BigBeatNut

[quote name='wotnwhy' post='403592' date='Feb 8 2009, 06:04 PM']oh my god... i've actually fallen in love..[/quote] Yeah, I spotted that one. Trouble is, they say it's a prototype, and a production one would be shorter scale, and not have the fifth string. So it's barely any longer than an Ashbory, and that's close to half the scale length of a standard 4-string bass. I'll bet it's much more expensive than an Ashbory ... for a limited use/holiday/travel bass

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='403607' date='Feb 8 2009, 06:26 PM']Wow! What a strange looking 'hollowbody'. It's lovely but not loud enough (ie yellow) [/quote] How about metallic gold ? (Not mine this one)

[quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='403564' date='Feb 8 2009, 05:34 PM']Why not one of [url="http://www.contrabass.co.uk/humidifier.htm"]these?[/url] Would probably work out a hell of a lot cheaper![/quote] Have you used one ? What was your experience ? I looked into those. The sum of my research was, unless you use one of these with the bass locked inside a case, they are (quoting from memory) "as effective as trying to humidify the Sahara with gnat piss". (I don't have a case, and if I did, I'm sure I would get sick of packing/unpacking every time I wanted to play it). If anyone here has different experience I'd love to hear it. Dunno, maybe I'm worrying about it too much given I'm in the UK climate, but people have commented that the air in my flat feels dry, and my upright (okay already with some faults in it) developed cracks last summer. Andy

Slightly late to the party, but here's my Lakie HB. True hollow, no center block.

FWIW, the one I currently have is described as an 'Evaporative Air Cooler' combined with '2000W heater with optional humidifier'. I've got all the controls set right and I am running the humidifier part. It's a big old beast and is going to be expensive to run. I'd hate to think that the answer is 'buy a bigger one'.

Does anyone here use a humidifier to keep reasonable conditions for a double bass ? I'd really like to hear your recommendations for brands, and probably more particularly a humidifier rating (is it in watts ?), suitable for a largeish open plan flat with high ceilings. My family clubbed together to get me one for Xmas. I've struggle to get it to do a reasonable job, and I've just accidentally discovered that having a hot bath with the bathroom door open is three times more effective than running the humidifier for 8 hours (but still not enough to get my flat up to the recommended realms of 40-45% humidity). BTW, I'm doing this because my upright bass (luckily no expensive investment as yet) developed cracks last summer and needed repairs. Any thoughts or advice gratefully received. Andy

Thanks for the all the input guys ... I've kind of put it on hold for the moment, though ... not likely to be gigging upright soon so my beaten up starter bass will do me for a while. Andy

[quote name='jakesbass' post='401808' date='Feb 6 2009, 09:58 AM']Not my cup of tea, it's a great tune, one I've enjoyed playing many times and it's a good tempo solidity challenge as most people take it at a quick pace so it really tests your stamina and how relaxed your technique is. It's not a good example really as it's probably just the 'fast bit' in a gig that will have contained a variety of feels and tempos. They are very capable players, the bass player is holding one hell of a tempo without breaking sweat and the (chord) changes are very clearly audible. Arturo Sandoval is a great player of the instrument but to my mind always over blows little room is left for taste and choice, but then I haven't seen or heard everything he's done. He can really play, though his taste does not line up with mine. Somebody mentioned Wayne Shorter..... Now [i][b]there's[/b][/i] a man who can choose notes!!!!!![/quote] Okay, seen a fair bit of comment on this video now, and this is a good lauchpad for my view. Note: This is about one video performance, not about one band or musician, one song, most definitely [i][b]NOT[/b][/i] about entire musical genre. I can't hear a key (tone center, whatever) I can't hear a chord progression, I can't detect a time signature, I have absolutely no idea where the one is (which means I can't tap my feet to it). It does have a bit of discernible melody where they slow down a bit. And that means that for me (and remember I'm only talking about MY reaction to ONE performance, and not trying to diss an entire genre) it holds about as much musical interest as a roomful of squalling babies .... and this despite the fact that those are a bunch of truly, awesomely talented musicians. Two more points on that from me. 1) I'm not an out-and-out jazz basher .... there's plenty of jazz I do like. 2) I'm intrigued by the fact that Jakesbass and others find some (or a lot) of value in this performance. This may be pointing to the fact that I have a diminished musical perception compared to some (e.g. I couldn't find the one in that piece, evidenced by inability to foot-tap). Andy

