TheRev

The Duke basses are certainly aimed at the blues/rockabilly crowd, but I imagine you could play anything you like on them, provided you like the feel and sound (with your strings/pickup/amp/cab/etc/etc). I'm liking the slimline composite - looks like the perfect tour bass. The Peacemaker is a bit of a beast!

The obvious contenders are the Yamaha SLB 100 and 200 or the Gage Eminence. Both are around the £2k mark, but are about as close to the DB experience as you'll get with an EUB. I don't know if Bassix are still in business, but their New Tech EUB looked pretty cool and cost closer to £1k

Yes, you can bow silver slaps...but it's a pretty harsh sound compared to orchestral strings. You'll need to roughen up the string wrap between the bridge and the end of the fingerboard with some fine grade sandpaper to give the bow something to grip.

Not especially keen on violin corners but otherwise I likey.

[quote name='Marc S' timestamp='1484228060' post='3213720'] TheRev has a good point - I started off with a Stagg EUB. Not long after this, I bought an acoustic DB. Since then, although I've changed both - I still have both an EUB and a DB BTW. I wouldn't say all EUB's sound the same when amplified, as I have an Eminence EUB, and that can sound very DB-like.... I also like what I've heard from the Yamaha SLB [/quote] I didn't mean that all EUBs sound the same - more that an amplified double bass and a (good) EUB sound the same. I also have an Eminence - with the right set of strings on it sounds just like my ply DB on stage.

[quote name='No. 8 Wire' timestamp='1484178415' post='3213414'] A Zellor Stentor bass with a pickup and pre came up really close to me at a reasonable price so I've gone for that. Possibly a mistake for the reasons I was looking for a composite folding one but at least it gets me started and I can find out if playing upright is for me or not. Thanks for the help and suggestions, I'm just off to watch a load of youtube vids on how to hold a double bass! [/quote] I wouldn't worry about it - I've owned 2 EUBs for portability/storage/'they all sound the same when you amplify them', but I've still ended up with 2 double basses. The heart wants what the heart wants and one you play the proper big bugger, you don't really want to play anything else. I still use my EUB for rehearsal and the odd gig where space is severely restricted. The Stentor basses are pretty good. I'm currently looking after our guitarists' Stentor Student 2 bass while he moves house and it's very nice indeed - lovely shape to the neck (for me) and good tone. He may not get it back....

The K&k Bassmax is a decent sounding pickup thats easy to install. It's also the hottest (loudest) pickup I've used, so if you want a strong signal, that's the one to go for. The Fishman Full Circle is very highly regarded but needs to be installed by a Luthier as it replaces your bridge adjusters. If you don't have bridge adjusters then, well, you can't have a Full Circle! If you have steel strings, then you have the option of using magnetic pickups. I use a Krivo - it reproduces the acoustic sound of my bass really well, has high feedback resistance and can swapped between basses without any modifications to your bass.

I like it. If it was local I'd be all over it for £125, even if just so I can tell people I have a Woody.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1483370976' post='3206602'] I think most of us in that situation unless it was a very quiet practice or jam at home would still use some form of amp, just a little 1x10 or something like a MarkBass combo, if the voice is not in a PA then it is possible though. [/quote] I've played completely acoustically loads of times and it's not so much a problem being heard out front, but hearing yourself is a different matter! Acoustic instruments are designed to project sound forwards - unfortunately you have to stand behind them to play the buggers. I use a Roland Microcube so I can hear all my duff notes clearly.

I have a hiscox case too, if the previous offer doesn't work out.

I was in an acoustic duo in which I mostly played fretless bass. I was saving up for a custom fretless (a Shuker I think) when the other guy lost interest/disappeared up his own arse, so I was left with about about £600 for a fretless bass and no band to play it in. I was listening to a lot of Danny Thompson (Pentangle/John Martyn) and Ali Friend (Red Snapper/Beth Orton/Clayhill) so I thought, 'bugger it, I'll buy a double bass'. There was an Aria SWB EUB on the Basschat (or might have been Bassworld back then) for sale forum - it was £600 and it was less than an hour away, so I bought it. Within two months, I was in two new, regularly gigging bands and I've never looked back. [quote name='Burns-bass' timestamp='1483001366' post='3203957'] Favourite players? Hard one - I'd probably say the thing that kicked me into getting a DB was listening to Thompson play with John Martyn after rediscovering Solid Air. This is live which loses some of the enchanting quality of the album track, but gains some of its own allure: [url="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_Utj4Aljc"]https://m.youtube.co...h?v=Kg_Utj4Aljc[/url] Interested to hear from others. [/quote] Try this version: [url="https://youtu.be/ohmSPv-rtSQ"]https://youtu.be/ohmSPv-rtSQ[/url] This is what got me hooked....

I would think that the Bassix bass is primarily an EUB that has acoustic properties (much like the Eminence bass) BUT I've never played one,so I'm by no means an authority on the subject. You could email Alan at Bassix and ask his opinion? The Chadwick folding bass has a lot of good things said about it over on TalkBass, but at £4k, it might be more than you want to spend.

