Cairobill

Could you part-ex your EUB for an acoustic? I would strongly recommend learning to play upright on an acoustic. The EUB is a cool thing but is quite a different instrument to an acoustic bass, especially in terms of developing the technique required to get a good sound out of it. Nick

I've just started seriously playing arco on the Bryant and it really is the most beautiful sounding thing. Playability wise mine is set up at a good balance point for playability and sound projection, medium action. It's very playable but it has enough action to dig in while playing pizz. I did roadtest a huge flatback loaner orchestral bass that Bryant had in the shop before I got my solobass. It was enormous and sounded equally as huge. It was much more of a handful though - the solobass is much smaller and the shoulders are reduced/sloped to give easier access to thumb position. I'll get some good recordings done soon and post a review - there aren't many around and people seem to be very interested in what they sound like compared to simliarly priced basses. I can't imagine ever needing a better (i.e. more expensive) bass, the Bryant has a great sound... CB [quote name='gerryk' post='767979' date='Mar 8 2010, 01:57 PM']Hi Geoff I have a lovely Bryant orchestral model. I can highly recommend these basses. A friend of mine who works with orchestras a lot, as well as swing bands and various other genres put me on to them - he has 2 of them, and other bassists in the orchestras rate the Bryant well above the price - nearer three times in fact! That having been said, I recently brought my bass to a guy in Galway (yeah I know, a bit of a treck for yourself) for repair, and he loaned me a Chinese bass priced at €1800 to use while I waited on mine to be done. The bass blew me away, and I almost decided to buy it for gigging situations where I wouldn't want to put Bryant in the firing line!. He sets them up himself, and really gets every last ounce of quality out of the instrument, with excellent playability that really left the Bryant feeling like a monster after getting used to the silky action on the Chinese one. The Bryant is optimised for arco, with highish action and no adjustable bridge, and to be honest, the bow showed the shortcomings of the Chinese one compared to the Bryant. In any event, I'm really suggesting that you check out some of these cheaper basses, as they can surprise. If you're interested in contacting the luthier I refer to, I can send you on contact info. His name is Tom Barrett, and he only spends 6 months in Ireland before returning to States each year (in may I think). he likes to clear his stock before returning, so you might get a good deal in April... Cheers, and happy hunting, GerryK[/quote]

Just noticed that you mentioned Bryant already...must read posts all the way through before posting His basses are very interesting, primarily because he builds each one from the ground up rather than finishes off parts that he buys in. It's simply amazing that he sells them for such low prices. Very nice guy too - his basses have a lot of character... N [quote name='geoffbassist' post='767025' date='Mar 7 2010, 04:38 PM']Hi nick. Yeh they are great instruments at fantastic prices. I was there last week and tried them. All really great but he's finishing off a nice roundback which I'm hoping to take on trial. I've previously played a Bryant solo and was very impressed. Thanks for your reply cheers geoff :-)[/quote]

I've got a Paul Bryant and it's magnificent. Very punchy, rich and dark tone. Not super loud (mine is the solobass model with a slightly reduced body size. I have played others of his and they sounded huge) but a great sound. They cost a bit (4.5 to 6K?) but it's handmade in England by a single luthier. Lots of orchestral players use them as second basses... I had mine up for sale during a moment of madness but soon thought the better of it...they are veeeery sweet... Check his stuff out here... [url="http://www.bryantbasses.com/"]http://www.bryantbasses.com/[/url] Nick

And I echo a comment made above about playing less notes. There's nothing like getting into the double bass to teach you about tone, note length, the value of space and harmony. Double bass is a lifelong thing...enjoy! ...and check this stuff out... Ray Brown being impossibly cool... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_KjGK4k2ho"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_KjGK4k2ho[/url] Charles Mingus...v interesting player and composer... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqWLSe0FS0I"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqWLSe0FS0I[/url] ...no real vids of La Faro but this has a selection of great tracks from his Bill Evans recordings. He's a genius and set a high watermark almost 50 years ago before he died in a car crash at the age of 25... Incredible... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln0wVO7qFeU&feature=fvw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ln0wVO7qFeU&feature=fvw[/url]

