TheRev

[quote name='dub_junkie' post='640988' date='Oct 30 2009, 12:21 PM']I tried them once on a Sterling and it was an awful experience. I was only happy again when I changed back to roundwounds. Never ever again for me. I quite like flats on P-basses for that old school thump but thats about it.[/quote] I put Roto flats on my Sterling when I was doing a lot of folky stuff and I loved the sound. It was great for fingerstyle funk too but b*gger all use for rock. Now I'm playing a lot of bluesy/psycedelia type stuff I'm fining roundwounds a bit too zingy so I might go back to flatties.

I love those early 90s thumb basses - for some reason they just look much better than the current Thumb basses. If I was in the market fo a new bass, a 90s thumb would be very high on my list.

[quote name='ashevans09' post='648161' date='Nov 7 2009, 03:58 PM']Broken link?[/quote] Sorry - fixed now. Dave

Chris Larkin does a six string, fretted version of his Blen EUB [url="http://www.chrislarkinguitars.com/blen.htm"]Super Blen[/url]

Cheers for the heads up chaps! I've been looking for something new to listen to and these guys definitely press all the right buttons. They're playing in Bristol on Monday,

I use a Fishman Platinum with my Eminence and it does a great job. The phase switch in particular is very useful.

I tried getting into all that 'bass centric' stuff about ten years ago but soon realised that I was listening to it because i thought I should and not because I actually liked it. The only bands I liked and still listen to are Primus and Rothko (a three bass player post rock outfit).

[quote name='The_D' post='644079' date='Nov 3 2009, 04:34 AM']I have thought once or twice about seeing another band or two to see what else is out there. I always put it off because its a struggle fitting gigs in with normal life... How do you guys, married or otherwise, manage to juggle different bands?[/quote] I'm in 3 bands but only one of them rehearses on a regular weekly basis which helps to fit everything into the week. Also, as I've got older the people I play with tend to have families and responsible jobs so they're not looking to rehearse or gig every week. Generally, we get together a few days before a gig to run through material, or, if we have to use a dep drummer or guitarist we might do two pre gig rehearsals but that's about it. Forward planning and a diary is the key really. Occasionally you take your eye off the ball and things get a bit crowded - I recently found myself doing 2 rehearsals and 3 gigs in one week which was bloody hard work trying to fit everything in around a full time job, a martial arts class and an increasingly huffy Mrs Rev. I'm only in multiple bands because I like gigging and I can't seem to say 'no' when someone asks me to join their band or do a dep gig. If I was in a band that gigged 3 or 4 times a month then that would probably be my only band. I do like the variety of being in multiple bands though, it keeps things fresh. Dave

I use my LMII with a single 8 Ohm cab - I suppose it would be putting out about 200W maximum, for my upright gigs and it's plenty loud enough so 250W into 4 Ohm would be fine. Is the beast specifically for double bass or for 'acoustic' instruments in general? The inclusion of the onboard FX and chorus in particular just screams 'singer songwriter' at me - especially the second channel for plugging yer microphone into.... TBH, other than the anti-feedback knob (which would need to be tuned for bass specific frequencies to be much use?) I don't see why it would be any better than a LMII or LMK for DB.

[quote name='aud' post='635716' date='Oct 24 2009, 10:54 PM']Having read lots of advice on the forums I still dont know how to choose what to buy! Ive had some lessons on a hired acoustic DB but would like to buy an EUB I found shops where I could try a Stagg and a NS WAV, but is there anywhere to have an Eminence demonstrated in the South or Midlands in England?[/quote] Hi Aud. Whereabouts in the 'south' are you? If you can make your way to the South west bass bash in Cardiff, I'll have my Eminence with me and you're welcome to try it there. Other than finding a friendly Eminence owner, there really isn't any opportunity to try before you buy in the UK. The market for these basses is small and the high price (compared to the likes of the Stagg & the Wav) means that you aren't likely to find one just hanging about in a shop. Like most eminence owners in the UK, I bought mine unseen and uplayed based purely on it's reputation. I love it to bits and it's pretty much everything I expected. If for any reason I needed or wanted to sell, I'm sure there'd be no problem finding a buyer. If you have the funds, I'd recommend just going for the Eminence - it feels and sound much more like an acoustic bass than the Aria or the Wav. Dave

David gage Realist into a Fishman Platinum ProEQ into the FX return of a MarkBass LMII. I could (and have) go straight into the main input of the LMII without the Fishman and this sounds just as good but the feedback limiting features of the Fishman make it pretty essential.

