz bass pickup in the world.
• Fishman Full Circle: piezo pickup built into a special bridge wing — replaces one of the bridge feet. Excellent feedback resistance and very natural tone for arco as well as pizzicato.
• K&K Bass Master Pro: two transducers under the bridge feet plus a body sensor and a preamp. Full and warm; popular with bluegrass and jazz players.
• Underwood: bridge-wing piezo, the original pro standard before the Realist. Bright and articulate; some find it harsh, others love it.
• Preamps: piezo pickups need a preamp (Fishman Platinum Pro EQ, LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI, Headway EDB-2) to convert high impedance and shape tone before the amp.
• Bass amps: Acoustic Image, Gallien-Krueger MB series, Markbass — small, light combo amps designed for upright are now common. A 12″ or 15″ speaker handles most rooms.
• Microphones: studio recording often uses a large-diaphragm condenser (Neumann U87, AKG C414) in front of the f-hole instead of (or in addition to) a pickup, for the most natural tone.

Electric upright bass — different instrument

The electric upright bass (EUB) is a separate instrument from both the acoustic upright and the electric bass guitar. EUBs have the same scale length and tuning as a 3/4 acoustic upright but no resonating body — just a frame and a piezo pickup. They’re built for travel, stage volume, and silent practice.

• NS Design CR series, Eminence, Yamaha SLB-200 silent bass: the established EUB makers. Each has its own body shape and pickup design but all share upright scale length and tuning.
• Vs electric bass guitar: electric bass guitar has a 34″ (or shorter) scale, frets, and is played horizontally. EUB has a 41″+ scale, no frets, and is played vertically with upright technique.
• Vs amplified acoustic upright: EUB is much smaller, easier to travel with, and immune to feedback. It also doesn’t sound exactly like a real upright — players use it as a related but distinct voice.
• Use cases: touring jazz and folk players, theatre pit musicians (where space is tight), and silent practice (with headphones).
• Strings: usually steel-core to suit the high-output piezo pickup. Spirocore Weich is a popular EUB choice.

A short history

The double bass evolved from the 16th-century violone (a large bass viol) and gradually adopted features from the violin family while keeping its viol ancestry: sloped shoulders, flat backs, and tuning in fourths. By the late 18th century the modern instrument was settled enough that Viennese makers like Domenico Dragonetti could give the bass a soloistic voice that influenced Beethoven’s symphonic writing.

Through the 19th century Italian virtuoso Giovanni Bottesini turned the bass into a concert instrument with his etudes, concertos, and the French overhand bow he championed. Franz Simandl in Vienna codified the German underhand bow and a teaching method still used worldwide.

In the 20th century, the double bass became the rhythm-section heart of jazz. Wellman Braud, Jimmy Blanton (with Duke Ellington), Oscar Pettiford, Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Charles Mingus, Scott LaFaro, Ron Carter, and many others made it a soloist’s instrument as well as a foundation. Bluegrass and rockabilly slap bass (Bill Black, Marshall Lytle) used the gut-string acoustic upright as a percussion instrument as well as a pitched one. Today the double bass is at home in symphonies, jazz clubs, bluegrass jams, classical solo recitals, and indie bands all at once.

Frequently asked questions

Should I learn German or French bow?

Pick the one your teacher uses. Both are equally valid; both have major repertoire and great players. Most US players use French; most Germans, Austrians, and Eastern Europeans use German. Once you commit, switching is hard — the grip is fundamentally different.

What strings should I put on my bass?

For arco/orchestral playing, steel strings are the default — Pirastro Permanents, Spirocore Weich, or D’Addario Helicores. For jazz pizzicato, Spirocore Weich or hybrid strings (Innovation Honey, Velvet) cover most needs. For traditional jazz, slap, or bluegrass, gut strings (Gamut, Aquila) give the warmest pizzicato.

Do I need a C-extension?

If you play orchestral repertoire, almost certainly yes — many symphonic bass parts go below low E. If you play jazz, no — jazz parts almost never go below E, and the extension adds weight and cost. Some bassists keep an extension bass for orchestra and a separate jazz bass.

How do I amplify my bass without it sounding plinky?

Three things help: a good pickup (Realist, Fishman Full Circle, K&K Bass Master Pro), a dedicated preamp (Fishman Platinum, Headway EDB-2), and an amp designed for upright (Acoustic Image, Markbass). Roll off some upper-mids on the preamp; that’s where most piezo plinkiness lives.

Can I take my upright bass on a plane?

Only as cargo, in a sturdy flight case (David Gage, Stevenson, Mooradian). Most touring upright players either rent a bass at the destination or carry an electric upright (NS Design, Yamaha SLB) that fits in a hard gig bag.

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