bassace

String Emporium (Steve) is a straight guy to deal with.

I did a trad dep (somebody has to do it) at some pub out in the sticks and while I was setting up my gear an old yokel came up to me and said 'ere, yur not one one of those modernisers are you?'. The leader of another band I used to play with used to say 'don't forget to patronise the bar because the more you drink the better the band sounds'. A 'lady' tried to correct him by saying 'no, the more the band drinks the better it sounds' to which he replied 'no, the more we drink the better you look'. 'Do you do requests?' 'Only when we're asked'. There are other:- We did a gig recently and a woman came up to us and said 'my mum used to play accordian with Ivy Benson'. You'll only understand this if you know who Ivy Benson, or an accordian, was/is.

I use a QSC K10 with my double bass but they are primarily active PA speakers @1,000w and very good with it. Only minus is I sent a query to QSC tech dept and never got a reply. Never mind, who am I? Still buy with confidence, lots of pro sound guys use them.

Anybody see them? The last 15 mins were very moving - an excellent documentary about a great band and much loved charismatic singer.

As one muso said of another, ' he's got good chops but I don't like his style'. Does that help to define it?

[quote name='PaulKing' post='1246126' date='May 26 2011, 07:35 PM']No, not that bass. I may have seen it at his place a couple of times. I got the term 'German Blonde' from him, I took a couple that I owned to him for some work (including the B+H I still own, which I believe he restored years ago for someone else) and he called them that, showed me a couple similar that he had in stock. Only thing is, my B+H is Czech of course, and was certainly not blonde originally... but he still called it a 'German Blonde'. What a thoroughly lovely man. With a house full of basses .. 3 floors of them. Poor Mrs Tyler.[/quote] Yes, poor Mrs Tyler. I have met her once and she is very nice. Have you seen his room full of double bass memorabilia? He's got all sorts of beautifully crafted bass ceramics and other stuff but the one thing that does it for me is a miniature double bass apprentice piece.

[quote name='PaulKing' post='1242949' date='May 24 2011, 01:49 PM']Well you're in a different class from me... Upton Professor ... sweet. There's only one person I know that describes unlabelled blonde laminated basses as 'German Blondes'. Did you buy it from Peter Tyler? Or me?!![/quote] Interesting that. I bought the Blonde from Peter Tyler. It's quite nice and I use it for, er, the more 'challenging' gigs, like outdoors or gigs that might be a bit rough ([i]moi?[/i]) It has a distinctive triangular profiled neck. Do you know anything about it, Paul?

[quote name='PaulKing' post='1240869' date='May 22 2011, 09:29 PM']Noone in their right mind can justify owning 3 double basses. (cough)[/quote] Whaaaat?

[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)