fretless

Richard When you have the answer, let us all know - I suspect it is not of this world, yet ! fretless

Sorry, photo of what ?

No problem with batteries - just assume they will expire quicker than a 9v on an electric guitar and carry spares. The flashing red light tells you to change them. Make sure to switch electrics off on SLB when not playing and mute amp, unplug lead from SLB -ie between sets and thus maximize battery life.

Some thoughts on SLB300 First Why bother ? Still the case a standard BD of reasonable quality produces THE tone we all aspire to BUT always subject to; 1. Players competence 2. Sting type ( as we all know, a minefield of expense, frustration, and, occasionally, satisfaction ! ) 3. Where you are playing (natural acoustic of playing space make so much difference) 4. What you are playing ( for me pizz. 99% of the time) 5. Who you are paying with So my comments are broadly based on my playing situation which is usually; 1. Competence - keen amateur, coming from electric bass guitar - fretless electric - double bass ( westone thunder / westone thunder 1A / fender early 70's jazz / squier bespoke fretless, bespoke Zoot fretless / Aria travel fretless / hatpeg Czech Republic(1918 to 1938) carved bass, SLB300 ) 2. Using SLB300 with supplied strings ( D'Addario Helicore Hybrid Light) which are not too different to the Evah Perpetuals I have ended up with on the DB. I have not tried different strings on the SLB yet as I like the supplied strings tone and feel. 3. Practice - large front room, SLB provides enough acoustic volume and tone to use without amp if solo practice. Playing to other music needs amp. 4. Most paid work is in small semi -pro swing band ranging from small festivals, pubs, small and medium sized halls, private functions (indoors and outside) - so never the same except repeat gigs and re-producing the lovely low volume tone the SLB gives at practice is still a struggle the same as for acoustic DB - BUT crucially less of an issue because we can now get Volume without feedback. The bass does not go through the pa for most of our small gigs but obviously does on festival gigs. ( thesultans.org - judge for yourself, don't be mean!) 5. The swing band is two saxes, guitar, singer, drums and moi. - drummer is of the quieter jazz variety but I struggled to get a consistent, tone full front of house sound with the hatpeg - into Ear Trumpet Nadine mic - into Acoustic image with enough volume. Secondary issue is transporting the DB or leaving it unattended anywhere - haven't come to grief yet but come very close many times. How does SLB cope ? For practice, no issues, feels like the acoustic version, plays like the acoustic version, and sounds like a (very quiet)acoustic. I chopped a little off the bridge feet to allow some height adjustment and the action is currently a little lower than my DB but the board will need some Martin Penning ( Frome based - DB luthier ) magic attention if I wanted to go really low (which I don't). I have gone a little lower for playing comfort over longer gigs. I suspect Martin would also thin out the supplied bridge as it is a little chunky - there is some comment on forums on this. For live playing I usually use have "tone" maxed out in favour of one of the supplied tone shapes ( if you don't want these tone maps why buy the SLB300 in the first place ) as opposed to the undoctored piezo tone. I like the ability to boost the volume from the instrument rather than having to access the amp in the middle of a tune or between tunes. I usually have the bass and treble on middle and just use the volume control if a tune needs more upfront bass. There is a noticeable difference between the supplied 3 basic tones but I think the differences get lost as the overall band volume increases. On a number like "Fever" the richer tone is welcome and can be heard given the sparse arrangement, most of the time I leave it on the second option ( quality dynamic mic ? ) which fits best with the wide variety of stuff we do. As the amp volume goes up I usually end up reducing the lower frequencies on the amp to restrict boom, but the SLB bass and treble contols stay close to middle. In a difficult venue with difficult acoustics ( super low ceiling - boomy - etc ) I content myself by having enough volume headroom even if I need to loose a lot of bottom end to get some clarity of note tone so the SLB is easier to use than the hatpeg. The band have started to hear me better due to all this - I usually use a an upshot extension speaker on the opposite side of the stage so all the band can enjoy the bass notes ! Transport and storage obviously less stress. Has accommodated assembly and dis-assembly without issues so far. About 3 minutes to assemble from case if you take your time. SLB battery life - my advice, ALWAYS carry spares, the battery (like all batteries) chooses to start failing mid gig, a red light starts to flash and panic sets in - how many minutes left, will I make it to the end of this set ?. Acquaint yourself with exactly how the replacements must be fitted in the pop out holder, a dark stage, mid gig is not conducive to this . The output starts to fade as the power diminishes and you are unlikely to get by on the unpowered piezo. The SLB produces more sustain than the hatpeg but I damp this automatically the same as for fretless bass guitar. Not sustain to the extent of a fretless guitar but it is definitely there. I purchased the top bout extension ( ouch ) which gives a better playing position to match the hatpeg. SLB seems to stay in tune with itself consistently. Recording - nothing done in a studio with this but I have put the SLB straight into a Yamaha digital recorder ( AWB 16 ) and the result is quite acceptable. On a Festival Stage, make sure the stage engineer gives you full fat foldback sound ( then reduce bass to taste) - if they treat the SLB as an electric guitar they will suck all the bass life out of it - a very nasty onstage experience if you are giving it your all on the first number and all you can hear is ultra tinny. One has to hope the front of house is not the same. Is it worth it ? I think so, the re-sale value is good and as long as I look after it properly its net cost to me will be acceptable and the ability to be heard clearly and with DB tone on our gigs gives me playing satisfaction and suits the stuff we are doing.

