Gareth Hughes

I've been gigging with either two UL-112's or a UL-310 for about 4 years now. It's tempting to get a UL-410 but I've rarely found myself ever needing it. After re-reading a 1x12 shoot-out from Bass Player magazine a good few years ago, I tried gigging with just one UL-112 (they mentioned something about the difference in hearing your bass come from a single speaker rather than multiples) and I was duly impressed. Clarity and focus of the sound was something else. Me happy camper.

[quote name='GreeneKing' timestamp='1325531369' post='1484091'] Halleluya [/quote] Jaco played with Leonard Cohen? (I was tempted to put down yer one from X Factor but that was going too far)

My quick 2p's worth is that my CIJ 75 Jazz Reissue is of better construction quality than my MIA 2008 American Standard Jazz.

Hey Bilbo - I can't seem to open the file on my Mac. First time I've come across an ipb file. Any ideas? EDIT - Just found the file on the miguelzenon.com site. Thanks for this.

Lovely lovely. Looks great, and very classy indeed. Thanks for posting.

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1325335704' post='1482206'] I'm not saying it works for everyone [/quote] I was getting worried there was a cure until I read this bit - now I return to my old procrastinating ways.

In case it hasn't been said already - stand beside or in view of the guitarist/keyboard/whoever knows the songs best and keep your eyes glued to them for changes/stops/mouthing the chords, etc. And DON'T PANIC!!!! I had to do this in one afternoon - about 20 songs of all original music (bass player's father took ill) for Duke Special. Just keep your eyes and ears open.

Damn - I gots to check me out some Bieber. That might just make a Belieber out of me after all.

[quote name='Old Horse Murphy' timestamp='1324301548' post='1472713'] Markbass and Epifani is a match made in Heaven [/quote] +1 to that. I've run a Markbass F500, F1 and LMK head into my UL310 and UL112 cabs and loved it. Also getting good results with a Genz Benz Streamliner 600, tho need to roll the lows off quite a bit to get some punch.

Try this one: http://www.bassbooks.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=453 Worth getting for the great playing on the backing tracks. Yes you could program your own progressions, but to me there's a real benefit to be gained from playing along with world class players.

Not free but it's totally worth getting some of the Jamey Aebersold books. Some of them have accompanying books of transcribed bass lines from the likes of Ron Carter, Rufus Reid, Tyrone Wheeler, Bob Cranshaw and others.

Mainland Europe? Not sure, but if you email Jeff Genzler at Genz Benz he'll get back to you pretty quick. Their customer service is everything you've heard it to be.

Feels fine - doesn't feel unbalanced at all. And the double case can be handy if you're travelling - take one bass and use the other section for clothes.

I remember both signals being recorded - as for what ended up on the mix I couldn't say. Sounds like a lot of pickup to be honest. I say that because it's quite a solid tone with just a little bit of air/fairy dust on top.

And to add further beans to the GAS - here's a track I recorded using a £300, all laminate, Thomann bass with a rosewood (I think) fingerboard. This bass had no right to sound as good as it did. I'd sold my Ken Smith and was still waiting on my Thomann to arrive when this session came in, so borrowed this from a great drummer here, David Lyttle. He had the bass set-up by Thomas Barrett in Galway who installed a Realist pickup, lowered the action, replaced the tailpiece (I think) and strung it with Velvet Anima's. All in the final price came to about £1000. To me it's a great testament to the value of a good luthier and a good set-up. The producer on this session was Ken Thomas. He'd just finished the last Yann Tiersen album (he of 'Amelie' soundtrack fame), as well as having produced the early Sigur Ros albums, and recently mixed the last Moby record. Point being - he be a man with great ears and was well happy with the sound. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWViYvBBrjo&hd=1

Yep, my bass is well loud - or so others say, and this leads to an interesting point: Given the physics of sounds waves, bass waves being longer and all that, I found that there were times when I could barely hear myself above a strongly strummer acoustic guitar, only to find out they were playing loudly to get over my volume. One thing that helps this (acoustically) is using a Rabbath style bent endpin, which tilts the body, pointing the f-holes upwards and generally making it easier to hear what you're playing. Playing with an amp - I'm a strong advocate of getting your speaker as close to your head as possible. Feedback reasons aside, I just find it easier to hear an amp if it isn't pointing at my knees. Go figure I do like the Rabbath pin, and it's a relatively cheap way to help hear yourself. Also a bonus for getting around the neck more comfortably, but that's another issue. Another thing to consider tho is that one man's 4/4 is another's 7/8, and a 3/4 can also be a large 5/8. Kinda like buying two pairs of 34" jeans from different makers only to find that one makes you feel good and the other makes you feel like 'Who ate all the pies?' So, just like with jeans - try before you buy.

Liking that a lot - both vids. Thanks for posting Clarky.

