ubassman

[quote name='FLoydElgar' timestamp='1370341977' post='2099272'] Using the bow is more of a feeling thing than a guide book.... Go grab a tutor now You should see my tutor he will help you tremendously pm if you want his details! F [/quote] +1 There is no substitute for an expert eye that adjusts the wrist, bow position, hair contact , angle or just says the right thing at the right time. Be good to get some basic concepts of bowing and then notch up some miles ! I was saying to F when we were waiting for the Matt McDonald thing to start that using the bow can be as subtle as someone being amazingly skilful and drawing with just a pencil.

The thing is if the bow is too tight it doesn't have good contact with the string ...it needs to be a little soft to wrap around and grip better. The easiest way of describing what I mean is to hold your index finger out in front of you ( representing the string) and then place your other straight index finger (your bow) over the top (to make a cross) and then make a couple of bowing motions . Now bend the finger representing the bow and you can see that it kind of hooks the string. It is a case of feeling for the right tension. Hope this helps Sylvia ...you realise that you are on your way to getting a lefty DB now !!

Buy yourself a Tascam bass trainer - pretty cheap on e-bay second hand. With the course that you are going to do its great to apply the info. The bass trainer is a brilliant way of taking songs that you like as MP3s and playing along. YOu can slow the track up, put a loop on a couple of bars and really start to experiment with the stuff that you learn. Good luck with it !!

..really useful cheers . Peter

...anyone else hear "...its not about the price tag" ?

Anyone ever used a looper to compose with? - they look like great fun! Just wondering if it ever gets a bit 'samey' as a layering process? [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at8jUWoyBeQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at8jUWoyBeQ[/url]

Thought that there was some useful information on the [url="http://stringtechnique.com/pedagogical.htm"]String Pedagogy Notebook[/url] website for anyone interested in videos and exercises in developing different bowing techniques !! Some of the exercises are written for violin / cello but the principles are the same and most can be adapted very easily for DB.

I'd say £60 is pretty fair for the work involved , thats about 3 - 4 hours for many a luthier. I wouldn't bother with oils and wax. The neck will have a nitrocellulose finish and thats a very easy repair. Good luck with it !

Yes it true that under the Equality Act 2010 [u][b]potential employers [/b][/u]cannot [b][u]advertise / offer jobs[/u][/b] that discriminate and discourage people applying on the basis of their religious , cultural, religious, political beliefs or their sexuality and age ....but in reality how often do you see a musicians job offered on the lines of ' young bassist required 20 - 30 years old for signed band to play hectic schedule' )! If its a private band then there are no discriminatory laws being broken. Hats of to the OP - hope you get a decent player who fits in with what you are trying to do and and brings 'light to dark places' - admirable work !! Most of us are too busy chasing fame , fortune or personal agendas!

[quote name='fatgoogle' timestamp='1370275082' post='2098440'] Brilliant. I've only spirocores a and belcanto's so far in my few years of playing. Spirocores are rubbish IMO. The belcanto's are great. Very growly and a huge sound. They roll a tiny bit for me. I might change the e though as its not so good for pizz for me but the a,d and g are surprisingly pizz friendly. Would you recommend the obligatos for orchestral work at all? [/quote] Sam, are you playing on the orange Belcantos at the mo ...maybe post some pictures? I like Obligatos and they are fine for Orchestral but for me don't have the depth of character of Belcantos - but they have a good pizz and are a great all round string.

Have PM'd you on this !

...sounds like with your collection you are keeping Long and McQuade in business! Welcome to BC from a fellow Vancouverite ( well , I moved to the UK from Van when I was 2 ) !! Peter

Was learning Manuel Da Falla's Asturiana and came across Nadege Rochat playing the piece on a 1/2 size Double Bass (....ok, ok...its a cello !). Really nice accompaniment by Rafael Aguirre on guitar. Eye-candy to one side ..its beautiful playing. Enjoy ! [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3yoeXmr5G0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3yoeXmr5G0[/url]

Thanks for the post Thomas, there are a lot of strings out there ! ... what strings do you use ? Perhaps BC-ers could just take a photo of the strings at the tailpiece and the peg box and identify the make? I have often time been sat watching a bassist and thought to myself "I wonder what those strings would be like on my bass ?"...only to find that theres just not much on line from a visual point of view to identify them. Would be good to build a visual library ... we all want our basses to sound amazing !!