I've played BG for many years and started db 5 years ago. Applying any sort of Electric bass technique to the stand up is dodgy as you will exhaust the wrong set of muscles and develop tendinitis. Hand fatique after 5 or ten minutes of playing is a sure indicator of this. Building up muscles will not help - it's a technique thing... I found Rufus Reid's DVD invaluable in developing good left and right hand technique. He clearly explains all this stuff - it is really worth the outlay. The book is great too. Simandl has been a great course in just developing reading and knowledge of the fingerboard. I also had some lessons from a fantastic player called Steve Watts to correct my posture, left and right hand and talk about good practice strategy but I wouldn't say that you "need" to have a regular teacher, maybe intense sessions off and on to discuss where to go next and correct bad habits. Getting correct left hand technique from a teacher is an unavoidable first step on the db e.g. on the left hand - using your arm weight to depress the strings through an unbent wrist is the big Eureka moment for DB (squeezing with your left hand fingers is going to lead to muscle fatigue and all the rest) and on the right hand - using arm weight to put the energy into the string through your fingers, not finger muscles alone. Getting these basic techniques down will make the whole thing seem less like torture and more like the greatest instrument in the world! Also, reducing the action on a double bass to accommodate bad technique will only make your bass sound weedy - while extreme high action is favoured by some (mainly Bebop) players, you can have moderate action and good tone but if the bass is playable with electric bass technique, it is likely to sound floppy and gutless. The double bass takes a lot of energy to get the notes to sound properly, so it needs the right tension and pressure on the bridge to 'speak'... As an aside, for walking, the best book by far I found was this... [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Walking-Bass-Acoustic-Electric/dp/0793580420"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Walking-Bass-A...c/dp/0793580420[/url] Apart from that listen to and transcribe a LOT of Ray Brown for the nuts and bolts and then as much Scott La Faro for the far out stuff...I've also started seriously working with the bow on some solo pieces and it's making my pizz playing improve in leaps and bounds... I love the db... Nick

I'm very intrigued by Fodera basses. I played a Wooten Monarch recently and it felt very responsive and beautifully made. Prices do seem to be astronomic though, especially for the Imperial five string singlecuts. I still haven't had the opportunity to play a Wood and Tronics Chronos, which seems to be the Euro version of a Fodera. Anyone played a Chronos and a Fodera Imperial five string (strung E to C, 32 or 33 inch scale)? How do they compare? Nick

I use a David Gage 'Realist' into a MKII/Berg - it does a good job, no feedback that I've noticed, whereas when I ran the Realist into an Eden combo it sounded fricking awful - terrible mid feedback. N

The Sonus Special Five String comes with a 34 inch scale as standard (as do their six strings). Zons have massive B strings which might well be a function of the carbon graphite neck. All the other 5 strings I have enjoyed tonally and playability-wise have had had 34 inch scales e.g. Ken Smith. I didn't get on with the big Laklands at all feelwise. Having said that, for me personally I'm going the other way and dropping the low B in favour of a high C for chording Those unicornbasses look interesting! C

Congratulations mods - well spotted... The scenario seemed very extreme with allegations of abuse by pm etc but it had a sad kind of logic to it. I think maddude might be in need of a professional's opinion on his mental state to be honest... Cairo

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='744245' date='Feb 13 2010, 07:20 PM']When he first posted his introduction I stupidly thought it was a wind-up. I replied with a joke, and then quickly realised my error. I'm truly sorry about that and apologise profusely. I have to say, I didn't know he'd been mocked in PMs.[/quote] That was open forum banter which was obviously not nasty - however, he mentioned in one of his emails that someone had been pm'ing him which struck me as a bit weird, that's all...

I bought a Bravewood with vintage wound bareknuckle pickups in it and it sounds very good. Has heaps of low end and a sort of 'growly, squeezy' character (best terms that come to mind!) that comes out when you dig in. Amazing pickups... N

Boning in the Boneyard by Fishbone is my favourite cut from the parliament/punk genre....it's fantastic but they went off the rails... Couldn't deal with Living Colour at all, really didn't like their music, it had this weird Poodle-Rock element in the sound that turned me off. Early Chili Peppers are a weird one for me too. I love the odd track but can't stomach an album of the stuff - lots of energy but it's too scattershot. Rubin enabled them to work as an albums band in my opinion. Still can't really stomach too much chilis though...apart from the later more song based stuff where they hold back much more....still don't listen to it much if at all nowadays... Trouble is, apart from these good bands, the whole slap/rap/metal thing is shot through with some of the worst music in existence IMO... Nick

How interesting...if it's an old school 100% carbon bass that looks like a paddle it's a pretty rare bird...and a very, very nice bass....if it's got any wood in it forget it....