Hey All - here's the response I gave to attackbass for any who are interested. My disclaimer is that I may well be wrong about everything, but it works for me [color=#232323] Hey Will - [/color] [color=#232323] Good to hear from you. I've had a few inquiries about the Thomann basses and I'm happy to help. Old Horse Murphy was asking the very same thing a few weeks ago, so here is most of my reply to him. Hope you don't mind the cut&paste approach.[/color] [color=#232323] I love these basses, and I don't say that lightly. Mine is the Thomann 22 model, which is really a bass made by the Hora company in Reghin, Romania and then relabelled by Thomann. Nothing dodgy there, it's a normal practice in the orchestral world - much like Lakland or Fender, etc having an Asian factory make Lakland or Fender instruments. The Thomann 22 has a carved top with laminated sides and back.[/color] [color=#232323] The bass my one replaced was a £3500, fully carved model made for Ken Smith (of the electric bass fame - he's an uber-upright geek). He had several models made to his specs, so I took a punt on one. Great bass to play and had a gorgeous tone, but it was a bugger to amplify. Feedback city. The Thomann bass has about 90% of the Ken Smith in terms of tone but is SO much easier to gig with in terms of feedback. One of their models with a laminated top might be even better without too much sacrifice in tone. Given that I gig more than I record, this was a big issue for me so I split the difference and went with the hybrid.[/color] [color=#232323] A few big plus's with the Thomann's - mine shipped with the soundpost still in place. I don't know if it's glued or pegged in or if it was just pressure and the box hadn't taken a knock, but either way, it meant that when it arrived all I had to do was string her up and I was good to go. I was literally out gigging with it within days. [/color] [color=#232323] Dealing with Thomann is great. You place the order online but then if you want you can call up someone directly in the relevant department who are great to deal with. And usually with flawless English too.[/color] [color=#232323] I didn't have to spend any extras money once the bass arrived because the other big plus is that you can specify what height you want the strings set at - you can be specific with measurements or tell them it's for jazz/orchestra/bluegrass, etc. That's saving you the expense and time of going to a luthier. So since I've had mine it hasn't once been to a luthier and I've used it on countless gigs and recorded a few albums with it.[/color] [color=#232323] You will have to spend extra on pickups if you plan on using it live - and a good case is worth investing in.[/color] [color=#232323] A good all rounder pickup is the K&K Bass Max - sold by Bob Gollihur: http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/1265-KANDK_SOUND_BASS_MAX_UPRIGHT_BASS_PICKUP_TRANSDUCER.html[/color] [color=#232323] Bob's site is also a great wealth of information about uprights and amplifying them. One thing to note tho - Bob recommends using a preamp with most pickups, which is a good idea BUT if you have any BOSS pedals, like a tuner, they have a good input impedance for most pickups. (This is another issue so I'll leave that for now. Ask me if you want more details - don't want to bog you down with too much geekness!!!)[/color] [color=#232323] It might seem expensive but a good case can pay for itself by protecting the bass properly and saving you from needing repeat repairs. The bridge on an upright can be knocked out of place easily, so a good case with leather padded 'bumpers' on the outside can save the day. Probably worth buying it at the same time from Thomann as you'll save on the shipping charges. The bass will ship just fine without it tho. Here's what I'd recommend: http://www.thomann.de/gb/concord_pv502_kontrabasstasche_3_4.htm[/color] [color=#232323] Whatever one you go for make sure it's a 3/4 size one - Thomann offers cases for all sizes, from 1/8 to 4/4 but they use the same stock photo so it can be misleading. Oh, and you might be tempted to go for a black case but there's a good logic in getting a brightly coloured one - most folks are seemingly blind when it comes to the upright and just walk right into it as you're trying to load into a gig - and they also seem to think that it's made of steel and can take any bangs that come it's way. I've a light tanned coloured case that sticks out a mile away - which is exactly what I want to help clear a path to the stage!![/color] [color=#232323] Another thing - you might already know this anyway, but don't be confused or put of by the term '3/4 size' for upright basses - it's the standard size. 99.9% of all upright basses in the world are 3/4 sizes, and even if you've hands like Stanley Clarke, you'll still want a 3/4 (which is what he plays too!!)[/color] [color=#232323] One thing I did change from stock was the strings. I don't know what it ships with but they're not bad strings - just a bit too high tension for me. Still, they were fine to get out gigging with. I changed to a set of Velvet Blues and they seem to work really well. Maybe it's because it's a new bass, but I felt that the synthetic gut strings helped soften the 'new' sound better than steel strings.[/color] [color=#232323] Another thing to note is that it can take several weeks for an upright to be shipped by Thomann. Even if it's in stock, it'll go into a queue for their string workshop, which can either be quick or slow depending on what else is going through there at the time, and then it seems that the courier service on large items is a lot slower than on smaller ones. Not a huge deal, but just to be aware that if you order on a Monday you won't be getting it on a Friday from them.[/color]

£20 collapsible hand cart from B&Q or Maplins - park in the next street if you have and roll the cab back. Well worth the peace of mind that the cab won't get damaged by the cold/damp or getting nicked.

Yup - paired mine with an Ashdown BP1510 (2x10 + 1x15 in the same cab) for years with a pretty loud rock band. We liked it a lot Only changed because I wanted more tonal flexibility than the AI onboard EQ offered. Great gear - and good people too. Dr Rick rocks!!! (see what I did there? )

[quote name='JakeBrownBass' timestamp='1321907357' post='1444365'] I used to run IEM when i played with my double. I'd only have the bass going through & only use the left ear, as if i was listening to the bass acoustically. Leaving my other ear free to listen to the band. [/quote] +1 to that. It's not ideal in that it involves bringing extra gear and you're all tied up with extra wires, etc - kinda ruins the whole feng shui thing that an upright has (for me anyway) but I've found that at the volumes other folks - ie: non bass players - think and expect a double bass to be played at alongside loud drums, guitars, vocals with way too much low end in them, etc - it's the only solution. Would that we were all playing in venues like Ronnie Scott's on The Blue Note with great acoustics and attentive, quiet audiences every night, but alas on those nights that we're not...