hubrad

You could try the Bottesini Method for double bass.. all the studies actually have strong melodies so pleasant to play, but the more you get into the book the more you recognise what particular aspect of technique that study is concentrating on.

You have to remember that we all go around with 'our sound' in our heads, and won't rest until we get it! Hence all the time and money we put into achieving that. Generally I get to use 'my sound', whatever that my be (I'm a fretless social misfit, so it's harder for a 'standard' tone to be overlaid anyway) with an odd tweak here and there for the mix. If it's 'my' project, i.e. a regular band, I'll often put more opinion forward as to exactly how the bass should be. If I'm the hired hand (far more common these days) then really it's down to the person I'm playing for - as long as they like the lines I play they'll probably book me again! If they want to change the tone to suit 'Their sound' well, it's their sound and I might even get a different tone to aim for for a particular vibe. As for your recording, OP, then yes - if you're unhappy then say it now or else hold your disappointment in for ever! Like many here, I've said nowt at the time and am bugged every time I hear a few things from past bands. If you're paying for the studio and mixing, you can have as many goes at the mix as you want, although you have to pay for each go. The reason many bands get their own recording setup is to gain full freedom of 'let's just hear that again with a bit more mid in the vocals'. Can be a double-edged sword, mind, and I've known a couple of bands who never get a recording finished for all the tweaking!

It'll come out mono, but it WILL rock! :-) I once wired some sockets into a previous car so that, while travelling to or from a gig, I could play the 2 x 5W car stereo through a pair of 4x10s with tweeters. Monster!

One of the perils of being everybody's stand-in is that if all the regular guys show up for their gigs I'm stuffed! Glad to report the opposite, however, and now I have a couple of gigs in so far with Charlie Speed Band as the regular incumbent Jon Short is busy on another project. Cheers Jon, good man yerself! Tomorrow (Sat) at Korks in Otley - that's just north of Leeds/Bradford for the uninitiated. A venue I really like, not least owing to their fine selection of beers and wines. An excuse to play again with one of my favourite drummers, Roy Whyke. An honour to play with Charlie, of whom I've been aware for ages but whose songs I've just started hearing with a different set of ears! It's grand to do gigs where I actually really enjoy the songs! Charlie's been off the scene for a couple of years due to health problems, but glad to report he's now fired up to get gigging again.. well worth checking out whoever is on bass! See you over a Black Sheep in Otley!

[quote name='mart' post='1138778' date='Feb 23 2011, 04:31 PM']Don't joke! I came across this at the weekend: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/AC-DC-Ukulele/dp/0825637422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298478571&sr=1-1"]AC/DC for Ukulele[/url] [/quote] We have that in the shop.. it inspired me to have a crack at Rosie on a uke while demoing such a thing. Well, I laughed anyway

[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1125484' date='Feb 12 2011, 09:57 PM']Get a fretless and it all goes away [/quote] +1 [quote name='SteveK' post='1126088' date='Feb 13 2011, 04:34 PM']Don't worry about it. Forget what the display shows, it'll just make you neurotic. The difference you see is totally insignificant.[/quote] +1 I generally tune up without thrashing the strings, so I suppose more like the 'end of the note', but since I play fretless all the time I keep my ears open.. any out-of-tuneness is down to me rather than the tuner! The other thing which may help is to use a heavier gauge of strings which will reduce the amount by which they pull themselves out of tune. Relax!

Niceone (or two) BassBus.. I used to hold Status 5 string fretless headless as my dream bass! Here's my Ibanez Roadster.. and a link to the most recent part (2009) of the customisation process: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=44673&hl=ibanez+roadster"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...ibanez+roadster[/url] [attachment=72185:IBBYfin.front.jpg]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='1122915' date='Feb 10 2011, 05:30 PM']Does it come with any cats?[/quote] Excellent post LW!

[quote name='JTUK' post='1122901' date='Feb 10 2011, 05:22 PM']Maybe..I am more curious how and why these 'great' basses get sold on. If they were that great they'd stick around longer...??[/quote] I am too, but I've been lucky enough to only ever have been blown away with a very small number of basses. I still have all three of them! I wonder if, in fact, it's the other way round.. the basses are wandering around just looking for the right human?

Haha! Watch the For Sale sections for a while and you'll see that alot of folks will buy something used and then sell it on a (sometimes short) while later.. as Burrito said, buy it, try it out, find you don't like it. Still in exactly the same condition, still used, worth the same money or thereabouts. Probably. If it was new when you bought it that's different, of course. I really like browsing the For Sale areas!

Wow! I don't do frets, and it's ages since I did 4-string, but that is seriously gorgeous. Go on CDB, you know you want to!

I especially like.. "You are fully protected against all the elements...mainly sunshine....hopeless in rain and will probably blow away in the wind....however, clag 2 together on both ends and it'll be right..."

[quote name='woodster' post='1118951' date='Feb 7 2011, 02:42 PM'][url="http://www.overwaterbasses.com/ow_tanglewood.html"]http://www.overwaterbasses.com/ow_tanglewood.html[/url][/quote] Nicely spotted, woodster.. that wasn't there a few days back! I particularly like this bit: 'But it has long been an aspiration to be able to offer a line of ‘off the peg’ Overwater instruments at prices available to everyone – though equally important to maintain the standards we have always stood for - without compromise in design, build quality or playability!'

[quote name='JTUK' post='1117436' date='Feb 6 2011, 10:38 AM']With regard to this OP..I would be very wary of this tactic. It is the watering down of a marque, IMV...and a path many have gone down. I don't like to see it... but maybe it was a hard decision between trying to compete with more 'illustrious' luthiers and coming up short and cashing in and taking a back seat. It is s business decision that will live or die but I can't see it being good for owners of classic Overwaters.. Just my POV... maybe, in the same position, I would take the money and run. That is how it reads to me...[/quote] A valid point, JTUK, and this was also my first reaction when I heard about it. However on reflection I think that, as long as the quality works out as Chris May intends, these will complement the UK range nicely. I'm an Overwater convert anyway, and to me they're really worth the money. Most folks I know are as follows: 1) "Tried them, love'em, got one (or more)!" 2) "Tried them, love'em, but can't afford one" 3) "Tried them, doesn't work for me" 4) "OverWHO?" I personally think these are aimed at cat.4: if the name is better known rather than being some mystic whisper never backed up by playing the real thing then more people are likely to move towards the other categories, hopefully cat.1. Chris seems to have had a very close involvement with this project and is very much putting his name behind the basses. I am heartened by this! He's going to be checking and setting up at least the first couple of batches himself. Also, if the previous paragraph works as a concept, it could actually increase the second hand value of the UK basses, as the problem with their resale value (I'm not interested in selling mine anyway!) is lack of brand awareness, IMHO. Onwards and upwards!

'OVERALL A ONE OFF........' Well, thank feck for that!

[quote name='bleedproof' post='1112663' date='Feb 2 2011, 05:16 PM']Right that's it... off the dealer list! [/quote] Honest, guv.. I got sanction from Mr.Flatt! Publish and be damned, or summat like..

A taster..[attachment=70901:Overwater1.JPG][attachment=70902:Overwater2.JPG]

+1 for groundwounds - some call them Halfrounds. Brighter than flats but thicker sounding than roundwound. Barely any finger-on-string noise at all. I have them on a fretless with ash body.. my Rock bass!

I've got the Picato version of these on one of my fretlesses.. almost EUB tone! Their gauge is 50-105, and they certainly work lengthwise on bridge stringing.