Staggering on

This is me but I've never been able to put it into words. Thank you and I am going to try to use it to make 2020 a very good year, or at least a more satisfying year...so many things to do and at 73 I need to get going.

Afternoon NYE gig for the jazz standards quartet at a nursing home. We have done this several years now and start at 1:30PM after the residents/patients make their way to the big recreation room. With staff and family members at least 120 people and some are able to dance, some are in wheelchairs and some are brought in right in their beds. It's a bit bizarre but we are used to it now and have a good time as the audience sings, taps, claps ,nods or dances(even in wheelchairs!) as we move through our carefully chosen two sets. We play less than an hour and a half and then the balloons come down and they break out some bubbly and we launch into Auld Lang Syne and then munch on cookies and other treats as we socialize with the staff and residents and pack up. It's a bit sad since some are in very poor health but everyone enjoys it and it has become a tradition to have us on NYE and it makes us realize how lucky we are to be healthy enough to be able to play the gig and bring some fun into the day. We also are paid so that makes the hour drive better but I know we would do this one for free. Count your blessings folks and have a great 2020.

It was on TV over here a month or two ago and I watched the whole series. I also saw the segment that showed how the film was made and also watched the concert at the Ryman Auditorium that was shown here before the actual series started.Excellent material and well done, typical Ken Burns work. Not as long or as in as much depth as his earlier Jazz production but I learned a lot and was well entertained.

Our jazz standards quartet played a gig yesterday providing background music from 8:30 to 11:30 for an investment company's annual Christmas party and meal for staff and clients and families, a gig we've played at least five times now. About 300 attendees and lots of nice comments and kids seeing live music for a change and the venue staff doing some nice moves to our music as they went about their work. It's a nice venue, we get well paid, easy load in/out and a nice meal as well.We had a relaxed time playing some of our "wallpaper" music with a couple of dozen Christmas/seasonal tunes mixed in, all in all a good gig. About the only drawback is that it is 8:30 to 11:30 AM, a Christmas breakfast party which means leave home at 6:30AM, set up and sound check at 7:30. You gotta love it!

I started with a Stagg but when I found a used Yamaha SLB 200 at a great price I grabbed it fast. It is much better(IMO) than the Stagg and I gigged with it until I bought a DB for gigs although in cramped quarters I still use the Yamaha.As said above, try as many as you can but as you will find, not many stores have them in stock. There are some good suggestions in the earlier posts. As with many other instrument purchases if you get a very basic cheaper model you may get serious GAS for something better so it might be a good idea to get the best you can afford. Check out the for sale listings on this site, you might get lucky. What type of music are you going to use it for? Will you use just an amp or DI into a PA? Check out reviews of the various brands of EUB and you may get an idea of what's available and which ones are best for you. Good luck! Edit: I just looked and there are several EUB's listed in the for sale listings.

How about this? Something to throw back at them!

5'7" ...and at 73 getting shorter every year.

So do I and I think it might work for the baby bass because the neck and endpin supports are both adjustable. Would the Ingles stand fit the Ampeg, lots of height possibilities.

Absolutely, but I was thinking of "playing by ear" in terms of hearing a melody and then playing it or figuring out a melody without having it written out. I would also include being able to hear and play basic chord change patterns like blues and many jazz standards without having to see them on paper.

For some it is read only. I play in two bands (jazz charts/big band/swing) with several university music graduates that also teach or have taught music in secondary schools and can all read like the wind and can improvise to a degree but absolutely cannot play anything by ear.This includes the reed, brass and keyboard players but the drummer with a similar background is quite flexible, but that is part of his job and he also reads well. We play gigs and work on new charts all the time and these people can sight read some difficult charts. The good thing is that my reading has improved a lot just to be able to keep up with the rest of the band.

I tried a G 10 a couple of years ago with my EB and EUB(both active) and had problems so returned it. Recently I bought a WL 20 and have used it at home, at rehearsals and on about 10 gigs and I love it. So far I have only used it on my DB with a KNA DB 1 pickup and go from the pickup to a Schatten Design Mini Pre that I have mounted on a bracket that will clamp to a mic stand or music stand and I use that to control volume and then cable to the amp or PA as required. It's great not having cables underfoot and I can move the DB around as I play and even spin it if I want( I don't!) and have no wires on me or the bass. From the reviews I have read it seems that the main criticism is that the batteries can't be replaced when they wear out so you have to buy the whole kit instead of just batteries but it seems they have a fairly long life so I'm OK with that. I have never run the batteries right down and have logged my time and get about 5 hours before the first warning light comes on and at that point Boss claims there is still 30 minutes of life left in the batteries.I suppose that time may change as the unit gets older. Small, easy to charge and it works consistently so I would recommend it based on my experience.

