Leaderboard

And they're done, barring another couple of coats of finish:

I blame BC for this!After attending the BC double bass bash in April I developed a serious case of GAS and this is the result."Marilyn" is blonde, curvy and has a sweet voice and I couldn't resist her. She is an Engelhardt Swingmaster ES 9 that was purchased from Gollihur 10 years ago and has sat virtually unused since then and is in absolutely mint condition.To make it even better, she came with all the paperwork for her and a K&K Double Big Twin pickup,K&K Pure preamp, an Ingles stand,German bow, three types of rosin, quiver,mute and several books including an untouched Simandl.She was dressed in a lovely green like new Gollihur bag.I also got the original almost new Thomastiks that the bass started life with, she is currently strung with Correlli 370 F strings.The original owner has been playing pedal steel in country bands and just wanted to get rid of the bass because he wasn't using it. I am still tweaking the preamp and my amp to get the sound I want(I play jazz standards in two bands) but it is certainly fun and I am also enjoying trying out my woeful bow technique. She came home with me yesterday after a 13 hour 994 km road trip to pick her up.It was a long day but in Canada drives like this are a fact of life. I'm still not sure why I did this at my age(72) but I plan to have fun with her.I have a gig tomorrow night but I will use my trusty Yamaha SLB 200 EUB and save "Marilyn" for another day. Thanks again for that great day in April,it was just what I needed to make me pull the trigger and join the "real" DB world.

I do exactly this. With this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000KTC5AO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It's Post-It tape so it comes off again without damaging the page.

Ah, I'd not thought about this modern malarky. Masking tape over the screen..?

Well I've just got around to listening to the rest of the podcast this evening, and I must say - what a fabulous effort by all concerned! The Chowny interview was lengthy but very engaging. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to hear more about CITES from a manufacturer's point of view. I do feel slightly embarrassed at how my questions dominated the Q&A so much, but am pleased that they instigated some excellent discussion . Hopefully there might be a few more contributors next time The pedal demo, and discussion of the analogue vs digital thread were also brilliant. 2 hours did seem a bit daunting at first, but it actually flew past. I'm looking forward to the next one. Well done, and a big thank you!

Hi folks. I just want to mention my Classical and Contemporary Studies for Bass Guitar has just been published by Mel Bay HERE - which can be downloaded straight away as an eBook, or hard copies are available from the publisher, or one of their sellers. It will take a month or so to reach Amazon UK, I imagine. So, what is it? Half the book is given over to 21 studies by "the Paganini of the bass", Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889), very classical in style, and progressive, from fairly simple to complex. For the second half of the book I commissioned 12 Studies for Bass Guitar by Gilbert Isbin, whose influences run from contemporary classical to jazz, world musics, etc. If you like Charlie Haden, Steve Swallow, etc, you might well like these solo repertoire pieces. Isbin loves yearning, often haunting melodies, and the 12 pieces are generally in two-part counterpoint, or a melody and accompaniment. Every item in the book has a sound file recorded on a fretless 4-string bass by me, but all the pieces could just as well have been played on a fretted 4-string bass. You can see videos and hear soundfiles of every piece from THIS PAGE of my website. Any questions, just ask. Cheers, Rob MacKillop

Hi all, An artist I play for, Jocee, released her latest EP to a sold out Pizza Express Jazz in Soho last night. Take a listen here: The last album, Just Love, is also available on Spotify, plus CD & vinyl on her website here: http://www.joceesmusic.com/shop For those who care: Don't Say - Bass Collection Jive fretless with La Bella groundwound strings Where On The Map - Lakland 55-01 (US Bartolini electronics) with La Bella White Gold Nylons Not Wrong - Lakland 44-94 passive P/J (solo'd Precision pickup) with La Bella Gold Flats Dancing In The Kitchen - Lakland 44-94 passive P/J (solo'd Precision pickup) with La Bella Gold Flats All recorded DI into a Focusrite Clarett 4Pre USB Let me know what you think Cheers Si

