TheRev

Looking forward to the Stag and Hounds gig on Thursday- should be bringing some additional bodies as well. Dave

I had the same experience. I used to run my plat into the fx loop on my LMII but it's louder and a much better sound if I go in the instrument input. Been running it that way for a couple of years now with no problems. Dave

I wouldnt recommend the BP100, the Bassmax is a vastly superior sounding pickup. There's no reason why you can't hold off on buying a plat pro for now and see if the pickup sounds good to you going straight into your amp. You can save a bit more cash in the interim to buy a plat pro if you eventually decide you need it. Alternatively you could do a lot worse than a Fdeck HPF. Normally you'd have to import one from the USA but a basschatter is offering to build to order for atound £60.

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1393582035' post='2382124'] I find it slightly disturbing, Rev, that your 50's DB is called Jayne, that being my wife's name (with the unusual letter 'y' in the middle)! [/quote] The origin of the name is actually quite disturbing..... my bass is a 50/60s blonde that has had a broken neck. Jayne Mansfield was also a 50/60s blonde and you can look the rest up for yourselves.....

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1393542134' post='2381842'] Do people really do that? I did give one of my basses a jokey name, because it's German and it's a double bass I call it Uberbassenbassen, but it's not like I've decided "Oh it's definitely a Gloria"... [/quote] My double basses have names, but my electrics don't. Probably because double basses feel more like individuals and you hug them a lot more.

Ohh, that's nice.... The strings definitely aren't Honeys, they have blue silks. The Strunal basses ship with Saturn strings, so if the seller hasn't changed the strings that's probably what they are.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1393428745' post='2380191'] Is it still in the box? [/quote] Of course not, what would be the point of that? It's in a glass case.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1393420726' post='2379980'] Beautiful? It's a pain inducing money pit [/quote] Some people like that sort of thing.... My 50s ply hasn't cost me any money since I had the soundpost glued in.

You don't necessarily need a preamp with the bassmax but you might find you prefer the sound with one. I find it a bit honky without a preamp.

[quote name='Norm' timestamp='1393263830' post='2377968'] Yes, it was great to try all the diffrent kit. I've just had a handful of haddock slapped round my chops by checking the prices of s/h double basses! £12000 !!!! Sobered me up quick sharp. ;-) [/quote] Bollocks to that! Have a look Thwaite's of Watford website - they have a 'basses under £1500' section with a bunch of Hungarian basses and an East German Musima bass like mine.

[quote name='jimrs2k' timestamp='1393261975' post='2377933'] Norm, i really wanted a go on the upright, but i was too shy. Lol. Love the idea but a little short on the skills me thinks, but it sounded lush through my kit and am also very tempted to dip my toe into the upright world ? Need more disposable income,. Lol. [/quote] Aw mate, you should have had a go - no need to be shy about it. Im playing in the Forresters Arms in East Coker (about 6 miles from the bass bash venue) this coming Saturday, so if you want a go on the big bass, you're more than welcome to come along on Saturday night and have a wee play.

[quote name='Norm' timestamp='1393246094' post='2377668'] +1 TheRev, having a go on your superb double bass has sparked something, I'm going to have to start saving! [/quote] You're more than welcome mate. See you on the double bass forum very soon.....you belong to us now....

Cheers to Keith for arranging everything, what a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

I've got to detour via Glastonbury so I won't make the 12 o'clock start, but should be there by 1pm if that's OK? I'm bringing my ply double bass, a BigE MAS45 cab and the EA Doubler amp. Will also bring my Eminence EUB if I can fit it in on top of the baby's pram...

[quote name='Buzzy' timestamp='1392821457' post='2373098'] Any recommendations of a particular model would be welcome. I'm looking to play Blues/Country/Swing rather than Jazz or classical. [/quote] The Thomann 2W TN is very good value for money, but would take up most of your budget. Having said that, as long as you let the guys at Thomann know what you want in tems of setup when you prder, then your new bass should be playable right ot of the box without having to take it to a luthier first. You will eventually need to try new strings, but that's the sort of thing that you take time over - allow the strings to settle in and give them some proper playing time before you decide if they suit the bass or not. There are always plenty of second hand strings available on the for sale forums so you can experiment without having to shell out £150 each time. If you have 1K just for the bass, then my choice would be the Thomann 2W TN. Or, if you want to go ply, the Thomann 2 TN. The tineo wood (TN) back and sides apparntly give the bass more resonance than you would normally get from laminated maple. If your grand needs to cover the bass, pickup and a preamp then I'd be looking at the Thomann 1E (probably the blonde, cos, well, you would, wouldn't you?) which would leave enough of your budget for a Fishman Plat Pro and a K&K Bassmax pickup. Obviously it's not ideal to buy a bass without trying if first and you'd get better value for money if you hunted around for a nice old (50s or 60s) second hand ply bass, but you could be waiting a long time for one to turn up and then you'd need to know what to look for in terms of damage to make sure you didn't end up with something that was just fire wood waiting to happen. If you want a decent bass now, then you should be OK with the Thomann 2/Strunal basses -I've not read any bad reports about them during my search for information.

