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JoeEvans

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Everything posted by JoeEvans

  1. JoeEvans
    I use an ART Tube preamp with double bass; I have a gig coming up for bass guitar and I'm planning to just take the ART for that, no amp. I'm pretty confident that it will sound ok.
  2. JoeEvans
    No idea but F and B flat are more common keys for bands with lots of brass, big band type arrangements. You could always sit down with an instrument and go through YouTube or Spotify playing along with all the available versions.
  3. JoeEvans
    If the desk has a low cut button (<50hz) on each channel, which they often do, you could do worse than just hitting that on every channel. I find that for double bass the real action is up around 100 to 200hz, and you can roll everything below this right back on your own amp (or with a low cut pedal).
  4. JoeEvans
    A discussion about tuning that rapidly escalates into a fist fight - definitely takes me back to a couple of past studio sessions...
  5. JoeEvans
    It's also possible that the singer's mic is picking up the bass and sending it through the PA, then the body of the bass resonates with the PA output, that comes out of your amp and back into the singer's mic, and you have a feedback loop. You could ask the sound engineer to roll off the bass on the vocal mic - you could probably wipe off everything below 150hz without it doing much harm for a female vocalist.
  6. JoeEvans
    You could always buy my Ibanez Axstar, which is different in all kinds of ways but very 80s and also taking up space in my tiny office room.
  7. JoeEvans
    The fourth dimension is indeed time. It's best left set to the present moment though, I accidentally gave mine a tweak and I'm not going to see it again until next June.
  8. JoeEvans
    Here we go:
  9. JoeEvans
    Hey Muzz, sorry for slow reply. It's 3kg on my kitchen scales so reasonably accurate. I'll check it this morning though.
  10. JoeEvans
    Jean-Luc has it right. Reverb will charge VAT on the fees then send it to HMRC whether you have a VAT number or not. If you had one, you could reclaim that VAT, but the customer's VAT status is immaterial to the supplier. Tell them you're a private seller and not registered for VAT, and to hurry up and pay out or you'll report them to HMRC.
  11. JoeEvans
    As an aside, if anyone can think of a good name for a bluegrass band playing covers of 80s pop hits, that would be great.
  12. JoeEvans
    I had a job once in which I had to sit in on loads of job interviews as part of the panel, but I wasn't really the key player in making the decisions - I was there more to ensure consistent and correct process. It was a fascinating experience. What jumped out is that there's always a specific situation going on for the employer that the new person will have to step into, so that the employer always has a strong idea of the kind of person they need, but the interviewee doesn't and can't know any of that. It made me much more relaxed about getting interviewed myself. You can't know what they're after, so you just need to present who you are and what you can do in a clear and friendly way, and if it lines up with what they need then great, and if not then there's nothing you can do about that. We turned down loads of great people because they weren't quite what was needed - no reflection on them at all.
  13. JoeEvans
    How about this, from an amazing bassist too? https://youtu.be/PBg-ukRUJuQ
  14. JoeEvans
    I use an ART Tube MP preamp for double bass, which has no EQ but somehow makes the bass sound a bit warmer and fatter. I just go straight to PA from there, and any EQ needed is done on the desk, or in small venues into my own Turbosound ip300 active speaker, which has basic EQ. It's the best sound I've ever had on db and I've come to the conclusion that the less there is in the chain, the better, for my bass and my taste. Whether that would work for EUB I can't say, depends how good the clean sound of the instrument is.
  15. JoeEvans
    You only have to carry one upstairs to get a vivid insight into the invention of the electric bass.
  16. JoeEvans
    The OP's teal strap would look great on a fairly pale natural wood finish. What's that you say? Why yes, I suppose my ACG would be a good example of that kind of finish, since you mention it.
  17. JoeEvans
    Well that's a wholesome and heart-warming story.