Just thought I'd do a quick update on this topic. I haven't had much of a chance to use the cab in anger until the last couple of weeks down to the usual band politics and lack of gigs followed by all the work involved in starting a new project. You've probably all been there. Anyway I have had the chance to try it out in anger at a full rehearsal. As a little extra spice the drummer has a 7 week old baby and hasn't been out for a while so was hitting things with a little extra enthusiasm, thank heaven for earplugs! So, I was back in the hall with the most appalling acoustics, all hard surfaces high ceilings, well you name it. To save anyone having to go back the speaker was designed to cope with this sort of space, and those pubs where you just can't get the bass sound right. The deepest bass was rolled off with a 2dB hump at around 120Hz to add a bit of thump so they didn't sound too bass light, a kind of old school underdamped response but with a modern high excursion driver using a single 12 built into a very simple 30l cabinet. To complete the picture I was using a Fender American Deluxe P Bass with a Markbass Tube everything set flat with VPF set at about 10.00 o'clock. We play pop/rock covers AC/DC, Queen through to Chelsea Dagger via Summer of 69 sort of thing (I've no shame) It sounded awesome, first of all really effortlessly loud with two guitars a keyboard and drummer really driving on it was really well up in the mix, not a hint of a clipping light on the input and with plenty to play with at the master volume. I have to say there didn't appear to be much in the way of high power compression either, it was over 30degreees outside, warmer in and we played for three hours without any noticeable tail off in performance by the speaker. This with a single 12 in a cab the size of an old fashioned milk crate. The sound? Well it was the sound of a P bass, punchy but sitting just right in the mix once the band got going. Not the sort of thing you'd set up playing alone at home where you'd probably want a bit more deep and some mid scoop but with a band just spot on. I can also report that in this really difficult room I had no problem in monitoring my own playing both with and without ear plugs. I know you can't trust someone praising their own design but this was meant to be built as a bit of fun, a demo at the bass bash, something I wanted to try. I fully expected to be building a 45l cab which to my mind modelled a lot better but thought I'd try a cab just on the silly side of 'too small'. it was only when we plugged it in at the end of the bass bash I realised it was worth sticking with. It started life as a curiosity piece really but honestly I'd recommend building one to anyone who wants something really portable, isn't too bothered about the top end (it has no tweeter/horn) and who is happy with a straightforward old school sound straight out of the box. It will cost you around £120 to build and once the parts are cut, well it took me around an hour to do the basic build in the video, maybe 2.5 hours in total including the pre prep and finishing.

You guys don't have stage lions in the UK? Blue

Nah - it's from a Maison - a decent 90s Korean-made Nanyo clone. Still a bloody waste.

In terms of making the control knobs, I used the same method as my first attempts with Jane's lightweight electric. For the backs, with my press drill locked in position, I drilled a hole for the 6mm grub-screw collet to fit into from some ash offcut with rosewood veneer glued on the back : Then a forstner to create the rebate for the pot nut and washer: Then my panel-hole cutter: Leaving me with a back, with all drill cuts concentric: Then glued the poplar burl tops and cut the assembly to height, ready for insertion of collet, drilling of side grubscrew access hole, installing of position dot and final shaping, which are the next jobs on the list:

Mastodon seem to have one sound now: loud with too many drum fills. Even the vocals are relentless.

don't like him. Too talented. Not jealous. At all.

we're all different, that's the main attraction of Trace heads for me, the GP12 gives me the chance to shape my sound better, especially like being able to cut the 30Hz and 40Hz area to clean up my sound and cut out any boom that happens in certain rooms

Not the prettiest of solutions, but masking tape over the tab would solve that particular issue, I'd suggest. Just a thought.

ACG if you do not already own one.

Unfortunately Yes. Back Home, 1970, is still the best.

Don’t deface a book! I’ve had s few books like that, always thought it was weird. I can see tab may be a distraction but if you’re properly reading it shouldn’t affect that. It never doesn’t for me anyway...

Back to your room sir!How dare you. It would have to be very cold and it would be the last last piece to go into the stove.

Ignoring the obviously scam prices it still highlights what a mess Gibson are in, I wouldn't even buy any of those at that price!

That headstone looks wrong should be a walnut plug,looks fake to me.

Here's a video of the contemporary sound files from the book.

there is also the Heil "the fin" I can't give any advice on it but I know that there are plenty of people who love heil mics, they also come in black or silver and light up either red or blue (depending on version) when fed with phantom power. https://www.studiospares.com/Microphones/Mics-Dynamic/Heil-The-Fin-Dynamic-Mic-Chrome--Blue_318070.htm Matt

A spot of excellence going on there, methinks..? If I was to be really 'picky', I'd say that the vocals are a tad 'intense' for my general listening pleasure, better suited to live performance, perhaps, but that's really looking hard for summit to criticise. Compositions..? Excellent (to judge from the snapshots linked...). Arrangements..? Excellent. Standard of playing ..? Excellent. Quality of recording-mixing..? Excellent. Bass..? Excellent. S'not flattery; s'excellent, is all. Good Stuff, well done all involved.

Lovely basses. It’s the clarity that you either love or don’t. There isn’t really an Alembic sound, it’s just the strings, and filters if you want them. Look out for an SF2 rack preamp - essentially the filters in a Series II Bass but in a 1u rack. Very expensive new, but they do sometimes come up used, and a lot cheaper.

