Marty Forrer

I tried out a MB Nano. Took it back, under powered.

Greenboy cabs seldom come on the market.

With all due respect to Mr Bill Fitzmaurice, I have just built a Greenboy Fearful 12/6 from scratch, not a kit. I have pumped 500 watts RMS of double bass signal (huge transients and organ re-arranging bass) and have no problem with the spine bracing. I will be stone deaf before I hear any rattles or vibration. Each to his own.

I have played double bass since 1990, and bass guitar since 1963. In the last 13 or 14 years every gig I do I get told it's double bass wanted. I have not done one single bass guitar gig in that time. Genres include rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, rock n roll, funk/soul, alt. country, Irish and Latino. I guess double bass is cooler, these days anyway.

People who struggle to hear themselves don't need vertical 4x10s, they need better quality cabs. Barefaced, Greenboy and BFM are an example of cabs (there are more) that are quality. Most cabs from your local music shop are not quality. They are built with cheap drivers and built to market requirements, not driver requirements. They are also built to maximise profit. An example of a quality cab is my Greenboy Fearful 12/6. One little light cab (32lbs) and it can take a thousand watt power amp. The dispersion, both near and far, is amazing. It will handle a low F# string no problem. Two of them is just ridiculous! Just my opinion.

Hahahaha..... I always swim against the tide. I sold my GK MB800 when I got the HandBox R-400, and now I'm back to a GK MBF500. Why? Well, the HandBox is just the most awesome amp for bass guitar (the best I've ever played), but I made the conscious decision recently to concentrate on upright bass, and I prefer the GK for that. A bad back dictates the use of D class.

Raul Malo, Sarah Vaughn, Emmylou Harris, Bobby Hatfield for me.

I use either a GK MB or a HandBox R-400 with mine. Just the best.

Happy Jack... you're never too old. I picked up the upright at 41. After playing jazz, swing, Irish etc, I joined a rockabilly band at 56 and learnt to slap. I was in that band for 9 years. At 69, I have my own rock n roll band that only requires slapping on a few Bill Haley numbers (Marty's Juke Joint on farcebook) but it's good to keep my hand in. Fact is that most rockabilly bands overdo the slap thing. A whole night of slap gets pretty boring for me anyway. I'd rather it were used only on songs where it enhances the song.

Time and feel is the responsibility of the whole band, not just the bassist. However, in real world terms, it often falls to the bassist to set the standard. You do this by being strong, by setting the tempo in strong, determined quarter notes or clave, and sticking to your guns. I'm a martinet when it comes to this. If a drummer or keyboard player is speeding up I stand my ground and they mostly will always hear it and pull back. If they don't I make mental note to not play with that person again. Tumbao absolutely needs to keep great time, and if the player is not cutting it, ditch them! Life is too short to not be enjoying your music.

Uh, Paul Warning, Peggy Sue has 4 chords. Just being pedantic.

The thing I like most about the R-400 is that I only ever use one knob, the Contour. It's all I need. I'm interested to see what Leszek does with a class D head.

If you want to get some authenticity, go to Youtube and listen to Amos Milburn and Big Joe Turner from the 40s. These guys were rock n roll long before Haley, Presley etc, but they were black so they never got mainstream radio play. Presley and Haley both stole their songs and pretty much copied them exactly. Fats Domino played rock n roll in the late 40s also. The term "rock n roll" is attributed largely to a white DJ called Alan Freed about 1954 or 55, but the black guys had that term in 1946. It's in the lyrics of Boogie Woogie Country Girl by Big Joe Turner.

One of my bands, Marty's Juke Joint, plays only rock n roll and boogie woogie from the 40s and 50s. We do nothing later than 1962, and I play upright bass. The feel is a swung shuffle as a previous poster stated, and bass is sparse. No 8th or 16th notes. Palm mute or stick a block of foam under the strings by the bridge if you want an authentic sound.

Nivram by The Shadows did it for me. First heard it about 1962 or 63.

In my Americana band it's Paradise by John Prine. In my vintage rock n roll band it's Down The Road Apiece by Amos Milburn. In my jazz/blues/funk band it's maybe Pennies From Heaven (standard) In my country rock band it's Miles and Miles of Texas by Asleep At The Wheel.

You need bridge height adjusters installed. Well worth it. My string heights are G = 6mm, D = 7mm, A = 8mm, E = 8mm. There is another factor in the set up for the left hand, and that is the height of the strings at the nut. Too high here will hurt your left hand. Is your luthier a double bass luthier? If so he will set it up to play like butter. If not, ie: he's a general guitar luthier, he will not know how to set up a double bass properly. You need to make sure he's a double bass luthier. Your soundpost should be checked too.

Agree on the Rev Solo. I use a Zac Victor which is like a BassMax but a bit more refined and not as boomy. Just throwing that in the mix in case it helps.

Lee Sklar - the master of the whole note, tied for equal first with Anthony Jackson.

Yeah, to be fair I haven't played in a pop band for 20 years, and have no wish to do so. There's a lot of genres other than pub rock. Since the last pop band I have played Irish, Latino, rockabilly, country, jazz and theatre. Plenty of gigs outside of rock covers. My point to the OP is to expand your horizons, I could not be arsed playing in pubs to drunken 20 year olds making fools of themselves. There are much better gigs around, just put yourself out there.

I'm 69 and formed a new 6 piece band about 3 months ago, so age has little to do with it. I already play in two other bands, but I saw a gap in the market in my area for a particular genre, and decided to exploit it. I just rang up the people I thought would be a good fit, explained what I was doing, and they all said yes! We have four gigs in the next couple of weeks. This may or may not help you. Check us out on FaceBook, Marty's Juke Joint.

TI Jazz Flats would probably be the softest flats on the market. Had mine on for around 19 years.

The Hot Band, the version with either Albert Lee or Frank Reckard. The Foghorn String Band The Rhythm Kings

1964 red L series Fender Jazz. It had the mojo, but I was in desperate need of cash in the mid 90s. Also an EUB I made myself I know where it is, but the guy won't sell it back to me. He's had it for 19 years now.

My TI Jazz Flats have been on for about 18 years, I think.