bassace

You get in conversation with a nice guy in a double bass shop. When he's gone the assistant tells you he was Ray Brown.

As two nights ago, you set up and one of the front line tells you your amp is too loud and there's too much bottom. And you reply 'the amp isn't switched on yet'.

And for an adjustable bridge, the new David Gage Lifeline is very good. I can't get mine to feed back and the sound is very 'fat'.

Geoff, I see you're starting to make an impression in US where your videos are very well received. Just think, you could succeed where Oasis and Blur failed. Great stuff!!

I've only had two let-downs in a long time and, strangely enough, both were due to tail wires letting go. First one was quite spectacular because I was using a three-point alloy bridge so a lot of bits flew about. As luck had it, the main band that we were supporting had a DB so I was able to borrow a very nice instrument. Second time Mrs B put my spare in her car and met me half way there. I only take one bass to the gig, with a spare set of strings of course.

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1377356903' post='2186676'] My philosophy is to 'spread the love'. I have bought gear at great prices on BC and I have never knowingly made a profit by selling on again (of course I also try not to make a loss, unless there's a reason eg, wear and tear). But thats me. Plenty of people on BassChat, based on other threads covering the same topic, think that is naive and see no harm in pricing for maximum proceeds. Noone is right or wrong. Entirely depends on your personal stance [/quote] Clarky is an open handed and fair guy when it comes to doing deals, and I know there are others who will readily share this opinion. I'm not aware of having made a profit on any of my several churns, but at the end of the day a fair price is simply what the buyer is prepared to pay. Supply and demand. Probably the main benefit of the BC marketplace is that it enables us to try a different piece of gear and keep or pass on according to whether we like it or not. The small amount of cash lost on the turn is probably a reasonable price to pay for the experience.

And a bump from me too. I have one of these and use it a lot. Of all the EUB's I've had this is the closest to a DB in sound and feel.

Probably around 1900 the Tuba or Sousaphone ran in parallel for until 1920-ish when the string bass took over. Early players included Alcide Pavageau and later Pops Foster. Initially the string bass was slapped to be heard live and recorded until electronics improved. The bass carried on in two or four in the bar style until Jimmy Blanton broke the instrument out of its straight jacket and played syncopated eighth note solos. Duke Ellington recognised Blanton's talent and used to make sure that he was well amplified on gigs and recordings. He was probably the father of the modern double bass in jazz; an ironic title perhaps because he died at the age of 24, of TB. Another player who had a massive influence on bass playing was Scott LaFaro who was killed in a car crash, aged 25.

Blimey Geoff, there's a lot of useful stuff there. It'll take a while to get through the early stuff but it'll sure be rewarding. Comments later but in the meantime well done!

As the man said, Ab and Db are a bit of a challenge and especially if the nut is not well set up; most jazzers would prefer the other flat keys. But it's do-able and there is no better key for playing Sweet Georgia Brown, if that is what you want to do. And Db is the written key for Body and Soul, although you seldom play that chord in the chorus.

It's a great piece of kit; I use mine all the time.

Oh Gawd - we are not worthy.

Is nobody interested in playability?

[quote name='artisan' timestamp='1374668361' post='2151525'] 'ang on a minute that's not what i said at all,i said if you are going to be playing loud then a laminate will be less prone to feedback ! [/quote] Sorry Artisan, you were misquoted by others and I picked up on these in error. I'll be more careful in future. Hope you continue to enjoy your bass.

I definitely like the idea of a half-carved, or hybrid. Any particular reason why matte black? You may have problems if you ever want to sell/upgrade. Gedo have some very nice 'brown' basses on their list. Best of luck in your search.

I've got a gig in Oxford on Sunday. Rather than pay those grasping bastards £13 to park my car in the centre (on a Sunday!) I'm going to bring the bass in via park and ride. But not cycle.

Peter's good.

A lot of bass in popular music is descended from the military marching bands, from wind basses. Later with improved recording techniques the string bass came into its own.

Well, we all have our off days, Clarky. I thought my ply bass was a great instrument, but that was before I had anything to compare it too. Then I started getting more basses and the compare and contrast thing kicked in. I won't say for a moment ply bad/carved good because there are some carved stinkers out there that can be easily beaten by a good ply. Best not to generalise, though, and each bass should be taken on its merits.

[size=3]And I'm sure on other laminated basses. But I'd still hold by my caveat, owning a ply, having owned plys and carved basses. [/size] [size=3]It is too simplistic to say, as Artisan did, that [i][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]if you're going to amplify the bass it makes very little difference what it's made of.[/font][/color][/i][/size]

[quote name='zero9' timestamp='1374493855' post='2149273'] As Artisan said, if you're going to amplify the bass it makes very little difference what it's made of, and, to an extent, the laminates are less prone to feedback. [/quote] Well actually it does. There are a lot of good laminate basses around and I started way back with a Czech ply and had a lot of enjoyment with it - and lots of gigs. I played with quite a few 'names' and they seemed happy. So certainly not to put a laminate or particularly a hybrid down. Most basses of whatever construction manage to put out a strong tone on the D, A and E when amped. But where they often fall down is when you go up the G string the volume falls off compared to the rest of the bass. That is why you often see a different string fitted in order to compensate. So my advice is make sure that you've got a strong sound on the G and this may not be easily found on a lami.