I've yet to see an advert targeting bass players, which saves me the effort of turning them down

Thanks guys! I actually bought a Quilter Bass Block 800. It controls all of the note extremely well. Lots of the lightweight heads go loud, but not in a very effortless way. I can however recommend this amp/speaker combo. I played an outdoor festival type gig on Saturday playing a mix of rock/pop and soul, and it didn’t break a sweat.

The GEQ or para EQ on the Zoom MS-60B both work well; the pedal is around £50 second hand and does a ton of stuff besides. If you get, make sure to get the free Tone Lib editor which makes editing patches a doddle and fun. Out of interest, why not use the EQ options on your Helix (which I presume it has in abundance)?

Another solution to the Tab (if it really bothers you that much) is to photocopy the piece, cut out each system, and then just glue the standard staff systems onto a blank sheet. Simple! Just to add, Rob is a national treasure and has written some extremely nice books for all sorts of plucked instruments. Acoustic guitar in DADGAD, ukulele (some lovely piece by Baroque composer Gaspar Sanz), mandolin (recently some baroque Scottish lute pieces arranged for mandolin) and the tenor banjo (including the Bach cello suites). I know some of us here are multi instrumentalists, and his considerable volume of work for Mel Bay is always very well presented, achievable, and very rewarding to play. I love the sound of the Gilbert Isbin pieces in this new book 🙂 Robbie p.s I forgot to say as well that Mel Bay are always having discounts on their website. Usually I get to hear of them from the Mandolin Cafe forum, but sometimes it’s as much as 30% off. I always use the ebook option, so it makes getting these books even cheaper. These days I definitely my prefer to have my music on the iPad . I’ll let you know when the next discount is 🙂

Maude clearly is hook line sinker. Guitarist; reasonable, polite, insightful, apologetic 🤨 hmmm

Thanks, guys. I don't think Mel Bay would entertain that at all, Ralph. They know what sells, I guess. I'm just happy to get the music published by such a big company. Sorry. You can only please some of the people some of the time, as they say.

Waterloo Festival! Eddie was walking along the beach round about the time I was playing! Back playing with the China's, off and on, have been for a couple of years. Even played Hanna Hanna a few times. Hadn't been played since '83, seems like nobody could work out how I do it. Not telling! There's a live version from the Ahoy in Rotterdam in '83, which even I hadn't heard till a few weeks ago. Grin like a Cheshire cat in the gym when that came on. Back playing fretless, 5-string, now. Haven't loved playing this much in years, and I'm 60. Gig at every opportunity till you drop, I've learned that too many times in the last 20 years. Just do what you love.

The rack's got a dbx 2 channel compressor, a BBE pre and a Marshall Jubilee being used as power amp. The enormously heavy cab is a Yamaha 1x15" currently housing a Precision Devices 600w 15". 10cc? Eek! It's to teach the drummer to dance... It's the only way I can get some funk into the rest of the band!

This thread would be here, because i posted it due to her abiilty on a bass. I never mentioned anything to do with her looks, or this ballacks about JK. I didnt even know about that story.

your lady singer is the boyfriend of the guitarist? you should learn Walk On the Wild Side "and then he was a she..." but WHY do you need vocals transcribed? can't she listen to it and then sing along to it? I think your problems might be more than finding this transcription best of luck

it sounds like you’re describing the shure super 55: https://www.studiospares.com/Microphones/Mics-Dynamic/Shure-Super55-Deluxe-Dynamic-Microphone_433190.htm there are some cheaper alternatives, but that’s probably the one they’re copying

On the side.

Must be, if you need a fire extinguisher on hand. Or is someone using an Ashdown?

Went to see the brilliant band Moscow Drug Club last night at St George's in Bristol, with Andy Crowdy on upright bass. I've seen them before but last night I had a seat right down the front and the acoustics were great, so was able to appreciate things a bit more, particularly Andy's pizz technique & sound (I think he had a set of Thomastik Spirocores on). Looking online I see the HENLEY JAZZ WORKSHOP ‘MASTERCLASS’ coming up in August, so I'm looking into whether I can attend.

Bas was very accommodating had a great little chat very pleasant and communicative. Lovely guy. sold him my bass synth E-H

Sold Bas my 'project' Yamaha BB425 in the most straight forward and pleasant of deals. Great guy to deal with, good comms, very friendly. Met up to hand it over, had a natter. An absolute pleasure doing business!

