OutToPlayJazz

You're never too old - I played recently with a sax player in his eighties! He played like a demon and thoroughly enjoyed himself

Congrats! Bet the anticipation is killing you I've also been hanging my nose over the 'Al. Still undecided whether I like it or not, though. I think one of the new Stingray Custom Classics would be on my list before one of these. We'll see...

I'm going to have to start doing theory lessons on skype! £25 per hour, anyone?

A lot of people seem to have been very happy keeping the MusicMan preamps and going for the Nordstrand replacement pickups.

Haha! Absolutely, BottomEndian - I play a lot with the Nick Ross Orchestra (the key players are all the original crew from the Sid Lawrence Band!), but they all go on and on about string players and how they always play sharp. I was doing a show with a couple of them last week and they said they could hear me pulling the violin and cello back into concert pitch, LOL! It's actually a little known fact, but the professional wind/brass players always pitch off of the bass player!

Quite true, unless you're seriously accurate at bending strings!

[quote name='Twigman' post='776417' date='Mar 16 2010, 04:44 PM']The best rock'n'rollers are always the ones who bunked off school [/quote] *Grins* Glad I stayed and studied, then!

[quote]Surely not in equal temperament? I mean, yes, enharmonic equivalents sounded different before E.T. was developed, but surely not now?[/quote] I remember doing an orchestral course with the cellist Christopher Bunting many years ago & he had the opinion that the enharmonic sharp should sound that little bit sharper to emphasise the key and vice versa with the flats in such cases. I don't go with that idea myself, but he was one hell of a musician, so who am I to argue?

*Tips a knowing smile to Doddy* - We can but try, mate

I have to step in here, as you clearly have no idea about music theory, Twigman... In the key of E Major you have the following notes in the scale - E F# G# A B C# D# E In the key of C# Minor (the relative minor) you can have two variants of the scale... Melodic Minor (Ascending) - C# D# E F# G# A# B# C# (Descending) - C# B(natural) A(natural) G# F# E D# C# Harmonic Minor - C# D# E F# G# A B# C# So they are clearly not using all the same notes. The minor scales have a minor third and a raised 7th note. (6th & 7th raised ascending and then lowered again descending in the melodic minor.) As for the B# / C question, yes they are the same note to your ear (although some academics will try and tell you they should sound very slightly different!), but they are written differently. They're what we call "enharmonic equivalents." So you can have as a for instance, two scales like F# Major and Gb Major which will be written completely differently, but will sound identical. You get a similar thing in chromatic scales - All the notes ascending are sharpened where necessary, but flattened on the way down, even though you're aurally playing the same notes. Strange, but true. It's purely academic, but quite correct. As with playing techniques, there's a right way and a wrong way with music theory.

One thing you can have a look at is opening the control cavity and seeing if there's a trim pot (like a plastic screw) on the board that you can turn up. Otherwise you can check how far the distance is between the pickups and the strings. If the gap is too big, you'll lose output - Likewise, you'll have distortion if the strings are too close to the pickups. Here's a quick guide... PICKUP HEIGHT : The distance from the pickup to the string makes a big difference. I normally set the bridge pickup to about 4-5mm and the neck pickup to about 6-7mm. This varies from model to model as some basses have pickups which have been made to take the extra string movement above the neck pickup into account. The closer the pickup is to the string the greater the output but this goes up exponentially so if you make the gap half as much the output can be up to ten times not just twice.

Another option is Paul Holt in Ilkeston - He's a violin/viola/cello/double bass maker, but has moved into guitars & basses. Very good electrician as well. Just look up Paul Holt Violins on the interweb. And also Northworthy Instruments on top of the garage at Hulland Ward near Ashbourne. Rich.

[quote name='peteb' post='775794' date='Mar 15 2010, 10:30 PM']Not a great deal of difference to my ears with those settings tbh Perhaps someone can explain something to me? I've always fancied a Musicman and indeed had a Sterling for a while, attracted by the smaller body size. The Sterling was a nice enough bass but I couldn't really get on with the sound and the neck was not quite right for me (thru very playable) I should explain that I started with Fender P basses and then graduated to various actives before settling on Warwick Streamers. I have been after a more traditional looking bass for a potential project that sounds a bit different, but of course not too different! The Sterling sounded a bit thin to me - would I have been better going for a Stingray and if so which one?[/quote] Hi Pete, Depends on which one of Michael's sound clips you like best. If you like the cleaner focused sound with more bass boost, go for the 2eq. If you prefer the three-dimensional sound of the 3eq, go that way. I know what you're saying about the Sterling - Same goes for the Stingray 5 up until early 2008. Both of these models have the ceramic magnets in the pickups & sport a highly bright and aggressive sound. I actually like that sound, but also love the warmth of the alnico magnets in the Stingray 4's (the 5er also has alnicos now!) Now I have my 3eq/piezo Stingray set up as I like it, I'm not too bothered about getting a 2eq, but there's always that nagging doubt...

[quote name='Twigman' post='775462' date='Mar 15 2010, 05:58 PM']C# minor anyone? and why not?[/quote] Heh! If you can find the raised 7th (B#) in "I'm too sexy", I'll give you that one!

I would imagine Rob would do you a 32" bolt on bendwell neck, as I've seen one on a KingBass Standard. What're you planning on bolting it onto?

As Jennifer mentioned, it's a common thing with double basses - The problem is that when you're playing so far down the string, you're physically shortening the string so much that there's literally not enough string left to vibrate fully enough. All of my double basses do it & my Triumph electric upright does it, too. The Triumph is the best of the lot in this respect and I usually run out of playable notes about an inch off the end of the fingerboard. I regularly play that high in jazz solos, so it's a slight fustration, but I usually stop and tell the audience I've run out of notes before carrying on playing! Strangely enough, playing arco up there is usually more reliable, as it requires less physical movement of the string to get a consistent sound.

I can hear exactly what you meant in the message to me earlier, Michael - The 3eq definitely has an extra dimension to it, but the 2eq is more focused, punchier and fuller, particularly at the bottom end. Your two really are closer in character than I imagined, though.

I've never understood all of these alternative tunings. I suppose I rely on knowing where all the notes are (be it 4,5 or 6 string) and if they all suddenly moved, I'd be very confused. No good when you're sight reading like fury! I like the idea of the A D G C (perfect fifths) tuning. Like a viola/cello or a tenor banjo, although the bass and it's close cousin the double bass were tuned in fourths for a reason - To cope with the larger scale length! Edit: Did you mean A D G C in fifths or... C G D A in fourths?

Thanks, Iconic - Pity I barely ever drink... Peroni, anyone?

I suppose a lot will depend on longevity of the instrument, so as usual I'll vote for a Status S2-Classic. Yes, it's an expensive beast these days at just under £2000, but it'll still look as good, play as well & retain around 75% of the original asking price in twenty years' time. That's what I call value for money.

I've suddenly come over all inadequate!

See attached file - The problem is that the original is just the first page of a vocal/piano score - It's in treble clef. I've done a quick new one for you of the basic bassline & fill with fingering and position markers (in the bass clef this time!) You should find it much easier! The sharps at the start of the line denote the key of E Major. The notes adjusted are F#, C#, G# & D#.

Looks like a very small 3/4 to me. Would make a nice chamber bass with a decent bridge on it. All depends on the sound. If it has that "shove" to it, it's worth going for, but if it sounds too quiet and almost strangled, I wouldn't bother. Definitely worth going to try it if you can, though.