bassace

I played my DB a while ago through a Superflightcase. As I had an outboard preamp to impedance match the piezo pickup I naturally(?) put the signal on active setting. Sound was so-so (I knew the stage was 'difficult') so I switched to passive with the gain set high. Sound much improved with a nice clear middle. Knocked the compressor out and I had the best sound possible. So pleased that I went and got a smaller Flightcase for easier load-in on smaller gigs.

Yes, Happy New Year to all you guys on the forum. No one year is all bad but I hope 2012 will bring some joy. I hope to be playing soon again after my broken arm - that's what I hope for more than anything. And we lost our 'senior' dog on Dec 27th aged 15. The junior one is pining so we have a three year old rescue Pointer lined up to keep him company. Later in the year I have a helicopter flight over the Olympic site and then of course the games themselves. Oh, and a bit of GAS perhaps? So lots to look forward to. Any resolutions out there?

A DB will go in any hatchback however small. Buy the way, anyone contemplating a double bass should consider Peter Tyler's new book 'About the Double Bass'. It is a must for anyone starting out and will cost £20 incl p&p from www.tylerbasses.co.uk. I've just read it and would recommend it to any bass player. No connection!

Hi Don. Welcome to the world of double bass. Your Genz gear should be good for double bass and will probably handle most pickups without an outboard preamp. However an outboard such as a Fishman Plat Pro will improve the sound of the pickup and do so much more, such as DI into a sound desk if you are likely to use one. It can also limit the dreaded feedback that a lot of DB players encounter from time to time. But that's for a future purchase. At a basic level there are two types of piezo pickup, the one you put under the bridge foot eg a Realist and one that goes in the bridge wing eg a Bassmax or Underwood. The former gives a quite good 'woody' sound of the bass and will sound good in your room at home but on a gig you might find it too thumpy and have difficulty cutting through the other instruments. The latter, without good eq, can be harsh, nasal and honky but once eq'd properly IMO sound good. The Bassmax seems to be a BC favorite right now. I suggest you put a wanted ad out and see what you get; possibly some kind BCer might loan you a pickup to try. These are all my personal opinions and you may find other BC views coming in but they are all valid. Best advice, get out there and enjoy the DB experience; refine your equipment in due course.

I'd politely disagree with a lot of these, they're just a tad advanced for a beginner although are great to listen to. To get into jazz you've got to know your standards - not all of them of course but their form and how jazz evolves from them. Get to know the 12, 16 and 32 bar forms. Get that sorted and you can see how Miles, Coltrane et al are so different and yet you can compare and contrast with the standard form. Rather than Bill Evans (a great fave of mine) listen to anything by Oscar Peterson. Almost all of his stuff is based on the standard form and you will hear him play the tune and then go off into improvisations. Most of the time he will have Ray Brown with him on bass and you will hear his great walking lines - I agree with Jake there! Now don't laugh, but I can go far back to when My Fair Lady came out. All the tunes were quite catchy and easy to get in your head. Soon after Andre Previn brought out a jazz version LP of all the tunes. He was on piano with Shelly Mann on drums and the very under-rated Leroy Vinegar on bass. Leroy is one of the very best walkers and that LP taught me how to improvise on a tune that I knew already and it was all I needed to get a good start on jazz bass that never left me. Good luck, with Spotify you'll get there.

Very nice, but no.

[quote name='TPJ' timestamp='1323938864' post='1468790'] The occasional "karate chop" can help combat warpage too. [/quote] And preferably with the strings slightly detuned and chopping as you re-tension them. I use the spine of a paperback to hit the top of the bridge with. I carry a 6B pencil in my wire bag to lubricate the slot if I have to change a string.

When my broken arm gets better I'd like to try a 3.0 10T combo but I've still got a PJB Flightcase in the Amp Warehouse that I haven't played yet so I'll have to be patient til the new year. Otherwise Mrs Bassace will get a bit cross - although it was one of her horses, so she owes me a lot of goodwill.

My new Clarus, 12"Wizzy and 10" Wizzy made it down to Oxfordshire in a similar time. Best service ever.

