TheRev

Great review! Looking forward to taking these for a spin.

The thing with pickups is that they vary depending on the bass, strings and playing style. I have a Realist, a Bassmax and a Tacoman at the moment. The Realist sounds great but is more prone to feedback (mainly due to it's placement under the bridge foot) than the others. Tha Bassmax has less definition than the Realist, but is much more feedback resistant and is a lot easier to swap from bass to bass. Personally I like the Bassmax a lot as I can get loud enough on stage and swapping the element from the bass to the treble side of the bridge gives me either a thumpy rockabilly tone or a singing jazz tone. The Tacoman pup was cheap and it sounds very similar to the Bassmax to my ears but the output is much lower, so I can't really use it live. These things are handmade though, so it may just be my unit that's a bit low. I suspect that the Full Circle is one of the best pickups out there at the moment, but the price of the pickup, plus the expense of fitting an adjustable bridge if you haven't already got one, makes it an expensive choice.

As a starting point, you can't really go wrong with a K&K Bassmax. If you don't like it you'll easily sell it on.

[quote name='ChrisF' timestamp='1339365807' post='1687630'] Seriously considering a new Thomann.....at least I can just buy a pickup and play the darn thing....but I dunno yet [/quote] Yeah, this might be the path of least resistance. It may not be a brilliant bass, but at least you'll be playing..... TBH, for all that we bang on about not buying CCBs, I don't think many of us on here have much experience of them. Yes, the G4M bass I've got is crap compared to my 50s ply, but with a decent set of strings and a set up, it would probably be playable enough. Maybe you should buy the Thomann bass and prove us all wrong!

Not good?

You can buy endpins and gigbags fairly cheaply - Thomman is a good pace to start, as is the for sale forum here. If it's just the metal rod that's missing, then no problem, you can fit that yourself. If the collar is missing as well, then you might need to take the bass to a luthier to fit your new one. Not a huge expense, but worth bearing in mind if you're on a strict budget. When you see it, check for cracks in the front and back. Check that the bridge isn't warped - a little bit of a bend is acceptable but serious deformation would require a new bridge, which won't be cheap. Check the edges for any signs of the front or back peeling away. If the bass is a laminate (plywood) there may be a bit of lifting or separation of the layers - not a major issue in itself but it could be a sign of deeper damage so inspect any such areas closely. Check the neck join for cracks or evidence of a break. Neck breaks aren't uncommon on old basses and as long as the repair is good and solid it's nothing to worry about. A shoddy repair is not good and if you think it looks half arsed, walk away.. Check the scroll for cracks and breaks, especially at the top of the neck. Check that the machines aren't overly stiff or damaged. When you play the bass, don't focus overly on the sound as a new or different set of strings will make a lot of difference. Instead, think about how the neck feels. Is it comfortable for you to play? Obviously, a DB neck is huge compared to an electric bass but some necks out here are cut huge to give strength to cheap woods. Even if you've never played a DB before, the neck shouldn't feel daunting. Check for any worn spots on the fingerboard. If a bass hasn't been maintained over it's playing career, hollows can develop under the '5th fret' position which will cause buzzing when you stop the note. This isn't a terminal issue as a fingerboard shoot will remove them, but it will mean a trip to a luthier and a bill in the region of £150, depending on the extent of the wear. Try not to get overexcited about the prospect of buying this bass as it will blind you to potential problems.Approach it in the same way you would buying a used car - there's always a risk of buying a lemon and caveat emptor applies... Be rational and a little bit suspicious as repair bills could end up doubling the cost. If something doesn't look or feel right, walk away - there will be other basses. Good luck!

Sorry mate, was out gigging. That looks great, a really nice find and a good price. Let us know how you get on.

I reckon either will do the job. The choice comes down to whether you feel lucky. The 'rockabilly' one has the advantage of being owned by a double bass teacher, so it's going to be in good working order and likely not require a set up. As for the low bridge - that's exactly what you want if you're going to be slapping rockabilly style. It's a 50s Framus ply (proabably) so it's as solid as you like and will easily cope with being chucked in the back of a van The 'uncle' bass is potenially a good buy. It's got a decent vintage due to the pins sticking out from the side of the scroll - you don't get those on modern basses, so it [b]could[/b] be a bargain, turn of the century bass. The only thing that would concern me is that it probably hasn't been played or maintained for 10 years, so there could be structural issues that the seller isn't aware of. Also, the seller doesn't state if the bass is solid or laminate and admits that they don't know anything about double basses, so he can't answer any technical questions. A solid bass which hasn't been looked after and possibly stored in unsuitable conditions for 10 years may be a massive luthier's bill waiting to happen. If you can get to try the bass first, you might spot potential problems, but as as a newbie yourself you might not know what to look for...... Do you know any experienced DB players whou could look at it for you? If I was in your position, with limited funds, I'd be leaning towards the 'Rockabilly' bass as there are unlikely to be any nasty suprises and the seller knows what he's talking about. If it was me spending the money, i'd be all over the 'uncle' bass, but only if I could see it first and I had a £500 contingency fund for repair work. It could be a really nice, turn of the century carved bass worth 3 times what the seller is asking.... or it might not.

