Woodwind

When I travelled with my contrabasoon to Paris and back I booked the additional seat for 20quideaxh way. This was an absolute bargain to have my instrument next to me and travel by myself on a crowded train. No one checked the height of my instrument once they saw my instrument ticket and although taller than a cello, it is narrower. It is substantially smaller than a double bass though. When I disembarked at Paris there were 2 people getting their double basses from the goods wagon. This was the policy in 2019, but I presume it has now changed. The basses had to be booked into the gaurds/goods wagon in advance. What case/bag do you have for your bass? Once the neck is off and the bridge down and it's in a soft bag I bet it isn't that much bigger than a cello case. Quick google shows a BAM hardcase being 46cm wide and 32cm deep.

Absolutely no need for apologies Thank you so much for the info on Lathe To The Grave!

as @BassTractorsays, definitely give the rite of Spring a listen. Ideally a decent recording, ideally on a decent stereo and get the volume up as loud as your household and/or neighbours can tolerate. Zappa was a big fan of the bassoon and as a contrabassoonist myself I can't help but get excited every time I hear the rite (as a whole, as much as the Wonderful opening bassoon solo). John Williams basically ripped thr piece off wholesale for the Starwars soundtrack and I believe Pino Palladino quotes a line from the bassoon part in the Paul Young track wherever I lay my hat. If you find this piece to your taste, it is fantastically well written and it's possible to lift tiny segments as great exercises on any instrument. This thread is excellent. Lots of really great suggestions.

@metermanthis sounds fantastic. A really nice sound from a cassette 4 track! Where did you get your 5" lathe cuts done? Cheers Thomas

As a keen owner of two double 4's using them in a similar fashion to you and likewise traveling across London on public transport I understand your situation. I'm sure you'll get a fair few recommendations for a barefaced one10 and a micro head like a Trace Elliot Elf. Undoubtedly this will be a step up in volume and air moved over the double 4, but it will be a more coloured sound (which may or may not be to your liking). I may be inclined to go for a bigger cabinet with a sound more akin to the double 4 and find a way to wheel it around, a folding trolley for example. You're future proofing yourself with this in a way that perhaps a one10 wouldn't. Again, open to debate. Anything reasonably compact, up to 14kg or so will be luggable by public transport on a trolley (except in rush hour!). It's just a matter of deciding on the sound you want and how much you are prepared to spend. Nothing will be as easy as the double4 though. If i need serious volume I bring my Yamaha powered 12" pa speaker on a trolley.

exactly!!!

I did a recording session where we'd been issued with graphic scores. I'd agreed to the project as, money aside, I was looking forward to the interpretative aspect within a chamber group. The composer kept halting proceedings to then tell us why we weren't playing it right and what we should be playing. They had such a clear concept of what they wanted I don't know why they hadn't just notated it straight and exactingly. In the end everyone left that session deflated.

I have 2 sets of Status groundwounds 40-100. they are donkeys years old now, sound quite dead, but play brilliantly. I've moved them from fretted to fretless basses over the years as they sounded great and had a feel I loved. They aren't available anymore so if I were starting from scratch today I'd do as @ambientsays and just go straight to the Thomastik jazz flats. The caveat being this is from my preference of a low tension perspective. If you like high tension/large gauge strings you may find the Thomastiks a little too pliable

thank you so much Russ!!

@RussI wasn't aware of Herrick pickups until reading this thread. Would you mind detailing which model you purchased? I've had a quick look at the website and was bewildered by all the options 🤣 similarly which preamp did you get from Lutishand? This has seriously piqued my interest for a project for next year. Cheers, Thomas

Outstanding work. Please post some sound examples if you can 😎

Thanks for this Bubinga5.

Just a quick congratulations on this project. A year on how are you finding it now?

This is what I use for busking. The sound quality and portability is very seductive. There are caveats though - 1) The new double4 's can't be used this way as they now contain an internal transformer. So you will be limited to finding a second hand double 4 with the external PSU. 2) it's also getting harder to find an external battery pack that doesn't have some sort of current protecting circuit in it. Again the newer current protected models cut out when playing louder making them useless for outdoors. I wouldn't buy a battery pack second hand as it's impossible to tell what life it's had - rather than lasting hours, mine is now incredibly inconsistent for example.

oh sorry, looks like I may have got the wrong end of the stick? Making a bass guitar sound more like a double bass? In which case I think @Reggaebass's suggestion is very good

You may get better responses by posting this in the double bass section. Classic as in Jazz recordings pre 1960's? then it's guts. Otherwise the longer sustaining growly sound can be had with Thomastik Spirocores. These are pretty much a default so if you haven't tried these, they should be your first call. From then on it's endless experimentation with whatever new variants of "hybrid" string emerge and companies will keep bringing new things out. I did what we all do and tried lots of different strings. My playing was 50/50 pizz arco, but not orchestral. I loved the playability of Innovation Honey's and they sustained like Spirocore mediums. Had I continued with double bass I may have tried Spirocore lights and then never worried about strings again and just practiced more.

It's hardly a discount is it 🤣 That 5.9% or whatever isn't really the sweetener that will convince many to jump.

Don't hold your breath, that 200quid off for black friday is certainly tempting me...... 🙄🙄

I don't know how I haven't clocked this thread before. Just had a good delve. Sadly I LOVE gigging 🤣. But I'm playing my own music. There's a lot that can leave me disappointed after a show, but the act of performing my compositions is life affirming for me. It isn't something I'd ever do, but if I was playing covers in pub or wedding formats I would definitely end up hating it all.

Nice choice on the Orange LBT. that amp really interests me. I just had a look at the OBc112. 350 quid. they look nice for sure, but just as Bill says there is absolutely no way to have a clue about their performance without trying them. Due to the vague "specs" published on the Orange website, it's a fair assumption they are built down to a price point first and foremost. whether the sound is right and the volume adequate for your needs is impossible to say alas. I would bet that the Basschat DIY 1x12 cab would sound at least as good (probably better), be the same weight and cost less. You could paint it orange and make the baffle cloth look like a nice vintage orange cab. This would be my choice.

My biggest regret is selling my fortress masterman *. Absolutely brilliant bass with an amazing Warwick does stingray sound and I have a soft spot for waricks as a result. *I was talked out of defretting it and since I was only playing fretless and wasn't flush, I had to sell it. A mistake. I digress. £3500 is absolutely bonkers. Totally bonkers.

Oh absolutely. The thumb & fortress suffer the same problem as well, but it is very marked with the corvette