No, mine's one of the earlier ones with just the piezo pup. In your case, synthetic strings like the Obligatos won't be any use but the Helicore hybrids will still work. They have a steel rope core with dampening material wrapped round it to reduce the sustain so there'll be enough metal to generate a signal. Over on the Talkbass EUB froum there's a lot of love for the Corelli 370M strings. I haven't tried them yet as my Aria doesn't get a lot of use since I bought my Eminence but they would seem to be ideal for your needs.

I have Helicore hybrids on my Aria and they produce a much more mellow DB like sound than pizz strings like Sprios. You could also try the Helicore orchestrals which are even more thumpy! The general rule of thumb is that EUBs have a much brighter response and more sustain than DB, so to get the same sort of tone from an EUB as from a DB, you have to go a step darker with the strings. i.e. if you want a pizzacato, jazz, spirocore sort of sound then you need to use hybrids or nylon strings to take away some of the sustain and top end of the Aria. Pirastro's Obligatos are a great string getting close to the Db sound on EUB, but they are known for rolling under the fingers, which you say you want to avoid. Dave

[quote name='RhysP' post='629510' date='Oct 18 2009, 03:04 PM']Bill Bruford. Danny Carey. Gavin Harrison. Simon Phillips. Jeff Pocaro. David Francolini. And a thousand others. I love listening to great drummers - I'd far rather hear a drum solo than a bass solo.[/quote] David Fracnolini - good call!! I loved the stuff he did with Darkstar, especially[url="http://video.google.co.uk/videosearch?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB%3a%6ffficial&client=firefox-a&q=youtube+dark+star&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=1kPcSpbMBo2y4QbL_M31Bg&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBEQqwQwAA#q=youtube+darkstar+Graceidelica&emb=0&client=firefox-a"] Graceidelica[/url]. I love the bit at 17 seconds in where the drum intro pauses for a beat and then just thumps back in

Got a ticket for the Brum gig in November - very much looking forward to it. I first encountered SA at a free festival in Bristol around the time of their first album. All I remember was lots of overdriven bass played by what looked like a massive set of dreadlocks and Skin diving into the crowd to have a word with a couple of NF types who were saying unpleasant things about her.

For a more uprighty tone you need to lean towards hybrid or orchestral strings or synthetic core. Obligatos might work well, Velvet compas would work very well but at £350 a set, it's an expensive experiment.

[quote name='Duckyincarnate' post='613034' date='Sep 30 2009, 03:30 PM']I was thinking of going up to about £150.[/quote] I'd go for the [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/david_gage_the_realist_kontrabass.htm"]Realist[/url]. UNLESS - you're playing with quite high stage volumes in which case the Realist may not be the best option as it can be more susceptible to feedback. If this is the case, you could do worse than spend £100 on a Bassmax and put the remaining £50 towards a nice preamp. Might be worth having a look at the double bass forum over on Talkbass - they have a whole section on pickups which should point you in the right direction.

I haven't anything to sell, but the Realist is very good and very easy to install. Even easier to install, (but maybe not as good?) is the K&K Bassmax - you shove it in the gap under the bridge wing, plug in the other end and away you go.

Ah, ok. go with pencil lines or little stickers then - they're cheap and removable! Enjoy your eminence - I love mine to bits. Dave

My eminence has side position markers (they're an optional extra), are you buying yours new?

I liked their earlier stuff, before Gary Stringer started using his 'distinctive style' on every song. I used to be in a band with Jack Bessant's cousin. Not a lot of people know that.

This charming man - The Smiths. Everyone bangs on about the genius of Johnny Marr (and rightly so) but Andy Rourke's bass in this track is jaw dropping. In isolation you'd never believe it was the same song. the main riff is almost jazz and the double stops in the bridge section - mmmmmmm. Lovely.

Is there a violin/cello shop anywhere near you? They usually have some sort of rental scheme running and should be able to sort you out with a rental bass. I hired one for £25 per month so it's pretty affordable. If you want to buy your own, you could do a lot worse than [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/thomann_kontrabass_33_02.htm"]this[/url]. The bassist in my local jazz collective plays one and it sounds and plays fine. I'm sure it's not up there with an instrument costing £3k ( I'm by no means an expert in these matters) but the Thomann bass is very playable and it sounds like a double bass. You'll also have change from your £1000 for a proper set up and maybe even a nice set of strings. The next step is to find a sympathetic teacher, or even just an experienced player to show you the correct basic left and right hand techniques so that you don't damage yourself and maybe show you a few standard jazz riffs. From there, all you have to do is practice and then get out and play. Easy. Dave

Danny Thompson uses one when he goes on tour and can't take Victoria with him. He calls it Albert.....