thisnameistaken

[quote name='Marvin' timestamp='1356380280' post='1909808'] You forgot The Breeders - Cannonball. [/quote] Yeah that is a great hook, instantly recognisable, made a hit record, and the sort of thing that 99% of bass players would never do.

Moloko - Fun For Me Dr. Dre - Nuthin But A G Thang Justice - D.A.N.C.E. Madness - House Of Fun Two simple ones, two silly ones.

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1356349817' post='1909357'] The nut slots on my Eminence are about the depth/thickness of a business card - I think that's about as low as it can go before you get loads of buzzing. Bear in mind that your fingerboard will have to have the right profile lengthwise to get the setup as low as possible. [/quote] This is worth bearing in mind. If the board is set up for a nut at that height it might not go any lower without buzzing. I would have a professional do the job if I were you - at least they can shoot the fingerboard at the same time if they need to.

Andrew Levy lifted that bass part for the intro of Ten Ton Take: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO5NR6p_iNM

For what it's worth when I was looking for my second bass I found myself in a similar situation, with seemingly all the step-up basses being around the £3k mark, but actually I got the impression that a lot of the older basses in that price bracket tend to need some professional attention and may end up costing quite a lot more by the time you've got them ship-shape. In the end I bought a new carved bass from gedo-musik. Of course it doesn't have the richness and character of an expensive bass but it does have a good, balanced sound (it doesn't sound cheap in other words!), it's well constructed and there are no issues with it at all. It's worked well in every situation I've used it in, from my local Sunday afternoon have-a-go amateur jazzers to bashing out pop and folk tunes at open mics, acoustic gigs, festivals etc. I bet the Westbury you're considering will be of a similar ilk, so I'd say if you've played it and you liked it then you should go ahead and take it.

[quote name='4ropebottom' timestamp='1356149970' post='1907458'] Before buying, check out a Shen 150 Hybrid...about $2300 in the US at Upton bass (marked down from 2600). That would be closer to 1400 to 1600 pounds, plus shipping. [/quote] And VAT of course, which would be another £300 or so. And isn't there a 3%-ish import duty on musical instruments?

In: Carved 3/4 double bass, Shuttle 6.0 head, Realist pickup, Ehrlund mic + pre. Out: Hartke LH500

I was born in 1974, bit of a fallow era for pop music. Charles Aznavour's 'She' was at number 1 on my birthday...

[quote name='Ziphoblat' timestamp='1356020752' post='1905863'] I think people need to be careful about stating their experiences as if they were objective facts that would hold true in any situation.[/quote] Indeed. 'Cutting through' isn't about what your gear is, it's who you're playing with and what sounds are coming out of everything. Sounds obvious because it is obvious. But people like excuses to buy gear don't they.

It's true. Precision basses make sound but no other basses do. It's one of those unscientific facts.

[quote name='bassace' timestamp='1355927486' post='1904576'] IMO, a really good piece of kit to put in the chain would be an ARTTUBE MP preamp. Not much more than 30 quid it can do phantom power - so you could then have a wider choice of amps - phase reverse, and it seems to make a nice warm sound with workable feedback threshold. I prefer it to the Headway and it offers good VFM.[/quote] My local guitar shop has got some of those in and they are neat little boxes for the money. Don't know why I haven't got one (or two) yet tbh.

Er... Not popular, but poppy and good. My god look at the size of your signature - you're listing everything you've ever owned? Seriously? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3xM5eWH8B4

[quote name='4ropebottom' timestamp='1355847884' post='1903613'] Thanks Mtroun. You may want to try Obligatos or Evah Pirazzi for G, and maybe G and D, and then Spirocore for the rest. Many have found this a delightful combination. Of course, Charlie Haden has often used gut for G and D, and Spirocore for A and E. For me, that transition is a bit too stark. [/quote] I used to have an Evah Pirazzi D & G and Spiro E and A, and while the Evah G was nice to have I think I would've preferred a Spiro D. In terms of tension they're well matched though.

Learning to read. Slowly. Very slowly!

[quote name='PaulKing' timestamp='1355767063' post='1902480'] I knkow I slap a lot, but i think it defines the pizz tone and adds air and finger noise that helps realise that DB tone, not just bassy whump. [/quote] Yarr. I always run the tweeter in my Schroeder 1212, but then I'm using an Ehrlund mic rather than a piezo so it's got plenty of sound to do stuff with. Whereas when I was using the Realist there was no point using the tweeter at all.