I used to have an Aria SWB and never had a problem with standard 3/4 strings not fitting. Generally, found that synthetic strings sounded more DB-ish than steel and synthetic orchestral DB strings sounded best of all. I had Velvet Garbos on mine but I reckon Evah Weich or Innovation braided would be a good (cheaper) choice.

I have two basses, one an East German plywood bass from the 60s and the other a carved Hungarian bass from the 80s. I bought both locally and both cost me just under £600. Admittedly I had to spend amother £200 odd on each for setup work, but my point is that there are decent basses available for £600, but you have to wait until the right one turns up for sale and you'll need to be prepared to travel. If you have to return your current bass in January, then renting may be the way forward as the chances of the 'right' bass coming up for sale in the next few weeks is pretty slim As far as new basses are concerned, some of the £1000 range ones (Strunal/Hora/Stentor) are perfectly good instruments for the money - I hired a Stentor for a US tour and it was perfectly fine, but I've not played a £600 new bass that i felt was worth the money.

[quote name='pete.young' timestamp='1482334018' post='3199675'] Anyone ever seen a DB53 before? I haven't! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bass-Collection-DB53-5-String-Bass-Guitar/291976838297?_trksid=p2047675.c100012.m1985&_trkparms=aid%3D777003%26algo%3DDISCL.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D38661%26meid%3D9f8ffed562bc41148d5e7c7ed046acdc%26pid%3D100012%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D262767734236 [/quote] That was the last generation of dedign, just before the brand died. There was a public competition to design the successor to the SB series and that was the result.

I've learnt even if your guitarist leaves the band 10 days before a tour, you can replace them and do the tour as if nothing had happened.... If people are being dicks and keep threatening to leave if they don't get their way, call their bluff and say 'bye then!' You'll both be surprised at how un-essential they are.

[quote name='Downdown' timestamp='1482151344' post='3198002'] Yes, but not mic or signal cables. DMX cables should be twisted pair cables and the last 'output' in the daisy chain should be terminated with a 120 ohm resistor (inside an XLR connector). You'll likely get away with using short XLR mic leads, but for long cable runs or lots of lights if you don't use the correct cable then the DMX control messages will likely become unreliable leading to erratic operation of the lighting, which will be VERY frustraiting on top of trying to decipher the various DMX modes in the first place! [/quote] I did not know that. To be fair, I'm not trying to do anything more complicated than make the pretty light more redderer..

I have a box full of these (or similar) https://www.thomann.de/gb/eurolite_led_sls_180_rgb_18x1w_floor.htm You can daisy chain them together with XLR Cables, set the first one to respond to sound and the rest as 'slaves' so that they'll all change colour at the same time. You can also connect to a DMX controller if you have the time/can be arsed to set up scenes. For a small stage, I'll set up 4 on the floor, pointing up, for bigger stages I'll have 4 mounted on a T-bar at the back of the stage and then 2-4 dotted around on the floor. Personally, I've moved away from the 'follow sound' setting as it can look a bit school disco-ish, so now I set up the RGB profile to give a single colour 'wash' for 'texture' (quite into reddish-orange at the moment) with perhaps 2 behind the drummer set to white to give us something to see by. If you want some movement as well, then two of something like this: https://www.thomann.de/gb/showtec_xs_1rgbw_mini_beam_1x10w.htm At each side of the stage (set on follow sound and linked to each other) will give some dynamics without going full school disco. You may want to have a chat with the band and find out what they actually expect from a lighting system. If they want fades/strobes/flashing all at cruicial points in the music, then that's a programmed system (and a fixed setlist....) or a lighting tech.

John Martyn's 'Solid Air' was about Nick Drake [url="https://youtu.be/ohmSPv-rtSQ"]https://youtu.be/ohmSPv-rtSQ[/url]

[quote name='Oopsdabassist' timestamp='1482063398' post='3197268'] Biggest violin I EVAH saw!! [/quote] It's actually a massive 'cello..... Thanks for coming along and taking the time for photos Sylvia - cracking good stuff! Dave

USA Sterlings are pretty rare beasts - I bought mine in 1999/2000 after finally managing to try one at the Birmingham guitar show, but I still had to place an order and wait for it to be shipped over form the USA. I've not had a lot of experience playing a Fender Jazz, so I can't offer a direct comparison, but from what I recall, the Jazz has a 'V' profile compared to the Sterling's 'C' profile. The Sterling neck is narrow but chunky - much thicker from front to back compared to the Japanese/Korean built basses that I was used to playing at the time. However, I do find it a very comfortable neck to play, and any time another bassist has played it, they also comment on how nice the neck feels. You can pick up a second hand Sterling for around £800 as they're not especially popular at the moment, but given they're £1500 new (if you can find one) £800 is a bit of a bargain for a very nice bass (IMHO).

Um. Rehearse with the band? If my band haven't played for a while, I pop on one of our CDs and play along to the whole thing. We haven't gigged for three weeks and have three gigs next week so I'll be putting in a couple of one hour sessions today and tomorrow.

I'd like to learn to play the mountain dulcimer. Just need an extra day in the week.

I have a Bassworld sticker on my bass case.

Thomastic Spirocore weichs are a good starting point - easy playing tension with good solid fundamental. If you prefer something a bit more traditional sounding, then a synthetic string like Evah Pirazzi weich or D'addario Zyex are a good choice.