TheRev

Back when I was thinking of trading my Musicman in for a Fender Jazz, I A/B'ed a Squier CV against the just released 2012 American Standard Jazz bass. The Squier was about £360 and the American Std about £1200. The American Standard had a nicer finish on the neck and a smoother, rounder sounding neck pickup, but it was nowhere near 3 times nicer than the Squier.

I think this is a great idea as this is what happens when bass loading goes wrong. Luckily, for me I'd had the soundpost glued in place about 6 years ago after one too many on stage encounters with over-refreshed punters so I was back up and running in less than 10 minutes.

For a more contemporary take on the classic bass/drums/piano jazz trio, check out anything by E.S.T. and GoGo Penguin.

I know where you're coming from. We once had a manager/agent who could only manage dates with an Excel spreadsheet. Even though we gave him access to our Google calendar, he still insisted I maintain an Excel version for him to work from.

The cats are alive and well at every GoGo Penguin gig I've been to.

I'd be interested in your Golden Slaps if Jack isn't. Just sayin'.

I'm not sure which would make me feel more uncomfortable - the idea of the amp straddling two cabs on wheels or the 'offset' look of the cab firmly on one of the cabs. Gotta be stacked I suppose.

I think I'm going to miss this years' bash as well. Technically I'm available, but it' my birthday on the Friday, then I'm playing in That London on Saturday and may not be in a suitable condition to travel on Sunday.

The 'Which cab for double bass' question is almost as much fun as the 'which pickup for double bass' question. The Euphonic Audio Wizzy cabs are reported to work well for DB, but I've not tried one. Personally. I have a couple of Big E MAS (Mike Arnapol Soundworks) cabs - a 4x5 and a 4x6 and I'm very hapy with them and would be lost without them....but they aren't cheap. Other cabs that I've tried and liked are the Barefaced One10 and a TC Electronic 2x10 that I borrowed for a couple of gigs and was very pleasantly surprised at how well it handled the notes on the E string. The current opinion seems to be that lots of small drivers are better for double bass than one big driver, so something like the Phil Jones cabs could work well. A couple of manufactures have cabs with multiple 8" drivers, which get good reports for DB. In particular, there's a thread over on Talkbass about how good the Peavey Max 208 is for DB. https://www.talkbass.com/threads/new-amp-day-peavey-max-bass-208.1391005/

Nope, that's a Tune Bass Maniac. The lower horn on a Bass Collection is stubbier and curves downwards and the Tune headstock was longer, narrower and pointier than the Bass Collections' The Bass Collection bass was a copy of the Bass Maniac,so the designs are very, very similar.

Aesthetics aside, I'd love to have a go on a Wish Bass.

There's no benefit in keeping a bass in an 'unplayable' state, either financially or historically. Having a new-to-you bass set up to your preference is absolutely the norm for double bass players. The only barriers would be if the bass is already in such a bad state that the cost of getting it to a playable state is greater than the cost of a new bass or if the person you pay to do the work has no idea of how to do the work properly. If it's a nice bass inn good condition and the only issue is a high action I wouldn't hesitate for a moment have the bridge re cut or replaced and the fingerboard shot. There are normal occurrences in the lifespan of a double bass and don't detract from their value all if done correctly.

I find the Gage Realist to be far too bass heavy to use without some sort of high pass filter in the signal chain. If you don't have a high pass filter on your preamp (I use an FDeck HPF3) then you could try swapping the pickup element to the treble side of the bridge to reduce the bass bias. In my experience, the Realist is sonically more suited to arco than pizzicato.

This was what greeted us after a 5 hour drive through 4 different countries across the flattest landscape I've ever seen. No hills for 5 hours, not a single one...

52 last year. 51 the year before that. Much like @Cat Burrito, we explored new opportunities, including a decommissioned nuclear power station in Germany and Stoke.

On Weymouth quay at midnight. Buzzing crowd and very few fights (for Weymouth).

Im doing a big outdoor gig on the quay in Weymouth. Im not sure we thought this one through...

Beese's riverside bar in Bristol. Lovely old place with a great beer garden right on the river. It does actually have a car park but its about 40ft above the pub, which you reach by 60-odd uneven steps. If you dont fancy the steps, then you can take a water taxi but only if your set finishes before 10 so you can get the ferry back across the river to the ferry car park before it closes.

I have four between today and Sunday....

We'll be doing one of our two Christmas parodies -- either 'Cider night' or 'all I want for Christmas is booze'.. Probably 'Cider night' as it's basically a 12-bar and we won't have time to rehearse it before Thursday's gig.

A Girl Like You - Edwyn Collins She Sells Sanctuary- The Cult

What do the switches do?

We like this one a lot. The quality isn't great, but it definitely captures the moment. Taken at Dingwalls in Camden last December.

Mine sounds better with the E siide plugged and the G unplugged.