TheRev

[quote name='Shockwave' post='277861' date='Sep 5 2008, 02:31 PM']Next would be the Sterling, However i am a tall thin guy (6,3) And i am worried it would look like a toy on me. However i do have a bad back so a lightweight bass would be ideal. I would like a rosewood board to get some variation, The Bongo and SR4 have one, But the Sterling has a maple board.[/quote] You're welcome to come round and pose in the mirror with my Sterling if yer likes. If it helps, I'm a short, stocky guy and my main reason for buying a Sterling was because the Stingray felt like playing a coffee table. Dave

I think it's a 310 from the original series. It's basically the same as the 301 (which I have) but the active electronics would make it a 310. If you remove the control cavity plate, there should be a serial number on a sticker somewhere inside the cavity. Nice score - they're lovely basses. Dave

[quote name='BassManKev' post='262288' date='Aug 14 2008, 11:45 AM']nice bass dude! is that sparkle paint or just metallic? if its a sparkle what colour is it? looks like metallic blue pearl but i could be wrong...[/quote] Cheers Kev. You're right, it's metallic blue pearl but when I bought it I think they called it electric blue or just blue pearl. This was back in the day when they only offered Sterlings in five or six colours.

I play gigs without a drummer all the time. I find it helps to approach the songs with a 'camp fire' type mentality i.e. how would you play them if you were just sitting and jamming round a fire? Slowing things down a bit will help as will persuading your guitarist not to use all the effects and gubbins he normally uses. If possible have him play an acoustic as it'll slow him down a bit and encourage a more stripped back and rhythmic playing style. Finally, don't feel you have to play the songs the way you normally play them; open up, relax and have a bit of fun - I reckon an acoustic Sweet Child would suit a gentle swing beat..... Dave

Non-reverse Thunderbird?

I can't remember who's it is (Thebrokendoor maybe?) but somehwhere in the archives there's a white precision with a white pearloid scratchplate and a Darkstar pickup that I would kill my granny for. <edit> This is the badger.... Mmmmmm

Don't think we've had a spangly blue one yet, so here's mine. Bought in 2000 and I haven't looked at another bass since

Go ahead and buy the Stagg, it's a good an introduction as you'll get for £350! As for 'bad habits', I'd suggest booking a lesson with a sympathetic teacher (an experienced DB player will do - it doesn't have to be a registered 'proper' teacher) and have them show you the left and right hand basic techniques and a few warm up and ear training exercises. One lesson should provide you with about three years worth of practice material! You'll find that a proper DB playing technique will get the best tone out of your Stagg so you shouldn't fall into any bad habits once you get going. I'd also recommend buying a decent set of strings - you'll get a much more convincing DB sound and you may find the move to acoustic DB unnecessary.... Dave

[quote name='alexclaber' post='259740' date='Aug 11 2008, 10:05 AM']I remember trying out lots of Warwicks there - though when I came to buy one I got lucky and acquired an '87 Streamer for a song privately! I got my first bass and amp from the secondhand guitar shop futher along St Michael's Hill opposite Tyndalls Road (IIRC) which then moved to Gloucester Road and then mysteriously vanished. Alex[/quote] It's still on the Glossie road, it just moved across the street and down a bit.

[quote name='OldGit' post='259789' date='Aug 11 2008, 11:11 AM']Hey Watch it .. I'm a Gloucetershire bloke I just live here [/quote] Sorry... It's that Rich bloke - he stirs things up. Bloody Wurzel......

[quote name='bottomfeed' post='258325' date='Aug 8 2008, 05:10 PM']Wow!... the place opposite was 'Pro Music'.... now that was a long time ago![/quote] Ah, Pro Music, what a great shop that was - good gear and helpful and knowledgeable staff. I bought my first 'proper' bass there. Good times *sniff* The Welsh bloke's right though, there are a lot of guitar shops in Bristol for its size so we should be grateful for what we've got. No, you're not going to be able to try a top end Lakland or a Fodera or whatever but those are niche instruments and no music shop, outside of a bass specialist, could be expected to stock a handful of 1.5K+ basses on the off chance someone wanted to buy one. Could you imagine what would happen to a top drawer bass in somewhere like Reverb? Doesn't bear thinking about. Anyway, I quite like the chase of hunting down 'that' bass. What could be more fun that driving to somewhere like the Bass Merchant with a big stack of cash and all day to play whatever bass takes your fancy?

