Double Bass Jazz Set Up For Kay URB

R

Randy Howard

Apr 2, 2015
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#1
Hi all,

I have a Kay URB circa 1945 that I have played thousands of hours on for folk music. I do not play folk so much these days and would like to set it up for jazz which is my leaning now. I know my bridge is crap as I had to fit balsa wood pads under it order to conform with the indented belly. I use Thomastick nickel flatwounds which I think are great strings. I also hand planed the finger board back to arrow straight using templates I made and a dead straight hand planning sander which I machined from aluminum. The finger board is perfect and is beautiful in rosewood and tung oil finish! So I know the fingerboard is fine and I think the strings are fine as well. But I never have investigated the best set up for maximum tone and mwaa for playing jazz. Bridge is fixed but probably would benefit from replacing with an adjustable bridge. I also have a nylon tailpiece anchor to replace the steel wire that is standard on this bass if that would help.

So what do you all think would perk this bass up? It has good tone but is somewhat muddy down low. I know it has some potential left there somewhere.
 
#3
Some of those old Kays that have had the fingerboard dressed many times are pretty thin and offquarter. Once in a while I'll get one that works out so you dress it dead flat and then under tension it gets a nice 2mm relief bend across the whole thing. Some of the old necks are so squirrely that when you take the fingerboard off you can twist the scroll and heel 45 degrees in oposition.
 
#5
Pull the top, carve out the bass bar, heat the belly from underneath and press it out.

Plywood is floppy and can be coaxed back into the shape it was molded into.

But if the OP simply means there are witness points under the bridge feet, just fit a new bridge.
 
#6
For a collapsed top, it just depends upon who you bring it to have work done. A creative person can come up with all sorts of decent ways to re-arch and reinforce it. Some days I use pretty simple analogue clamps and such; for more complicated jobs, I have a full sized early '40s era Kay arches top mold that that fits inside a giant vacuum press and has a series of thermocoupled heat blankets to get the back arch into original factory spec condition or I can push it a bit more and give it a slightly stronger arch. Basses that litererally floated away in floods come out fantastic; in many cases better than they were from the factory because I pimp out the structure a bit more. Think of an old Kay like owning an old Volkswagon- you are only limited by your imagination in terms of how much you can do to one beyond how the original model was produced.

j.
www.kaybassrepair.com
www.condino.com
 
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#7
Back to OP's question, "what do you all think would perk this bass up?"

If your table is significantly deformed you're losing some resonance there, certainly, but as James outlines, it can be a big job to fix. Check also for rattling from a loose bass bar.

Many older Kay basses came with a soundpost foot plate: if you have this, take a look at where the soundpost is sitting on it. From the factory it was centered; you might try having it move a little toward the tail to see if you can get clearer transmission from the bridge. (Caveat: if the table is collapsing, this probably won't work and could add to the problem.) If it's not centered, try centering it first. Ultimately the soundpost should be just tailward of the treble bridge foot, and small differences in position can have significant effect on the instrument's voice.

The tailgut is a good upgrade. Also make sure your endpin is tight in the hole and not moving. If you have a wood endpin, make sure the socket isn't cracked and you have a solid connection with the floor. Make sure the nut is glued in, not moving. Take a good look at the heel button: frequently the neck dovetail will let go, and when it does the heel will lift up a little relative to the top of the button. If this is the case you'll have a weak connection between nut and bridge and you'll lose a bunch of resonance and sustain. Fixing this is a pro luthier job, and it needs to be redone correctly.

A jazz setup — low action, softer strings — on a Kay will generally reduce volume. That said, sometimes lower-tension strings can let it to open up and speak more easily. With lower action you'll probably want to rethink the arrow-straight fingerboard.

If you can share some pics, the model designation and serial number, I'd like to document your bass for the Registry.
 
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