thisnameistaken

Hey Clarky how are the Silver Slaps for pizz volume and sustain?

I just went string shopping today with similar criteria to you. I ended up ordering Spiro weichs for the E and A, and Evah weichs for the D and G. I currently have a full set of Evah mediums on my bass but I'm not getting enough sustain from the lower strings although I like the tone of the higher strings, and I think my bass will sound better with lighter gauges. I made that decision based on another bass I played recently that had Spiro E & A and Belcanto D & G. I suppose I'll let you know tomorrow whether I bought the right strings.

[quote name='Eoz' post='1036552' date='Nov 25 2010, 04:21 PM']is this solid thing good? or its better carved and what the difference from the laminated[/quote] "Solid" means the same thing as "carved" - one piece of wood which has been cut to the right shape. Bassed with carved fronts and backs are usually more expensive and they can sound better as they get older. Laminated basses don't sound as lively but they are cheaper and easier to care for (carved basses can develop cracks if you don't care for them properly). [quote name='Eoz' post='1036552' date='Nov 25 2010, 04:21 PM']and about the back other are flat and ather not... whats the difference[/quote] It doesn't matter, they are just different shapes. [quote name='Eoz' post='1036552' date='Nov 25 2010, 04:21 PM']and what did they mean with the semi-massive double basses? Are there skinny and fat double basses??? are they different at the sound??[/quote] Double basses come in different sizes (height), the most common size is 3/4, but some people play 4/4 scale basses. Is that what you mean? I think "semi-massive" is a bad translation, I've never heard this description before. [quote name='Eoz' post='1036552' date='Nov 25 2010, 04:21 PM']And something else I had played only with two double basses one was one a store and it has a mat discusting fingerboard and the other was my teachers which has a kind of sheen fingerboard... Is the same matterial but became like this after use or something else.... Can anyone help me? I am sure you can and I am sure that you find a kind of stupid this questions...Thanks again...[/quote] Most expensive basses use ebony for the fingerboard because it is hard, cheaper basses use other woods like rosewood or maple, but then dye it black to make it look like ebony. Don't judge a bass too much on its materials, a cheap laminated bass with a rosewood fingerboard can still be a good bass.

Haha. If you see a 'KevTEOP' on TB complaining like a crotchety old git about how the old BMS is way better than the new one, that's actually me. Doesn't make me any less right though.

[quote name='TPJ' post='1036433' date='Nov 25 2010, 02:57 PM'][url="http://www.thestringzone.co.uk/categories/evah-pirazzi-3"]http://www.thestringzone.co.uk/categories/evah-pirazzi-3[/url] [/quote] I didn't realise you had to click through to get the options, I thought they only had solo tunings. Duh. Ordered, should be here tomorrow! This will be the first fresh set of strings my bass has had. I'm hoping that lighter strings will also open up the sound of my bass a bit, it sounds a bit chokey at the moment.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1036319' date='Nov 25 2010, 01:41 PM']Not played one but I think it is important to note that double basses are a whole dfferent ball game to electrics and there is no 'standard'. Two basses made by tThis bass is a better quality beginners bass and is probably as good as any other for that price. Personally, I would say go for it and worry about getting the bass of your dreams later on when you are able to play the thing and know what the better basses are about. I bought my bass mail order and its fine (Gedo Musik Germany £1,400). Its not as good as a really good bass but it is perfectly good to learn and gig on. I know all of the arguments about playing the bass first etc but, in the real world where I live, I couldn't afford to spend £600 driving all over the UK trying out basses so just jumped in and bought one that had an ok reputation. I don't regret it.[/quote] +1. Unless you are about to be parachuted straight into an orchestra I don't think you need to worry too much about the quality of your first instrument. I literally bought the first bass someone gave me to try out, it was playable, I liked the sounds I could make with it, and it was so cheap that I wouldn't be worried about smacking it against every door jamb in my house (which I subsequently have done). It's done acoustic gigs with my reggae band, it's been bowed on a festival stage, it's done a duet with another bassist, it'll be recorded by the BBC next week! And all for five hundred quid! No regrets at all. There is a lot to learn as a beginner double bassist, so my advice would be to choose one and buy it as soon as possible.

Actually I think I've decided I need spiros on the E and A and I'm going to go for Evah weichs on the D and G. On my current set the D and G are still sounding pretty nice, it's just the E and A that have gone thumpy and useless. Still trying to decide. If I'm having new strings I really need to order them today, doesn't look like I'll be getting much work done this afternoon... Edit: Hmm, can't find anywhere selling single Evah weichs online. Anybody know of anywhere?

