thisnameistaken

I take my double bass when I go busking and I don't amplify it I just play it bloody loud. I go out with one of two guitarists and we both sing, and we find we get a decent mix without amplification so no point lugging mics and nonsense around with us. With one of the guitarists I do a mix of rockabilly stuff and gypsy-style jazz stuff. With the other we mostly do old rocksteady and ska covers and some of our own tunes thrown in. As for amps, if you don't want to get into using a generator or a leisure battery setup or nonsense like that, there are a few little battery-powered amps you can get. The Roland Bass Micro Cube as already mentioned, they also do a 2-channel 'Street Cube', Crate do a couple of battery-powered wedges about 15-30w, there are also compact battery-powered PA systems (Gear4Music do a decently-priced own-branded one). There are a lot of options these days, depending on how much gear you want to carry.

Can you set up that gigrig switcher to allow for pedals inside other loops (a fuzz in the loop of a filter, a filter in the loop of a delay, a bunch of pedals in the loops of an LS-2, etc.) to be switched on/off independently too, or does it only really work for linear layouts of pedals?

I think whatever the genre of music, funk included, you will sound more authentic if you listen to it and dig it and it's part of your musical lifestyle. Whether any particular style of music can be 'taught', I suppose yes they all can, but your lessons will be more successful if you do a lot of homework.

I'd take your Jazz and maybe your T40 too. Just don't over-play, sit in the groove and stay there. So long as you feel it, you'll be fine.

[quote name='dc2009' post='1333617' date='Aug 9 2011, 02:28 PM']As I said it enrages me enough. Sod giving money to a bunch of anti-Western warlords.[/quote] Instead give it to Western warlords? 'Chav scum'? I suppose we could give it to MPs for duck houses. What do you suggest? Might I recommend nurses or other emergency service personnel - they seem to be untouchable in these kinds of arguments.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1333242' date='Aug 9 2011, 09:37 AM']We shouldn't be giving a penny to Somalia, we need the cash here.[/quote] They need it more.

All last year I was gigging a Squier Jazz that I paid £110 for. Totally stock, except I put a series switch in it, and strung it with La Bella flats. It sounded great. On the last 4-track EP we recorded I used it on two of the tracks because it just sounded right.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1329463' date='Aug 6 2011, 01:12 AM']I guess the simple answer to the original question is because he didn't want to learn his way around a whole new bass. There is a lot to be said for familiarity of an instrument.[/quote] Or another simple answer would be 'The Jazz was good enough'. We could even offer 'The Jazz was better than an Alembic' but because of the difference in price nobody would ever believe us.

[quote name='ossie' post='1329412' date='Aug 6 2011, 12:01 AM']I probably would be happy to have a fraction of Berlin's ability but when I listen to his stuff, it leaves me cold, yet when I listen to Jaco on something like Weather Reports A Remark You Made, I can feel a lump in my throat[/quote] Yeah I prefer Jaco's playing too but Jaco repeats himself quite a lot, and a lot of his stuff is fairly basic really. I'm not knocking Jaco there are performances where he shows that he can boss it effortlessly but for the most part he plays licks that audiences are going to be comfortable with. Look at all the bassists who really speak to people on an emotional level and most of them wouldn't be considered 'great bassists'. Flea is probably the best example. Totally instinctive bass player, he's come up with loads of memorable lines, found some great places to put them too, makes people sit up and take notice of the bass but doesn't over-play, and everybody says he's overrated? Now [i]that[/i] is some bullshit.

One thing I did when shipping a bass to Spain was to take a few photographs of it going in the case, and photos of how I'd packaged it, so I had a couple showing how the bass was padded inside the case, how the case was sealed, padding outside the case etc. I sent these photos to the buyer so that if customs opened it he would be able to tell, and if there was any damage that wasn't in the photos it would be easier to blame the courier. It didn't take long to occasionally pick up my phone and take some snaps and I don't know about the buyer but it certainly made me feel a lot less nervous about shipping it.

[quote name='algmusic' post='1327778' date='Aug 4 2011, 08:56 PM']I would have to say I find that post a little offensive, I'm not saying you intended it to be that way.[/quote] No I didn't intend to offend anyone and can't imagine how it could offend anyone but hey ho, it's impossible to say anything without offending someone isn't it. I'm not saying I was right anyway, but it's one possible explanation that popped into my head. I'm never sure in these threads whether we're supposed to suggest reasons why the number of contributors isn't growing exponentially or simply agree that we think it's unfathomable and declare how much we love everybody and everything.

[quote name='dc2009' post='1326947' date='Aug 4 2011, 01:50 PM']I've always thought of bass players as typically being massive gear nerds to be honest.[/quote] I think for most it's quite the opposite. In the case of most rock gigs they've got the 'casual' role in the band, they don't need to know much or be able to play very well, so they don't really need to practice, and they probably won't be heard anyway, etc. I come across very few bass players who take any real pride in doing a good job of it. Most seem happy to make up the numbers.