It's certainly a striking combination and it was a bit weird looking at first, but I barely notice it now. I'll sort out a photo and some recordings this weekend if I get the chance.

Every band I've left has fallen apart afterwards, so no. Not sure what that says about me...

The Thomann 2 basses are Czech Strunals, the Thomann 22 basses are Romanina Horas. One of the local jazz dudes uses a Thomann Strunal 2W TN (the solid top, Tineo wood back and sides) and it sounds pretty good to me . I was all set up to order one myself but then I found a solid Romanian bass locally. Both the Strunals and the Horas are good quality basses, which one you prefer is down to personal taste.

I believe Rabbie has one. He had it up for sale last year and I would have bought it from him if it hadn't meant a 10 hour round trip for me. Never tried one though....

I have the recorder set....

I have the recorder set....

Okeydoke, I'm ready to pass these on to the next person on the list. Step up please! I liked the sound and feel of these - essentially the same as the Rockabillys on my working bass, but the higher tension gives a clearer tone, particulary with the E and A. The strong fundamental still comes through, but with more clarity and sustain. Tension wise, they feel a bit lower than Spiro mediums (close to Superflexibles) so if you like playing Spiros but want a tone that doesn't sound like a set of knackered springs from a Fender Twin Reverb then these could be the strings for you... Ultimately, I found the G tension a bit to high for me.....but then I hit on an amazing idea! I really like the super silver G and D, but find the A and E to be just a smidge lacking in definition (the sound of the A string when tuned to A# is great - drop back to A and the magic disappears...) sooooo, I removed the G and D Ultras and replaced with G and D Super silvers. The result is a very tasty combination of solid well-defined low end and smooth jazzy top end. Niiice.

EUBs with a small hollow body (BSX, Eminence) get closer to the proper DB sound (and feel) than the solid stick basses, but, as has been said, string choice and playing technique can take you a long way. Of the 'solid' EUBs (some have a hollow acoustic chamber in the body), the Yamaha SLB, The [url="http://www.alter-ego.it/english/instruments/double-bass.html"]AlterEgo[/url] and the [url="http://www.sandarac.co.uk/instruments/volante-bass.html"]Volante[/url] all sound very authentic in the right hands. [media]http://youtu.be/Vi1Ns06kkeM[/media] There's also the general opinion that the louder you get, the more pickup and less bass you hear, to the point that above a certain volume an EUB and a double bass with a pickup will sound the same (at leat to the average bod in the audience). I use a ply double bass, a carved double bass and an Eminence EUB - they all sound different. I've got some very authentic double bass sounds out of the Eminence and some very 'big fretless' sounds out of the carved double bass, it comes down to the strings (low tension synthetic strings & a high action on the Eminence gives a sound close to real DB, Spiro mittels on my carved bass sound like a nasal fretless bass) and playing technique. If i've been spending a lot of time with my workhorse bass (ply with Innovation rockabillys) and then take the carved bass out for a bit of jazz time, i find my left hand technique will have got lazy and, coupled with the higher tension strings on the carved bass, the sound will be thin with less air and wood in the tone. All things being equal, I will always take an acoustic bass out with me. If the onstage volume isn't too loud, then I can still hear some air and wood in the sound and I prefer being able to feel that big body vibrating against me. The EUB comes out if I'm taking the bus to a gig, or if stage space is limited or (and this is rare) if the song need a lot of sustained notes. If the problem is just the lugging around of a 6ft lump of wood, what about a [url="http://www.foldingbass.com/"]Chadwick folding bass[/url]? I'm quite tempted to replace my regular gigging bass with one of these, just so I don't have a bloody great scroll poking betwen the front seats of the car.

I use a Markbass LMII and a 4x5 cab and I play on some big stages.