I'm sure there are cases where talent (or what you will) is inherited but not necessarily as a rule. My appreciation of music and an aptitude to play it was fostered by:- 1. A loving, supportive family who seemed to sing a lot round the house - to the light programme no less! 2. A primary school with a piano in every classroom. 3. Singing in the church choir 4. Having some good mates at secondary school, and afterwards, who liked their music, were more accomplished than me but were happy to share their knowledge and skills. My dad was a good all-round sportsman; I was rubbish.

Yes, Keith and Clarky, the DPA is great but has its limitations with regard to feedback (although it's a lot better than most) and you'll get the best out of it with a powered speaker. Or, better still, front of house. But it doesn't have plug and play convenience.

Very interesting, Keith. They all sound quite good and I wouldn't want to stick my neck out without a bit more listening but initially I'm quite disappointed at the sound of the Ehrlund. Quite muddy, I thought.

I'm sure it'll sound great through an Amp One. In the absence of any lessons (which you should consider before long, perhaps) my advice to you is this: coming from bass guitar, you may be surprised at the pressure you need to exert on the fingerboard with the left hand and the robust snap of your fingers you'll need to pluck the string to get a good note. Keep at it, it'll be a real physical challenge at first but your muscles will soon acclimatise. Enjoy!

I bought it as an LP when it first came out and later lost it. Ten years ago I got a CD free by cashing in some Shell coupons. As I understand it, the LP is a bit different from the CD, but who cares? It's still a great session.

Happens to me on DB. Could it be that as the first set progresses the band gets more confident, animated etc and things just get a bit louder. Coming back on for the second set the band is relaxed and then the whole crescendo thing happens again.

Bryant is good, thanks Geoff, although sadly nothing getting played now until the New Year. The Bryant is nice and bright and dead easy to play but amping it has been a challenge. I've found it responds well to my Super Flightcase so have gone and got the smaller version for the smaller gigs as well. I noticed from the 'other' forum that the new Headway pickup is starting to get good reviews, although I can't find it listed over here yet. Interesting that it's reckoned to be similar to the Realist but without the thump. That's got to be a good thing surely. I bet you can't wait for April when your Nick Lloyd comes over.

Yes, an interesting question. My 'first call' band is a seven-piece dixie Chicago jazz band. We play all the usual standards, Royal Garden Blues, Dippermouth Blues etc. But we also have a tasty rhythm section, particularly our piano player. He, along with each of the front line guys, gets a feature during the course of the evening. So, just to wind the leader up, we often slot in Killer Joe which has a very nice bass riff. We have also done Waltz for Debby. Surprisingly the audiences love it.

Very nice, Geoff. What bass are you playing?

I read an article about a female bass player going for an audition with Michael Jackson - sorry guys, but you probably know who, I don't. She played Giant Steps and got the job. It's also good to play on DB and it's my show off piece. BTW if you're going into a shop to check out a bass, nothing wrong with playing dead simple and checking things like intonation all up the board, evenness across the strings, sustain, response to controls and a host of other things. Concentrate on the instrument and don't worry about trying to impress the assistant.

Cannonball used Sam Jones on bass a lot (not particularly well recorded here). You won't see too many mentions of Sam on BC but he was a great player. Try to hear the Adderley Bros playing Dat Dere and listen to Bobby Timmons's piano solo. You just won't find a better example of a pulsing bass driving a great rhythm section along, specially in the second chorus.

Not too bad considering an 'interesting' year. 85 gigs, all jazz, from 1jan to 20 oct. Some of them were particularly good. Highlight was being invited back by my first call band which I left, not altogether amicably, last year. My 'village project', a three piece fiddle/gtr/bass django trio is starting to get some good gigs. Low point is the broken arm on 20 Oct which has lost me 16 gigs until the end of November. I go for an X-ray on Thursday to see if it is mending or if a meccano job will be needed. So overall, as Mrs Jones would say, Musn't grumble'.

on a double bass never, but once the tail wire let go on a gig so does that count as four?

Early onset delusions of adequacy.