bassace

All of the above! Besides a hard case together with a DB is a very heavy combination and all but the youngest/hardiest players could handle it easily without running out of puff/knackering the back. As all of my gigs are now done via my estate car and my load in I'm happy to go for the simplest cover without too much padding, easy to get the bass in and out of and handles in the right place. You'd be surprised that there are some covers out there that don't come close to doing that.

PS If you'd care to PM me your email address I have an old email from LG together with pics of some of his basses attached.

I lust after a Golia bass but as I've just coughed up a sizeable sum for a new Martin I'll have to leave it there. Mike Arnopol, a very accomplished player, plays one and rates it very highly. Luciano operates in USA and Italy so I'm not too sure how the logistics would work. Good luck in your quest.

Ray Brown was at Cheltenham not too many years ago , well, a few decades perhaps, and shear bloody laziness prevented me going. Seen Coltrane tho'.

I don't go to many gigs these days but I remember going to Reading Hexagon a few years ago to see Neil Sedaka. Good gig and I thought the BG was especially good. Turns out he was Jim Fielder late of Blood Sweat and Tears.

May I be permitted to mention that I have an XS112 8ohm in the for sale section at a very attractive price. You'll need to scroll down a bit to find it. I'll bump it tomorrow.

Assuming you get an enthusiastic response, and you probably will here on BC, you'll get a whole raft of opinions/preferences with regard to strings. But will others' preferences be relevant. When I started many years ago there wasn't too much choice and I fitted Spiro mids and resolved that if these did a reasonable job I'd never get sidetracked into trying other strings. And I have stayed that way. And as a beginner could I venture that your choice is not too important with regard to manufacturer. As you develop you will understand the instrument better and you might find where shortcomings are in your strings and use that as a basis for choosing another make that will compensate. I would not recommend a hard grade under any circumstances. A soft grade would certainly favour a starter but if your action is low you'd better be sure that your fingerboard has the right degree of relief - by that I mean that its profile has to be correctly planed so the strings don't clack on it. You choice of Fishman, I assume it's a Full Circle, is a good one. Good luck with your bass/set up. At times your setup/specification can lead to periodic frustrations initially, but ultimately you'll be rewarded.

It keeps saying 'enter price' -when I have. Not impressed with all the time I've wasted.

It keeps saying 'enter p

As I see it, the double bass has two f-holes facing forward. If there was an advantage in having additional ones at the rear and at the side DB evolution would have got to that place by now. But it hasn't. Just a bit of Friday mischief-making, you understand.

I've got too many as it is, eight at the last count. But the new technology could be a game-changer, perhaps. Of more interest is the Remic mic that is attracting a lot of interest; it slips easily under the tailpiece and there is a studio model and a gigging version which is more feedback resistant. Then there is the Grace Designs Felix, an outboard preamp, blender, sophisticated eq that seems to do everything very well. Pop down to your local corner shop and get the two for a cool £1600.

I played in the Pavilion (?) on the front a few years ago with a Trad Band. Half way through our first set a loud beat combo started up in the adjoining room, separated from us by a thin partition. All very strange, but they didn't trouble us when we were playing, only between tunes.

That's great, particularly that work on the hi hat. I remember when Take Five first came out Brubeck would vamp on the piano under Joe's solo to keep things together. Soon after, Joe would handle the 5/4 rhythm unaided and, of course, today's young (and not so young) drummers handle polyrhythms without any difficulty. Thanks for the post, Dad.

Yes, the Band is well-liked, dead easy to fit but I haven't used one.

I'm not intending to sound patronising but will your first DB be towards the bottom end of the market? If so, good, because I have a ply bass that's a dream to amp. At the other end I have a very nice carved bass that has the most gorgeous acoustic sound but has been a nightmare to get a decent amped sound. I've sorted it now but I've had to go up a few blind alleys before I've achieved a very good sound. So to consider a simple pickup on a basic bass. You couldn't go too wrong with an Underwood. This is by no means an entry pup and could give good results. Two piezo sandwiches fit between the bridge wing slots. You may need to do a bit of work to get the right fit. The Shadow is similar. The KK BassMax fits in a single wing and it is correspondingly cheaper, gives good results and very easy to fit. Then there is the David Gage Realist which is a copper foil that sits under the bridge foot and is again dead easy to fit. It gives a somewhat darker sound than the previous pups but a lot of people enjoy its mellowness. If you have an adjustable bridge you could fit a Gage Lifeline, which I like, or a Fishman Full Circle which many consider the best of them all. Starting out I'd recommend either a BassMax or a Realist for ease of installation and which won't need an outboard preamp initially. I'd like to be in your position again because the first DB is a magical thing and the simplest pickup will give you a satisfactory amped sound. Later, much later, you'll start to get picky and that's where the anguish and expense start to bite. Enjoy your bass.

BassBod mentioned steel strings. A mag pickup needs these, or at least strings with a high proportion of steel in them, to produce an acceptable volume. The attraction of a mag, to me, is that you can plug it straight in to an amp without any other outboard stuff in the chain. My Schaller will give good volume with the strings 10mm above the pickup elements. I have a spare mag here that you could try if you're prepared to find some way of mounting it. If you're interested perhaps you could PM me your address.