bassace

Yes, incredible and their music is strangely accessible. She's nice when she smiles!

As is the Kolstein Busetto. One small advantage an EUB has over a double bass is that the latter can, in certain acoustics, produce too 'big' a sound, particularly in the lower register. A couple of times I've been told to 'turn down' when, in fact, I haven't even been 'turned on'. I play once a month in a pub where the stage area has a low ceiling with a downstanding beam across the front where there is an intrusive boom. It's been a running joke among the other musicians re the various basses/amps I've brought along just to try to find a reasonable sound. I've now sorted it with the Kolstein/Underwood/ FDeck/GB Shuttle 10"

Funny that, I bought a Phil Jones cab from Bass Direct. At 24 lbs I thought it would be good for my poor old back. It seemed bloody heavy so I sold it on to a BCer who weighed it and told me it was 29lbs min. Should I have owned up and offered to pay BD for the extra poundage? I'm sure one of our law students (mature) will be able to advise.

Your probably right. I'm sure I remember an amp that was internally fused that I had once but right now can't find it. Can't stop now, off to find a kettle.

They're kettle leads!

But sometimes the amps have internal fuses, so if they blow there is a kerfuffle to get the innards exposed - not too clever on a gig. Which is why all my leads have 5a fuses in the plugs. And there is quite a disparity between amps re the fuse rating - what amps, slow blow/fast blow. So even though the fuse is accessible best to know exactly what fuse is needed and have one or two handy for replacement. And just to spoil the party, fuses don't often bow spontaneously; there could be a problem in the circuit being protected. I'm not a techie but someone with a few years of amp usage, that's all.

Well, yes, there have been other great rhythm sections but I tend to agree re Basie. The constant was Freddie Green who had the good grace to stay mainly on the top four strings of his guitar leaving plenty of room for the bounce of the bass to be projected. Otherwise +1 to Rabbie re Sam Jones for his work with Cannonball Adderley. In The Jazz Bass Book, John Goldsby writes........'Sam Jones should be remembered as one of the great bassists because he always made the band sound good. He wasn't a flashy soloist but his sound and feel made him very popular with his fellow musicians.' When I started there weren't any jazz teachers about. Sam Jones was my teacher via the records I used to listen to.

Yes, after all the good advice here the one thing that stands out is [b][i]pack it yourself. [/i][/b]The one time I didn't see my bass into the van (soft case) I had a scroll knocked off.

I'm quite happy with a soft cover when I take my bass in the car but always used a hard case when the gear went in a van. Past tense because I don't travel so much these days. If you use a soft case in a van I'd recommend travelling the bass flat on top of all the other stuff and padding/bungeeing where necessary.

Thanks Admiral. I value your comments because I've had my doubts about the people that inhabit the VIP area - or the outside part that you see while you walk past and get the 'I'm better than you' look. Luckily I'm fortunate enough to afford a ticket but in truth I hate spending it. So I'll take your advice and blag an official parking space and enjoy the festival with the good people. I've also found an easy way of sliding into the front of the stage so it'll be a good festival I reckon. Any BCers likely to go/meet up?

It's three miles down the road from me. The only problem is it's a steep climb from the carpark to the site that nearly killed me last time so I'll either blag entry to the officials' carpark or fork out for a VIP ticket. I think the lineup is OK. It's not always the 'big' acts that give most satisfaction. I've seen Cindi Lauper, Buffy St Marie, Wilko J (amazing), Alison Moyet, Ray Davies, Quo, Waterboys, and lots more. All good -- but Jules a bit played out, surely.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1393949746' post='2386164'] Except we don't have to do that, because along with Germany, Spain, France and Italy we fund entire thing and are exempt from having to qualify.... [/quote] And how do we fund it? Is it a BBC thing, ie from the licence fee. Perhaps more appropriate for the dosh to come out of our foreign aid budget.

Or this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHV6gMLZkmY

Thanks for the plug, Spencer. I haven't played the Upton for about a year now but there would be a bit of a tax liability if I sold it. So I'm keeping it for the mo.

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1393455375' post='2380656'] Nice looking beastie. The bridge is cut very oddly and should have a rounded sweep where the strings cross. For a good luthier check this thread [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/204959-db-luthiers-thread/"]http://basschat.co.u...uthiers-thread/[/url] [/quote] Ooh! Ouch!

There's a lot more sources of walking theory about than when I started out. But just consider an alternative approach. There is no substitute for getting the stuff firmly in your head. I collected my lines from all sorts of influences, principally jazz, but there was a lot of other good music about; popular music used the double bass to underpin the rhythmic content. Fats Domino's bassist had some great lines for instance. But getting back to the point, try to listen to some of the jazz trios and hear how the bass walks under the improvising pianist. The obvious place to start is anything by Oscar Peterson where Ray Brown's bass playing is a joy. If you can find Andre Previn's rendering of the My Fair Lady tunes you will hear Leroy Vinegar who is regarded as one of the best walkers. And there is this: A piano trio with Scott Lafaro playing bass. Not the tricksy stuff with Bill Evans that we know him for but just playing some great solid walking lines. [color=#000000][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,] [/font][/color][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXG4ES-4FiM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXG4ES-4FiM[/url]

I'm happy to send one or two out FOC is anyone would care to PM me.

Agree re scaffolding.

With my double bass stage right (audience left) so I'm looking into the band rather than the wings. It's not only about the drummer, there are others in the band.

Thanks Keith. UPS via Interparcel both ways dead easy. Highly recommended.

What a nice guy. He brought a Crazy 8 cab out by train to Oxford. Very pleasant to deal with and easy to keep in touch. Laurence, there's a PM for you. PS, the cab had Clarky's fingerprints all over it.

[quote name='Gareth Hughes' timestamp='1391545611' post='2358484'] I played my Eminence through a GK MB150 combo for a little while, though with Kolstein strings, an AptFlex pickup (similar to the Gage) and a Fishman Dual Parametric DI as the other elements in the chain. I liked it but found I missed the presence/air a tweeter gives so had one rigged up to the extension output. As for body - I found the only way to fatten it up was with a proper extension speaker, in my case an Epifani UL112. Certainly helped a lot. You could try borrowing a separate speaker cab, hooking it up to the GK and then disabling the internal GK speaker. That way, you can judge if you like the sound of the GK preamp on it's own. Then try mixing the internal speaker with the external one. To be honest - amplifying double bass is a crap shoot. All the great gear in the world goes out the window if the singer has too much low's in the monitor or your keyboard player can't control the left hand, or cymbals eat up all the high frequencies in the room, or the room sounds like an empty swimming pool, or....or....or....... GOOD LUCK!!!!!!! [/quote] Ho ho. At a gig last week I suggested that the keyboard player move his seat a foot to the right.

[quote name='andyonbass' timestamp='1391144011' post='2353750'] Make sure you have a good right hand technique as well, Geoff ⬆︎covers this in one of his lessons iirc......... [/quote] Yes. Reminds me of the old double bass chestnut - Q 'Why can't I get a sound like Ray Brown?' A 'Because you're not Ray Brown!'