Owen

I could host one in my Church hall but am at the top of North Wales and I guess off the beaten track. What would be great would be to have one with an acknowledged DB luthier on hand to advise on setups/repairs etc. Obv we would need to fund this if enough people were interested.

If only the arco thing was not an issue. Apparently Bottesini used to have G made of silk for arco tone but I cannot see that being a long term option. Perhaps I can have a seperate bass for guts! Surely that would be the BC way!

Did I miss this?

I had a very odd experience last night. I went to do a session and the singer turned up with a Double Bass in tow. I had done something for her before and she liked my playing but could not get the sound she wanted during mixing. To say I was taken aback is an understatement but I bit my tounge and went with the flow. The bass was the horrible-est school plywood bass you ever saw with one weed-whacker G, gut D and A and a REALLY thin metal E. I tried it and what do you know it recorded fantastically (after I reset the bridge). The guts just went down beautifully, nice weight and girth to the sound and no annoying sustain, just a well articulated low frequency event. Obv they bowed like.............um....... something unpleasant, but the recorded pizz sound was pretty addictive. The action was really low as well. The neck angle was a lot more shallow than mine and the whole thing seemed to be effortless to play. Projection? Nope. Acoustic tone? Nope. Recorded using an AKG 414? Just yummy. I have never played guts before and it was a revelation I would pay SERIOUS coin to get a response like the gut strings but with easy bowing. My bass is pretty well set up, but the ease of playing on the guts was quite something. There were rumblings about a DB bash recently. Is it still on? I think I need to try some other basses. Maybe mine just needs a different set up. Comments?

Thanks all. After all that I went and bought an AI which has no fan at all For the time being at least!

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/172785-extreme-wombling-valve-geekery/ These things are cluttering my desk. I will happily bin them if no one wants them for nothing.

I was at my recycling depot this morning and there was a huge old school circuit board full of valves. I obv took them all because ........... umm................... I have no idea what they are and if they are any use or anything. They seem to be loads ( 25 ish ) of 12FQ8 (made in USA - Wurlitzer) valves 12AX7 size, a couple of EL34 (?) bigger power amp valves and another smaller big one. That shows you how far out of my depth I am here. They are yours to mess around with if you want them for nowt. If they are any use then I guess a donation to the board would not go amiss Obv if they are THE ONES then I will need paying in Ritter basses.

I cannot speak for the quality of this, but it looks to be made to the same pattern as my RB bag. http://www.thomann.de/gb/concord_pv502_kontrabasstasche_34.htm

The last time my DB bag fell apart I bought a Reunion Blues. This was 23 years ago. It is still virtually as good as new. It cost a lot, but I am guessing I will retire before it does. I cannot speak highly enough of it. Long term it is not expensive.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1333376907' post='1600779'] TBH I wedge a slice or two of mouse mat under the strings and it does the same job for approx. £2, not found a compelling reason to spend £85 for a lever and a spring. [/quote] So have I and it worked, thanks for reminding me. The way of GAS is magnetic and compelling. Just save £85. Score!

Pretty obvious when you think about it! Thanks. I shall have one when the time is right.

What was the name of the mute thing he is using? I just cannot remember.

If some of us (I include myself here) added up what we had spent on backline over the years then our present rigs (which are the culmination of years of research) would be very expensive indeed!

That is righteous tone.

[quote name='lowdown' timestamp='1333219212' post='1598948'] Remember seeing Miles at the festival hall a few years ago, when he did 'Human Nature' and 'Time after Time'. A gig that was just something else, with Darryl Jones on Bass, John Scofield and Bob Berg. Garry [/quote] I was at that gig as well. Nearly everything has has paled beside it. I have never witnessed such a groove.

I have a Gio which I am actually yet to use. The functionality of having it act as a stomp box controller with Mainstage is going to open up all sorts of possibilities with my Macbook. However, if it is your only interface, not having a mic in will be super limiting. Even if you just want it for bass now, a time will come when chucking a mic in will be useful.