bassace

[quote name='chris_b' post='1238168' date='May 20 2011, 01:56 PM']Have you got a roof rack?[/quote] Well, that's not as crazy as it sounds. My first car was standard ten and I used to carry my bass on the roof. Went to Cornwall and back with it. But wouldn't recommend it.

A bass will go in any hatchback, even a Micra. Also in most medium sized coupes because the doors (2) are wider than a saloon's. I travelled my bass in a Merc CLK for many years. Saloons are more of a problem and you should definitely try before you buy. How many poncy salesmen have said to me 'oh yes sir, you can get your golf clubs in the back'? only to be told it's a double bass and not having a clue what I'm talking about.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1237267' date='May 19 2011, 07:11 PM']The Bill Evans trio with Scott LaFaro on bass is unbeatable IMHO. I do like 'We get requests' by Oscar Peterson trio, which has some wonderful playing by Ray Brown, eg Have you met Miss Jones[/quote] Yes, Have you met Miss Jones is a great example of how to swing without having to play up-tempo. Bass playing at its best.

[quote name='jbn4001' post='1236536' date='May 19 2011, 01:03 AM']Hi, In keeping with the original topic .. I'm now playing in a big band (as in wind/brass /Glenn Miller/ Stan Kenton etc stylee) . Currently doing that with electric bass but really want to do it with double bass. I currently rent a double bass (no pickups on it).. and reading this thread kinda worries me. I really really want to play a DB with the big band rather than EUB. The band can get quite loud when in full flight (6 saxes, 2/3 trumpets, 3 trombones, guitar, piano, drums) .. 1. Should I even try .. or just go EUB (perhaps a question to those that have tried in loud situations/ big band) ? 2. If DB is viable.. .. should I get a "hybrid" which allegedly may be less prone to feedback .. I was going to save up for a decent full on carved DB .. .. but if it's just going to feedback there seems little point. Thoughts? 3. My amp set up. Viable? I own a Markbass LMII and a couple of Bergantino 1x12s for my electric. Ideally I want to use the amp+cabs (or cab) with the DB.. Have read the thread so would consider Platinum Pro preamp plus a mag pickup (though do mag pickups result in a more "electric" tone?) If this is a thread hijack lemme know and will start a new one.. otherwise would very much appreciate advice on the above. Thanks all. jbn4001[/quote] First of all, it must be a DB over EUB; tonally, dynamically and - I hate to say this - the whole look. I'd recommend a hybrid over a carved. You'll get more bang for your bucks and will find that a hybrid is easier to amp than carved - unless you get very lucky. I'm having a bit of bother with a nice new carved right now. It sounds great by itself but is too tonally complex to get a nice tight sound with a pickup. Great for miking though. Try not to use a mag pickup. They are great feedback killers but you lose a lot of the DB sound. As you say, the mag will get you a more 'electric' tone. Your existing rig should be OK although I tend to use a 10" on top of the 12" in that situation. I'm an Underwood pickup fan; it has served me well for several years. although there are those who will disagree. It has quite a lot of top and middle which you will need and its harshness can be tamed with a Plat Pro. In your proposed big band you should not have too much trouble cutting through the brass and horns and I usually find that drums are OK too. The killer tends to be the guitar, especially if he uses thick chords including the two bottom strings. If he does a Freddie Green and plays on the top four most of the time you should be fine.

[quote name='marvin spangles' post='1233856' date='May 17 2011, 12:56 AM']Maybe I've missed something here ... what are the dates of these classes?[/quote] It's Tuesday evenings, ongoing. Easy to catch up.

Sorry Hector, I'm having trouble with it. If you'd PM me with your email address I'll forward it to you - or anyone else who is interested.

There is a vacancy for a double bassist on a jazz course being run in Oxford by Sue Greenway. Sue is a very experienced sax player and a great communicator. Flyer is attached; looks like good value for money. [attachment=80113:sc0001d781.pdf]

Yes, very good bass playing although your drummer a bit careless with the cymbals at times. Only thing worries me; I understood from your posts that you were terribly cutting edge and had a downer on 'The Great American Songbook'. So why Witchcraft? Glad to see that you're not above doing what the rest of us do.

HJ sounds a good idea, but to save a bit of cash I'd recommend cutting out all that marine ply and subbing OSB (oriented strand board, the stuff they board up windows with). It has external properties, ie is weather resistant, and its lack of attractiveness would me mitigated by the material you're putting over it. It is not quite as stable as ply so leave a 4mm joint between panels. If you're worried about sound getting through, and I wouldn't, then apply some mastic. We used to rehearse and record in a garage where we put egg boxes all round the walls.

