NickA

Certainly not. I loved the sound of pirastro eudoxas on my cello and insisted on silver wound guts for years. But blackened fingers, endless retuning, short life and even having the silver wear through, come unwound and slice my finger .... was enough to shift to first synthetics, then back to steel. Cello now on steel Larsens, Double bass now on synthetic core Eva Ps. Plus you could spend the value of the bass on stings quite quickly! Eudoxas, RRP= £923 a set!!!!

https://gollihurmusic.com/string-identification-chart/ says they don't exist!! https://www.scribd.com/document/378931890/Strings-Color-Identification-Chart D'Addario preludes seems most likely; though the string identifiers have the peg box silks in a different order "Prelude strings are the educator’s preferred choice for student strings due to their unique blend of warm tone, durability, and value. Prelude strings have the warmest sound available in an affordable, steel core string design. Unaffected by temperature and humidity changes, they have excellent bow response."

Had to look these fretboard protectors thingies up. I'd thought the bass was fretless. 😁. So it's just to protect strings and frets from hitting eachother during transit? Only a few quid, but I guess a piece of stiff card would do the trick. Not that I've ever felt the need. https://www.thomann.de/gb/rockcare_framus_fret_protector_6.htm

Some time in the 1980s I talked to Ronald Prentice about getting a new bass built. Another maker told me "don't, his basses are really stiff, and he always tells people they open up with playing, and they don't"..... Nevertheless a Prentice bass would cost you £20k+ these days and they're well thought of... 40 years later! Generally true that older basses play better, but that's offset by wear and tear. Certainly you get a better bass for your money buying used..but probably have higher maintenance costs too. I really doubt these things affect an £800 Chinese factory bass tho. Tis what tis.

Bridge and soundpost position are related for sure. But you can improve the sound by moving the bridge up and down ..tailpiece direction for more grit, fingerboard direction for more mellow usually... without shifting the soundpost. If it's way off then maybe, but if the bridge is more or less centred on the f hole notches and you're happy with the sound then not worth it. ( mine works best with the bridge a tad south of the notches) My bridge bent in low humidity when I lived in Korea in 1995, local luthier flattened it. UK high humidity bent it back in 1999, bloke in Chapel-en-le-frith steamed it flat again. Didn't replace it till 2020. I guess if you were a top pro with a Strad or Amati then these tiny tweaks would be the percentage gains you'd want to get the best from a million quid instrument ... but your 1900 German and my 1900 french probably won't appreciate that level of detail.

NOTHING handles arco and pizz REALLY well, but equally well is viable. I had some D'Addario Hybrid strings which were playable but not great for either and bowed better the spiros which were brill for pizz. Recently bought eva pirazzis (sythetic core not real gut) and they sound good for arco and good enough for pizz that I don't swap them out for Jazz gigs, £230 a set though. Yes, that romberg bevelly thing is good for bowing; originally for bowing big fat guts, probably non-would ie naked guts. I've never had a problem with mine though .. and it is a bit of a help bowing really hard on the E-string - not that the opportunity arises that often!

The "Romberg bevel"!! Surprised to hear of that on a modern bass. Helps when bowing floppy bottom strings... You can really dig in ( my 1880s bass and my 1900 cello have it ). Don't need it frankly as I'm using higher tension modern strings. No use for pizz at all really. Wonder why they did that 🤔 Opening up? Probably not much at the price point, the wood is likely quite thick and inflexible. My dB does seem to go on strike if I don't play it for a bit tho. Play regularly, give it a good hard bowing ...who knows. Most improvement will likely come from increased hand strength from all the playing rather than changes to the wood.

Yes, that's too much for even a good quality bridge. Though some luthiers take a lot of care in ( unecessary?) shaping and prettification of the blank. Bass bags charged me £150 to fit a decent despau bridge last year - it's a bit rough and ready ( no fine sanding) but sounds good. I've done my own bridges a couple of times but it's a lot of dull work to get the feet right. New soundpost just cause the bridge is bent? Hmm. As for moving the bridge I do that lots anyway...tho I finally settled in the "best" spot. Scratches ...pah. old instruments have scratches. I do think some luthiers are a bit precious. Whatever, money spent...just enjoy the playing. 😁

Update. Thread closure. It's gone. Piano dealer in Cambridge took it away (very neatly and efficiently) for free.

I thought the double 4 was intended as a practice amp? Just not enough surface area to project double bass frequencies any distance ( ie why the double bass itself is so big!) I've got a pjb the flight case (4x 5") but even that is supposed to be used near a rear wall for bass reinforcement. It's very good with double bass tho still a bit quiet for anywhere bigger than a small pub. And as per another similar thread, all these tiny class d amps ( elf's gnomes etc ) paired with a modern light cab ( Barefaced, GR ) combine sound with portability too. Worth checking out.