Now a couple of years into ownership Will try and find time to post some comments asap Yes, a lot to pay and if you are near Plymouth I would probably be ok for you to come round and try mine out - as long as your are not nuts ! (other protein sources are available) More likely to agree if you are long term Basschat contributor as I am not a music shop. Please ask - just don't be offended if I decline

This seems to be the endless circle for semi pro ( and possibly some pro) players ................. how to achieve acoustic bass tonality at reasonable volume, particularly if you have to generate your own amplified sound via your backline as opposed to DI ing straight into a large and quality pa system. My lovely acoustic bass is resting up now and I'm itching to gig the Yamaha SLB300 to see if live tone nirvana is closer than ever before. From the playing feel there is no significant difference between both - perhaps slightly less tension on the yamaha ( which may well be just a string thing) and action can be adjusted lower as acoustic volume is not at issue. You are definitely playing a double bass, not a hybrid. Going through an acoustic image amp and speakers and the sound quality at home practice volumes seems more acoustic bass then fretless bass. The acid test is to come as soon as we are allowed out to play ! Of course the rest of the band will almost inevitably prefer the appearance of an acoustic bass on stage, little appreciating the horror show of volume verses feedback verses tonality let alone the joy of transporting your precious acoustic around tight, awkward spaces and being allocated enough room on stage to leave it unattended in safety! I always smile when I see Mr Swift on stage with the Jools Band - fielding yet another gorgeous bass instrument from what must be an enormous collection of electrics, EUB's, fretless electrics and acoustics. Said player may be an addict collector or still searching for that one bass which will be IT. I suspect the later but I'm probably somewhat jealous as well. Let the search continue and "bonne chance"

Had a quick loo0k for ad with assistance search engine but no joy ............ date originally posted please ? thanks fretless

Advise contain possible impatience and see if something comes up for sale nearer to home when travel permitted. It seems most off the shelf "starter" buys end up needing decent set up and strings whereas bass with known history, already playable and with decent strings is not much more cash and can be tried out as well. In truth, trying out a bass for the first time is potentially fairly intimidating and if you have a pal that plays, take them along so you can get a more knowledgeable opinion. Years ago I went off to buy a decent acoustic guitar and ended up getting a Yamaha I would not have considered if I did not have a mate along - he played all the candidates and the sound quality as a listener was amazingly different to perception as a player. Also, his much greater experience helped identify the best action/ sound projection/etc . The Yammy is still going strong and has proved an excellent choice.

Lemon Oil is good Source from furniture product supplier - large bottle at fraction of the cost compared with guitar makers who sell tiny bottles for lots of cash. No sticky residue c/f linseed oil Patrick

Rabbie It seems to me that db mics are another "which are the best strings" type dilema ... One mic does not fit all instruments/style/strings/volume/etc/etc. My travels down this road have brought me (via sm57 under fretboard, joemeek pencil condenser mic, AMT s25B, various piezo pick-ups and Full circle) to a Nadine Ear Trumpets mic (needs 48 volts phantom power) which, as far as I can tell, does reproduce accurately the acoustic sound of my bass (carved old Czech hatpeg, spiro weich strings). That nirvana of "my bass but louder" ..............BUT ...................................... It is expensive AND proved to be utterly incapable of being used with my Markbass 12 combo at even moderate volume. I never sorted this out despite conflab with the ear trumpet people, use of fishman pre-amp, etc. I am not an electro wizard but I don't think the output impedance of the Nadine liked the input impedance of the Markbass. Since most of our work is in smallish venues we use backline for amplification and not being able to use the Nadine effectively was frustrating. Sending the mic output to the main board was fine on a largish outside gig and I was told by a muso I respect that the DB sound to the audience was very good. However, they also had a di feed from the Markbass into which I ran the full circle - so I really don't know what the balance was between the two bass feeds on the main desk. Did the same at a lower volume ( but quality venue) gig where everything was put through the pa by an experienced ( bass playing) tech and we had a copy of the individual tracks recorded - these sounded ok in the circumstances but once again I don't know how the bass was blended. I think it is so much easier for a pa person to use the full circle feed when time is short. I am now putting it through an AI amp just bought on Basschat so I have the full circle into one channel as backup, the Nadine into the other channel and I can dispense with the outboard 48 volt power supply otherwise required by the Nadine. Only one modest gig with the new arrangement so far but we have two or three more coming up in the next fortnight so I will be better able to judge results. On the recent gig we played I used the "Nadine" channel about 75%, Full Circle 25% and was please to hear a very unadulterated sound at an acceptable volume. I have not pushed the AI combo volume yet but should get about 600 watts with my upshot speaker added. The band plays swing and latin, two saxes, drums, guitar, bass , vocal so rock volume not required but it is a reasonably full sound. (Incidentally, the AI head has also worked fine with fretless and Jazz basses put through a markbass 15 cab - again, not seeking a trash metal sound !!!!) I'm off to contemplate if I really want to buy some pirastro perpetuals to add to my box of must-have strings .....................Double bass, the way to madness and poverty.