TheRev

I have my Eminence EUB (technically a fretless acoustic!) a Fender fretted acoustic and a Bass Collection fretless electric. The Eminence gets most of my playing time and is the only bass I gig at the moment. The Fender is next to the sofa for noodling and moments of inspiration, though I'm thinking of using it for a copule of tracks in my new band. The Bass Collection is sadly relegated to it's case as I don't have the space to have it out on display with the others and the Eminence has pretty much made it redundant. The Bass Collection is for sale (see sig) if anyone's interested...

The Antoni basses don't seem to have a very good reputation - the general consensus seems to be that the sound and build quality isn't great and that you'll very soon want to upgrade. However, that's just the internet's opinion if you have the opportunity to rent one, you can try one for yourself and see if it meets your requirements. Some people have bought cheap, £400 basses, had some work done on them and are very happy with what they've got, others have spent £10K on a bass and are still looking for 'their' sound. It's all horses for courses really. However, I do have personal experience of the Thomman bassses. The Thomann 22 bass is good value for money IMO. The bassist in one of my local jazz sessions uses one as his main gigging bass. It sounds good, build quality is good and it should last you for a few years. It's around £720 at the moment which will give your change from your £1000 to spend on a setup and the aforementioned strings, pickup, bag etc. I also rented a Stentor (proably the student model - not exactly sure) for a couple of months and thought that was a pretty decent bass too, for the money. I reckon that at sub £1000, you really do get what you pay for, so if you're prepared to wait and lurk around the for sale forum, you'll get a much better deal second hand.

I've just got home from the strangest gig I have ever done. 2 hours on the back of a carnival float in Weymouth, with the entire band dressed as Robin Hood. Quite a good gig as it turned out.

Maybe you should have a band meeting and consider the possibility of arranging gigs so that you have one weekend in four (or whatever) off? As long as nobody in the band relies on the gigs to make a living, nobody should have a problem. I've just joined a very busy band - on average 2 gigs a week but we tend to do say 3 one weekend and then have the next weekend off. It works well for us and the drummer makes his living from the band. Mind you, I've got 5 gigs over three days this coming bank holiday so I might not be feeling quite so relaxed after that!

[quote name='james_guitar' post='1318902' date='Jul 28 2011, 02:22 AM']P.P.S. to 'the Rev' - which band do you play the Raglan Arms with? It's not a great payer, but one of my favourite venues as a lot of musos go there and they appreciate quirkier bands. They had a fire a few days ago, so will be out of action for a while [/quote] I'm in RedLemon, we were last there about a month ago. I completely agree about the patrons, The Raglan is the only venue where we get cheering for playing Robert Wyatt and Leonard Cohen songs. Hope that they're back on their feet soon.

Pop up the A370 to Bristol - there doesn't seem to be a problem with amplified busking here. *Edit* Just read the newspaper article and see that you play at the Raglan Arms - flippin' great little venue! We always enjoy our gigs there.

[quote name='daflewis' post='1316516' date='Jul 26 2011, 01:06 AM']Hi Rev, as to pizz on the silver slaps - as a jazz/show player my experience of the silver slaps is a little limited especially compared with some of the other folks round here... - i have played them but not "in anger" so I wonder if someone with more experience could help us out here? Thank you for mentioning this as it's something else I can look into on the development side - (though i know that doesn't help you right now!) but, again, if there are any current sets that you'd like to try out for a few weeks please let me know and i'll get them out to you as soon as i can. Cheers, daf[/quote] I have tried the Honeys on my Eminence and though they were warmer than the stock Helicore hybrids, I did miss some of the attack. Having said that, they were a second hand set, so all the attack may have been played out. If there are trial strings on offer, I'd love to try a set of silver (or golden) slaps and see how they compare to my now ageing set of Velvets. I have 5 gigs over the August bank holiday weekend, which would be an ideal opportunity to give them a trail run and write up a little review? Dave

How are silver slaps for pizz? I need to get a bit slap happy for a new project but, much as I love my Velvet Garbos, I think they're a bit too stiff for slap. I still have my jazz/soul trio on the go so I need strings that will suit both light slappage and jazzy pizz. Also, what's the difference between the silver and golden slaps? Just the colour?

First gig with a new band, the cider/punk/folk/country/ska/badger influenced Skimmity Hitchers! [url="http://www.skimmityhitchers.com/"]http://www.skimmityhitchers.com/[/url] By all accounts these guys wreck cider houses the length and breadth of Dorset so it's gonna be interesting.

That particular recording of Solid Air was the reason I picked up the double bass.... Danny Thompson has amazing feel in everything he does. I've never heard anyone wring so much out of just one carefully placed note as he does. He's definitley my No1 double bass influence - both in his playing and his philosophy. He gave an interview in the literature tent at Greenman festival a few years ago and was talking about his time with Pentangle in the late 60s. They has just played the Albert Hall on a Thursday night and Danny had a gig with his jazz band on the Friday in a pub just around the corner from The Albert hall, Pentangle's manager was horrified that Danny was going to play a tiny pub the day after playing the Albert hall - he thought it would look bad for the band's image. Danny went ahead with the jazz gig as he had a policy of never turning down a viable gig, no matter how big a 'star' people thought he was, as you never knew where the next giog was coming from. He also noted that he got paid for the pub jazz gig, but not for the Albert hall one.

