I bought a Palatino Electric Upright Bass as a follow-on from my ukulele bass. I’ve got lessons booked; before then I need to make it sound good.

Palatinos have a mixed reputation. With a bit of fettling they are supposed to sound good. However the build quality is very variable and some fall apart. Hopefully this one has been around a while and is one of the solid ones. It is certainly very heavy!

First issue to solve is the bridge angle. The bridge – as can be seen in the picture above – is fairly flexible.The default position is at right angles to the body of the instrument. However, the strings tend to make the top of the bridge slide upwards, with the eventual result being the bridge firing across the room. It doesn’t help that these strings are very slippery (they will be replaced soon).

There are other issues still to sort.

Side supports

Electric upright basses tend to have extensions so that they stick out in the same way as an acoustic upright bass. The Palatino has a tubular bent steel bar. This is too far forward and slippery so doesn’t help at all with holding the bass – it is easier without the extension. I’m going to see if I can make something that will be closer to an acoustic upright bass in shape and size.

Tailpiece

The tailpiece is an elegant bent wire thing, in the manner of a wrought iron gate.

That metal loop resonates beautifully – there is an audible twang when you hit the right frequency. Options include wrapping cloth around it, cutting off the twangy bits, or something else. We’ll see.

Rubber around the piezo

Lots of people recommend putting bicycle inner tube rubber above and below the piezo transducer. I will try this, although the wedge means that there might not be much locating the bridge if I do.

Bridge shape

The top of the bridge is rather flat. This makes it good for pizzicato (plucking the string) but is harder to bow. Since I want to use the bow I’ll need to reshape the top of the bridge to have an arc. I’ve got Henry Strobel’s book with the shapes required. I might try to buy another bridge (it isn’t a standard size) or make one rather than alter the original bridge.

Strings

I’ve got some regular double bass strings on order. These should be less resonant and thus better for imitating the acoustic sound. I’ll get the bridge sorted first.