zero9

Eberhard Weber put them to 'good' use (imo)

Have you eliminated changes in temperature / humidity? The bass may 'warm' up during a gig if it's come in from a cold car. Depends how drastic the tuning is out, however, small changes are entirely possible under certain conditions.

Glad to hear they're working well for you. Keep on rockin'...

Looking good... How are those Rotosounds working out for you?

Get another AER Amp One and use the line out

IMO the most important factors in getting 'good sound' (subjective) are: The player Type of strings Quality of the set-up Type of pickup If all the above are 'sorted', then the type of instrument starts making a difference. As has already been stated, it's down to personal preference. Some laminates can sound as good, if not better than fully carved instruments. A more expensive laminate is probably better than a cheap carved jobby. Once you start amplifying the instrument, the type of instrument you're using becomes less relevant and a lot of it will be down to the type of pickup and preamp / amp you're using. A more expensive solid top / fully carved instrument may sound 'different', but how much 'better' is going to be very subjective, and may not necessarily translate well or be of benefit in a 'live' situation. If the Czech beauty you've got you're eyes on playes nicely and feels good, Id say, go for it.

If the nut slot is cut too deep, buzzing normally occurs when playing the open strings. If buzzing only occurs when you play the F and F#, this suggests the following possible causes (in my experience): 1. Bad technique - you mention you have weedwackers, these strings are very soft low tension (look transparent) and shouldn't require much 'effort' to get a 'clean' note. 2. There's a bump in the fingerboard - quite likely, in which case, check with a straight edge and get a luthier to sort. 3. Resonance, usually from the endpin inside the body - if this is the case, there should be a buzz when you play F/F# in other positions. If this is the case, pull the endpin further out (or move it further in), which will change the resonant frequency. Hope this helps

Avishai Cohen

If possible, try it through another amp. Presuming you're using it with the Fishman pre at the same time, if the hiss persists with a different amp, it would suggest the problem is with the Realist. If this is the case, either the Realist is badly fitted (it needs good contact with the body and the foot of the bridge, ie there should be no gaps), or it's faulty. Do you have, or know someone who has another pickup you can try it with?

Both hands are equally important and need to be coordinated properly to get good results. I'd like to know the reason why some people feel they would be unable to switch (given time & effort) from their natural orientation to the other way. I'm left handed, but made a conscious decision to play right handed because I felt this gave me greater scope in choosing instruments. Also, left handed guitars look... well... odd

That's good news

I've swapped from thicker strings to thinner gauge. I just left the nut alone and all was fine. I would try putting the Spiro's on first and see if this works. The credit / business card check is only a guide. No point in doing lots of work if it works fine.

One who can spot your weak areas and develop them (and who's less than £5 per hour ).

It's tough when you get into a bit of a rut, especially as it seems your also busy. A teacher would be the best idea, to make best use of the little time you have available and ensure your maximising the time you do have for practice with exercises which develop your weaker areas. A good teacher will be able to spot these. If you don't want to go for a teacher, and if you're struggling finding the notes on the fingerboard and how they relate to each other, I would suggest playing scale exercises. With time and practice, you'll hopefully start to become more familiar with them. This will also help intonation as well as develop your 'ear'. Move from scale to scale using something like the cycle of fifths. Once you get to know the different scales, where the notes are on the bass, and how these relate to particular chords, it should get easier. Hope this helps.

+1 to using the volume knob on your bass (I presume it has one ).

Getting a double bass setup properly requires some skill (best left to a luthier/specialist imo), however, you can play about with it and get some good results. This article gives some good guidance on setup: [url="http://dennishavlena.com/bassetup.htm"]http://dennishavlena.com/bassetup.htm[/url]

Seeing Tony Levin play his black fretless MM, made me want one...

My vote goes to Avishai Cohen: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjvE0scNI4Q"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjvE0scNI4Q[/url]

if you have the space, go for the double bass, you won't look back.

Through neck is the tricky bit for the budget. I'd look for a s/h Trace Elliott T-Bass if I wanted a 24 fret J type for a smallish budget.

Not strictly bepop, or a duo, but Stanley Clarke did an album with Al DiMeola and JL Ponty. Also worth checking out some John Martyn and Danny Thompson stuff.

Good to hear it works for bass too. I feel some GAS building...

If i remember correctly, he played a great slap solo wit Eric Clapton live. Saw it on the telly ages ago. Someone may remember the concert.