Sounds like a result! If you ever want to get rid of the Full Circle, I'll have it off you.......

These days, all my gigs are on the DB so I'm exclusively fretless! I do miss playing my fretted Sterling though.

Have you removed the stock Realist pickup? Given that you reckon there's not much soundwise betwen the Realist and the Full Circle, I'd be interested in whether the Full Circle is more feedback resistant. My bands are fairly loud and I don't always have a PA to go through so feedback from the stock Realist is always an issue. I've been considering a Full Circle for a while now, but if it's no better that the Realist, then there's not much point.

Sorry I'm late - I've had to actually do some work today. I've tried Helicore hybrids (stock strings), helicore orchs, Innovation Honeys and Velvet Garbos. Garbos are by far the best for me but at $250 a set they fecking well should be. I do the find the G a bit nasal, although if I'm paying attention to my right hand technique and I've set up my Plat Pro properly (say that five times fast) then it sounds fine. HAving said that, the G is a pig to bow so if you're going that way, perhaps the Animas are a better choice. I quite fancy trying the Velvet Blues or a set of Spiro weichs when the Garbos finally give up the ghost. I have some clips recorded with the Garbos - if i can work out how it's done, I'll post them up here. If you can get hold of a used set of Velvet strings, I strongly recommend you give them a try. Regarding pickups - I've generally avoided that can o' worms as I was already spending lots of money on strings and the I had this wedding thing and then I had no money! Over on TB, the Full Circle seems to be favourite, though apparently the bridge will need modifying. I'm not aware of the APTflex jobbie, but if it fits without hassle, I might be tempted to invest. I do like the sound of the Realist (not that I've tried anything else...) but I could do with something with a bit more feedback resistance.

SGC Nayno Bass Collection - more reader's wives than porn, especially next to that Sei Does Barbara qualify as fretless? Defenitley qualifies a porn IMO

I'm four years in and on some days my sound is exactly what I'm looking for and other days it's...meh. I think it depends on what mood my fingers are in. In a perfect world, I'd sound like Danny Thompson. When I play some of the songs he played on (Solid air, Down in the hole) I do indeed sound a bit like Danny Thompson but when I play my own stuff I don't. Maybe I need to get Danny playing my stuff to see if he can make himelf sound like me. Gear wise, I'm happy with my Velvet Garbos (tho the G is a bit thin sounding...) and my Realist pup & Fishman Platinum Pro pre. Changing either would not change the fact that the only thing that would significantly improve my sound would be to practice more. I have come to realise over the years that the gigs/rehearsals where I spend ages fiddling with EQ to get 'a sound' don't sound half as good as the ones where I just get on with it and play. Something that sounds good solo usually gets lost when the rest of the band kick in and a sond that's a bit crap at the start of the song ofen seems to improve if you're enjoying playing that song. I often find myself changing my right hand position mid song to find a sound that sits better in the mix or putting more or less finger behind the string. Ultimately, I think it's more in the hands and ears than anything else.

Buy a cheap slapper... you know you want to. You'll need lower tension strings and a lower action than you probably have on your decent bass in order to get the right sound and avoid ripping up your fingers. So unless you fancy changing strings and setup every time you fancy a slap, a different bass properly set up for slap is the way forward. Having said that, if you're just planning to try slapping at home, then your current bass & setup may be OK, albeit harder work. And yes, the strings bashing against the board will eventually cause some wear.

[quote name='AndyMartin' post='1270771' date='Jun 15 2011, 10:30 PM']I'm not quite sure why you quoted me. I wouldn't dream of suggesting that any BCers could possibly be timewasters or tyrekickers.[/quote] Sorry - that wasn't my intention either. It was more to do with the mention of Thumper's name as an ex authorized builder that the tyre kicking thing.

[quote name='AndyMartin' post='1269572' date='Jun 15 2011, 05:21 AM']I'd suggest you ask the same question on FinnBass. Thumper on there used to be a BFM builder and will tell you all about the timewasters that come out of the woodwork when attempting something like this.[/quote] I bought, and still use, a pair of Thumper-built Omni 10.5s. These are great cabs - there is still a demand for them and a shortage of people with the ability and resources to build them. I don't think you'll have any shortage of orders - probably more than you can reasonably handle, which I think is why Thumper stopped being an authorized builder.

Gail Ann Dorsey and Me'shell Ndegeocello

Definitley have at least one lesson to get your technique going in the right direction as it's easire to learn good habits than it is to unlearn bad ones.

If done tastefully and in support of the song then a bit of DB slappage is a wonderful thing - much like EB slapping a la Larry Graham and, dare I say it, bass solos. I've just joined 'scrumpy & Western' band (think Jhonny Cash meets the Wurzles) and my first gig with them is in a month's time, so i need to get to work on my (nonexistent) slap technique. Cheers for the video - good to have something to aim for!