fretmeister

[quote name='police squad' timestamp='1427044472' post='2725013'] and it weighs 12 pounds on the bathroom scales [/quote] Put some Hipshot Ultra-lites on it and it will "only" weigh about 11.5lb then!! Blimey though - I get upset at more than 9.5lb. I had a lovely lovely lovely Yamaha Attitude 3 - but that was 12lb as well and had to go. I just couldn't do it.

That one's a bit dear! I shall keep an eye on eBay.

£15,000 gets you a halfway good orchestral double bass. £50,000 gets you a pro level instrument. Handcarved to your spec.... Do you want a house or a bass? Bass guitars, even Fodera, are cheap by comparison.

I've had very few basses that didn't have neck dive. If I like the bass then I put Hipshot Ultralites on it to cure the problem (in most cases)

Rock gig - nothing. Time for ears to recover. Orchestra - usually Skindred!

Listen to everything Jack Bruce ever did.

[quote name='Count Bassy' timestamp='1427972749' post='2736454'] +1. Having an F on the E string sounding different from the same F on the B string, for example can be a distinct advantage. [/quote] I recall Lee Sklar making that very point that the difference can be a compositional tool in itself.

Don't confuse string thickness with tension. They are not the same thing. The material and the construction method are far more important than the thickness.

Marleaux Consat Custom. Not cheap, but still way cheaper.

I like pimping my basses - but there has to be enough right with it in the first place. For me the neck profile and the balance of the instrument is vital. No amount of reasonably priced pimping will sort out a neck that isn't comfy. Balance can sometimes be pimped - If an otherwise comfortable bass is a bit neck heavy but has old fashioned tuners on it then a set of Hipshot Ultra-lites can cure the problem. On a 5 string bass with trad tuners (Fender, Sandberg, Musicman etc) a change to Ultra-lites can save 1/2 pound. And that 1/2 pound is all saved from the headstock. The difference can be amazing. I'm about to do a pickup swap in my Stingray5. I love the feel of the bass and the neck profile, but I find the sound a bit too aggressive for my current needs. But I'm not afraid to get the router out if it will make an already brilliant bass perfect!

Wow! I need to start saving so I can have something that light when I'm old and knackered.

5.7lb!!!!! What the smeg is it? Is it a U-Bass?

[quote name='patrikmarky' timestamp='1427745464' post='2733842'] My local pmt told me they or any other branch can get ernie ball on sale or return from there distributors ..might be worth a call [/quote] That could be useful. Thank you.

I've been trawling through the official stockists to try and find a 4 string Sterling to try. Loads of places have plenty of Stingrays with a variety of pickup and fingerboard options - but no Sterlings! It's the neck shape I'm most interested to try as the Ray 4 string is a bit chunky for me. Anyone seen a USA Sterling anywhere in the East Mids / Beds / Bucks / Northants area?

Empress Compressor. Best I've ever found, and I'm a compression junkie.

I'm rusty but I play sax. Great instrument.

For big loud gigs I prefer to rehearse with the exact set up I will be performing with. For woodwind based ensembles then I'm almost happy within anything as long as I've got my small pedal board (tuner, compressor, VT-Bass-DI)

The Little Marks are not class d. They are class C. The F1 is D.

I use my Shuttle 9.2 as a power amp. Works well.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1426704989' post='2721121'] Ooof... what a player...! [/quote] MUSIC STANDS! Clearly he's crap!!

She got a Roland and is very happy with it. As I mentioned above - 10 year olds and AER are not a mix that dad would approve of!

I started reading a couple of years ago when I joined my daughters local music trust orchestra. I've been playing for almost 30 years and that ear & jam experience was generally useless when I had sheet music thrown at me every week - especially when it wasn't in the original key but had been transposed and re-arranged to take into account the very wide ability range of the kids that attend, and often to edit long tunes down to 5 mins or so. It really has opened up my musical world - not just about the dots themselves but also the subtleties of proper notation, the dynamics and feel that tab can't do. My kids' music teacher uses the 'Abracadabra' books so I bought the Double bass versions. I'm ignoring all the bow stuff of course and I'm following the learning progression / reading 1 exercise at a time. My kids do 10 mins practice a day so I try to do the same. The improvement of the 'little and often' approach really seems to work.

I have no idea how to assess my ability. I can play 'Colorado Bulldog' but trying to sight read anything over Grade 2 makes my brain collapse. I can learn almost anything by ear if it is in 3/4 or 4/4 (even though I couldn't read above Grade 2) but as soon as we get into 6/8 or proper weird sh*t I might as well just unplug. I suppose I'm competent at things I am most familiar with and bloody awful on the rest!

I've always played both I can't say that one has helped the other. In fact as I've recently (2 years or so) started to read music jumping between the Clefs is doing my head in to the point that I'm thinking of concentrating one 1 instrument only.