bassace

Hope you make a fast recovery, Keith. Did you lecture your dogs on the matter of the hand that feeds them? Happened to me once when I tried to separate my two scrapping hounds. One thought my hand was the other's ear and I really got it. I had a gig that night and went to the doc rather than a long wait in A&E and he reluctantly did the stitching himself. Not the best of jobs but it got me through the (painful) gig. You'll soon heal.

Councils are given a lot of discretion to frame their own local regulations within the law. Parking charges and alcohol free zones come to mind. There are several instances of 'no amplified busking' regulations being in force. Initially I think it was to confine the sound to within the area of the actual performance rather than electric guitars blasting down the High Street. No amplified busking is an easy catch-all definition that doesn't take much skill to draft but unfortunately it includes instruments that need an amp to be heard at all, eg keyboards, singers, flutes and even acoustic guitars and of course all kinds of upright basses. I presume councils have got enough on their minds without having to consider what is or isn't a loud amplified instrument and the difficulties in enforcing a more specific regulation. A while ago I did a jazz gig on the quarter deck of HMS Belfast with sax, trombone, keyboard and bass. We were setting up and some jobsworth came along a said no amplified music in the Pool of London. We explained our predicament and got away with it. Incidentally, for less than the cost of James's public liability insurance he could have taken out a Musicians Union subscription. This would have provided PL insurance plus £2k's worth of instrument insurance in addition to a lot of other benefits. I'm not really a 'union' man but I was glad to be a member when my double bass suffered over £1k of damage two months ago, all covered by MU insurance.

I'd like to come with a double bass - I live near Chipping Norton. I have quite a few gigs in Sept but I'm sure most daytimes are free.

You're learning already! Enjoy your gig.

I was privileged, yes privileged, to have stood a few feet away from the stage at Cornbury Festival two weeks ago when Jack Bruce guested with a great soul band. He sang and played White Room and Sunshine of Your Love on a fretless. He looked a bit of a shadow of his old self but his voice was great, his playing brilliant and he smiled a lot. Sheer magic.

Is he the bloke who claims to be the first not to play the fretless bass? [i]See earlier topic[/i]

I don't think I'd even try to use a SuperFlight outdoors. To be fair, a lot of more conventional cabs would struggle. 2x12" would be a minimum but better to hook up to PA.

It's difficult for pubs to make a lot of profit just from selling beer these days. I look on a pub gig as an opportunity to play in a relaxed informal setting and that's about it. £150 to £180 seems about the pub limit. We do a monthly pub gig (jazz) with a five piece and a singer, sometimes a guest who gets up to £100 and we make it work with a raffle. Not quite sure how tho' sometimes.

01. Silverfoxnik: Roscoe Beck V, BC Rich Eagle, Yamaha TRB5 with Norstrand p/ups and Auderre pre, Hughes & Kettner Bassbass 600 head & SWR Triad.. plus old Peavey Head and 1x15 for the Jamming Room (unless anyone has something else we can use that's better?) 02. EssentialTension: Fender Precision 62, Fender TF Fretless P, Lakland Decade, Mesa Walkabout 12. 03. Waynepunkdude : Arsenal shirt, Nick Cave underpants, Sunburst Musicman Sterling H and Ampeg SVT 2pro G&K Neo412 04. Clarky: Currently Ampeg Baby Bass, Acoustic Image/Euphonic Audio rig; By September, who knows (watch the FS forum) 05. Truckstop: MIM Fender Jazz V, pimped Kay 2B; Gem/Ampeg rig; some effects 06. Urb - either Sei Jazz or Singlecut - and maybe some pedals - possible Genz Shuttle 9 07. dc2009 - Warwick CS Corvette $$ 5, Epi TB Vs (Reverse and non-reverse), my Dean if anyone actually wants a go, Trace Head, Marshall cab (heavy and big), various pedals. 08.Shockwave - Pedulla MVP5 Mean Green machine. 09. Sibob - '71 Precision, '73 Jazz, MIA Jazz 5 if there's interest, Barefaced Compact, Orange Terror, Pedal-board if there's interest. 10. MacDaddy - Custom Shuker & Hamer Blitz or Iceni custom. 11. Essexbasscat Roadworn somethingorother + Gs112. Amp - not sure which one yet 12. Plux - Berg HT210 & HT115 Hartke LH500 Ibanez BTB 13. 51m0n - Berg ae410, MB, Focusrite and Roscoe 14.seashell - MIM Fender Precision + some sort of Marshall practice amp (I'll look it up tonight) 15.Barneyg42- Some secondhand tat bought over the years! 16.Happy Jack - Double bass of some description + Status Graphite Streamline 5 17.silddx - Hohner B2ADB Headless Boat Paddle / Home Built Chris Squire Electra Evolution 18.TomKent - Fodera NYC Empire 5, Fender Jazz 4, Vintage Stingray 5, Fender P 4 Fretless, Fender P Fretted, Krampera KVB800 Rig, some pedals too.. 19. obbm - Shuker PJ5, ACG headless 5, Aguilar SL112, Ashdown LB, GK Microstack. 20.ped - Vigier Passion bass, BC T shirts 21. Merton - Stasusey basses of some sort, Eden WT550/GK MB200 and Barefaced Vintage (who's at 19???) 22. Jean-Luc Pickguard - NS-Design CR5M, Ashbory 23. Stingray5 - Musicman, Tune, Trace Elliot, GT-6B, other stuff tba 24. Bassace - A double bass and an amp or two 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. I'll be along with a double bass for anyone who wants to try it. I see I'm down for a double bass workshop; well I'm no teacher - Jakesbass is the man for that - but I'll do some demos.