[quote name='toneknob' post='1035188' date='Nov 24 2010, 03:39 PM']I'm sure Mr Wonder will be terribly distraught to hear that [/quote] To be fair I don't think Phish do an especially good job of playing soul music. It's very wooden and white-sounding. Fine for a frat party but Stevie Wonder they ain't.

I think he went out...

[quote name='TPJ' post='1035656' date='Nov 24 2010, 09:44 PM']Call Jan at [url="http://www.chapel-allerton.org.uk/strings.html"]Chapel Allerton Strings [/url]in Leeds. He's a top bloke and a great luthier.[/quote] I've also had him recommended to me by a player I know in York, he seems to be the go-to guy around here.

I've got to record next week and the evahs on this bass aren't going to work, it's thumpy like an old Motown record. Is anyone selling any 3/4 scale strings suitable for pizz or am I shopping for new ones?

+1 Given that most amps have tonnes of EQ options in their preamps, I don't get why people bother trying limited circuits in their basses. IMO if you're going to use an active bass, what you really want is a good transparent line driver in there with maybe a couple of basic options (you might want to cut treble or boost mids from your guitar, fair enough) but do the lion's share of EQing outboard where you have room for tonnes of knobs and sliders and you don't have to sling the lot over your shoulder for hours at a time.

He should stick to doing his comedy roadshow.

Just put a set of flatwounds on it and give it back to him - job done. And make sure the action is high enough that they don't rattle.

I am a master of hiding behind microphones.

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='1033377' date='Nov 22 2010, 11:24 PM']I think someone has to stand up in defence of the tour450.[/quote] I wasn't knocking that amp specifically. I have used a lot of Peavey gear over the years and generally found it to be super-reliable and very good value.

TBH it's hard to get your distorted bass sound heard if the guitarists are also using distortion, unless you're much louder than they are or all three of you have pursued fuzz tones that let eachother be heard (which would be difficult enough even if you're actively trying to do it). It would be better to use distortion when they're not using it, if you want to be heard.

There is some discussion [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=573244"]here[/url]. It's true that the older model doesn't have a "true-bypass" bypass mode, but it can be modified easily enough to be true bypass (I've done the mod myself and I don't know anything about electricities).

[quote name='icastle' post='1033675' date='Nov 23 2010, 11:00 AM']Put it this way, give me a saxophone and I'll get a note out of it... eventually, but it'd take me weeks to suss out how to get a tune out of it so you're streets ahead [/quote] I think I can still remember how to play Mercy, Mercy, Mercy on sax. I don't even like Mercy, Mercy, Mercy...

I must admit I was really surprised at what he could do. Good player.

All sorts of weird stuff, like old Peavey Bass 400 heads and Orange 2x15 Reflector cabs, to normal stuff like Ashdown 210 combos and SVTs IIIs. I haven't rented any of their gear since I sold my last 410 cab though. I can actually transport my own amp these days.

[quote name='icastle' post='1033265' date='Nov 22 2010, 10:08 PM']I think a lot of it is trying to put as many features\functions on an amp in order to satisfy the maximum number of customer wishes and therefore widening their potential consumer group.[/quote] Yeah I understand that but how many bass players have you met who know what to do with 12 bands of graphic EQ, five pre-shape switches, etc. You can easily dial in hundreds of terrible sounds! Maybe I'm mellowing a bit in middle age, but it has been very refreshing for me to not have all that crap to deal with. And I'll be honest I never knew what I was doing with all that stuff in the first place.

[quote name='DanOwens' post='1033206' date='Nov 22 2010, 09:24 PM']I like this too (far right) [/quote] That's the sort of thing I was thinking of. Whose bass is that?

[quote name='SaxxyBass' post='1033124' date='Nov 22 2010, 07:59 PM']Do you think that's because under normal playing conditions (ie youre not doing a harmonic melodic solo) no one would notice any unwanted sound? If that's the case I'll carry on with what I'm doing (cos it's easier )[/quote] Well no that wasn't the angle I was coming from but I'm not going to tell you that you're wrong. I do often have to play very cleanly because I'm using an analogue octaver which will choke on the slightest hint of noise and often I'm up front in a mix or playing intros like that and so on, but I get away without using floating arms or whatever. So does Victor Wooten and he's quite well-regarded in bass anorak circles. Not to mention Pastorius, etc. I think you'll naturally start muting where you need to mute without really having to put any effort into thinking about it. And I am a big fan of solutions that don't involve doing any work or thinking.

I am loving the older tracks here! There's some really interesting beats going on, probably 10% skill and 90% enthusiasm but that's what makes for good music IMHO! Lovely stuff so far.