[quote name='ChrisF' timestamp='1339003715' post='1682311'] A grand!?!?!!...blimey it would take me about ten years to save that up...honestly. I was gonn wait and try and save up 5 or 6 hundred for next year, but Ive got a windfall of 500 quid.... [/quote] My point was not really about the £1000 but more about how the right things ofen appear just when you need them. Just a few weeks ago there were two decent DBs in the for sale forum which were well within your budget. Looking on ebay, [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Double-Bass-/180900753411?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Sting_Instruments&hash=item2a1e867003"]this[/url] is kind of intersting, especially if you're going to be playing rockabilly.

[quote name='ChrisF' timestamp='1339000934' post='1682255'] When you say "set up" what does that involve ????? ...I thought it was a just a case of putting some different strings on it.....I take it there is more to it than that ???? [/quote] Not by a long shot . A set up for a DB can be as little as filing the nut and bridge slots to the correct width, to lowering and re-profiling the bridge and up to a fingerboard re-shoot (planing and reshaping). If the G4M bass I'm babysitting is anything to go by, you'll need the bridge lowered and the nut slots deepened/reshaped. [quote name='ChrisF' timestamp='1339002370' post='1682283'] ok...so Ive got my eye on one on ebay. It looks like a decent one, although there is no info on make etc..the seller says it belonged to his uncle who retired from playing just over 10 years ago.....looks a good solid bass. [/quote] Can you get to see it in the flesh? If not, have the seller confirm that there aren't any cracks or splits in the body. Ask for photos of the heel and scroll ends of the neck as this is the most likely sopt for breakages. A berak here isn't the end of the world though, as long as it's been repaired properly. By way of encouragement - I kept my eye on gumtree while I was saving up the cash for a DB. As soon as I had £1000, a lovely 1950s blonde laminate (as seen in my avatar..) came up for sale less than a mile away. I parted with £600 and spent a further £120 on strings and £250 on a re-shoot, neck reprofile and bridge re-shape. It now plays beautifully and does 2-3 gigs a week, with no problems.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1338992544' post='1682086'] I entirely agree. But isn't a live show also the band's own product from which they hope to make a profit? So why shouldn't they be asked to take on some of the financial risk? Just saying. [/quote] Because the band are playing music, which is their part of the deal, just as the bar staff and the sound engineer have their jobs to do. Now, a band should take some responsibility for promotion via the interweb or posters or whatever as it is in their best interests to promote themselves, but to have to sell tickets for an event where someone else makes most of the profit is extracting the urine. As has already been suggested, if a band can sell that many tickets themselves, they may as well hire the venue outright and put their own show on. A promoters job is to stage events, which involves a certain level of risk for a potentially large return - much like investment banking. I don't like subsidising those b#*tards either.....

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1338984791' post='1681931'] . . . . on the other hand, how many unsigned bands spend their own money on recording sessions and CD duplication? That's a form of promotion isn't it with all the attached risks. I doubt many unknown bands could persuade a studio to give them free recording and production time in return for a slice of CD sales. Again, not saying this is a good thing, but all parties want to reduce their financial risk wherever possible. After all, where's the financial risk to a band for a paid gig? If the venue and promotor are taking all the risk, I assume they see pay-to-play as a way of sharing this risk more equally. [/quote] But a CD or recording session is the band's own product from which they hope to make a profit on investment, therefore it's only right that they should put their own money into that project. However, when a venue asks your band to play and then demands that you sell tickets as well to ensure you get paid is byond the pale. You are a band, your job is to entertain the venues' punters, not ensure that the venue if filled in the first place. Are the venue staff wages tied into how well a night does? Is the sound guy out there selling tickets? Does a promoter putting on a national tour insist that each venue personally sell a specific number of tickets to ensure the night goes ahead? I've only done a couple of small tours, but in each case, the promoter carried the risk - on some nights he lost money, on others he raked it in and overall he made a profit on the tour. It's the promoters skill that ensures he make enough money to keep himself in a job. What these pay-to-pay clowns are doing is getting bands to underwrite any losses while keeping the lion's share of the profits.

