TPJ

Used an entirely new setup last night at our Now Nows gig. Duke double bass with Spiro Weichs, Underwood pickup only in one slot, Harke LH1000 which was used to drive my new Fearless F112. I had some doubts at the beginning but most issuse were resolved by turning up the amp It wasn't too loud but the cab needs some goose to bring it to life. Not sure on the pickup. I'm going to order a mag pup I think. The Underwood was thin on the G, but sounded good everywhere else. Also not sure about using the Hartke as a doubling amp...lol. But, the F112 needs a beefy amp to get the best from it. The Duke sounded great. (sorry for the crap photo)

I bought a pedal from Frank and he was very helpful in sorting out a problem. Great comms and a very fair dealer. Very much recommended.

If that pickup is a BP100, they are hard to get a good sound out of IME. They usually have clips that help secure the paddles to the bridge. Try a google search for images of BP100 and you'll see. Also, even something like a pedal tuner will help with the impedance matching. What amp are you plugging into? Try to find the specs online for the input impedance. If it's below 1m ohms then you might think about using something to help the impedance matching. When we record, I send a pickup signal, a close mic and a room mic and then the engineer does his magic with a mix of those. The last recording I tried the old "wrap a Shure SM58 with foam and jam it in the bridge feet" trick and it sounded great. These aren't hard and fast rules. Everyone hears differently and everyone's basses are different, but there are a few common denominators that will help.

Nice one. Looks great. Enjoy

Nice one. Sounds like it will be a great bass for you. Enjoy

What about guts? There are a few guys on here that slap/pizz them.

Sounds great Kev

I purchased a set of tuners from Gareth. Very easy, straight forward and speedy deal. Thanks again.

If you have a medical condition it may be beneficial to rent a bass for a number of months to see how you get on.

[url="http://www.thenownows.co.uk/"]The Now Nows[/url] are playing the Hop tonight in Wakefield. Come down and have a laugh and check out our acoustic punk-ish, rocky, countryesque acoustic trio

That's a rather nice gift . I don't have a Yammy so not sure how these strings will sound on there but, Velvet's or Innovation Honeys might be a good start.

What's also tricky is doubling. I have thick callouses on my right index and middle finger from playing slab. I got the blister under the index finger but to the side as I was using the meat of the finger for DB. My right index finger ends up looking like a Chupa Chup when I have a lot of gigs on both slab and db

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1423646945' post='2687319'] 6 weeks without playing is more than enough time for the skin on your fingers to soften. There are creams you can get to help but, overall, I think that maintaining your callouses through regular playing and practice is the only foolproof way of staying on top of it. [/quote] ^^ This. Recently I changed strings and got a blister under my callouses, and they were pretty built up. If you manage the blisters well, they firm up nicely. Just try to keep the skin from peeling. If you know you will be playing a lot and your fingers aren't ready, you can either tape them or carefully apply supper glue.

[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1423434719' post='2684814'] All points to being an awesome cab. So far I'd describe is as tight, focused and articulate. I've not played around with the mid/treble levels, just set them at noon. You can hear the sound move across the speakers as you go from low to high and no horrible hiss from the tweeter. It's not super-light, but is no back breaker either. Extremely well put together, everything about it screams quality. I can see this working very well live and should imagine it cuts through across the full range. Can't see the handles breaking either! [/quote] Nice one! They are great cabs. I use mine for both electric and double bass and have even used it for a PA speaker. Currently it's used as back line for double bass when we don't run everything through the PA (many of our gigs) and it puts out a ton of sound. In the studio we've used it for Reggae through to modern stuff, mostly by tweaking the attenuators on the cab. DLP did a great job engineering these and they sound like it. You'll love it

[quote name='alstocko' timestamp='1422226554' post='2670185'] What bass are you using? There's tonnes of "oomph" coming from my bass with the Pirrazis! [/quote] A cheapo hybrid. The bass seems to do better with lower tension strings.

Hi, I owned [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/acg_admin/wordpress/portfolio/0055-recurve-4-string/"]ACG 055[/url] for a while and now own [url="http://www.acguitars.co.uk/acg_admin/wordpress/portfolio/g-032u-uber-graft-j-type-4/"]ACG 032U[/url] which is my main gigging bass. The 032 has a P pickup and single coil J which gives it a great choice of tone. I've changed out the SEQ preamp for an East BTB Active/Passive preamp with a passive tone and it works superbly with the pickups. I can make it sound modern or vintage with just a few preamp tweaks or by even running it in passive mode. The bass weighs very little and balances perfectly. Alan's neck profiles make the basses very comfortable and playable. Combined with the variety of pickups and their locations, and preamp configurations, you are pretty sure to get what you are after tonally. The important bit is finding the right model. I didn't quite gel with the Recurve but the Jazz "fits" me very well. You'd do well going to see him when you have a chance or hopefully get to the bash where there will be a great collection of different AGCs.

[quote name='alstocko' timestamp='1421883204' post='2666329'] Been playing Evah Pirazzi Weichs for a year now. Never going back. [/quote] I tried these and won't use them again. They were stiffer than the Spiro weichs and had no oomph on the bass. [quote name='Rabbie' timestamp='1421885733' post='2666357'] The years go by and it's still guts for me. All gut sets for over a year now on both my basses. Depending on my fancy, A is either raw gut or wound. E is always wound, D am G raw gut. I'm also experimenting with a slightly lower action (but still comparatively high by today's standards). Sounds like heaven to me and the dynamics in the playing come out so well. You can hammer or slap guts and sound groovy and percussive; you can dig in and swing hard, or you can tickle them and they sing low... I'm in love with guts more every time I play. Sometimes I hear other people playing on steels or velvets and I dig their sound but guts just do it for me. [/quote] I'm tempted to try guts on at least the G and D. Which brand do you play?

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I just swapped out the Spiro Weichs on my DB for Velvet Blues. I'd love another set of Animas but I don't have the readies at the moment. I just couldn't get on with the Spiros. Too much sustain, tension and note definition...lol. The intonation was killing me. [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] I'll save my coppers and hopefully get some Animas this summer. The Blues are a little brighter on the bass than Animas but still have that lovely Velvet thing going on....rich tone, but darker than the Spiros and that great string tension.[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]What are Animas like compared to guts? I nearly sprang for a set of Lenzner guts but I don't know if guts are right for me. I don't slap but I love a big, dark fundamental tone. Animas have been the best strings on the bass so far. [/font][/color]

I think the AcBsPre is something like a Fishman pro preamp so you can high pass, EQ and compress. Might be worth trying that one on it's own. Also, the B3 thread in the effects section is very informative.