Afternoon. I've just bought a new set of strings for my Aria EUB and they're about 1" too long. Is it a terribly bad thing to wrap part of the (unsilked) string around the tuning post? Cheers Dave

[quote name='steviedee' post='255421' date='Aug 5 2008, 02:42 PM']Hi guys been watching this thread closely as I'm thinking of taken the plunge into the world of double basses anyhoo tried my first one today and I was really sh*te however it was great to try one.... I reckon it'll take a lot of practice. The bass in question was Chinese, which I've heard the odd bad thing about chinese basses but it seemed great to me admittedly I know nothing and it was a good price second hand, and the shop in question has a very good reputation so I don't think they would sell me a pup. Obviously its not gonna be the best bass in the world for under 500 but they will have professionally set the bass up. Are there any good no name chinese basses out there?[/quote] I read somewhere (probably on TB) that the Christopher brand basses on Thomann's web site are Chinese made. Dunno if they're any good but they look nice [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/christopher_db_304_kontrabass_34.htm"]Christopher DB[/url]

They were really, really cr@p guitars that used to sell through the back page of Kerrang and other music magazines in the late 80s. Only buy it if 1) They're selling it for 50p and 2) you're only buying it so you can smash it up on stage. Avoid, avoid, avoid - they're not even worth trying to mod, real turd polishing territory.

Picture the scene - a small pub in Stroud, Gloucestershire. In the corner are a couple of Nick Drake obsessed musos trying to impart their particular blend of English folk fused with American grunge. Fat Chavette: 'Ere mate, can you play any Boyzone?' Us: 'F*#K off' There's no point trying to reason with people like that.

Yep, the footswitches are total bo**ocks. I sent my pedal back to Aphex, who replaced the switch, which then broke about two months later. I couldn't be bothered sending it back again so I bought a decent quality switch from Maplin and got and electronics engineer mate to solder it in for me. Been fine ever since! Definitely recommend you get an expert to do the soldering for you, it's a tricky job.

You could get a Hartke HA3500 and a 4x10 cab for £600 - perfect for your style requirements!

Great topic guys! What strings are people using on their EUBs? The ones that came with my Aria have a bit too much sustain for my liking so I'd like to replace them with something a bit more thumpy and damped. I'm thinking Helicore Hybrids at the moment but people's comment about Corellis are interesting. Has anyone had experience with both?

Girl from Ipanema. Someone did Summertime at an open mic last night, we almost started throwing things.

Mickey Quinn from Supergrass is another example - he's been playing the same Ibanez Blazer (or is it a Roadster?) for his whole career.

[quote name='jmccabe' post='234980' date='Jul 8 2008, 02:22 PM']You're probably right, but every cab I've got round to looking at on the For Sale forum is miles away; the advantage of a new one is it'll be delivered. I guess i could put a wanted ad on![/quote] Whereabouts are you? I have a spare Hartke 1x15 that's right up your thoroughfare....

[quote name='sgt-pluck' post='234800' date='Jul 8 2008, 10:39 AM']Funny you should talk about Danny Thompson - I've got Solid Air on the pod as I type. Fabulous bass work. Pluck[/quote] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohmSPv-rtSQ"]Solid Air[/url] I've posted this link before but I love Danny's playing on this version sooooo much that I'm going to post it again.....

I've got a Fender BG32 which is lovely, but finding decent strings (the Fender acoustic strings are sh1te) for the short scale length is a major pain. If you're busking, you'll need as much volume as you can get in order to be heard over an acoustic six string, so I'd go for whichever one has the biggest body. Even then you'll probably still struggle.... The Epi looks nice though, doesn't it?

Crazy m****f***** Have you got a myspace? I gotta hear a band that has a rig like that.

I went lightweight simply because I got thoroughly sick of lugging a 1x15 cab down 4 flights of stairs and then doing two more trips to load up the car with basses/amp/cable bag. Then there'd be another 2/3 trips at the gig or rehearsal room. Then I'd have to do the whole thing all over again in reverse at the end of the night - it nearly put me off playing for good! My main reasoning, apart from the stairs/trips issue, was that as most of my gigs are small clubs/pubs with a PA, I really didn't need an enormous rig. I now use a Markbass amp and BFM cabs and I can carry bass, amp, cable bag and cab all at once. Sweet. Admittedly, I think I prefer the sound of my Hartke head to the Markbass....but not enough to warrant the extra weight! If I was playing the Enormodome on a regular basis and had a team of hulking roadies then my cabs would make Stonehenge feel a bit pathetic and my amp would have more valves than a plumbing wharehouse but I don't, so they aren't.