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).

My mum bought a kemenche when on holiday in Turkey many years ago. She’s a violin player so she collects interesting string instruments. She lent the kemenche to someone and when it came back the bridge was missing.

I found a scrap of walnut for the bridge. This isn’t authentic but should look and sound good.