TheRev

Thanks everyone! I've mentioned 'Trev' to Mrs Rev and she said things that would get me banned if I repeated them, so I think we'll have to leave that idea on the back burner for now. Loving the DB babygrow! We've got a few music related ones already ('My dad's in the band' and one covered in those litte tiny basses with six strings) but that has got to be the one to have! Anyway, on with more important things; my new bass. As I said, it's a Romanian bass labelled as a Michael Poller. As far as I can work out, this was a brand name for basses produced by the then state-owned factory in Reghin (now producing Hora basses). It was bought new in 1982 and used by the owner in big band and jazz trios right up to his death 7 years ago. His wife kept hold of the bass hoping that their granddaughters might want to play it, but hen that failed to happen she passed it to the sax player from her husband's band to sell on ebay and now it's with me. The previous owner's widow actually phoned me on Monday to say how happy she was that the bass had gone to someone who was going to play it, which I thought was very sweet. [url="http://s22.photobucket.com/user/RevDave/media/P1050891.jpg.html"][/url] It's got what looks like a spruce top (pressed, not carved as I originally thought ) with maple ribs and (flat) back. although the edges are a tad 'foxed' (and possibly badgered), the top and seams are all solid and crack free. [url="http://s22.photobucket.com/user/RevDave/media/P1050893.jpg.html"][/url] I've bought this partly to use as a jazz bass and partly to use as the bass to work on improving my technique. Much as I love Jayne, my 50's ply, it sounds a bit choked once you get into thumb position which makes it a bit more difficult to intonate properly. Just tapping the top of this bass, you can clearly hear how much more resonance it has compared to the laminate. Nice. I've swapped the medium Spiros that the bass came with for my usual Velvet Garbos. This was primarily for reasons of string tension, but I suspect that the Spiros suit this bass better so I'll probably swap back, once I have the action lowered a bit (or man up, whichever comes first...) Those of you interested in such things will notice that it's wearing a Fishman BP100 pickup. These pickups are much derided by almost everyone, but it doesn't actually sound that bad at low volume. Admittedly it's a bit 'electric' sounding, but that can work in your favour and can be treated with a decent EQ. I'll be taking it out to rehearsal tonight to see what it really sounds at a working volume. Dave

"No, there isn't any power to the stage, we assumed you'd bring a generator"

Danny Thompson - obviously (I'll resist the tempation to post the video of the spine tingling version of Solid Air from the Transatlantic Sessions as it'll be the umpteenth time I've put it up...) Also Dan Berglund - I've only recently discovered EST and I'm really enjoying their music and Dans playing style. No-one has (ever) mentioned Ali Friend, who alongside Mr Thompson, was the inspiration for my picking up the big bass. His credits include Beth Orton, Clayhill and the groundbreaking Red Snapper. Clayhill - One Nerve [media]http://youtu.be/c1JQ27c-we4[/media] Red Snapper - Image of You [media]http://youtu.be/8I47pyehwWs[/media]

Definitely a useful and effective bit of kit, whether you make one or buy one. Mine comes to every gig unless I know I'll be playing on a stone floor.

Check out Chris Larkin's Superblen fretted 6 string EUB.

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1384614599' post='2278770'] Happiness! Early xmas pressie to self? [/quote] Sort of - baby Rev will be arriving in 4 weeks, so its my last chance to buy something before all my money is spent on nappies...

Just about to go pick up a 3/4 fully carved Romanian bass that I got for a bit of a bargain on fleabay. One careful owner, bought new in 1982 and free of any cracks or major dinks. I'm quite excited!

I had an AI Ten2 combo for about a year and found that it struggled on anything bigger than a small jazz type gig. It sounded great at low volumes but it didn't work for me when I pushed it. My rig is now PlatPro into a LMII and a BigE MAS45 cab (country/rockabilly band) or an EA Doubler into the BigE for the jazz/soul trio. The BigE cab is fantastic IMHO, amazing clarity and spread in pubs or on festival stages.

Hi Daf. I have the prototypes at the moment. I'll send them on to the next person after my gigs next weekend if that's OK? Initially I wasn't sure that I liked these - probably because of the higer tension and less fundamental (thud?) compared to my usual Rockabillys. Hovever the drummer really likes them as the brighter tone means that he can easily hear the start of the note so I've persevered and I have to say that now I've got used to the tension, the sound is really growing on me. Anything in 1/2 or 1st position on the E string is nice and clear and articulate - probably why Mr dummer likes them so much! Acoustically, they're noticeably louder than my Rockabillys or Velvet Garbos - the E string in particular projects really well. Who's next on the list? I'll send them out Monday 18th. Dave Who's next on the list?

I use a K&M stand. Not cheap but very solidly built and sturdy. It also folds up into a suprisingly small package which is great for gigs.