If you're slapping at all then the tweeter would be useful.

[quote name='Acebassmusic' timestamp='1355739862' post='1901916'] Advantage = open notes sound like fretted notes. [/quote] I've got a Warwick with a brass nut, and open notes do not sound like fretted notes. I think you'd have more luck with a zero fret.

I just couldn't believe they didn't think of replacing it. The venue was 100 yards from a music shop and they were at the venue for a full hour while the music shop was still open, they could've just walked around the corner and got a replacement. We found a replacement bass drum in time for the other bands to play (so people got to see Neville Staple after all), but yeah it was pretty embarrassing for us.

1. Mostly duetting with guitarists on originals in various styles. 2. About 1cm on the E to 8mm on the G on my main bass, 5mm on my busking bass. 3. Spiro weichs and a spiro medium E. Busking bass has a set of Silver Slaps. 4. Ehrlund EAP on the main bass (plus a Realist that I don't use any more), a Bass Max on the busking bass but it very rarely gets amplified. 5. Same as my bass guitar rig: Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 into a Schroeder 1212L. My main bass is a Czech carved 3/4 with an ebony board, busking bass is probably a 1960s Musima factory 3/4 laminate which isn't very sophisticated-sounding but booms like hell and carries for miles.

We were using the other band's drums, they hadn't put a reinforcement pad on the bass drum head, two songs in our drummer put the beater through it, so that was it for our set. According to the other band the head was torn already. So why didn't they replace it when they decided everybody was using their drums? Blank stares.

[quote name='Seb_C' timestamp='1355219041' post='1895400'] In a similar vein, I keep finding myself lusting after the Sheryl Crow Telecaster... [/quote] Scanning the thread I read that as 'lusting after that Sheryl from Tadcaster'

He's a pretty polished performer for an 18 year old. Sure his songs all sound the same but at least he's not crap. Give him a few years and he might have a sound worth paying attention to. I know I wasn't doing anything particularly worthy when I was 18.

If it's in the bass side of the bridge try putting it in the other side, and as others have said it's worth doing some experimentation with how tightly it fits in the wing, which can make a difference to the sound you get out. If none of these experiments give you a satisfactory sound then it's time to look at other products, but be warned it's an expensive business and IMHO there's not a massive difference between different piezos, they all have that sort of sound to them.

[quote name='tm486' timestamp='1355344213' post='1897285'] I don't know to be honest, I think it's just a cheap one, I was given it as a present. I've been looking at getting a pre-amp for it but wasn't sure which one would be best.[/quote] If you're getting a lot of bass then the problem probably isn't the input impedance on your amp. If it was, you'd be getting a very thin sound with very little bottom end at all. It sounds to me that what you're experiencing is simply what piezo pickups sound like on double bass. Especially those that slot in the wing of the bridge. Other designs (such as the Realist that Doddy recommends, which fits under the bridge foot) can give different sounds - the Realist for example gives a more even sound overall but doesn't pick up much of the sound of the string and your fingers, so you lose a lot of the character of the bass. But it does at least have less of that annoying thumpy-and-nasal character that is inherent in all piezo pickups. Dedicated preamps are useful for tweaking the sound and trying to get the most volume before feedback, but they won't be able to overcome the dominant characteristics of a piezo. I don't think it's worth buying another amp until you've got your source sound sorted out. Even then the Ashdown might turn out to be perfectly adequate. So yeah, you need to decide what you need to achieve and then set about trying different options. If you need a lot of volume then perhaps you are stuck with piezos and it might be worth trying a Full Circle or a Realist. Or if you're using steel strings (the core must also be steel, not just the windings) you could try a magnetic pickup like the Schaller or Kent Armstrong, which will go plenty loud but your bass will start to sound more like an electric. If you don't need a ton of volume there are contact mics like the Ehrlund or Schertler which will give a much more faithful reproduction of the sound of your bass, but will be more prone to feedback than a piezo. Although having said that I've been surprised at how loud the Ehrlund will go before it feeds back, but I'm not playing with a full amplified electric band with close-miked drums and so on. Sorry, it's a bit of a minefield is this.