petebassist

If you do buy an instrument from BassBags, I can vouch for the service & great setup that they do. I tried the 'buy an old bass' route, travelling a fair bit up and down the motorways to try out old basses in various music shops, but mainly found that they weren't setup right for me (pizz only player needing low action), many were I think set up for arco, with dead strings, and so on, so it was difficult to evaluate instruments, and then of course I was then going to have to find a luthier (that fabled person) who could make the instrument playable. So agree that if you can find a used setup working instrument that feels right that's great, but I wouldn't rule out buying new.

Superb, thanks for sharing. I haven't heard her play electric bass before (just an Eminence small bodied double bass), but she manages to get a nice woody upright vibe out of that Fender Jazz. What a gig!

I used to have some Presto Jazzicatos on my 1950 Stentor (lammy with solid top), which mellowed out the sound a lot compared to steel strings. And Presto Nylonwounds give a good gut impression on my current Eastman hybrid. Worth a try maybe - I don#t have an old spare A string otherwise you could've had it to try out.

You'd think NS would be better at creating videos to showcase their instruments, but as you've probably found they aren't, compared with Yamaha or MK. CRM has an extra magnetic pickup, which is more expensive, but gives a fretless electric bass sound, so you'd probably mainly use the piezo pickup for jazz & classical. CRs and CRTs are piezo only. CRT has a jacked up bridge, brass button at the D position on the neck, and stock strings for jazz/classical rather than the contemporary strings on others. CR is top of the range for 4 & 5 string and manufactured in Europe. Both have pizz and arco modes that are blendable I think. My guess is that WAV, NXT, and CR have increasingly better components and electrics, but with the right strings, bridge height, and amp would sound similar to most people.

Welcome mate! @violetelectric, sounds like you might be a bass-player at heart 😉 or just a multi-instrumentalist. Great skills to have anyway for the studio.

See this thread

Bass Direct have a couple of MARUSZCZYK medium scales, Jazz & Precision styles. Jake & Elwoods. Other than that, you see the odd used MIJ.

I'd never heard Lady GG sing properly until she teamed up with Tony Bennett, and then wow, what a voice. Likewise with Metallica, anyone who high-fives the bass player gets instant cool-points obviously. Would love to see this lineup in a live show.

Always loved the bass tone on this track, I think it was Neil Murray.

Stonkin master class in rock bass !

My son bought an Indonesian SUB about 18 months (one of these) - great jazz satin neck, plays and sounds great. I'm taking it to a bass luthier soon to get it set up for live work, whenever that'll be. Interested though, what was the preamp problem with the earlier ones? How d'ya know if you've got the problem?

Looks a bit more professional than my solution, which is tying a sock round the strings just over the bridge. If I need full mute for quiet practise, I tie two on.

Fascinating programme!!

I haven't tried any from Thomann or similar, but people often seem to buy these and have to spend more on setup and strings. I used to have a Stentor 1950, bought second hand, which was great. Good quality instrument, great sound for the price, and light so good for gigging. They have a solid top and laminate back and sides.

@julietgreen thanks for the info it's great to hear that you're able to do this. I tried jamkazam earlier in the year without success, so I'll def be giving this a try.

https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/Home/News/2020/Aug/Indoor-Live-Performances-Permitted-in-England-from From what I've seen on the news, some areas have 'local' lockdowns in place that prohibit people from different households meeting indoors. Nothing to stop people in those areas "doing a Dominic Cummings" by testing their eyesight by driving down to Bristol for the weekend...😉

Pretty sure these gigs are inside, unless they close off the side road and put up a marquee or something - it's gonna pour down this weekend I think. I'll be honest, I don't know what the latest rules are for inside, except something like, you can play quietly so people don't have to shout. And horn instruments are a no no. Nothing in my diary yet so I haven't had to gen up on performing rules.

Might be popping in there a pint at the weekend so I'll see if I can find out. I've played there a few times, it's a great pub and crowd, and medium sized so I guess they might space out the tables and seating and convert the dance floor into table space to help with the distancing. There's no outside performance space, just a couple of tables out front.

Wandered past the Golden Lion pub in Bristol UK this morning, and was excited to see a single band poster in the window advertising a band next Saturday...and according to online, there's one this weekend also. Not quite the number we had back January before the great plague, but it's a good sign.

Wow - brilliant video. Your band is only as good as your drummer.

I'd love one of these, Marcustico acoustics, more for the people who want it to sound like a double bass.

If you've got the stock strings (D'Addario® ECB81), I've got the same strings on my Ibanez SRH500F fretless and they're ace, and I think it's also the same Aero Silk pickup. I'm using a bit of foam to dampen the G and D strings slightly until they lose their brightness.

I notice the the Fleece n Firkin in Bristol is at least advertising gigs for late August and September. https://thefleece.co.uk/whats-on/

Can't wait to get back on the scene.

I tried some LaBellas on my Ibanez SRH500F and ended up going back to the original D'Addario ECB81 Flat wounds, which are awesome, and I even get some upright-like growl on the E string. I did also raise the action to tame some of the fretless mwah, and so I can dig in a bit. Scott has some great tips on getting an upright tone