TheRev

Our old harmonica player has put a video medley of our first gig on Youtube. The sound quality's suprisingly good considering it was recorded on a bog standard camcorder.

Blackboard paint?

Did this ever get finished or did it collapse under the weight of its own coolness?

I gave this very issue a lot of thought before I bought my Eminence EUB. I started off with an Aria Lite One, which I bought pretty much on a whim. Within two months I was totally hooked on double bass and started saving up for a 'real' bass. While I was saving up, I hired a bass fora couple of months from a local music shop so that I whould have some idea of what I was looking for when I finally came to buy. During this time I came to the following conclusions, which led to me buying the Eminence rather than a full acoustic bass. 1) A lot of the sound is in the technique and in the strings. Most cheap EUBs come with cheap strings and will be played by beginners who have yet to develop a good BD technique, therefore it will not sound like an acoustic bass. Put a decent set of synthetic or orchestral strings on a Stagg or an Aria EUB and give it to a good DB player and it will sound pretty close to a proper DB, especially in a band setting. 2) All of my gigs are amplified, so if i bought a fully acoustic bass, it would need amplification which would change the sound that your audience hears. You also enter into a constant battle with feedback. Better then, for me to buy something that was designed to be amplified. There's a very good post somewhere on the Talkbass EUB forum where someone compared the various Azola EUBs (from a stick type up to an acoustic baby bass) to a fully acoustic double bass. His conclusions were that the louder you go, the less perceived difference there is between an DB with a pickup through an amp and an EUB. i.e. a DB played acoustically will sound tons better than a stick type EUB through an amp or a semi acoustic EUB through an amp. Once you start amplifying your DB, the difference disappears to the point where, in a band setting a decent EUB will sound no different to most people than an amped DB. 3) I live in a top floor flat. It wasn't a major ball ache carrying a 3/4 size double bass up and down the stairs but I can carry my Eminence, my LMII and a cab up three fights with no issues. 4) The Eminence feels like a double bass. This is important in developing a good DB technique. I've only been playing DB for 3 years so I'm still learning, but on a good day when the gods of EQ are pleased, it sounds just like an acoustic DB. So, after taking these considerations into account, I felt that my needs were best served with spending £2K on a good EUB. Yes, there are gigs where the sound is nasal and I struggle to get the note to bloom, but I've been to plenty of gigs where the acoustic bass has an abysmal sound so I don't think that's down to the fact that I play an EUB - more to do with my still developing technique and not enough time at soundcheck! I think you need to ask yourself a couple of questions about your needs before you decide on BD vs EUB. If you will be plying purely acoustically and you don't mind lugging a bigg wooden box around, then the acoutic DB is your best option. If you're going to be playing in a loudish band setting with amplification, then a good EUB may be more suitable. Dave

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=697&hl=Nanyo"]Basschat official SGC Nanyo Bass Collection discussion thread.[/url] These are great basses and very under priced at the moment.

I had exactly the same experience when I started playing upright bass. DB just seems so much more musical and expressive than EB. I can put much more feeling and emotion into just one note on the double bass that would be possible on a fretted electric bass. 90% of my gigs are with my Eminence EUB and I barely even pick up my electric bass to practice - all my practice time is on double bass cos I need it, frankly. I've now put flatwounds on my electric bass and use that for the faster, funkier songs that I can't yet manage on DB or for the loud gigs when the feedback monster comes to stay

[quote name='CoolCat' post='880073' date='Jun 28 2010, 04:58 PM']On the day, grease your playing fingers by rubbing them on your nose (if you have a oily one) or by eating a bit of chicken " a la Jaco" (yes laugh now but you all will be trying that later on).[/quote] This works... I put a new set of Thomastik flatwounds on my Musicman just before rehearsal on Thursday and struggled all evening with a nasaly, twangy sound. On Friday I had the obligatory KFC on the way home from the pub and then had a good old noodle into the wee small hours. Did a gig on Saturday night and the strings sounded lovely and warm and mellow and yes, funky. I'm stil not going to rub my bass with a chicken though, It's just wrong.

65daysofstatic 'We were exlpoding anyway' Fantastic.

That's an interesting shape - what was it before?

I can practically smell that Bassman from here...

