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Essential Accessories


mtroun
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I was just thinking the other day as I loaded my double bass into the car, which accessories I couldn't do without and how experience has resulted in the current selection I use now.

There's the car, obviously, the most expensive of the lot!

My case, I have a Gewa with lots of pockets and straps (but still not enough handles!)

A tuner, I have the TC electronic polytune clip on, very useful, especially as I can't bow the Garbo G string.

My 'secret weapon' which used to go in the bag with my amp in, but has recently migrated to the back pocket of my bass bag. My secret weapon is a doormat I bought from lidl. This is particularly fantastic for when I'm working on laminate flooring, which is surprisingly often.

My wheelbass, which has both a protective bumper and a pair of wheels. To my mind it's superior to the bass buggie, though it does weight significantly more (not that much fun going up stairs on the London Overground!)

The realist pickup, nuff said.

My TecAmp Puma 900 and my Crazy8 cab. I got the crazy 8 as I heard you could carry it on your back in a cajon case, which I do. I don't particularly want to do that for long periods of time, but it means I can take the bass and all the amplification gear in one trip.

The Headway EDB-2 preamp. I've really come to appreciate the EQ bands on this one. It takes a bit of twiddling but you can dial it into a room very well. I tend to mute the output of the amp regularly to compare it to the acoustic sound of the bass.

I also have a troll microphone, which I have used together with the Headway to blend some mic sound into my playing. More recently I've not done that because of feedback issues, which is a shame. I hope to use it next time I've got front of house amplification.

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Along with the necessities of three XLR cables and three jack-jack's of different lengths, my Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre pre-amp w/ plug, Boss TU-3 tuner w/ plug, and kettle lead for my Acoustic Image amp, I always carry two SM57's and an SM58 in my gear bag, black gaffa tape, a black surge-protected 10m 4-way extension, a can of deodorant, in-ear monitors, a couple of micro-fiber cloths, Planet Waves fingerboard conditioner, Dunlop Lemon oil, Pirastro string cleaner, Dunlop Orchestral instrument polish, and hand sanitizer gel.

I don't tend to keep too much in my actual bass gig bag apart from a Supersensitive square rubber endpin stop and a notepad and couple of pens.

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[quote name='henrywillard' timestamp='1474502118' post='3138500']
Along with the necessities of three XLR cables and three jack-jack's of different lengths, my Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre pre-amp w/ plug, Boss TU-3 tuner w/ plug, and kettle lead for my Acoustic Image amp, I always carry two SM57's and an SM58 in my gear bag, black gaffa tape, a black surge-protected 10m 4-way extension, a can of deodorant, in-ear monitors, a couple of micro-fiber cloths, Planet Waves fingerboard conditioner, Dunlop Lemon oil, Pirastro string cleaner, Dunlop Orchestral instrument polish, and hand sanitizer gel.

I don't tend to keep too much in my actual bass gig bag apart from a Supersensitive square rubber endpin stop and a notepad and couple of pens.
[/quote]

You take [i]four[/i] different types of instrument cleaning products to every gig?!

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[quote name='sarah thomas' timestamp='1474458570' post='3138151']
You forgot the lead!
[/quote]

Quite right

I turned up to a gig once and remembered everything except for a speaker lead. The keyboard player said 'don't worry I have a big bag of cables!' but sadly he didn't have a speakon!

To be honest, I try my best to play acoustically as often as possible, but clearly that's not an option in loud situations.

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[quote name='Hector' timestamp='1474534784' post='3138589']
You take [i]four[/i] different types of instrument cleaning products to every gig?!
[/quote]

Well, I don't go into my drawer before every gig and purposely pick out & pack all that stuff. It all just stays in my gig bag. You never know when you might need it. If I get to a gig, set up and the neck is feeling a bit grubby with too much friction, or the strings could do with a clean, or if it's a bit of an upmarket gig and the body could do with a quick polish to get rid of fingerprint smudge marks, all that stuff comes in handy just having it in a little compartment in my gear bag. Prepared for virtually every circumstance! :)

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[quote name='henrywillard' timestamp='1474619614' post='3139222']
Well, I don't go into my drawer before every gig and purposely pick out & pack all that stuff. It all just stays in my gig bag. You never know when you might need it. If I get to a gig, set up and the neck is feeling a bit grubby with too much friction, or the strings could do with a clean, or if it's a bit of an upmarket gig and the body could do with a quick polish to get rid of fingerprint smudge marks, all that stuff comes in handy just having it in a little compartment in my gear bag. Prepared for virtually every circumstance! :)
[/quote]

It makes sense in a ray mears sort of way :)

I'm quite lax in fingerboard cleaning, bit of baby oil every now and again.

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