Well, it's a yes and no thing really isn't it. I can't remember ever taking a solo on BG, but perhaps jazz DB is a bit different and is probably what Bilbo was thinking about. As previous posts have said, the double bass player's job is in the engine room along with the drummer to pulse the band along - at least that's how I see my job. With the seven piece Dixieland band I play in I get two a gig max and it's generally for a bit of light relief; for who I'm not so sure. When I'm playing with a modern trio or quartet it's a bit different. There's a lot more interplay here and an opportunity to take a more frontline role. In the choruses the bass generally plays a four in the bar pulse, whereas a solo will give the player the opportunity to play horn phrasing. Also, something perhaps not readily considered is that in an ensemble role the whole tonal range of the bass is not very well heard, whereas in a solo there is a better opportunity for that great DB sound to be fully heard - and the audiences appreciate that. Talking of audience appreciation, You know how they applaud solos, in my opinion not very discriminatory a lot of the time. When I get applause for mine - yes, I do - I usually say that it's not because I've done it well but that I've done it at all (Samuel Johnson's dog)

First the Heroes:- Many sincere thanks to Mr Bassman and Clarky, both of who loaned me FOC pickups to save me having to purchase new ones and make a costly mistake. With their help I've managed to sort out my problems and if there is one lesson to be learned here it is that there is no definitive answer to 'which pickup'. A short simplistic answer is that it depends on what you want to play, how you want to play it, where you want to play it and, most importantly, which bass do you want to fit it on - is it a dull bass or a bright bass, or something in between? Now the Villains:- I do wish all those who are getting involved in the Blonde Bass for Sale name-calling would just stop it. It is achieving nothing and doesn't reflect well on the DB community at all. I don't like the Mods having to step in on any posts, I would hope that we are just a bit grown up to be able to sort ourselves out.

The switch on my Clarus went a bit 'sparky' so as a precaution I asked for a replacement. What I got was a whole new chassis (everything except the front panel and case)! I don't know who it is, Laurence or AI (I suspect 50/50) but it sure is impressive service.

Thanks for all the helpful replies, guys - and some of the unhelpful ones from those who didn't really read my OP (I said the manual didn't specify any fuse ratings so there's no point in going down that road) And the 'kettle lead' stuff. It almost turned into a 'god I love jazz' sort of elitism thing. I and most of my colleagues will no doubt refer to them as kettle leads for the rest of time. I recon if I ever came out with 'well, actually, strictly speaking, it's not a kettle lead but blah blah blah blah', then I'd be laughed right off the stage. But I didn''t know the difference so thanks anyway. I looked at my leads and found that all the UK/euro sourced ones have a 10a rating on the moulded plug-in end. The USA stuff - and all my amps are american - has no such rating. In fact it is my understanding that in the US they never have fuses in the mains plug. So the lead is unprotected. And thanks to the posters who made the point that the fuse is principally for the protection of the lead. However, another fair point was that the fuse gives a certain additional protection to the amp. My 3a fuse that blew was on the end of a mains lead to a QSC K10 powered speaker rated at 1,000w - so that's probably the reason although of course I wasn't anywhere near that output. Many amps have slow blow fuses to counteract the initial load of transformers and capacitors. As I mentioned, there is nothing in the QSC manual referring to fuses and I can't see any accessible fuse holder on the back. I have emailed QSC's technical support but have not received a reply. So I am going to fit all my leads with 5a fuses from now. That will provide a sensible compromise between protecting both the lead and amp, and will I hope withstand any start-up surges. Thanks to all who responded, it has widened my understanding of the subject and I hope others have benefitted too.

