Assessories
C - Extensions | Bridge Adjusters | Endpins
C - Extensions
This is my version of William Merchant’s C–extension design, explained in the book The Setup and Repair of the Double Bass for Optimum Sound by Chuck Traeger, with William Merchant and David Brownell.
This finished C–extension is complete with well aged maple or beech wood to match your neck wood (I have a good supply of both flamed and plain) and all three capos with E–stop. The capos and E–stop are hand made by Rob Anzellotti. You can contact him at basscapos@yahoo.com, or check out his web site for explanations and a listing of luthiers who sell and install his capos at www.basscapos.com.
The extension is anchored by two countersunk brass screws. This assures firm contact with the cheek and scroll.
The thumb rest (optional) helps to facilitate ease of fingering. It is tapered north to south, south being the narrower end and gouged out in the middle for comfort and grip.
Fitting Process
As you can see, the E-stops tang is well anchored and the bottom of the nut is precision milled out to fit perfectly over the tang of the E-stop.
What you are looking at here is the chalk fitting process. Actually, I use graphite whenever I can for an even closer fit. You can see the black marks on the new maple piece. These marks represent the high spots and are carved away until the entire surface fits.
Now we come to the final steps. The hole for the C-E string has been drilled. I’ve made a brass wheel and axel and am ready to make my final string alignment before the nut is installed. Once the nut is installed and the low C note is perfectly intonated, I color match the scroll with spirit varnish, usually four coats, and lastly install the capos.