TheRev

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1351787110' post='1855414'] Play a C on the A string in half position with your left hand little/third finger. Without looking at the neck and focussing your mind on where the finger is positioned, shift position and play [i]the same[/i] C using the first finger of your left hand. Your first (fretting) finger is now occupying exactly the same space previously occupied by your little finger. Now reverse the process. [/quote] Oooh, that's a good one! When I'm feeling particulary masochistic, I like to practice vomits (do a search on the DB forum) with different intervals - so first set are chord tones - octaves, 7th, 5th, 3rd. Do this in major and minor keys, then move onto thesame exercise using scale tones. In addition to training your intonation it also hardens up your calluses nicely.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1351776100' post='1855211'] Honestly though I see bassists who've been playing ten years or more and gig regularly and still play out of tune sometimes. Maybe they can't hear themselves properly or maybe they get fatigued or maybe they're just being a bit lazy on some gigs I don't know, but I've heard a lot of out of tune playing from even very good bassists. [/quote] This makes me feel a whole lot better - I played a horribly out of tune solo at rehearsal last night, partly due to fatigue (I'd already done a gig in the afternoon), partly due to not being able to hear myself (still getting to grips with a new amp, so the EQ meant that anything above the E on the G string was inaduible) and partly due to laziness.... [quote name='invicta59' timestamp='1351779728' post='1855282'] Markers on the side of the neck? [/quote] Hmm. My EUB has permanent side markers and to be honest, it made me lazy - I didn't have to learn/hear where the notes were so I didn't bother. If I could go back, I'd order the thing with out the markers and suffer the two or three months it would have taken to get my ear in. However - on stages where the monitoring is a bit iffy/boomy, I do have some little sticky dots that i pop on the side of the neck of my DB, usually at the G on the E string, just to help stay in tune. I wouldn't call it cheating as such as I'd rather play in tune and entertain people than feel smug about doing it 'properly', but I do sometimes feel a bit guilty. I suppose I'm trying to say that position markers can be useful when learning or in difficult sonic environments, but it's very, very easy to become reliant on them. To th OP, I'd suggest limiting markers to those positions where you seem to be having the most intonation problems and giving yourself a time limit for removing them.

Play scales in lots of diferent keys, learn to use your ears rather than your eyes to tell you where you are on the fingerboard - you can learn this by playing lots of scales in different keys...... The thumb stop at the bottom of the scroll and where the neck joins the body are good reference points. Neil Tarton's book, 'beginning scales' is very good for getting to work on scales in different positions.

I'll probably get shot down for this but........ ....if you're on a tight budget and you want to get playing like, now, and you don't know anyone with enough knowledge to help you buy a good second hand bass, then you could do a lot worse than buying one of the cheap Gear4Music or Thomann basses and a set of Superior Bassworks strings. The bass will not be great, but it will function. The stock steel strings are pretty high tension, which makes the bass creak like a Spanish galleon under full sail, but a set of low tension Superior Bassworks strings wiil sort out the creaking and groaning and general feeling of impending implosion and get you slapping for around £400. Bear in mind that there's a possibility that afer a couple of year's playing the bass could well fold up in on itself mid gig (though this can happen with £2k+ basses on tour...) and you will have to throw it away when you eventually upgrade as no-one wil buy it from you.

No mention of the Sterling at all? Humph!

Yep. I had some spare cash, saw an Aria EUB for sale and bought it. Five years on, I'm exclusively playing double bass, two or three gigs per week.

A cheaper alternative to the K&K Bassmax is the Tacoman, available from superiorbassworks.com. It has a lower output than the Bassmax but, to my ears, has a flatter, cleaner response. At around £40 inc p&p, you'll have cash left over for a decent preamp.

Jayne is 5 1/2 inches.

Jayne has a V neck - albeit slightly rounded after some sanding to take out a couple of dents. I quite like it, and prefer it to my Eminence neck. But then I have small paws and find those big chunky D profiles far to much hard work. I'll get the tape out after work and measure up.