Here's a bunch of videos from an acoustic gig in a cider shed in deepest, darkest Dorset last weekend. We popped in to do a bit of cider making (the final vid in the sequence) and once all the apples were squished and the juice was flowing, everyone piled into the cider shed to have a drink and have a bit of a singalong. [url="http://www.skimmityhitchers.com"]Skimmity Hitchers[/url] play both types of music - scrumpy [b]and[/b] western. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJwb6mUTKDw&feature=share&list=UUtgbux4nnGF4bIYt21ZZKXg[/media]

This Pfretszchner is practically sculpture, to my eyes: It's a shame the ebay bass isn't the real deal - if it was an ALCOA you could have bought it and sold it on to one of the rockabilly boys over on Talkbass for a ton of money.

That picture actually made me feel a bit sick.... Good luck with getting it fixed.

Cheers guys! The bass is an East German ply from the late 60s as far as I can work out - probably from the Musima factory judging by the dovetail neck joint and the V profile neck. I had a bit of work done to the neck and fingerboard and it plays lovely now. It looks a lot prettier in the pictures than it does in real life - it's got a fair few battle scars! As for having a ball... I'll be honest with you boys- I don't remember a whole lot about the gig in the last three pictures. We got to the festival around 2pm, the sun was shining, the mood was high and the scrumpy was free. We went on at 10pm....

I've just been compiling the summer's festy gig photos to put up on the band website - got some nice ones....# [url="http://s22.photobucket.com/user/RevDave/media/9247_10202154268322011_388159949_n.jpg.html"][/url] [URL=http://s22.photobucket.com/user/RevDave/media/prizefight0030.jpg.html][IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b329/RevDave/prizefight0030.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s22.photobucket.com/user/RevDave/media/582601_510185225684492_1223943444_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b329/RevDave/582601_510185225684492_1223943444_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s22.photobucket.com/user/RevDave/media/384666_399405276840543_1736923343_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b329/RevDave/384666_399405276840543_1736923343_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s22.photobucket.com/user/RevDave/media/970841_399405300173874_933132377_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b329/RevDave/970841_399405300173874_933132377_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s22.photobucket.com/user/RevDave/media/429828_399405106840560_1429082490_n.jpg.html][IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b329/RevDave/429828_399405106840560_1429082490_n.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Hmm, at least you have a running dialogue going on - it's not like you paid in August and have heard nothing since. These custom builders are usually one man outfits, so things like supplier delays or ilness can have a big knock on effect. it's possible that your order is packaged up and ready to go on his workbench, but a couple of days off ill or hanging around waiting for parts means that he's now behind on the 12 other orders he has and he hasn't had time to nip down to the post office or check his email every day. I had a similar delay experience with a US builder. The original 4-6 week delivery ended up being something like 13 weeks due to illness/sudden increase in orders/parts supply problems and the fact that the guy stil had a 'day job' to go to. I think a little bit more patience is justified in this instance. The wait will be worth while - it certainly was for me.

Like TPJ, I only have a beater bass. I've had far too many drunk punters trip over the monitors and into my bass to consider anything else. I do have an Eminence EUB that I use for the classier gigs that i plkay with my jaz-soul trio, but I've also taken that to festivals for the obvious portability reasons.

From Wikipeadia: [i]Household ammonia is dilute ammonium hydroxide, which is also an ingredient of numerous other [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleaning_agent"]cleaning agents[/url], including many window cleaning formulas. In addition to use as an ingredient in cleansers with other cleansing ingredients, ammonium hydroxide in water is also sold as a cleaning agent by itself, usually labeled as simply "ammonia". It may be sold plain, lemon-scented (and typically colored yellow), or pine-scented (green). Commonly available ammonia that has had soap added to it is known as "Cloudy ammonia".[/i] So what you have been making is soapy ammonium hydroxide with added soap. You'd get the same result with adding a bigger dash of washing up liquid to household ammoia.

Glad to help, its what we're all here for. I had this issue on three occasions before I worked out what the problem was!

I know this one! The mounting nut for the input jack can work loose causing your jack plug to not quite reach the contacts. You might have to do a bit of disassembly to tighten it up properly, but it'll work fine afterwards.I ended up replacing the stock nuts with lower profile ones, not had a problem since.

Blast Cult basses are pretty special - they're a modern version of the old King basses much beloved of touring rockabiily bands in the 50s and 60s. If you're playing rockabilly, bluegrass or counrty type stuff then a high-end ply is a much better choice than a solid wood bass.

I have Innovation strings on both my basses- Rockabillys on the ply DB and Silver Slaps on the Eminence. I really like the tension of the rockabillys and the strong fundamental sits perfectly in the mix of my scrumpy'n'western band. I've only recently put the Silver Slaps on the Eminence -my jazz/soul trio is on a break so I thought I'd work on my slapping. It turns out that the low tension of these strings works really well with the inherent brighter sound and greater sustain of the Eminence. I'm also a massive fan of Velvet strings, particularly the Garbos - they sound amazing on my East German ply when playing solo or recorded, but they don't suit the sound of the band.

If I had your money I'd be driving over to Thwaites in Watford and The Contrabass Shoppe in Walton-on-Thames to try out everything that they have within your budget - you might just find 'the one'.

+1 to wot BRX said. Getting a pub to pay you decent money for a free to punters gig isn't rocket science but it does require hard work. As long as you can bring in enough people to cover your fee and ensure that enough booze goes across the bar to make it worth the landlord opening the doors, then you'll get paid.