TPJ

Is the neck a dovetail joint (a la Eminence removable neck) or mortise?

Whilst watching a bluegrass gig in Leeds, the wire let go at the start of the last number. The poor young lady playing DB nearly had a heart attack when it popped. Sounded like someone let off a firework in the bass. Scared the poop out of a lot of the audience as well. Luckily, no damage other than pride on that occasion.

Purchased a Tech 21 VT Bass off Gary. Great comms. The pedal even arrived a day early and in perfect shape. Thanks again for a smooth deal bud.

Congrats. Sounds like a fun gig. Enjoy

1) How long have you been playing Bass Guitar/String Bass for or both? Electric bass, since 1978. Double bass off and on since 1980. Currently playing both 2) If you don’t play string bass/bass guitar have you thought of doubling up on either to get more recognition as a bass player? I double. Both are enjoyable in their own right. 3) Who are your favorite exponents of both string bass/bass guitar? String Bass: Ray Brown, Paul Chambers, Mingus, Walter Page, Dave Holland, old school guys Electric Bass: James Jamerson, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Verdine White, Jaco, Phil Lesh, groovers. 4) Do you think that both the bass guitar and string bass are important as bass instruments? Yes, they form part of the foundation of time and groove 5) What genres do you think are important for bass players to listen to? All? Classical, jazz, blues, Motown, pop, fusion 6) Do you think electric guitarists can learn to play bass guitar more than string bass? Depends on the ability and talent of the guitarist. 7) Do you think bass can be used to solo as well as accompany other instruments? Yes 8) Do you think it is important to learn to sight read? Yes, and being able to transcribe is a very useful skill as well. 9) What do you think of bass guitars such as 5 string/6 string e.g. as being an add-on to the bass players role? No problem with it really. I play both 4 and 5. The 5 string is an important axe for me when I'm jobbing, doing sessions, pop gigs etc... 10) What are your opinions on electric upright basses as a substitute for the string bass? In this day and age with the difficulty and expense of transportation, EUB can really help out. After all, if you are using a pickup on your UDB then you have to settle for a tone that's not quite what your bass sounds like acoustically. A quality EDB can sound the same as a fine UDB with a pickup. It's about compromise. 11) What is the best amp to use for bass guitar or string bass? One that get's you "your" tone and voice. 12) What pickups for string bass are the best for capturing the natural tone of the instrument? I'd say mics are better but are prone to feedback at anything above moderate volume. It's very subjective and heavily reliant on the natural tone of your instrument and your style of playing. Again, which ever one get's you "your" sound, and it can get very expensive finding out Good luck with your project Jack

[quote name='Gareth Hughes' post='689445' date='Dec 20 2009, 12:09 AM']I just replaced my dead Realist (in fairness, it lasted about 7 years and was taken on and off quite a lot) with an Apt-Flex.[/quote] How's that APT-Flex working out? Is it good in louder situations? I nearly bought one of those when I replaced a Rev 2 Solo (another good sounding pickup) but went with a Bass Max instead. The DHA DI EQ is another great preamp for piezo pups. It doesn't have a phase button but it is really flexible with it's eq.

[quote name='Kirky' post='685200' date='Dec 15 2009, 02:09 PM']I'm tempted to get a DHA DI-EQ - probably the one with the headphone amp etc. Anyone tried this? Any reviews? Cheers, Martin[/quote] Hi, I currently use one (the single EQ DI) for both electric bass and double bass. It sort of replaced a Sadowsky pre DI. The nice thing about the DHA is the variable mid adjustment. That aspect of it really helps tame the K&K Bassmax pickup on the double bass. The mids and bass can be dropped down to achieve a tone close to acoustic for the double bass, at least in my circumstances. For electric I run a Fender jazz and a 'Ray through it and again the EQ is very helpful, especially taming the 'Ray, as it is honky as a 'Ray should be. I will say that I think the unit is very slightly mid-heavy, but this can be taken out easily with the mid adjustment and with some axes it's a bonus. The bass and treble adjustments are a bit more subtle than I anticipated but they seem to do the trick. Maybe the subtlety is actually a blessing as it takes a bigger twist to affect change rather than tiny movements that make big changes. The DI is very clear and representative of the signal and EQ. The independent adjustments for the DI and unbalanced level is a nice feature. Plus the thing will really put out some signal when the level is maxed. I usually only have to run mine at 12 for a solid signal to my amp. But I feel it will easily drive a poweramp on it's own, which I believe was actually one of the requested features when Dave asked the forum about it's design. Well worth the ££ as a tone shaper and DI all wrapped up in one. I love the tone of the Sadowsky but need more variety than it offers. This little unit does very well indeed. Hope this helps.