Plus one for the DB.👍 I have been playing guitar, banjo and bass and have been gigging at various levels from six nights a week to just few gigs a year since I was 16.I was playing EB in a little jazz quartet about 5 or 6 years ago when I decided to get an EUB and that was the start of a whole new world. I upgraded to a better EUB and then finally got a DB about 18 months ago and use it in two bands and I love it. As has been said it is a whole new instrument and different technique and will make you really work. If you get some lessons and are a decent reader everything from classical to jazz and rockabilly and many other things are open to you and it is FUN to play the beast. At 73 I'm in two bands that both rehearse weekly but I now only play 20 to 40 gigs a year and spend lots of time practicing and informal jamming with friends. I have also played in some pit bands/orchestras to add some more variety. You will find that even if you continue with originals the DB will surprise you and you will find yourself doing things that you would not have thought of on DB. Good luck and keep us posted as things unfold.

The recesses hold it in the correct location but it will still tilt if bumped or when changing strings and sometimes when tuning, just like a DB. It is also a tall bridge (unlike a lot of EUBs ) which makes it more susceptible to bumps. There is a section in the owner's manual about the proper set up for the bridge including the angle. Sounds like you are having a good time with the MK, I like my Yamaha and use it for rehearsals and gigs where space is limited and my DB is too big but I'd love to try the MK. Are you planning to gig with it?

The SLB 200 doesn't have a fixed bridge and it does tilt, I have one and check and adjust it occasionally.

Good info, thanks. Your time line is very interesting and I'm happy so far with the progress I've made, not startling but things are gradually getting better and I'm OK with that. Good point about the breathing, I've been working on this for years with some success but I still have to think about it. I have found that the breathing helps me relax whole groups of muscles so I can do the exercises more comfortably and with less stress on my body and that makes the exercises much more effective. For some of the routines I have to consciously relax my shoulders for example and then the rest of my arm works the way it should. Good work for the body and the brain.

This is my tenth day of using the exercises in the book and I'm doing them daily. It's still early days but I have noticed some changes, most notably less wrist pain and hand/finger numbness, especially at night, and some other parts of my body(neck especially) have loosened up. So far so good.😊 The introductory chapters are very informative and I've gone back to reread a couple of sections to make sure I'm doing things the correct way. Instead of working only on the wrist/hand/fingers exercises I start with the upper body section and then do all the exercises up to the thumb section which I am not doing yet since my thumbs aren't as much of a problem. This approach makes sense to me since in the intro she stresses the importance of the connection of all of your body parts and this gives a workout to the entire upper body. Two things are a bit difficult for me at this stage. For years I have worked and exercised in a more strenuous manner than these exercises demand and I have to consciously move carefully to prevent over stretching or pushing a bit too far. The good part of this is that I have to really pay attention to my body and forget about the "no pain, no gain" philosophy that I tend to use when doing other exercises. This is very gentle and the body responses are very subtle and it takes some time to learn how to feel them. The second thing is feeling the stretch point and release. At only ten days in, I'm still wondering if I'm doing things correctly because it is all very new to me but seems to be helping so I must be doing some things correctly. As has been pointed out in posts and in the book, this is not an instant cure program and so far it seems to be working and I'm hoping for more relief as I continue on with it and will update as I progress. I would like to hear from anyone else using the book and thanks again for recommending it.

KNA DB-1. Works for me and is easy to install, straight into amp or PA.