[quote name='lowdown' post='401830' date='Feb 6 2009, 10:18 AM']Thats what they say about anything thats not one. [six minor]? four and five.[/quote] Not fair, really, not in regard to me at least. I'm sure I could find examples of what I'd call noodling (jazz-noodling or whatever-noodling) over a twelve-bar or single chord and plenty of examples of non-noodling, beautiful jazz tunes over extremely non-obvious chord progressions ('Round Midnight', 'Idle moments'). Qualification: noodling means to me piece of music which is (1) instrumental and fast and (2) generates no emotional response (for me), and as result (for me) devolves into nothing more than a technical exercise, probably by extremely, even awesomely, talented musicians. If your emotional response to a given piece of music is different to mine (and that does seem to be the big differentiator here) then we're (reasonably) never going to agree on whether it's noodling or not. Andy

[quote name='BigBeatNut' post='400594' date='Feb 5 2009, 12:52 AM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSzWPNFX7sc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSzWPNFX7sc[/url][/quote] No more opinions from the Jazz aficionados ? I know it'll wind up the anti-noodling brigade, but I'm interested in knowing more about what the jazz peeps make of it. Andy

Mmmm ... my enthusiasm is waning a little ... thanks for the info, all

Bilbo (or anyone really, but particularly Bilbo, because I think we're more akin than I first thought) ... what do you think of this ? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSzWPNFX7sc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSzWPNFX7sc[/url] Hesitated a bit about posting it, but I genuinely want to know (suddenly remembered that our drummer emailed me the link some time ago). Andy

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='400496' date='Feb 4 2009, 10:38 PM']For teh record, when I listen to jazz, I almost never respond to anything simply because it is complicated (some very hard stuff is very boring and emotionally unsatisfying). I react to good jazzin exactly the same way as I did Iron Maiden, Rush, Genesis, Yes, Motorhead etc when I was starting out.[/quote] So you are part of my group (3) ... well, well .... I may give Charlie Parker another shot ... possibly after some Art Tatum (which I know I like) to set the historical scene 1st. Andy

[quote name='silddx' post='400507' date='Feb 4 2009, 10:53 PM']It's strictly personal.[/quote] It is .... I think it stopped being an argument several posts ago. Just an exchange of opinions that's getting more interesting by the hour ...

Hmm ... now you're making me think. While I have huge respect for your opinions ... mostly because of the insights offered by this post ... [quote name='bilbo230763' post='398936' date='Feb 3 2009, 02:05 PM']So when you get to the point where you have found something that holds your attention (for decades), it is inevitable that you want to share your enthusiasm.[/quote] ... I'm struggling trying to figure out if I'm one of the 'uninformed'. While I'm obviously a 'player', and less obviously I know a lot of music theory (okay, way less than I actually have the skills to apply, but still) , and you might think that qualifies me as one of the 'informed' .... actually I find a lot of the stuff that's labelled 'jazz' does strike me as a lot of 'noodling'. Try as I might, I have not the slightest clue what's going on in a Charlie Parker solo. I suspect that to really 'appreciate' it (why am I getting my self into this territory ... sigh) you have to be not only a player, a player who has knowledge of the right musical theory, AND the skills to be able to apply it. Only then, when you hear a flurry of a million notes from Charlie Parker, do you then have the ability to recognise, say, "wow ... he managed to use three tritone substitutions and half the circle of fifths while modulating to the relative minor ... that's way cool". See where I'm going ? I think (and please tell me wrong) that the only people who really get into that kind of stuff are either (1) people who are highly skilled musicians or (2) people who think they're cool because they're parroting the opinions of group (1). Could be I'm totally wrong and there is a group (3) people who just hear it and it moves them. I'm not in group (3) myself so I can't really say. I'd love to hear from someone who is. Genuinely. I know what music moves me ... and some of it gets labelled jazz .... but noodling of any sort (either of the 'supremely technically proficient' or 'mindless' variety) gets the skip button from me. Heh ... just realised there's a theme going on here for me ... my tastes in music are as low-brow as my tastes in everything else .... nothing too subtle for me thanks very much .... superhero movies, highly spiced food, and music that impels my body to join in with the groove .... more of all three please I still think the most important question is 'does it move you' ? If it does, spend time listening to it, talk about, analyse it, learn to play it, hang out with people who are like-minded. If it doesn't move you ... move on. Andy

