How to install position marker tape on a double bass fingerboard

Installing fingerboard markings with tape. DIY

[@GERALDOuncleG]

I’m an electric guitar bass player, and I want to give a try on an upright bass….great tip for a beginner. Thanks for the video/lesson.

[@nunyanunya4147]

im a (shit) upright bass player. i have an electric bass i tried to play and i felt like i was a giant... your neck is so skinny! don't you feed you r pretty lady!? :P

[@pachinko32]

Reminds me of the reference marks on the Les Claypool Rainbow Bass

[@angermanagementstudios]

I’m a multi instrumentalist who’s played electric bass for 30 years. My first upright arrives tomorrow! New challenge!

[@dr_bassius]

Fantastic! Feel free to reach out for help!

[@dr_bassius]

How is it going?

[@ibassnote]

Markers are almost NEVER in the correct places! Just use your ears people. The first thing you need to accept when playing the double bass is it is going to take time. I loved going from electric to upright because it forced me to slow down and re-train my ears. I had to not just play in tune but learn how to center my pitches, to hear deeper into the pitch, into the scales, into the chords. Some intervals are slightly sharper or flattened to be truly in tune. The use of harmonics will become far more important on the upright as will the overtone series. Adding the visual lines, in my opinion will help you slightly in the beginning but could hold you back in the future. These are neat clean lines but they would last me about ten minutes with glissandos, slides, vibrato etc. Just learn old school. Take it slow. Get your half position together and then go from there.

[@dr_bassius]

You’re right about that markers are almost never in the right place. That’s why I made this video. If y’all follow these instructions, then you’ll be able to put the marks in the right place so that you can start out developing the muscle memory from the beginning, then you’re not gonna be guessing and trying to force your ear to do all the work. With this visual connection to the fingerboard then your muscles will quickly adapt then once you get better at playing in tune you can slowly start removing the markers from the top ones down to lower positions... Great comment. Thanks for watching.

[@vernhillbass905]

When I started playing upright the bass I had had markers on the side. Perfect, no, but they got me started on finding pitch. For a new player every little thing matters. I enjoyed your video. Teaching the next generation of bassists is important. Someone recommended practicing to jazz standards I was familiar with in a dark room. Once I had a basic knowledge and feel of the fretboard the dark helped me to listen for pitch.

[@celloafterdark4173]

I also teach with tapes at first- on cello. It's a balance between fostering motivation and gradually improving/gaining muscle memory

[@CutandColorDude]

Thank you. This helped me understand my instrument more

[@dr_bassius]

My pleasure!!! Thanks for watching.

[@dreamingpanthers1847]

I was a long time electric bassist who transitioned to double bass. The new scale length threw me. I was comfortable enough envisioning half steps, but agonized about markers. I didn't want a whole lot of them to wean myself from later. I asked myself "what's the ONE reference dot that would make this new scale length make sense to me?" I settled on placing a removeable dot from Gollihur music at the G note on the E string. You'd find one there on an electric bass, and if that electric bass is fretless the dot will be right on the G note. From there I could mentally divide the two notes in between to the nut, and even further mentally divide up the fingerboard to A. That was enough geography to start practicing some scales, and got me in the neighborhood enough to start correcting fluffed notes by ear if I missed hitting them initially. After some scale drills I quickly stopped needing it for visual reference, but I actually thought the look of that single dot was kind of classy. It reminded me of Marilyn Monroe's mole. I loved it so much I actually embedded a 4mm golden mother of pearl dot right there. From that point I changed the name of my new bass from "The Humbler" to the more affectionate name "Dot".

[@dr_bassius]

Love this!

[@marjorieswift5124]

great tutorial for beginners like myself, thank you so much!

[@dr_bassius]

My pleasure!!! Lmk if you have more questions!!

[@basskilla3050]

I'm an electric bassist of 30 + years who is about to venture off into upright bass playing.....I'm about to purchase a beginner's full size cello (because I'm brand new to cello and I'm working my way towards an upright) and need to get my intonation down on a neck of a cello, and I just happened to scroll on your DIY video of how to set your marking tape on a fretless fingerboard....THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY LIFE EASIER!!! LOL!!! I agree with you, if you can learn how to do it yourself, you are saving lotsa $$$$$$$$$!!!! Wish me luck, My Good Sir!!!! 👌👌👌✌✌✌✌🤘🤘🤘🤘💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@dr_bassius]

Awesome. Also just get an upright. It’s not that hard. If you get one I’ll give you a free zoom lesson and you’ll be on your way. Save money and get the upright first. I’ll help you.

[@basskilla3050]

@@dr_bassius ARE YOU FOR REAL, MY GOOD SIR??😮😮😮😮😮😮💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@dr_bassius]

@@basskilla3050 absolutely for real.

[@basskilla3050]

@@dr_bassius BLESS YOU, DR. BASSIUS!!!!! 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@hinduismwithpremananddasbhagat]

I'm a bassist who dreamed of playing upright and before covid finally bought one. But, I worked my way up not with a cello, since for me that's a different instrument, but bought a fretless electric (just a plain fretboard, no markers). That got me used to not having frets, and the feeling and sound of fretless, while not taking me so far from what I was comfortable with. I should mention, since I started playing bass nearly 30 years ago I've always tried to make my electric sound like an upright, i.e. sound like an old jazz guy, and I play with heavy fingers and only fingers (I don't even know where my picks are). After I got the money together I bought an electric upright (as I was in a little apartment). Not a fake electric that's essentially a bass guitar neck but upright, but an actual upright. Eventually for under $1000 I bought an acoustic upright (once I was living alone and had room, LOL). I would recommend skipping cello. Go for an upright straight off. Be brave. You can find them relatively cheap too.

[@FinnBjerke]

Bass guitar and guitar have mark on (space near) fret 3 5 7 9 12, youll find overtones on fret 5 7 and 12. You can use overtones to tune with since low E some tuners get wrong. Tuning E string and A string together use overtones on 5 and 7 respectively

[@oscareduardoangulo2250]

That's a great Bass , killer sound. What brand is it? Thanks so much for the video

[@michaelblaney4461]

When I get a upright bass i think I'll just install side markers like on my fretless electrics . I also agree go to string shops as little as possible , they are the greatest exaggerators on the planet ( except for violinists) Ive played fretless bass (and fretted) since the 80s and i really prefer the lineless fingerboard , lined make you second guess your ears.

[@marilynbachelder9374]

i didn't think i needed this b/c my ear is good but it will certainly save time!

[@dr_bassius]

Glad it helps!

[@ksinghldn]

Nice one

[@ultimatefab]

What is the music we listen at the end of your video ? I really like it !

[@dr_bassius]

Just one of my bumper music songs that I made up. 🤷🏻‍♂️ thanks so much for watching

[@NelsonMontana1234]

Won't that eventually loosen and then you'll have glue on the finger bard. Why not use some stick on markers on the side of the neck? Or even a drop of white paint on the edge of the G string to mark E and G and their octaves. That's all you need. AT some point you have to know where you are on the upright.

[@dr_bassius]

Eventually one will want them gone completely. This is just the traditional method. Thanks for watching!

[@filipedecastro4718]

what's that kind of tape?

[@dr_bassius]

Drafting tape

[@filipedecastro4718]

@@dr_bassius thank you master