  18. JoeEvans
    I guess what I mean is more that in my limited experience, basses tend to get priced reasonably accurately according to the level of magic - how easily they speak, how rich the tone is. I suppose that's because you don't really get basses with amazing tone and sensitivity that are made of low quality materials by a poor luthier - to get a bass that's amazing to play requires all the other ingredients of high value to be in place. So the magic is a pretty reliable indicator of the quality of a bass as measured in more tangible ways. In more practical terms, if you spend £5k on an older bass and it's got a nicely flamed maple neck, ribs and back; swell back; ebony fingerboard in good condition; closely-spaced, straight grain on the front; no gaps, cracks or rattles; no slumping or distortion of the front; the right action high up the neck for your style of playing; AND it sounds and feels lively and delicious when played side by side with a good selection of other basses at similar prices, then you're not being ripped off. [I know there are loads of amazing basses that don't have all those features but for confidence in valuation they are helpful] I would strongly recommend a visit to the Double Bass Room to play a whole load of basses one after another and get a feel for the differences. If you work your way around 15-20 instruments you can get a real feel for what you're paying for, and what you have to pay for what you want. His prices are reasonable too although you might need to do some set-up work if you bought one there. When I bought my bass there he just brought me the odd cup of tea and let me get on with it for a couple of hours, and it was an invaluable learning experience. Many years ago when I was just playing bass guitar I wondered about buying a double bass, and went into a shop to try a few. The first one I tried was about £10k. I twanged a note, the whole thing resonated sweetly in my arms, the room seemed to fill with rich, beautiful possibilities, the sun came out and the angels sang. Then I tried a £1k one, which was what I could actually afford, and it went 'thunk', and I walked out of the shop and went back to playing electric for a decade or two.
  19. JoeEvans
    Or to short cut all of the above, pick it up, pluck an open A, rate the magic from 0 to 10 and value accordingly...
  20. JoeEvans
    I guess the things I would look at would be: Quality of materials Design - shape, size etc Detailing of craftsmanship and construction Condition Accessories - strings, case, any bits and bobs that come with it Terms of sale - warranty, offer of trial period etc And of course feeling under the hands and sound.
  21. JoeEvans
    Fretless is a bit of a pain for chords, especially higher up the neck where a smaller inaccuracy of finger position corresponds to a larger inaccuracy of intonation (as a proportion of a whole tone, if you see what I mean). The general plan is a good one, though. I'd personally probably go for a 5-string E to C, I find 6-string necks a bit bulky for my own taste, but that's up to you...
  22. JoeEvans
    The yellow blob on the body of the bass is a sticker, since removed...
  23. JoeEvans
    Is the string tree really necessary? For a bass with good, straight alignment between strings above and below the nut, what would happen if you just took the string tree off?
  24. JoeEvans
    Zettle is a good system too, as mentioned above the fees are irrelevant compared to the extra sales you'll make. All these systems keep online records of sales, so you could run the money into a band member's personal account in the knowledge that there's a record of all sales to ensure fair sharing of income afterwards.
  25. JoeEvans
    SOLD I bought this thinking that a small headless bass might a nice thing to have around; I've since bought an ACG that does the same job so sadly I have to part with the Ibanez. The Ibanez Axstar is a fairly rare beast in the UK. In my opinion it's one of the best wooden small bodied, headless basses of the era, similar to the Yamaha BX-1 in quality. It's pure 1980s in looks, it could be a prop from Total Recall or some similar 80s sci-fi. But the body shape is extremely ergonomic - it hangs in just the right place when standing up with no neck dive, and it also sits comfortably on your lap, unlike many basses of this type. Access high up the fretboard is superb. From the original brochure, the bolt-on neck is 3-piece maple, fretboard is rosewood and body is basswood. 34" scale. Twin passive humbuckers and a fairly chunky and industrial bridge and tuning mechanism. With worn-in strings, you basically tune it about once a month, if that - it's incredibly stable. You can use standard 34" strings. The truss rod turns smoothly and does its job. The neck is pretty skinny, 17mm string spacing at the bridge tapering to 11mm at the nut. Weight is just 3kg, because it's got such a small body, but it feels very solid and well-built. It's evidently been played a lot since the 80s and the body has quite a few dings and scratches and one chip through to bare wood. I've tried to show this in the pictures. The sound is very fat and rich, with the humbuckers giving pretty high output. There's a volume control for each pickup and a passive tone control - in all honesty the tone control isn't dramatic in effect. It would be perfect for 80s funk, but with the treble rolled off it would also be superb for reggae / dub, it's got this huge, solid sustain to it. It would be an absolute beast played with a pick for metal, with some distortion. I'm selling it with a good quality, almost new gig bag from Thomann which makes for a very neat, small package. You could take it as hand luggage on a plane just by paying for a large cabin bag - in the case it measures 109 x 29 x 13cm, whereas Easyjet allows up to 117 x 38 x 30cm for a large cabin bag. Happy to post it for £20, or collect from Bristol. Here's someone playing one better than I would, and giving a good impression of the tone.
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