thisnameistaken

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1368718096' post='2080666'] Wait until you see the shipping crate! [/quote] Haha good point, I had to unpack my bass in the hallway I couldn't get it through the first doorway.

I think there's very little between honeys and spirocores in terms of sound and they feel pretty similar too, they are really great strings for the price. If you decide you want a cheap set I've still got some somewhere that I'm not using. I've got a set of silver slaps that might be going soon too depending on how my laminate sounds once I've got the soundpost adjusted. That bass sounds like a good choice by the way.

If you like the sound of a mic but want better feedback resistance, have you considered the Ehrlund EAP? I think it's an amazing product but I don't play in loud bands, although I have jammed with an electric guitarist and a drummer in a small room and managed to keep up just fine with my bass amp about a metre in front of me and the guitar amp about a metre to my right. It's true that if you can feel strong vibrations through the body of the bass then a contact mic will hear them too - there's not much you can do about that, other than to make sure nobody's backline is pointing at you, and that other amps are as far away from you as is practical. I kept a Realist on my bass just in case I needed more grunt but I took it off yesterday while I was changing strings because I haven't used it since I got the Ehrlund.

They're playing in York tonight but I've got a guitarist coming over to work on some new tunes. Great timing...

My current favourite t-shirt has a large cartoon steak on it and that's it. Second favourite has a large gold silhouette of Jesus.

Well I got a used gut G and D and Garbo A and E in the post today from BC's GCordez and put them on my other bass. Wish I hadn't because they are too expensive and I really like them. I can't afford to get used to this! The guts are just lovely. I mean the Lamberts are good strings but they don't have that soft feel to them and it comes through a bit in the sound which is a bit hard-edged and snappy compared to the real thing. Admittedly I've got the guts on a much nicer bass but still I can tell that guts would sound better on the crappy bass too. I've really enjoyed thrumming along on this thing tonight. I'll have to try some of the cheaper guts out there too because I can't afford to be buying these new...

[quote name='Rabbie' timestamp='1368477254' post='2077617'] I have never tried Lamberts, but I think I tried every gut-like string out there and I came to the conclusion that if you want a gut sound, you just have to play guts! It's not a nightmare at all: just give them time to stretch to pitch, oil them every week or so or if they feel dry, use nail clippers to snip the loose hair and there you go, bob's your uncle! You do need to raise your action and pull hard, but thats part if the fun. you wont play superfast, but thats for electric bass chaps. They are dearer... Or are they? How much cash have we all spent trying to find a gut substitute? [/quote] Personally I have spent about 80 quid on a set of Silver Slaps, and 160EUR on a set of 7 Lambert Gut Twins. I've also just spent £100 on a G and D gut, and I'll judge them when they arrive this week. So overall I haven't spent a lot, and while I don't currently have any real guts to compare them to, I am impressed with the overall performance of the Lamberts. The G in particular seems to be good at everything. The D may be the weakest of the set but it's improving (and I've heard that gut Ds are usually pretty weak too), and the wound A and E I'd imagine perform better than guts. I doubt you can buy a good set of guts cheaper than a set of Lamberts.

[quote name='steve' timestamp='1368471062' post='2077513'] Thanks for responding so quickly and comprehesively, my interest is piqued to say the least, how much did the set cost?[/quote] 160EUR for 7 strings: Wound E, wound A, plain A, plain D and three gauges of plain G - all the strings they do, basically. I imagine if you were more selective you could get a set cheaper, but I didn't know what to expect. I honestly think they would sound a lot better on a brighter bass. The laminate I put them on is very ****ing loud and not at all cultured, it's full of bottom end and I've played it with other basses in the same ensemble and it woofs them all out of existence. I'm hoping to get the post adjusted and calm it down a bit but seriously I've never heard another bass voiced so deep or as loud acoustically. I reckon on a more balanced bass they would sound a lot better.

[quote name='steve' timestamp='1368399518' post='2076719'] Have you had chance to try them with a bow at all? I'm using golden slaps, which I'm happy with for pizz and slap, but arco sounds too nasal.[/quote] I just gave them a little go, just for you, but I am terrible with the bow. I think they'll want plenty of rosin - the E and A particularly didn't want to pick up at first but they got going in the end. I know what you mean about the slaps, the G just sounds hilarious in the higher positions it sounds like a kazoo, but the Lambert G is definitely much better, it can sound good all the way up so long as you adjust the position of the bow towards the bridge. It seems they work best with a light touch but that might be my fault. The strings have a coarse surface so they can sound a bit scratchy, and I found I got that effect when I used more pressure. So like I said I'm no expert but they are definitely much better than the Slaps for bowing. I think with enough talent they could sound really good, but they take more discipline than the smooth steels and steel-wound hybrids I'm used to, and I definitely ran out of talent.

