Editing Double bass (section)

===Strings===
[[File:Bridgedetail.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Detail of the bridge and strings]]
[[File:Double bass gut strings.jpg|thumb|upright|Gut strings]]
The history of the double bass is tightly coupled to the development of string technology, as it was the advent<ref name="briefhistoryofthedoublebass"/> of [[Strings (music)#Winding|overwound]] gut strings, which first rendered the instrument more generally practicable, as wound or overwound strings attain low notes within a smaller overall string diameter than non-wound strings.<ref>[http://www.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/strings.html#music Strings, standing waves and harmonics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615103017/http://www.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/strings.html#music |date=15 June 2010 }}, Prof. Joe Wolfe, University of New South Wales</ref> Professor [[Larry Hurst]] argues that had "it not been for the appearance of the overwound gut string in the 1650s, the double bass would surely have become extinct",<ref name="oocities.org"/> because thicknesses needed for regular gut strings made the lower-pitched strings almost unplayable and hindered the development of fluid, rapid playing in the lower register.

Prior to the 20th century, double bass strings were usually made of [[catgut]]; however, steel has largely replaced it, because steel strings hold their pitch better and yield more volume when played with the bow.<ref name="bow_wood">[http://doublebassworkshop.com/double-bass-strings-articles-44 Article on bass strings by the Double Bass Workshop] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325185214/http://doublebassworkshop.com/double-bass-strings-articles-44 |date=25 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Double Bass Strings|url=https://www.juststrings.com/doublebass.html|access-date=2021-04-13|website=www.juststrings.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=28 August 2013|title=The Evolution of Double Bass, Acoustic, and Electric Bass Strings|url=https://www.stringsbymail.com/articles/the-evolution-of-double-bass-acoustic-bass-and-electric-bass-strings-strings-by-mail/|url-status=live|access-date=13 Apr 2021|website=Strings by Mail|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413190009/https://www.stringsbymail.com/articles/the-evolution-of-double-bass-acoustic-bass-and-electric-bass-strings-strings-by-mail/ |archive-date=13 April 2021 }}</ref> Gut strings are also more vulnerable to changes of humidity and temperature, and break more easily than steel strings.

Gut strings are nowadays mostly used by bassists who perform in [[Baroque music|baroque]] ensembles, rockabilly bands, traditional [[blues]] bands, and bluegrass bands. In some cases, the low E and A are wound in silver, to give them added mass. Gut strings provide the dark, "thumpy" sound heard on 1940s and 1950s recordings. The late Jeff Sarli, a blues upright bassist, said that "Starting in the 1950s, they began to reset the necks on basses for steel strings."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jeffsarli.com/js/default.asp |title=Jeff Sarli |publisher=Jeff Sarli |access-date=21 July 2012 |archive-date=24 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120824024612/http://www.jeffsarli.com/js/default.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref> Rockabilly and bluegrass bassists also prefer gut because it is much easier to perform the "[[Slapping (music)|slapping]]" upright bass style (in which the strings are percussively slapped and clicked against the fingerboard) with gut strings than with steel strings, because gut does not hurt the plucking fingers as much. A less expensive alternative to gut strings is nylon strings; the higher strings are pure nylon, and the lower strings are nylon wrapped in wire, to add more mass to the string, slowing the vibration, and thus facilitating lower pitches.

The change from gut to steel has also affected the instrument's playing technique over the last hundred years. Steel strings can be set up closer to the fingerboard and, additionally, strings can be played in higher positions on the lower strings and still produce clear tone. The classic 19th century [[Franz Simandl]] method does not use the low E string in higher positions because older gut strings, set up high over the fingerboard, could not produce clear tone in these higher positions. However, with modern steel strings, bassists can play with clear tone in higher positions on the low E and A strings, particularly when they use modern lighter-gauge, lower-tension steel strings.