Clarky

All the bands I have been in since my return to bass playing in my 40s have had strong points - my death metal band got me out there gigging and understanding musicianship and the quirks of playing live and recording, my punk band was closer to music I enjoy and we had a few great gigs (sadly too many with virtually no audience), and Rattlin Bone got me into double bass and playing festivals (I got on well with several members as well, although it went pear-shaped in the end for me). However, All The Queens Ravens is a different proposition. All the other band members are younger than me, all are very talented, there's no inflated egos, and when the incredible lady singers are at the top of their game (which is nearly all of the time) the music is sublime. We don't meet up socially that much but when we do we all get on as -while we are a mix of very different personalities - everyone is pretty easy going. I do think I have struck it very lucky with this band and - although I am way less competent on double bass than their previous classically-trained bassist - I bring tons of commitment and the occasional much-needed kick up the @rse to get things done. I hope sincerely that this is the start of a long running association as I am truly enjoying myself with this band.

Yep, me again Keith just bought some DB strings from me and put me in touch with a buyer for another set of strings I had. A true gent

Although he hasn't posted (yet!) on BC, Dave is a good friend of our very own Mr_Bassman (Keith) and a fellow double bass player. Anyhow, Dave just bought a set of DB strings off me and all went swimmingly I know DB strings are sometimes a bit hit-and-miss on any given instrument but hopefully they are exactly what you need Dave!

Nice one Michael, congrats

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1352473925' post='1863558'] [/quote] "pumping a sperm whale" was Nigel's creative description of his unhappy attempt to play double bass at one of your get-togethers, Jack It does not allude to any unusual nocturnal aquatic proclivities that I may (or may not) like to indulge in

Setting aside double basses: Fender Precision x 12 Fender Jazz x 7 Fender-alikes x 2 Alembics x 4 Warwick x 4 Wal x 3 Rickenbacker x 3 Alleva-Coppolo x 2 Takamine x 2 Ibanez x 1 ESP x 1 Eko x 1 Aria x 1 Ashbory x 1 Thats 44 I can think of, of which I have one P, two J's (one a fretless) and my Takamine acoustic left

Bought a nice amp from Michael. Well packed, as described, functions perfectly. All good Cheers!

Is it really only 4% of sellers make a donation? I tend to make donations randomly, when I remember, rather than sale-related. I guess others do similarly which would mean the 4% figure is understated in reality. Nevertheless its very low!

A double bass is bigger than a Precision, that is what I meant. So what were you thinking, Silvia?

There's a BC thread abut them, lovely looking basses [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/112080-xylem-basses-guitars-build-progress/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/112080-xylem-basses-guitars-build-progress/[/url]

[quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1352202035' post='1859914'] Mine's a large one. [/quote] Mine's bigger

There's a load of threads about pickups eg this one [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/190082-double-bass-pickups/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/190082-double-bass-pickups/[/url] I like the Full Circle and Realist best of the ones I have tried but neither is cheap (unless you find one s/h) and the FC (which has the reputation of being very feedback resistant compared to other piezo pickups) requires fitting into an adjustable bridge. The cheap and cheerful choice is a BassMax or Shadow/Underwood. The latest favorite of many on TalkBass and some BCers (eg, thisnameistaken) though is the Ehrlund contact pickup. Thats up there in FC territory price-wise but if it works on your bass it apparently sounds fantastically natural.

I read that guy's comments too (think it was in one of my threads on TB). Strikes me as rather dodgy as you run the risk of damaging the core, especially if its a thin filament of wire or other such breakable material.

Takamine B10 or TB10 comes close: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKEtECsF8To For a more traditional solid body, I would say a Fender J or P plucked over the end of the neck with black nylon tape strings (TruBass or La Bella's)