I ordered the book when this was posted and got it yesterday. Interesting introduction and clear explanation of all the exercises and I have started this morning with the upper body section and will continue on with the wrist/hand exercises, but it's easy and makes sense. After 27 years of work as a farrier/blacksmith as well as playing bass(EB,EUB,DB) and guitar and banjo, carpal tunnel and other issues have created pain, limited movement and numbness and this book looks like a very good resource to try and deal with these problems. I'm learning a lot about my body as I am working on the exercises and will post an update as I progress through the book. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else using this book. Thanks for suggesting the book.👍

We do something in our jazz standards quartet that really works for us and is part of what makes our band different from a lot of others and the audience loves it. If we are in a club or hall we usually play three sets and between the second and third sets we hand out the play list of about 150 songs that we have in our book. We then play a couple of songs to start the last set and after that we take requests from the list and it is a lot of fun since we get requests for things we rarely play or weren't planning to play at that gig and the audience go home happy because we played their song, win /win as we see it. It has become a bit of a "trademark"of our band and we have played gigs where a small crowd showed up and we play requests from the list for part of all the sets. It keeps us on our toes and everyone goes home talking about the band and our regulars take the list so they can plan for the next time they see us. Of course we update the list periodically as we add or delete songs but that's easy to do. We don't do this at all of our gigs but the smaller clubs and venues where we have a more intimate setting and smaller audience are perfect and it always goes over well. Obviously this won't work for most bands but we have been doing it for 6 or 7 years now and for our type of music and audiences it's great.

Some great advice here...thanks!😊 I will share these posts with the drummer/vibe player and piano player and try to find an approach that will work for us. It seems the best idea is to keep it simple but keep it moving(drive) and adjust as needed. We had a gig last night and did some of the vibe tunes in front of an audience that included a number of musicians and I was a bit nervous about how it would go but we got lots of compliments afterwards. We recorded it and the playback will give us an idea of how well things went. A friend told me she couldn't tell if the bass was a bit loud(I didn't think so at the time) or if it seemed louder because it was more obvious without drums. (As I'm typing this I received an email from the drummer/vibist who said "bass is never too loud", that's what I was hoping to hear.) The Nat Cole Trio suggestion is a good one. I have listened to him quite a bit over the years but I will be listening with fresh ears and learning from it. Thanks for your help, any more advice would be most welcome.

Our jazz standards quartet(sax/clarinet,piano/vocals,drums, me on DB) has now added a few songs in each set where the drummer plays vibraphone and this has been a real eye opener for me. Instead of relying on the drums for rhythm and feel, the piano and bass are now the rhythm section and I am suddenly becoming aware of how much we have counted on the drummer and how important the bass has become. A subtle change on bass(rhythm, accent,timing, tempo) that would hardly be noticed with the drummer playing is now very apparent and I have to be a lot more careful to keep things at the same tempo and not do anything too silly. It's been interesting and a good learning experience and I find I am playing quite different bass lines from what I would play if he was on drums and at times I feel very exposed with no drum fills between phrases or at turn arounds. Anyone out there have any suggestions for playing in a situation like this? At this point he is playing mostly slow or medium tempo ballads and a bit of bossa.

I have the SLB 200 and used it for gigs for 3 years before I got a DB. Now I use it at rehearsals instead of hauling the DB around and still use it on a few gigs where space is an issue. It is much better than the Stagg I had and sounds OK but I can't get the DB sound from it that some players can get as seen on videos. The body is fine with me and I feel comfortable with it even though it is not exactly like a DB.I have played an Eminence and loved the feel and sound which was more like a DB. I got a very good deal on my Yamaha (used) but new they are a crazy price. If I were looking for another EUB I would go for the Eminence or MK, good sound and they are cheaper than the SLB, but for the present it serves its purpose for me.

Has anyone tried Zyex strings on an EUB? I'm about ready for some new strings on my Yamaha SLB 200 and I wondering if the Zyex lights that I really like on my DB would be a good choice. Any comments and suggestions would be most welcome.At present it still has the original Helicore Pizzicato strings on it.

Try gelbass.com, that is the website for the company that builds them. I didn't see that part listed but it may be available if you contact them or they may suggest alternatives. Good luck, I have a Yamaha SLB 200 but I played an Emminence at the 2018 Double Bass Bash and it was great, excellent feel and sound.

Yeah, I feel your pain. Last night our little jazz quartet played a gig and the very nice Bose PA that we have used for about three years was acting up and the two band members who usually run it couldn't solve the problems. It is being used for two bands and somehow the settings that are supposed to be saved get lost and no one seems to be able to reset them. As a result the vocals had some feedback and my upright bass sounded dead. The main problem is that neither of the band members that run the system knows anything about PA's or electronics and they just start twiddling knobs and pushing buttons and talking about what it says in the manual. Our last two gigs had perfect sound but last night was embarrassing and unprofessional. I have suggested hiring someone at my expense to teach us how to operate this very nice PA but so far that hasn't happened, maybe this will be the event that sparks a change.