[quote name='Born 2B Mild' post='683459' date='Dec 13 2009, 09:53 PM']I am so pleased that I have found a solution to lugging and to sound quality. I really could have come on the bus with my rig. One day I may well add another cab to sit on top of the Compact , but only to draw a better impedance load and to increase ear-height monitoring, but that would be a [i]want [/i]and not a [i]need[/i].[/quote] Hi Mate, Glad to hear the Compact is doing it's thing. ( I swapped my Compact for B2BM's 2 Aggie GS112s) I can confirm the points mentioned in the the above review. From my experience, the Compact filled a leisure gymnasium with no PA support using about 300 watts. In general, the band were always happy, especially the drummer, because they could hear the bass clearly as well as feel it. The finish never bothered me as I'm not hungup on aesthetics, the thing just needs to work. I wish the Midgets where out earlier. The Compact is a great cab IMO, and the only reason I needed to move it on was that it's too big for my double bass gigs. The Aggies are great becasue I can split the stack as and when and one cab sounds really nice with UDB. I imagine a Compact and a T'Midget would be ideal for my circumstances to cover electric bass and double bass.

Quite a few on ebay right now from cheap to £3-4k + Here's a few [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Super-fully-carved-double-bass_W0QQitemZ290379754029QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments?hash=item439bfb6a2d"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Super-fully-carved-d...=item439bfb6a2d[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Double-Bass-For-Sale_W0QQitemZ150394877387QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments?hash=item23043bb5cb"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Double-Bass-For-Sale...=item23043bb5cb[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-4-Double-Bass-with-New-Pirastro-Evah-Pirazzi-Strings_W0QQitemZ180441695664QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments?hash=item2a0329c5b0"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-4-Double-Bass-with...=item2a0329c5b0[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Andreas-Zeller-double-bass_W0QQitemZ230409552119QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments?hash=item35a57ac0f7"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Andreas-Zeller-doubl...=item35a57ac0f7[/url] This is nice: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DOUBLE-BASS-3-4-size-labelled-Roderich-Paesold-1981_W0QQitemZ260522426109QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments?hash=item3ca858befd"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DOUBLE-BASS-3-4-size...=item3ca858befd[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-4-stentor-conservatoire-double-bass_W0QQitemZ190357806030QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments?hash=item2c52359bce"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-4-stentor-conserva...=item2c52359bce[/url] [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Benedikt-Lang-German-Double-Bass-Mittenwald-1990_W0QQitemZ280438607887QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments?hash=item414b71900f"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Benedikt-Lang-German...=item414b71900f[/url]

[quote name='alexclaber' post='683675' date='Dec 14 2009, 08:42 AM']It's noticeably less directional than a 4x10". Alex[/quote] +1. Our drummer was always amazed that he could clearly hear the Compact when it was positioned almost evenly beside him. Tilting the cab up is also a good idea.

[quote name='ahpook' post='676567' date='Dec 7 2009, 11:47 AM']MM's sure have a lot of pull from those treetrunks of polepieces !![/quote] +1. I've lowered mine because it was choking the G string a bit. Now it's nice and even but with less output.