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='876212' date='Jun 24 2010, 10:43 AM']Like how do you play high notes?[/quote] S'easy - thumb position, elbow up & shoulder forward. That's just for one note though, more than that and you're in trouble.

I got to 1:29 beforeI stopped the video - anyone last longer than that?

My Eminence.

[url="http://www.theblessing.co.uk/#awp::"]Get the blessing[/url] Contemporary jazz from Bristol/Bath featuring half of Portishead. Me likey.

The latest version of the Lite one (SWB Lite One-BIS or something) has a magnetic pup on the end of the fingerboard in addition to the piezo under the bridge so I reckon the wee socket is for that.

Me too. Bristol. Ta Dave

As ahs already been said, a lot of the DB sound is in the fingers of the right hand. If you're using a bass guiray plucking technique i.e. with the fingertips, you're going to get a bass guitar like sound. Using the whole side of your finger, with as much 'meat' in contact with the string as possible will give you better tone. Dumping the stock strings will help too. I replaced mine with Helicore hybrids which was a big improvement, followed by Innovation Honeys which were really warm and mellow and tamed a lot of the Aria's inherent brightness.

Hmmm. I don't think you'll get a better sound than that from a Stagg or HB/Pally bass. Sounds like you don't get on with the feel of your EUB rather than the sound. Is there any way you can add an endpin and a body frame to allow to play it without the stand?

Annoying, isn't it? You really want to try DB but you don't want or can't afford to spend £1000+ on something that you might not get on with and all everyone an say to you is 'don't pay less than £1500 as anything costing less than that will be s#*t'. As long as you're not expecting great tone, then your £500 will easily get you started. Someone on here has a Gear4music bass that they bought for about £400 and they love it. Tone wise, there probably isn't a lot of difference between basses at this price- you'll get a lot more tone improvement from a decent set of strings and a few lessons to sort out your technique that you will from the solid top over the laminate I reckon that you're right about the cheap laminate being a better buy than the solid top. Most of the CCB horror stories are about solid top basses that haven't been seasoned properly and split as soon as you introduce a bit of temperature variation. Bear in mind that your new bass won't be playable out of the box. The soundpost and bridge will be down and you'll need to have this set up professionally, so make sure you allow for this in your budget.

[quote name='pete.young' post='865646' date='Jun 13 2010, 12:22 AM']I think it's a 310. I have one which is identical. What's the serial number? The first two digits will give the year of manufacture, at least for the Japanese ones.[/quote] Ah, but the 301 & 401 look exactly the same as the 310. IIRC, the 301/401/501 etc model range was overhauled in the late 90s and renamed 310/315 etc. They added some different colours and made the whole range with active EQ, but on the surface they were identical.

[quote name='RhysP' post='865040' date='Jun 12 2010, 11:34 AM']I'd buy one if I thought I could play it as well as Danny Thompson does. That, however, is extremely unlikely.....[/quote] There's no secret to Danny's playing. All you have to do is practice for 6 hours a day and play every gig & session that's offered to you. Repeat this for about 30 years and hey presto! instant Danny Thompson. Easy.

You could just buy a really light 10" cab to go with your F1. THe GK extension cab or one of the Barefaced 10s would do nicely. Over on the Talkbass DB forum there's a lot of love for the EA Wizzy cab, but they're a bit pricey.

I've played both and I preferred the Harley Benton feel wise. The construction on the Stagg was also a bit ropey, but I've since seen others that were much better so it could have been a one off. They both sounded ok though. My choice would be the Harley Benton, partly for aesthetic reasons but mainly due to the huge modding thread on Talkbass - with a little bit of fettling and very little money you can apparently get a decent sounding bass.

Looks like a late 90s SB301 or 401 The black plastic nut suggests a 301 or 401 - if the bass is active it's a 401. The SGC logo on the pickups was on the top edge in the original models but was moved to the bottom edge in the late 90s, just before the model range was overhauled. Dave

Are you playing pizz or arco? If you're mainly playing pizz, then orchestral strings aren't going to sound great - they'll be too dark and thumpy as they're designed to be bowed. Obligatos muy suit you better, or a set of Helicore Hybrids if you want to play both pizz and arco.