sarah thomas

Nevermind. I'll raise a glass to you

Huw Warren (piano) and Iain Ballamy (saxophone) duo followed by Lloyd Haines (drums) Quartet at Cafe Jazz, Monday 4th Feb starting at 8.45 (ish).An incredible night for £5. Paula Gardiner (bass) trio at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, 5.30pm in the Foyer, Friday 8 Feb. Free!

Dinner parties have given way to jam sessions!

I practice in what used to be our dining room, wedged between the drum kit and the keyboard.

Absolutely. I made one from an Ikea bucket, a broom handle and string, It was awful. Strimmer wire would have been better.

Did you get a progress report from your luthier? Can't they supply you with a bass?

Thanks for posting

Phew! I can breathe again, at last. Well done for sorting it out.

'Even when we're practicing, we're still always thinking about what's wrong. We have to realise: What keeps you playing is what's right ... it's got to have some sweetness somewhere in it.' Wynton Marsalis

Oh, I so long for an Ampeg Baby Bass and a PJB. Probably have to get rid of an old wardrobe first and I'm not quite ready yet ... Just love that Latin sound. I've never held a baby bass so I'm not sure how they snuggle in, but I'm sure they do. My best advice is to have an Alexander technique lesson, take the bass and video the session. Thanks to my teacher, Lynne, I can play more comfortably, for longer and produce a better tone with less buzz. Still working on the intonation though!

I liked the Honeys and still favour them on my ply bass. I was veering between Spiro and innovation ultra blacks for my flatback and opted for the ultra blacks, partly because I tried them (thanks Daf) and partly because a set came in at £75 from springexpress as opposed to £125 for Spiros (including shipping) from Thomann.

And of course, there is Daf's Innovation string trial on this very forum where you can try out different Innovation strings for the price of the postage.

I don't know of a free one, but irealb for iphones, ipads and android phones is brilliant. Costs around £7. My other half is planning on buying a Nexus tablet mainly for irealb, but it doesn't quite work on the new tablet yet.

Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen

And a big welcome from me too.

If you're not too far from South Wales (Cardiff area), then you're welcome to come and try Bertha (Boosey & Hawkes laminate) and Geraldine (German flatback). Both were bought from this forum. Bertha for £1,000 and Geraldine for £2,000. Bertha needed new strings. Geraldine needed a new endpin, soundpost re-fitting, fingerboard shooting, new bridge, a bit of leather under the wire that secures the tailpiece to the endpin and new strings. If you choose second hand, you'll get more bass for your money but you should be prepared to travel. I was lucky with Bertha and bought her locally. For the beautiful and worth every single bit of everything Geraldine, I went to Harrogate. Good luck!

Such a disappointment. I have just taken my son to the station and wept a daft tear or five after two whole weeks with him at home, then came back to find this. Bah humbug!

I'll drink to that. Happy New Year!

Seeing as I like these so much and seeing as my G string unravelled magnificently when I took it off, I've just ordered a set of these strings from stringexpress. When they arrive and I swap the strings over, I'll forward them onto Rudders.

Fantastic stuff! Do you have any signed copies to flog? If not, then I'll get mine through the usual channels.

Thanks Chris! May your days be full of joy.

Improvised double bass as seen from the inside: www.[b]youtube[/b].com/watch?v=VNQOlAPwMUI

A comment worthy of a drum roll ...

There was one post you made where you said you couldn't bend your wrist enough and that made me worry for you because I have wrist problems myself. Sorry if I sounded a bit pooey. I've got the Rufus Reid book too - there's enough in there to last 3 or 4 years! For short bursts of infectious inspiration, I go to a link Clarky posted: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFTqVHEJZ0A It's a masterclass in 5 minutes and filled with joy. I hope you like it!