hubrad

Saw them a couple of years back; excellent stuff!

That's more than a year's Spotify payout for most folks these days!

I've had my bass Realist for almost 20 years, hitch-free, but had to repair the one on my mandolin after a few months of incautious handling.. soldered some bare braid to bridge the torn copper foil. It lives to this day. Glad you got yours sorted, Gareth.

That's the business section, i.e. for resellers. From the same site, in the pages for private citizens: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/vat/index_en.htm "Pay VAT in the country where you shop As a private individual shopping in the EU, you should only pay VAT once, in the country where you make your purchase." Although, just to confuse matters: "Special rules may apply when you buy goods from another EU country for delivery to your country of residence. If the company you buy from sells goods over a certain value to your country, where the goods are delivered, they cannot charge VAT in the country where you make your purchase. Instead, they have to apply VAT in the country where the goods are delivered – VAT of destination. The maximum amount for these cross-border sales is set by each EU country at either €35,000 or €100,000. This means that most major online retailers delivering within the EU will have to apply the VAT of destination rule." So it seems to depend how you buy something and whether you're there in person or buying online. Edit: looking at Thomann, as one who definitely sends more than E100,000 from Germany to UK (other retailers are available) : "Deliveries to EU countries will be charged at their local VAT rate (where applicable). Due to the turnover of our company, EU law requires Musikhaus Thomann to charge the local VAT rate of all EU countries."

Early 80s.. the Polar Bear was sometimes welcoming to a group of us playing Irish music. Good Times!

Further to neilp's post, Knut Guettler, in his (sadly out of print) book A Guide To Modern Double Bass Technique, put this graphic up regarding movements of the whole arm system on reversal from down to up bow. Same thing applies for up to down bow. As he says, "The foundation of all bowing technique is the change of bow." Reverse the big bits first, i.e. torso, shoulder, then on down to the fingers. Think of your arm system as similar to the con rods and piston on a steam locomotive, one whole smooth system made up of its component parts.

.. and closer to home, check out Liane Carroll.. ive heard her with some corking bassists, not least husband Roger Carey, whose vibe of playing I find really grabs me. If and when there's the chance I'd really recommend getting to see them live, or at least buy this dvd! This clip from Brecon Jazz 2006 live dvd is, to this day, one of the most joyous YouTube clips I know:

Another more mainstream favourite.. Chucho Merchan with Eurythmics, live in Sydney 1987. What a band, from front to back!

John Glascock with Jethro Tull. I was picking up on some bits of his bass lines long before I even thought of playing bass myself.

Roddy, Mr.Pinegrove, is also a fine musician himself! ☺️

One of the reasons I first got into EMG s.. with that built in swappability they definitely appealed to my sense of gadgetry!

The term Soapbar covers several different sizes.. what dimensions are the current pickups, what's the string spacing, and are you looking for passive pickups only or also considering active? Also is your bbg completely passive or does it have an active (battery powered) preamp? Some people find its the preamp they don't like and the pickups are fine.

Just saw this thread. I got a custom build from Overwater a couple of years ago, 33 inch scale with the express intention of a low B and as much attack as possible. Bloomin' great is what it is! After much discussion with Chris and Martin I ended up with Ash for the neck, ebony board (did I mention it's unlined fretless?) and through body stringing, and I supplied the EMG pickups and eq and the Roland gk-3b. So not actually a SD, but similar, and the low B is fine!

Personally I have a couple of wall hangers, some hanging stands and some body support stands, and I like them all. I notice more difference in necks for not playing the basses and the atmosphere they've been kept in than for choice of hanger/stand/case.

I have the DC in at least one bass; can't remember just which model is in the neck position, but the overall effect is gorgeous, for my taste at least. I may even have changed the neck pickup once or twice, might be a P5.. that's one of the interesting things with the shape: if you fancy experimenting later you have many options available with no routing. For the few quid difference I'd definitely go for the active EMG over the HZ.

Hmm.. that suggests +9V, 0V, -9V Hopefully someone more into preamp technicalities will be along soon!

If you're getting the octave harmonic it could be you're moving the bow too quickly or lightly, also perhaps try a softer rosin.. my first good rosin was Pops, one of the stickiest going.

Give it a try.. they're different rather than one being per se better. I prefer German myself, but the teacher I used to go to didn't like German at all. Hey, if it's good enough for Gary Karr.. I noticed you can get more easy finesse from the French, as you have all the flexibility of your fingers at work, but more easy power from the German.

Back on topic, series doubles the voltage, which is what you'd want for increased headroom. This is the purpose of running EMG setups at 18V, which they are buit to handle. Parallel keeps you at 9V, doubling the capacity, i.e. battery life. Your preamp will still just take the current it needs, so no effect on your sound. If the MEC gear you have will definitely handle 18V then go for it, otherwise I'd leave it safe and working.

You mean this one? https://images.app.goo.gl/c18AM6dvbF5LZ1358

Enjoy the fretless ride, Chewie! If you're chasing a more DB tonality, then flatwound strings, or even better black nylon tapewounds, get you that bit closer. If you're *really* after that DB tonality, then get a double bass! My only regret with such things is that I waited probably 15 years longer than I might have done, thus denying myself an extra 15 years of fun. Mind you, that was 15 years of getting better on fretless, so nothing actually lost..

I have to confess I'm a big fan of the good folks at Overwater! 🙂 The thing with going to an actual custom builder is that you can choose to have, or not to have, things like exotic woods and sophisticated EQ systems. They'll put just as much skill and attention into building a passive alder slab PJ as a bells-and-whistles bass. You're the client. Of the companies who import, I've heard several good reports of the Bass Centre models which I'm pretty sure are Korean made. Someone on here just got a Guy Pratt Betsy in the last day or two.