[quote name='dc2009' post='1326852' date='Aug 4 2011, 01:00 PM']I also think that I can learn a lot from the largely older community on here, which is sort of what a forum like this is about.[/quote] Oh sure I have picked up a lot of valuable info from asking on here (or occasionally just from browsing), so yeah I agree it's great for that, but it seems to be quite limited in terms of topics for discussion and even more so in variety of opinion. [quote name='dc2009' post='1326852' date='Aug 4 2011, 01:00 PM']That said, I remember thinking at my last gig that none of the basses looked like things I'd seen in people's sigs on here, implying chances are that those guys are not members. This made me think how many people even realise the site is here.[/quote] Or it could be that most of the guys you see gigging just aren't that interested in knowing a lot about the bass guitar. They are probably more interested in music.

This forum is mostly older players discussing older players and old music. But I don't know if that's because young players simply have more interesting things to do than work on their bass anorak credentials, or whether they came here, found it was mostly threads about funk or prog bands from the '70s, rolled their eyes and closed their browser.

I've still got a 20ft green fabric one that I bought in 1995. Never needed to re-solder the jacks or anything it's probably done 300+ gigs.

I would always assume that any bass I buy will need a set-up. Chances are the last owner's setup won't be to my liking. Same with strings - first thing I do with any bass is re-string it. So when I see ads that justify the value of a used bass by mentioning how expensive the last setup and set of strings was I usually give up on the idea of agreeing a price with that seller. As for the condition of the bass / whether a case is included, this stuff should be in the for sale listing. If it isn't, then you should certainly find out before you part with any money! I've never bought a bass guitar on here that I didn't collect in person, mostly because there's so many things that a photo doesn't show and opportunities for couriers to cause damage which can at best cause a headache for one or both parties, and at worst can result in someone being out of pocket and a soured relationship. I also like to be able to pick the thing up and assess it myself before I hand over any money, although to be fair every bass I have bought has been fairly described and I've never (so far!) gone to meet someone and not come home with the bass I'd agreed to buy. Smaller items like pedals I've received through the post because they're easy to pack, cheap to ship, and relatively sturdy. Although I did once receive a Bass Micro Synth (fairly un-sturdy pedal) rattling around in a box four times the volume of the pedal with a single sheet of bubblewrap to protect it, from a seller who lived about a mile away who I'd offered to go collect it from in person. :/ But yeah, just be careful. If the seller doesn't seem trustworthy, or something about the item or the trade terms doesn't sit well with you, then don't do the deal. Very few once-in-a-lifetime basses pass through this place, and more often than not if you miss out on something it'll come back up for sale in six months anyway when the buyer realises it wasn't the holy grail he hoped it would be.

[quote name='chris_b' post='1323206' date='Aug 1 2011, 04:09 PM']To you maybe, but for those that can appreciate the difference then, no! Why do so many players think that because their appreciation stops at a Precision bass, everyone else’s has to as well?[/quote] I've never had a precision bass.

I suppose it just makes the point that nobody really needs all this boutique gear. It's just hobbyist stuff.

I doubt anyone here has used that pickup on a double bass. Try it in various spots around the bridge and see if any of them work out for you. I wouldn't rely on a mic solution unless you don't really need much reinforcement. For any kind of proper volume, like keeping up with a drummer or even just a couple of loud guitarists, you will likely need a pickup. Also make sure you the amp you're using can handle the high-impedance input from a piezo pickup. There are specialist preamps on the market that (amongst other things) will bump down the impedance to a signal suitable for input into a regular bass amp, but many amps themselves can't handle it and you'll get a horrible honky sound out if yours can't. So lots of experimenting to do before your gig.

Now that is a cool bass player.

AFAIK the SS1s were all maple bodied, and have always been. Great basses.

You could try Christian Topman in York he plays both DB and BG and reads, but I don't know what his schedule is. He may not be able to do Friday, don't know about the others. He's on Facebook or I could pass on his number if you want it.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='1316800' date='Jul 26 2011, 11:20 AM']Hi Kev, they are probably about 70% along the way of the difference between silvers and Spirocores, definitely looser than most steels I've played, they feel a bit unyielding at first compared to silvers but as I said after a bit of playing in I'm thinking I prefer them, I would be concerned about the extra tension for the E and A (which I don't have) but I'm sure I'd get used to that too in time... any more questions feel free to ask.[/quote] Cheers Jake I might give them a try if I struggle to get used to the Slaps. I was going to get them instead but I wasn't sure what the tension was going to be like, I didn't want anything too taut.

Try a different town if Weston is making life hard for you. Here in York you can use amps so long as you're reasonable about your level. The council ask that if any nearby businesses or the police ask you to turn it down or off then you should do so, and that you should move your pitch at least every 2 hours so you don't wind up local businesses, but IME you don't get any trouble if you're sensible about it. The council do have a stupid busking badge system though, there's no charge but you have to be licensed, and it's hard to get a badge because the women in the office that deals with applications are all lazy fat old witches. I think it's a reaction to an army of smackhead beggars with penny whistles playing Annie's Song on every street corner a few years back, and it would work if the council admin heifers weren't so sh*t.