[b]String:[/b] "FLAT CHROMOSTEEL SOLO" [b]Made by:[/b] Pirastro [b]Info:[/b] [url="http://www.pirastro.com/public_pirastro/pages/en/Flat-Chromesteel-00001/"]Product info[/url] [b]Identifying colours at the winding ( peg) end : [/b]Pale blue, dark blue, yellow, green . [b]Identifying colours at the tailpiece: [/b] White silking with burgundy spiral to all strings , with a burgundy solid band at the either end. Black buttons and white felt pads. [b]Personal review: [/b] The strings I have are for Solo tuning ( also available for Orchestral tuning ). Strings that sing! Do wear out quite quickly though !

[b]String:[/b] "OBLIGATO" [b]Made by:[/b] Pirastro [b]Info:[/b] [url="http://www.pirastro.com/public_pirastro/pages/en/Obligato-00006/"]Product info[/url] [b]Identifying colours at the winding ( peg) end : [/b]pale green , black, red , brown. [b]Identifying colours at the tailpiece: [/b]Red silking with black spiral to all strings , with a black solid band at the end. Black buttons and white felt pads. [b]Personal review: [/b]Great all round string - the Obligatos are pretty versatile and suit bowing and pizzicato.

[b]String:[/b] "JAZZERS" [b]Made by:[/b] Pirastro [b]Info:[/b] [url="http://www.pirastro.com/public_pirastro/pages/en/The-Jazzer-00001/"]Product info[/url] [b]Identifying colours at the winding ( peg) end : [/b]pale green , black, brown, red. [b]Identifying colours at the tailpiece: [/b]E gold, A pale green, D blue, G red. Black buttons with white felt padding [b]Personal review: [/b]Nice string for pizzicato but quite hard to drive if you plan to do any bow work ( the string is very silky slick and the bow tends to skid rather than grip). [b][/b].

[b]String:[/b] "Kaplan" [b]Made by:[/b] D'Addario [b]Info:[/b] [url="http://String%20"]Product info[/url] [b]Identifying colours at the winding end : [/b] E lime green , A black , D gold, G red. [b]Identifying colours at the tailpiece: [/b]All strings have a black silk winding spiral over the natural silver string . The spiral ends with a half inch long solid black winding about 3 inches away from the tailpiece, and theres another solid black band up to the gold coloured buttons. [b]Personal review:[/b] I got these as an alternative to Belcantos. Aboslutely hated them for about 2 weeks until they bedded in and stretched - now they are my all time favourite string. Good soft but clean pizzicato sound the bowed sound and attack of the string is really impressive.

Ever seen a DB /EUB player and wondered what strings they were playing? Thought I would get start this thread to help us all identify strings. Would be good to post photos and provide as much info as possible perhaps on the following format?

Whats the pull and appeal of the DB /EUB ...for me its an obsession !! ..answers on a postcard !

Welcome to the dark side !

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1369935204' post='2094717'] Has the top on that bass been replaced? The f-holes look quite crudely done and it's unusual to have purfling on the back and not the top - I wonder if someone has replaced a damaged top with a fairly rough looking bit of plywood? As said above, I suspect it would cost more to have it sorted by a luthier than the end result would be worth, but a DIYer might get it going well enough to play, so don't skip it! [/quote] I think you are bang on there. It looks like an new top has been put on - the F holes are very low and not at all accurately done or symmetrical - I wonder what the sound is like as a result ? Are there any photos of the heel where the bass joins the body?

+1 on the carbon fibre