I haven't tried bowing them yet, I'll give it a go tonight and report back. Clarky I keep one bass for 'best' and one for busking, these have gone on my busking bass which either gets slapped or doesn't want a bright sound because I'm playing old songs ('60s rocksteady tunes usually). I have spiro weichs (and a medium E) on my nicer bass but I am going to try guts on that and see how I like it. That bass I usually use in duos with singer/guitarists but the one I most often play with does a kind of klezmer/blues sound so a gut strung bass might be a better fit than steels anyway. If I do decide to stick with the spiros I'll be swapping the G out for something softer anyway, maybe an Evah weich, I find the spiro is a bit too ringy.

Update on the Lamberts: I didn't have any time to pick up the bass today except for ten minutes to tune it - the strings stretched a lot while I was putting them on so I assumed they would be well out again today, and most of them were out by a tone or so. Anyway, I got it back up to pitch to see if the sound had changed any, and there is an improvement across the board. I liked the G in the first place so I wasn't really paying attention to that, but the D sounds much better now too, and has the same sustain as the G, it no longer sounds like the duff one in the set. Also the A and E have lost some of their boomy quality. Overall the set is starting to sound more even, and the bass has a generally nicer tone about it. I also noticed when I first put them on that they weren't as loud as the Silver Slaps I'd taken off, but I think they have got louder. Right now I'd say overall I prefer the sound of the Silver Slaps for pizz, but I prefer the feel of the Lamberts particularly the wound E and A, although they are a bit abrasive on my plucking fingers I'm sure I'll get used to it. The Lamberts definitely sound more authentically rock 'n' roll when slapped. I'm hoping they'll improve further as they settle in. If they don't then I'd have to declare the Slaps the winners because I play a lot more pizz than slap, but time will tell.

No point buying a bass you don't like the look of. You need one that you'll want to pick up every time you walk past it or you'll never get your intonation sorted.

Well the bass I play with him is the one I put the Lamberts on. I do have a couple of guts on the way but they'll be going on the nice bass.

The Cordes Lambert set turned up today. I've put on the wound E and A, plain D (there is only one D) and the medium G. Unfortunately by the time I'd got it all up to pitch it was nearly 9pm - the time I stop playing bass because I'm a nice neighbour. First impressions: The G is pretty nice. The D has considerably less sustain. The A and E are very very bassy. Although the bass I've put them on is extremely boomy at the best of times so I can't really blame the strings. I think this thing needs a soundpost adjustment. I don't think they're quite as loud acoustically as the Silver Slaps I took off. The G definitely sounds better slapped though - it has a nice brisk click back against the fingerboard where the Silver Slaps have a bit of a furry-edged twang to them. I can only really give an opinion of the G so far because it was the first string I put on and I've played it more than the others.

The body looks a lot like an early '90s Yamaha RBX. The headstock I've no idea.

Did you have to take time to get used to the Warwick neck? Maybe that sort of profile just suits you.

You're very lucky finding a turntablist who wants to do a live band. I'm really struggling.

It could be that you're not playing the lower strings as well as you are the higher ones. Are you just plucking them with your fingertips? Also how close to the end of the fingerboard was your hand? Those sorts of things make a big difference in the sound on double bass, especially to the power you can get from bass notes. Also bear in mind you're standing in the worst position to hear how the bass sounds. Get someone else to play it and stand a couple of metres infront of it and see what you think then.

I do cover two strings sometimes using that technique, usually if I've got to play a note a fourth above the last note I played quite quickly - it's just not practical to lift my fingertip, move it, then put it down again. I do try to avoid doing it where I can though.

Most of the 'super jazz' basses look a bit too clean for my liking. Sandberg have got the right idea.

[quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1367968072' post='2071873'] Did you hear the African-American gentleman witness on the news? Said hew knew something was up when he saw a pretty little white girl run into the arms of a black man I thought that was brilliant. [/quote] He was a real character that guy. :-)

I don't think there's any pedal I couldn't gig without. Those who can't live without a pedal tuner are worrying me. What's most useful though: Boss OC-2, Bugbrand Bugcrusher, Octavius Squeezer, SFX Loop Logic. In that order. Without any of the previous three I wouldn't need the Loop Logic but it's a fantastic little utility box that makes all the others much more useful.