[quote name='Rich' post='399155' date='Feb 3 2009, 05:12 PM'] Every other post in this thread is now meaningless. [/quote] Except at the very least mine I hope ... I was trying to say exactly the same thing as Rayman .... partial quote [quote name='BigBeatNut' post='396324' date='Jan 31 2009, 06:47 PM']The only thing that matters at end of the day is 'do you like it'. If you like it, find other people who like it and talk about it and make music with them. If you don't like it, don't bang on at the people who do, what do you think you're going to do, persuade them ? Go find some music you do like and talk about that. {snip} Me, I don't have a problem, it's all just music.[/quote] Andy

[quote name='bassace' post='399784' date='Feb 4 2009, 10:56 AM']At that price don't worry about the laminate.[/quote] Really ... not much difference between a £1000 laminate and a £1000 carved ?

Anyone know anything about these ? [url="http://www.contrabass.co.uk/2750.htm"]LINK[/url] Looks absolutely stunning and about at the limit of my budget .... but laminate though ? The way the website heaps on superlatives doesn't fill me with confidence. Anyway ... if you've encountered one of these I'd love to know what you think. Cheers, Andy

Long dead thread ... but I've only just read it ... let see if this revives it. F F S !!! I can't believe the number of statements and opinions I've just read about jazz in its entirety .... AS IF IT WAS ALL THE SAME STUFF !!! Would any of you ever make statements like 'all music in 4/4 is .....' 'all music with drums in it is ...' 'all music played by black musicians....' Of course not ... it would be such a broad statement as to be totally ludicrous. The only thing that matters at end of the day is 'do you like it'. I think that applies to any artistic endeavour. If you like it, find other people who like it and talk about it and make music with them. If you don't like it, don't bang on at the people who do, what do you think you're going to do, persuade them ? Go find some music you do like and talk about that. And don't get hung up on arbitrary labels, particularly one as broad as Jazz. And just to totally confuse you ... probably 95% of the stuff that gets labelled as Jazz is stuff I can't abide .... and maybe 50% of the music I'm most passionate about gets labelled Jazz .... see how useless labels are ? FWIW, likes include John Scofield (but the 'band' stuff rather than the bop and fusion stuff) ... Medeski Martin and Wood (just great fun), Jimmy Smith (though he is also responsible for some very tedious longwinded improv. albums) ... Django Rheindhart (just blew me away at the age of 18) .... borderline jazz likes include Greyboy Allstars, Galactic, Robert Walter and Stanton Moore. People who class themselves 'Jazz Fans' or 'Jazz Haters' might have very different ideas about which side of the line those last 4 lie on. Me, I don't have a problem, it's all just music. Andy

[quote name='Rich' post='396043' date='Jan 31 2009, 11:39 AM']Heh, yeah that'll look the dog's danglies. All you need now are black anodised frets... [/quote] Ohh ... if you're not going fretless then you have to work on that angle ... even if anodising isn't the answer. I wasn't just talking about looks as it happens .... fretless and unlined is my kind of bass, and LaBella black tapes have just become my favourite kind of string.

[quote name='eude' post='393835' date='Jan 28 2009, 05:11 PM']First up is my newly acquired [b]Pub Bass[/b] >>[/quote] mmmm ... think I'll order me one of those but fretless, unlined, and strung with LaBella black nylon tapes Andy

[quote name='ryanzepp' post='395299' date='Jan 30 2009, 12:01 PM']Yeah, that was me. I really dont know alot about double bass' and could do with all the help I can. The guy said "I've just had someone look at the bass, they said the crack is not a problem and the top is solid wood, hope that helps" Did you see the pics, what do you think?[/quote] I just added a reply in the other thread ... however the auction has ended.

[quote]On 29-Jan-09 at 16:36:19 GMT, seller added the following information: I have cracked the top of the Bass as I brought it down the stairs this morning. I really don't know what it does to the performance of the bass or it's strength. But you're welcome to have a look. On 29-Jan-09 at 20:57:52 GMT, seller added the following information: I've just had someone look at the bass, they said the crack is not a problem and the top is solid wood, hope that helps,[/quote] Heh, thought so, that bass is the twin of mine, even down to the cracks, now. I'm no luthier (big caveat) BUT those cracks don't look anything like as severe as mine were. However they appear to be in a place where it MIGHT be difficult to repair without taking the top off. (top off = expensive) I would guess you're not really going to get a firm answer till a luthier sees it. But, again, I bought a bass in a similar kind of condition for £250 and the repairs cost £120. Ooops just noticed it's not for sale any more ... wonder what happened ? Andy