[quote name='PeteinKent' post='1220140' date='May 4 2011, 06:59 PM']A more typical and certainly more insidious Jazz reply.....What you are implying is that I am simply not a gifted enough musician to understand the technical requirements and the complexities of jazz music. This attitude towards rock/pop musicians almost always goes hand in hand with 'the only reason any musician would not play jazz is because they can't'. Just because a piece of music is technically difficult to play and/or is very complex does not make it engaging on any level to many, if not most, listeners. Often it is quite the opposite. The Jazz fraternity is openly and triumphantly elitist and yet it bristles at the merest hint of criticism particularly from a pop/rock musician because it detests the popular acclaim given to these musicians because of the accessibility of the music they play. It is at the same time spitefully scathing about the musical hoi polloi who are not 'smart' enough appreciate the nuances of the genre and yet at the same time it cries like a baby because it isn't more loved. Well boys and girls of the jazz world....you simply cant be exclusive and popular at the same time. If the Jazzers want to sit in darkened,smokey rooms, tapping their sandled feet and stroking their goatee beards,(and thats just the women!), whilst they impress each other with tuneless noodling thats fine. But they can't be content with that! They have to come into my room where there are I am playing to a host of people who are dancing, singing and, in the words of the late great Lowell George...'Having a time' and call me a musical amoeba because I am playing popular music to the masses. Well I have one thing to say to that and it starts with a B and ends in ollox! Right now I'm off to play a gig.[/quote] Oh dear, and I was trying to advance a 'neutral' argument . Can I just risk putting my analogy forward:- I liken a lot of music, including jazz but also classical music to art; we all know what we like and there is a cut off point where we cease to comprehend. In my case it's probably the Impressionists. Dali, Picasso and others I enjoy but can't really claim to understand. Like all art forms others will have their 'limit of understanding/appreciation'. And so it is with music. All sorts of people understand/appreciate (and the lucky ones get to play) all sorts of music. And there we should leave it perhaps, but I know it won't stay there.

[quote name='PeteinKent' post='1219393' date='May 4 2011, 12:42 AM']I have nothing against Jazz per se but I am sick to the back teeth of the many members of the jazz fraternity who are dismissive, even contemptuous, of rock and pop music in general and its musicians in particular. Aware that I am going to be accused of gross generalisation it is still my experience that jazzers....... A. Want to be elitist but are resentful if not jealous of the popular acclaim enjoyed by rock/pop musicians and .... B. Are more concerned with impressing each other than with entertaining an audience. Yes there is nothing wrong with music being interesting or challenging or complex or unorthodox but that does not make it better and certainly not more sophisticated than a piece of music that has a simple but pleasing melody and/or an infectious , danceable beat. Some time back I was having the rock/pop Vs Jazz debate with two good friends of mine, a married couple . Both were jazzers; he a upright bass player who came from a pop/rock background and she a Pianist who came from a classical background. I was arguing that jazz often distorted the basic principles of rhythm, melody and harmony beyond recognition. She replied....'there are some wonderful harmonies in jazz music. [b]You just have to be a jazz musician to understand and appreciate them'[/b] case proven M'lud[/quote] No, you just have to be a musician. Same goes for rock. I know of several rock musicians who have a very well-developed knowledge of music - and they use it to great advantage. Same whatever you're playing, if you know your music theory, particularly chords, modes, rhythms and time signatures you'll get a lot out of what you're doing. And it'll make you a better musician. Yes, I'm sure there'll be posts instancing greats who didn't know much about the theory, but the world has moved on since then and they were geniuses in their time.

Yes, I support the K10 idea. I got mine for mic use but am finding that it does well with a pickup as well. Use a Headway or a Fishman and you're away. It's 32 lbs in old money. A Focus SA is, I believe, discontinued and is now as rare as rocking horse poo. However, some BCers may have some other main amp ideas. They certainly exist out there but not many have been tried for DB as yet.

I was on a gig running a powered speaker cab two days ago and the '13A' plug on the end of the kettle lead blew a fuse. It wasn't necessarily the lead supplied with the cab because, probably like most musos, I have lots of leads all over the place. Anyway I found that the blown fuse was a 3A and probably too low. Strange thing is, the cab doesn't have an in-built fuse and the manual makes no reference. I'm going to try to standardise all my leads and was thinking of going for a 5A in all of them. Any opinions out there? I've got the correct fuse in each amp, but I don't want to have to use a dedicated lead for each one if I can help it.

I've been using a Fishman Pro (cheaper than the plat) for the last ten years and wouldn't be without it. Headway is good too but for use simply as a preamp from a pickup I think it's over-complicated. I use it to deliver phantom power to a mic tho'. If you want to come up to Chipping Norton you could have a go on both.

Have you got a Maplins near you. You can get it there.

[quote name='TPJ' post='1211471' date='Apr 26 2011, 09:41 AM'] I'd love to try [url="http://www.newstandardbass.com/cleveland.htm"]one of these.[/url] There's a fully carved one in the TB forsale threads that looks great.[/quote] The LaScala version is a particularly tasty bass. Highly rated over there.