Bugger. I'm gigging in Dorset most weekends, so ordinarily, I'd stop overnight in Dorchester and call into Sherborne on my way back to Bristol...... But on this particular weekend I'm in Tavistock on Friday and Bristol on the Saturday. As a home gig usually means a party, the chances of me making it to Sherborne at midday on Sunday are slim to none. However, I shall be with you all in spirit. For all you Bass Bash newbies & virgins: GO! You don't have to be an amazing player, you don't even have to pick up a bass if you dont want, but given the quality of gear that turns up to these events, I strongly recommend you lay hands on anything & everything you can!

Another seamless Clarky transaction - a set of Kolstien Heritage to Clarky with cash and a free set (well, 3/4 of a set) of silver slaps to me. All done in the best possible taste.

Does it have to be a wedge? There are lots of little lightweight cabs available that work really well for double bass - EA Wizzy or Barefaced Midget for example. If you go for something with high sensitivity, you'll get the most out of your 100w. If you're serious about building something, I really recommend either a BFM Omni 10.5 / Jack or one of the little Fearful cabs.

I have them and they're ready to go to the next person. Who's up next?

Nice one Ash!

[quote name='essexbasscat' timestamp='1348831674' post='1818800'] I'm also nervous about free standing DB's, ergo my quest for advice from seasoned DB players. I'm just a bit concerned there won't always be a handy corner. The other worry is the potential for someone to put their foot through a DB lying on it's side as they walk around watching the girls go by [/quote] I did have my bass knocked off it's stand once, but that was by a pissed up punter who thought it was his divine right to get on stage to have his picture taken with my bass. Never had a problem (touch wood) when I've laid the bass on it's side on the stage but I flinch every time someone steps over it - particularly if they're carrying a monitor or unravelling a cable. I always feel better if it's on a stand.

I played a stage at Camp Bestival this year where the provided bass amp was an Ampeg SVT with a 4 x 10. Sounded great with no feedback problems. The dude from the John Butler Trio uses a SVT/4*10 rig as well. Admittedly, neither he nor I are as jazz cattish as Stanley Clarke.

Old Indian jazz proverb: 'Do not judge a string until you have walked for 200 bars in a sweaty club'

I use a K&M stand [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/km_141_mkii.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/km_141_mkii.htm[/url] Not cheap at £70 but it's extremely rugged and folds up suprisingly small. The inmages on Thomann's website make it look a bit spindly but I can assure you that it's a proper hefty beast.

I had two wedding gigs yesterday, which meant leaving home at 10am. Everyone arrived at my place on time so no big rush. I loaded the bass into the drummers car, the singer brought out the stands that I'd set out in the middle of the music room 'is that everything?' I ask, 'yep' days singer and off we went to meet the guitarist 60 miles away. Meet guitarist, transfer everything into the van and off we go, with plenty of time to hit our 1pm set up time. Get to the venue - nice stage with an easy load in. It's all going so well...... and then I realise that I've left my gig bag at home. This is the bag containing my amp, preamp, cables, tuner, mics, everything! So, no choice but to plug my Bassmax straight into the desk and use the wedges for monitoring. The sound was nowhere near as bad as expected, but the wedges were breaking up a bit under the extra bass. It wasn't a disaster, but from now on I'm double and triple checking when I leave the house. And don't rely on singers, they know nothing!

I'll be finished with the Honey set this week, so if no one else is in line for the silvers I'll have them. Dave.

AAAHHHH! I have a gig on the same night as the Bristol date. Arse.

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1347547969' post='1802303'] Has this - or does this ever happen? I've heard it used as a carrot to get bands to play a bigger place than they would normally, but IF the "promoter" was genuinely interested before forking out for a gig he would make a point of catching you at one of your usual gigs, n'est pas? [/quote] Yep - we do this every time we approach a new venue. They get us for a reduced introductory fee which then goes up to the full fee once we've shown that we can deliver the goods.

If you have written confirmation of the booking then you should chase him for the full fee. If you're a member of the MU, they will be able to help. Obviously, this so-called promoter won't want to pay up, so it will all depend on how bloody minded and persistent you are. Unfortunately, there's a lot of these bell-end promoters around these days. They act on the premise that your band should be falling over with gratitude for the opportunity to play in their venue. Unless you are desperate for gigs I would have nothing to with this anus or any event that he is associated with.