The cheaper Thomann & Gear4music are just about OK for the money that you're paying. I'm looking afer a Gear4Music bass for a friend while she moves house and while it sounds ok, the action is stupidly high and the materials are a little bit suspect - just tuning it up makes the whole thing creak and groan to the point where you think it will actually implode. Personally I would be very, very wary of relying on one of these basses for a gig. A G4M bass (Thomann rockabilly basses are quite likely to have been made by the same factory) is fine if you just want to find out if double basss is for you without a lot of cash outlay. However you will need £120 or so on top if the purchase price to get it set up so that it is playable for a beginner. If you have £500 to spend, I would encourage you to keep scouring the for sale forums, ebay and gumtree for a second hand Stentor student bass or similar, something will come up eventually. If you really can't wait, then go ahead with the Thomann or G4M bass, but allow yourself around £100 for a set up and £90 for a set of low tension strings (Innovation Silver Slaps should be perfect). Also be aware that if you want to upgrade to a better bass at some point, you'll find your cheap bass will be difficult to sell and you certainly won't get back any of the money you've put into set ups or strings.

My band has had similar issues with a well known venue in Bristol. The promoter approached us after a very successful support slot and asked if we could play at his venue - in anyones language, this constitutes a booking, right? Over a series of emails it turns out that he's not actually willing to pay our fee, but rather we will have to sell tickets to his event, for which we will get £1 for the first 50 pepole who say they came to see us and £2 per ticket afterwards. The promoter claimed that we could potentially make £450 (our standard fee) if the night sells out. But given that the other bands on the bill would also be selling tickets under the same deal, we couldn't see how we'd make more than £200. We were also expected to arrange the four other bands for the event..... Essentially, the promoter stood to take £1200+ in ticket sales (if the event sold out) from which we stood to make £200 and the other bands on the bill £50 and we, the bands, would be doing all the work. We told him to stuff his event.

I refer to our beloved forum as Bassw@nkers..... My wife posts on a wedding forum (hitched) which she calls Weddingw@nkers. All in the best humour pf course. Bassworld was a cooler name though.

[quote name='petercullenbassist' timestamp='1338403686' post='1674119'] So im looking for songs eith a good bass line. Stuff like love cats seem to go down alot better than songs with a simple follow aling chord stucture. [/quote] Why not just write you own bass lines? Then they can be as interesting as you like. My acoustic trio (we were a duo for 3 years..) rarely play straight covers - we change the key, the feel, arrangements etc and I write a bass part which fits around that. Sometime it will follow the chords, sometime it will be a walking bassline - whichever best suits the song. Also, just because the bass follows the chords, it doesn't mean that the song isn't interesting. Check out the John Martyn and Danny Thompson's version of Solid Air from the Transatlantic Sessions on Youtube. For most of the track Danny is just playing C and F.... but it's how he plays them that makes the track.

Got a street party type gig on Saturday and a cider festival on Sunday :-) We had one booked for Monday but the venue has closed down.

[url="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Skimmity-Hitchers/131726416837752"]Skimmity Hitchers[/url] (a.k.a. the Wurzels on crack)

Me next?

Well, after closer inspection, it appears that Jayne isn't quite as tough as I thought - there's a 15 x 5 mm chunk knocked out of the front edge. I think it's only a flesh wound though - nothing structural seems to be damaged. On the plus side, we got back some of the stills from the video shoot and it's all looking rather good....

[quote name='slobluesine' timestamp='1337607301' post='1662628'] why is it piss'd up feckwits are so attracted to upright basses? [/quote] I think the beer goggles make DBs look like fat slappers...

Ouch! I feel for you mate. Oddly enough, I've had the same weekend as you but with opposite outcomes.... Filmed a video on Friday Night and Saturday morning, then played a gig on Saturday night, which due to extra time on the footie and the inevitable lagered up morons, ended up with some pi55ed up feckwit stumbling onstage and knocking my bass off its stand onto a tiled floor. Luckily she's a tough old bird and no damage was sustained. Which is more that I can say for the feckwit...

If you fully recline the front seat, you should be able to lay your bass on the seat with the scroll in the footwell. It's a bit of a faff getting the bugger in through the front passenger door (you may have to remove the driver's head restraint) but it will fit.