Copy of a very nice Sandberg I think. Which is one of the better 5-strings out there. Weird that Fender got the p back to front... Sandberg and the odd Yamaha got it the right way round imo.

have to be a very big hole for my mums' baby(ish) grand. It's huge.

Oh, is this a "you show me yours and I'll show you mine" thread 🙂

And for 100th the price of a Wal or an Alembic.... nearly.

Very sad indeed. The same happens with double basses. Bit of damage and the cost of repair (UK labour cost) is more than the cost of buying a whole new Chinese Factory Bass. Bassbags down the road from me skips plenty .. and sells plenty of new ones. Only stuff worth £10k and more gets properly treated. One of my kids really wanted to play the piano for a bit and we promised one if we got the big old house we tried to buy. Didn't get the house and he had to make do with a Yamaha portasound - which despite making a million noises, doing auto rythms and harmonies and having a midi interface ... just wasn't the same. So he stopped playing. I think mum's teak clad grand is off to scrap at my cost. Be nice if some of the parts get preserved or re-purposed at least. 😞 PS: re cautionary tales. In 1998 I paid £800 for a state of the art 350W Trace Elliot GP12SMX combo. In 2018 I decided it was a) too heavy, b) too loud, c) not HiFi enough. Couldn't shift it. Sold to a Hungarian bloke for £150 who used to tour the UK picking up bargains and flogging them round Eastern Europe. But at least it did sell.

Yup, that's the one. Bit before my time; but that could easily be the Buckden Village Fete. 🙂 🙂

"Jangly" & "grating" are words that come to mind 🙂

I got all four of cookin, relaxin, workin and steamin' on a double CD at HMV for £6 !!! .. all a bit samey but a few standout tracks ("Four" being something I play wit' band). Paul Chambers great as ever.

I'm still at the stage in jazz of working out WHICH to play, never mind finding them! Too easy to go for the easy options (up 3rds or 5ths, down a 6th, lead to the next chord with a 7th etc)which are simple to find! Oops thread creep.

😂😂😂. Oh, the hours lost to making the perfect tone ...when learning notes might have been more useful.

Full strength Spiros and work on left hand strength! That string matrix is a dangerous place. Plumbed my tablet into my hifi, then my bass amp and started wondering if I should have got Eva Weichs instead of Mittels! Though sanity prevails and I realise that no audience and few fellow band members will hear any difference between any of the strings 😂🤣😂. I Still like Spiro Mittels best... should really put my set back on the bass when there's only jazz not orchestra coming up. But for the effort involved ...the Eva's are pretty good. That guy changed strings 41 times for us!!!! Madness.

Browsing the piano companies .... Some things you cannot un see ( and it sounds like it looks!). £13,000 !!!

Thanks folks. So far I've found a piano recycling co who will take it away for around £300 and some sales & auction Cos who will take it away for £270, tune it for £75 and then pass you 80% of the sale cost if it sells. If it doesn't sell ....who knows, probably dump it on your driveway and charge another £300. eBay is chock with pianos, might give it a try tho. Bluthners, Steinway's, Bosendorfers, Bechsteins & Faziolis will sell. (£50k for a restored 1911 Steinway in Mansfield). Brinsmeads maybe not. The genuine elephant ivory and real ebony keys might be of value, the rest probs not. The axe solution is appealing but I don't think I could strike the first blow; I've known it for 50 years! And all those bits ( cast iron frame etc) still to dispose of. The village fete used to feature a competition between the ( then 5) village pubs in which they each had to smash a piano and pass all the pieces through a 6" hole in a sheet of chip board. Winner got free beer from the other pubs ...or something. Uprights tho. It is indeed a crying shame as many hours and much material went into building it and it cost my dad a few £100 back in 1972. Still, it has spent the last 10 years as a thing to put plants on top of and store various cellos, guitars and a viola da Gamba beneath .... more furniture than instrument, so mustn't get sentimental

Anyone ever tried to get rid of a grand piano? My mum has a Brinsmead baby grand (from 1925 or so, with a then fashionable, fetching, G-plan style, teak veneer finish ). Not been played properly for years. Lots of fluff, rubber bands etc under the strings. Badly out of tune. Needs to go. But how? Bloody thing must weigh half a ton and takes up half her living room.

That is truly hilarious. Nearly plopped myself laughing. Good clean purile fun.