bassace

Hi Pete I have seen several Martin basses and they are nicely finished. Not too sure what happened to mine. It's completely matt, there are lumps and bumps in the applied stain and I don't think there are very many coats so the thin finish is very vulnerable to rubbing and scuffing. That said it plays very well. Is yours fully set up or will they have it back to adjust? Their best luthier took mine back in and reduced the string height at the nut after it had been played in. Then he reprofiled the fingerboard where there was a bit of resulting buzzing. He did a good job while I waited. A very nice bass indeed - just as long as you get a well finished one. You can easily get rid of any rosin cake by cleaning the strings with industrial alcohol which you can get from Maplin. Wishing you a lot of joy with a very nice bass. Roger

Having missed the last two bashes due to gigging commitments I was wondering whether there will be an event this year.

Well done, Pete, you'll get a very nice bass. The Martins thin the table down quite a lot which means the bass has a great punch to it. Just tell George to make sure that your bass is finished a lot better than mine - which is probably the worst looking bass around. For miles.

Treat only one ear on any one day. I did both my ears together once and finished up deaf for a week.

[quote name='dand666' timestamp='1399465927' post='2444474'] For me I need the iPad just to remember the first opening chords, or what key a song is in. For our upcoming cruise we only need 150 songs, but for the bigger, longer cruises they won't accept you if you don't have at least 400 songs. I'm not a robot! :-) [/quote] What's the definition of a cruise liner gig? - [i]two [/i]reasons to throw up. Sorry, it just had to come out.

I was in,er, quite a good band (jazz) for a few years and when the drummer had a lift to the gig my heart used to sink. Because he'd get just a bit pissed. No great problem in that but it meant that he wasn't able to hold the guitarist up. By that I mean the gtr was 'digging in' behind the beat on the slower numbers. Our trumpet player did a nice feature 'Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You' but complained that when he got to the final chorus the tempo had got so slow that he was having to play twice as many notes just to fill the bars. As a bass player I'd like all guitars to be four stringers.

Was certainly good on [i]my [/i]bass!

Anyone know/heard Pasquale Votino. He's in the Bristol area, recently from Italy. He sat in for a couple of tunes last Sunday. He's a great player and it was good to hear my bass played by somebody else. He made it sing.

If you have only one bass it should be a 3/4*. But if you feel that the shorter string length (slightly) would be of benefit to you needs then go for it. There are a few guys on BC who have one and there is a slowly growing trend in that direction. A longer end-pin with a 6ft-plus player should attract no comment at all. And so much easier to get in and out of the car for gigs. *The 3/4 size is not definitive anyway: some are larger and some smaller.

What a coincidence, Gafbass, because I was in Cheltenham only two days ago (Sun) at a jazz jam session. Now, I usually get plenty of work in the jazz field but it was worth a 35 mile drive to get a sharpener of tunes I don't often play these days - bebop stuff by Hank Mobley, Clifford Brown and others. I was a member of the house rhythm section (p/b/d) and we were joined by two very good saxes and a couple of singers. All very well organised; the running order was put on a flip chart and charts handed round. In the middle four young guys from Bristol came in (Italians) and played a great set. It was good to hear my bass played by someone else.......and it sounded marvellous!

Don't know about the notion of best, but way back Louis Armstrong said if you're forming a band get the right bass player before choosing the other musicians. Should give us a bit of a warm glow perhaps.

I saw the bass guitar with a pro covers band fitted with an XLR socket some time ago. I don't know too much about BGs; is this generally done? Seems a good idea if you can accommodate the bulkier socket.

Could someone please recommend an inexpensive tablet that I can use on gigs to display iReal Pro. I won't really need it for anything else, that's why it can be inexpensive. But it should be reliable. For instance, Maplin offer an 8" Android at the mo. Thanks in anticipation.

Rabbie I defer to your superior knowledge and use of the language. It's probably cod Latin anyway, implying 'Don't let the bastards grind you down'. My Latin to O level was taught by an England footballer who was our gym master but 'did' Latin on the side. Not many of the current crop could claim that distinction, I'd bet. To get back on course, I have been in touch with Hector who very kindly gave me the name of the bridge abuser. It wasn't anyone I've come across, fortunately.

[i]Nil carborundum illegitimi.[/i]

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1397046566' post='2420049'] Don't do it for no fee, you are setting the bar very low for a very hard pressed industry if you do. I have worked at Tatton hundreds of times over the years, at the RHS flower show, wedding fayres, and private functions, never for less that £150 per person. (and sometimes for much more) The 'exposure' argument is complete rubbish. The organisation you're working for will make bucketloads of money from it.... Don't do it! [/quote] Plus one!

Here is a vid of Upton's Barn which I found interesting. I've no connection with the company, just own one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OmA4Ow8aMI

Have you read the 'Flying with a Double Bass' a few topics down? I wouldn't think about it without a flight case.

Sometimes the flying bit can be relatively easy. I've flown my DB abroad in a flight case a few times and on each occasion the check-in people and handlers were OK to helpful. It's strange to see a combo go through the X-ray machine. Where it can sometimes become difficult is getting from the airport to the destination. If a van is laid on in advance it's OK but cabs can't take a flight case. And I know of guitarists who, in spite of having the flight case unlocked still get the security people jemmying the hinges open, (USA, God bless 'em).

I've said before, and [i]ad nauseam[/i], that I had a DB before BGs were in wide circulation so when the five piece I was in started to play pops (wasn't covers then) I continued on upright. I had an 18" in those days, in contrast to the 8" that I use most of the time now - how things have changed. Most of the stuff we did translated to DB alright and I remember playing the bass riff to Keep on Running without too much bother. One day I sneaked up to a shop in Piccadilly to buy a s/h Jazz and came away with an EBO - fool! I brought it out on our next gig and I remember one of the saxes turning round in surprise and saying 'you cowboy!, you bloody cowboy! But yes, the DB still holds its own doing rock and pop, especially in tight little trios.

Crazy. The performance is the thing.

Looks like a DPA knock-off to me but at a crazy price. Worth a try, perhaps?