tinyd

Mild disagree on this one - DB strings are expensive anyway, but getting the right ones definitely does solve the problem of the bass not sounding (or playing) right IMO

This has a really strong "one" which contrasts really nicely with the syncopation on bars 3 & 4

I tried one of the 3Sigma ones with my DB but it didn't make enough difference to the amplified sound to be worth bothering with. But since a DB amplified already sounds quite a lot like a DB (😀) it's not surprising. But I'd expect much more impact with an EUB alright.

I posted this video a while back in another thread. The sound he achieves at the end of the video is pretty good IMO

I can see how it might knock your confidence, and I'm sure that the session player is objectively "better" than you, but that doesn't mean that your initial playing wasn't good enough - it could just as easily mean that the singer heard something else in their head afterwards and got someone in to quickly record it. You've been playing live, you're an experienced musician on other instruments, and it doesn't take *that* much experience to be able to play decent bass for most genres of music anyway, so I wouldn't doubt yourself too much.

Good suggestion! Older Afro Cuban music has more double bass (as opposed to Baby Bass) e.g.

I'm based in Galway so I don't know much about what's available in Dublin or Belfast, but it might be worth getting in touch with this shop - they may rent instruments (or know somebody who does) https://www.crehans.ie/musical-instruments

Great choice! For those who haven't seen it this is a good illustration; https://youtu.be/K3lgmnsTdcA?si=xxs4aKL7VXxSblbF

This is a nice video with the man himself talking about it

Yep, I've found this as well - in my case I'm using it for DB so I want a less punchy tone, so I'm keeping gain down to less than half way (this isn't close to causing the compression to kick in) and using master to control overall volume.

It's satisfying how the number of "steps" tallies pretty closely with your calculation about the BPM and duration of the music! Only way to know for sure is to play a three hour bebop set at 250bpm and see if the numbers go correspondingly higher

As other people have said, work on your left hand shape, and make sure that you don't squeeze the strings with your hand muscles. You should be aiming to use your arm muscles to pull the strings down onto the fingerboard. Also, don't be in a rush to get higher up the neck - you can create a lot of music by staying in "half position" (i.e. first finger on the F on the E string).

I never read dots on a gig, but I do read chord charts a lot and I tense up slightly if I see a G# chord as opposed to Ab, so my bass (i.e. me) definitely sounds worse in sharp keys

I can see how the bass might "prefer" certain notes in that it resonates better and so on. But I can't see how this might be the case for flat keys vs sharp ones in general. As you say, you're more comfortable in certain keys than others (as most of us are) and so your hand shape, fingering etc might be subtly better and therefore you stop the notes more cleanly?

One left hand tip that I found helpful when starting out on DB is not to squeeze the string down against the fingerboard - as @Burns-bass says, the thumb is just a guide and you should be able to get a usable note without your thumb even touching the back of the neck (not saying you'll ever actually do this when playing normally of course). To achieve this, you need to use the weight of your arm and your shoulder muscles to pull the string down, rather than your hand muscles. I also recommend starting with the Simandl fingering method - you can modify it later but it's a good way to get your hand shape sorted out initially.

I have a copperhead and I don't find it excessively bassy compared to other piezo pickups that I've tried. I think it can sound pretty good but I have to totally kill the mids on the amp that I'm using and then knock off the treble until the "microphonic" sounds from the strings, bridge etc are minimised.

A quick update to this thread - I finally took a chance on a C2 cab and a Warwick Gnome head (pretty much the same as the TC BAM 200 but I'd heard marginally better things about it for DB). In terms of volume (at home) it's louder than my GK MB150 and has a much cleaner, more usable tone so I'm pretty sure that it'll be good for gigs too. What I really like as well is that the two are very small and light - about half the weight of the GK, which appeals to my increasing laziness when it comes to lugging gear from the car (it also makes a "one trip" journey viable with the DB even if I have to walk longer distances). No gigs for a few weeks but I'm looking forward to trying it out....

I haven't had a chance to play this at a gig yet, but this one is always fun:

Doesn't have to be root notes at all - just some of the many available notes that are below the 7th fret would have been nice

Most of the players are great, but the vids he's chosen are the bass equivalent of

He wrote Relight My Fire as well. The original is a lot funkier than the Take That cover....

I completely agree. There's nothing wrong with a (small) bit of showmanship at the appropriate time, but in general though the best virtuosos show their abilities by working _with_ (rather than playing all over) their bandmates.

On a related note, there was a good piece in the Guardian the other day about "unofficial" band members (people who play with the band, sometimes for decades, but aren't "in" the band). https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/20/touring-musicians-who-play-with-bands-but-arent-official-members-manic-street-preachers-simple-minds I have to be honest that it sounds like a pretty good setup on the whole - getting paid to play but none (or very little, anyway) of the politics, drama, publicity etc.

My theory is that putting in the "wrong" notes in this line is easier than leaving them out - it's sometimes easier for our brains to play a string of notes rather than think about gaps.

What I find is that if I sit down at the bass/piano/guitar after learning (or remembering) some music theory it makes my noodling more directed and interesting. So I see that theory can often be a shortcut to creativity rather than an impediment. But this doesn't mean you can't be just as creative without knowing any theory of course.