Sometimes good things come from bad auditions. I've been trying to find a band desperate enough to want me, and had some ...interesting... experiences. Audition 1: answered an ad on JMB for a blues group. I tell them how long I've been playing - not all that long - as I want to be honest up front. I do a bit of recruiting in the day job, and know how narked I get when confronted with bovine manure. Better to be straight with them from the off. Anyway, he replies, telling me that there's a drummer lined up, plus someone on blues harp and maybe keys too. Could I learn a couple of songs and pop round for a twang? Rightio. I turn up at the BL's house and am treated to half an hour's talking about his guitar collection before we get down to business. He's provided an amp - an ancient Vox gee-tar amp that didn't look much younger than me. Hm. I'd have brought the Eden if I'd known. But I crank the low end and off we go. He's hunched over his chord chart and doesn't look up. With no drummer to lock in with, some eye contact might have been helpful. He then chases me out of the house before his wife gets back. Hmmmm. Then about a week later, I get a 'thanks but no thanks' email. Meh. Think I dodged a bullet there. Audition 2: answered an ad on JMB for a rock covers band. Again, I'm up front about my level of experience. I get their set list - wow! Fabulous! - and learn half a dozen songs, as requested. Then the audition's brought forward a week. Great. But I rock up at the appointed time - to a studio this time - to find that the BL was struggling with one of the songs I'd learnt and had to teach the singer one of the others. Oh dear. But the rest sounded good, although at the end of the evening, they said they thought it was beyond me to learn everything on the list before their next gig. They were quite decent about it though, so fair enough. Audition 3: answered an ad on JMB for another rock covers band. As before, I make it clear how much I do and don't know. I learn the requested songs and turn up to a slightly less-than-ideal studio - bare wooden floor, no sound insulation and a PA that didn't look much more powerful than my home stereo. As I'm getting set up, a guitarist walks in; he's being auditioned too. He sets up his backline - a lovely Marshall valve amp. Then the BL arrives and sets up his backline. Then off we go. The PA just about copes, but after the first song, the BL says to me, 'it needs much more bass'. Well, I was standing in front of the amp and I could hear it OK, which meant he certainly could from the other side of the room. But no sweat, up went the volume to just under half and we launched into the next song. Jesus. My amp was making the room shake. I went to turn it down and the BL said ‘no, leave it, it’s just right’. The guitarist turned up his amp as it was being drowned by mine. Not wanting to be left out, the BL did the same and we went into song number three. This time, the weedy studio PA was completely overwhelmed; all I could do was lock in with the drummer and hope for the best. Then things started to go south when the BL started playing something a bit different before stopping to tell us that we needed to follow him. By now the volume was up well past 11 and the only way to follow him was by lip-reading. The next song fell apart when he missed out an eight-bar sequence from the intro. By now, the negative vibes were starting to creep in. At the end of the evening, the BL thanked us for coming and said ‘we’ll have a chat and we'll let you know’ in a sarky voice. So much for that, then. The guitarist and I compared notes outside and we both reckoned we wouldn’t hear from them again. We swapped numbers though, and decided we’d look at doing something together if it didn’t go anywhere. After a week of radio silence, I pinged the guitarist a text and as expected, he hadn’t heard anything either. He then asked me if I was still up for getting together, as he had another guitarist and a singer who were interested. Oh, was I ever. So a few days later, the three of us (the singer couldn’t make it) assembled in a very nice studio in Cranfield. What a difference! No attitude, a lot of fun and some great songs to play. The Stooges, Black Sabbath, the Undertones, Tears For Fears, the Cult… all good stuff. Plus some originals that the guitarist had written that needed basslines added. I had a whale of a time, and when we decided to make a go of it at the end of the evening, I was on cloud nine. So I did join a band from a terrible audition. Just not the one I originally went for!

I have joined a couple of bands from it, so I still use it, but yes, it is full of the sort of bands that will never get anywhere, although they are easy to spot, and yes the search engine is so frustrating, I always have to do a look at both counties that I straddle the border from, even though a search by distance would be good. But it is the most popular so the busiest. Bandmix never seemed to me to be something that knew what it was - it has a geographical search by distance that is very stupid. Yes, bandmix, Cardiff is less than 35miles from Yeovil if you ignore the huge expanse of water in the way

And some more piccies in the garden sun! I replaced the original string retainer bar as I got a comment that the Hipshot one on the ash bass I made looked much better. I quite agree!

I've been in wedding & function bands for about the past 23 years. Anyone who's been in that type of band knows that you can be playing one style one minute and something completely different the next. In that time I've owned about 130 basses and the right bass for the band was the one I had at the time and to alter the sound I've moved my hand towards the neck or the bridge and played either heavier or lighter. My advice would be to find a bass that you really like to play, that feels good and you can comfortably play all night. Chances are the audience won't notice the difference anyway. Sometimes we get too caught up in trying to find something that we don't really need. I know that I was incredibly guilty of it in the past. When I change basses it's for the hell of it and not the sound. Any half decent bass will sound decent through the PA. Once I had it out of my system I started enjoying playing more instead of trying to find something that I thought I needed but had all along