[quote name='Earbrass' post='1034072' date='Nov 23 2010, 05:22 PM']+1. Great played arco in the massed ranks of a string section, but seriously lacking as a rhythm section instrument when played pizzicato and alone.[/quote] And you can't get it under your chin.

I have an ungigged Bassmax pickup for sale if you want it. But in any case you are very welcome to try it out and I'll even pay the postage. Not an opportunist move, even if it sounds like it, I just want to help a fellow double bass player. You'll find a few guys on this forum who are helpful beyond just giving advice. Right now I'm waiting for an Epifani cab that Mr Bassman is sending me on loan to try.

Freddy Hubbard features on my favourite album The Blues and the Abstract Truth. The band was put together by Oliver Nelson and it follows Kind of Blue by approx two years. Bill Evans and Paul Chambers were on both albums. BATAT, while not being overtly modal still follows the trend to simple chord structures that KOB introduced. It also has Eric Dolphy on it. Oliver Nelson made quite a good living composing TV and film music such as Ironside, Columbo, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, but in spite of that he was a great jazz inovator as well. I'm rubbish at putting YouTube links into posts but the tracks from the Album can all be found on Spot. Notable ones are Stolen Moments and Hoedown but they're all good.

Very nice indeed, Clarky. You lucky fella.

Yup, that's a Fishman BP-100, a notoriously difficult pickup to get a decent sound, although there are a few who can. It will certainly improve by putting a preamp in the line before our amp. The one most people like is the Fishman Platinum Pro eq. This will not only equalise any impedance mismatch - or at least go a long way towards parity - but with it you can shape your sound by the eq section, reverse the signal phase if you want to reduce feedback and it also works as a DI should you need on. It also has compression available. In answer to the broader question, there is no pickup which is 'the best'. They all have different characteristics, all basses are different and each player's expectations are different. The best bass sound you will get will be in your room at home with no amp but that is impracticable. The second best is in a recording studio with a nice floor standing mic and no competition from other instruments. Then a mic on a live gig will do it but you run into feedback problems, also off-axis sounds from others. So the best compromise is to use a pickup that you are happy with but bear in mind, if you've got good ears you'll never be totally happy with the sound. It'll always be a compromise. Sometimes the best sound will be right where you are on stage and not quite so good in the audience, and some times vice versa. IMO I always prefer the former because if I can't enjoy my own sound I don't play so well. And your fellow musicians want to hear a good sound too. I'm not saying all this to dispirit you but simply to try to give you an overall picture of the landscape in which your own problem sits. I personally like a bridge wing pickup like an Underwood or Shadow. I like their warm, sustained sound very much. There are others who like the Realist which sits under one of the bridge feet - I find it a bit too bassy. And there are those who say that the Fishman Full Circle is the best of all. This takes the place of one of the bridge height adjusters if you have them. I found it to be a very uncoloured sound but to my mind lacking in sustain and general personality. You'll get there eventually I'm sure. If you can afford it first get a ProPlat; it will be a good investment that will serve you well. Then see if there is any BCer who can lend you a Realist.

[quote name='tharidla' post='1287215' date='Jun 30 2011, 01:26 AM']Also I've been looking into this headway preamp thing-I notice that the eq on the module is for the combined signal, so you can't eq each channel seperately. Is this not really really annoying?!!? What if the mic is too boomy and you want to dial out some of the low end but keep the low end from the pickup?[/quote] IME you can just about get away with it if you are putting in a small amount of pickup to tighten up the mic sound, and such is the Headway's spec that you don't get boom - more likely a bit too much top if you turn up. If you need more volume from the pup the best thing is to put another preamp in the line. Although one more component to consider it's not as daft as it sounds, with the Headway taking the place of the front end of a conventional bass amp. It would be much better though with a full two-channel Headway.

[quote name='Mr Bassman' post='1286771' date='Jun 29 2011, 06:16 PM']Er, Me! I had 2 Wizzy 10's and 2 UL110's, I sold the Wizzy's. The Wizzy's were lighter and a smaller footprint but I could only occasionally get a happy sound, usually on very quiet gigs. They sounded very middly to my ears. I also had an E.A. Doubler for a short time and couldn't get a usable sound out of it, although some people swear by E.A. The UL110's have a lot more depth and warmth to their sound and project well. They also sound great with bass guitar. I was using Markbass heads until recently, I now use a GKMB200 which sounds great with the UL110 and / or an A.I. Contra EX, also a GKMB210 combo for louder gigs (Lindy-Hop or blues bass guitar) I could send you a UL110 to try if you like Roger [/quote] Wow, now that's an offer, Keith. I'm reasonably happy with EA's, in fact for the seven-piece I use a 10" on a 12" quite happily. I've just come up against it with my new Bryant bass. I've gone back to an Underwood because, as I've previously said, I'm sure my ears are tuned to the sound. But to get a good sound out of a Clarus and 10" Wizzy I'm having to cut most of the middle out and that of course throws up a lot of other problems such as losing a lot of cut through the mix. It all sounds a lot better with my PJB Super Flight. I was prompted to enquire re the Epi following your recent post but also I know that Chris Kelly likes a UL112. I'll look at our gig list because I know that we are up your way later in the year and it will save having to entrust your speaker to the van men. Sorry to hijack the Eminence thread.