hubrad

When I've had such a breakage in the past I've just bypassed the clip and tied the strap to the d-ring using some sturdy cord, e.g. 3 or 4mm climbing cord. No more problem! I know Hiscox Cases sell a strap of good heavy-duty nylon with screwgate steel ends.

I spoke to a French DB player who lived in Leeds quite some years back, and he didn't like the Realist (I love mine, and have for a long time.) as he said it was so natural that on his 'dark sounding' bass it was just too dark! Of all the transducer pickups I've tried so far, I really like that natural-as-possible vibe. It probably does, as he said, depend on your bass. I sometimes drop the bottom end a wee bit, but mostly just set everything flat. Even though DG recommend putting the pickup under the bass foot, on my first bass - Andreas Zeller Romanian 3/4 - a friend who's a violin specialist luthier said DBs need all the help they can get so, while sorting me a new bridge and soundpost, put the Realist under the treble foot. Sounded every bit as good, with possible a little more articulation.. it was 15 or so years ago!

That's why I have so much stuff.. so I can sound MORE! Some of the stuff is in very nice colours..

I have more than one email address for particular purposes, but a second BC profile? I'd be on here for twice the time!

Are the Bottesini studies from his double bass method? I was put on that when learning DB under an orchestral teacher, and they're mostly really good tunes in their own right, usually with some identifiable direction re technique.

Yup, it's the bg I have in one of mine.

The active preamp doesn't take its power from the gk, but there's a switch on the board which you can use so that powering up the gk also makes the necessary contact to switch on the active. When not using the gk, the active is switched as usual, ie the jack.

Great idea.. I bet Total Eclipse Of The Heart never sounded so good!

I left a band a while back.. didn't really want to stop playing the music, and got on really well with the folks, but was too busy with the first priority and hated the occasional need to let them down. I had a few conversations with the BL, saying if he found a regular bassist I'd happily be on his dep roster. Months down the line he contacted me later on a Friday night asking if I really meant it.. 'grab him' says I. Everyone is happy and still on fine terms, in fact I ended up depping for the new guy on his first gig! I suppose if you never intend seeing the folks again you could play it differently, but as said above a burned bridge might turn out to have teeth with which to come back and bite you! In fact, same band, a previous bassist had just not got on with the BL, but rather than being the grownup and saying 'look, guys, it's just not working for me' he emailed the rest of the band, telling them what a dangerous nutter said BL was. Obviously he'd missed the fact they were all best mates and they just showed him the emails! 😄

A mahoosive +1 to that!

I use a charity shop golf club bag for all manner of stands, cables and accessories. One of those brilliant chance scores!

I just bought a nice strap from Iain.. The strap was in tip-top condition, and all arrangements went smoothly. Excellent comms. Many thanks!

The logo does look the same as my early 90s USA Peavey Predator. If it's that generation it's good gear, but the price seems rather steep.

Excellent! I'll be following this to see what you think.

MXR Phase 90.. one knob, sounds great! Some folks particularly rate one of the versions, but I think I have an 'ordinary' one.

Ah, I wondered, as the TE 3 pin XLR was yet another of those potentials for error, including forcing 500W down a mic cable! The number of times I've 'gracefully' refused requests to use my 1/4" instrument cables for speakers.. 😬

Wasn't it Trace Elliot (quite probably others, too?) that used XLR as an alternative to 1/4"? This was before Speakons really made an entry(!) to the mainstream, so 80s-ish. Was there a technical reason for this practice stopping, or is it just that Speakon were better/trendier?

Hehe, I have 33, 34 and 35 inch.. fretlesses! Also other things from double bass down to mandolin. It's just a case of relaxing into each of the instruments you have, and after a while your muscle memory switches with instrument. The brain is an amazing piece of kit!

Something you can do very inexpensively as a temporary measure, so she can keep going for now.. put a guitar capo on the 1st or 2nd fret of the Squier then return down to normal. Gives her easier stretch but still the same notes. If she has a definite preference for one of the capo positions, aim for a short scale as close as possible to that length.

If MAP is removed, I reckon you'll see fewer and fewer Fender dealers, all racing to the bottom.

Fingerboard was mentioned earlier. Actually this reminds me of seeing a couple of eBay bargains crop up, but always fretted when I was wanting a fretless.. I spoke to Chris about the whys, wherefores and costs of getting a fretted bass converted to unlined fretless, the upshot being my purchase of a custom fretless Progress III .. PROCEED WITH CAUTION! 😀 Actually, I still have and love that bass, so no regrets whatsoever. Talk to Chris.