TheRev

The Spirocores seem to the the string of choice for jazzers wanting a bit more sustain from their proper double basses but I think they may be a bit bright for EUB. I'm thinking about D'addario Helicore Hybrids or maybe something synthetic/gut simulating type string like Obligatos. I'm basically trying to get a more thumpy DB type sound with a fairly quick decay but given the price of DB strings I'm reluctant to just 'have a go'. I did hear a EUB with Velvet strings (Garbos, I think) which are synthetic gut and it sounded amazing but at about £150 a set it's an expensive risk.

[quote name='jcater' post='215507' date='Jun 9 2008, 03:49 PM']I know it's not as cheap as it could be but i use an aria swb lite which i bought second hand for £600. Using this through an EBS microbass 11 has given a remarkable mellow tone, the treble on the bass needs to be set quite low, but it works like a dream regardless of which amp / cabs i use - Hatrke, Mark bass or EBS. I previously used a jazz bass for the trio i'm playing with but doubt that i'll ever go back to it apart from recording - & that's only because my intonation is not yet as good as it should be. PS anyone aware if there was ever a user manual with the aria? [url="http://www.jazbak.co.uk/"]http://www.jazbak.co.uk/[/url][/quote] I use a SWB lite one as well - as far as I know there's no manual. Are you using the stock strings? I'm thinking of changing to Hybrids or orchestrals to lose some of the sustain.

[quote name='lukeward2004' post='214859' date='Jun 8 2008, 01:18 PM']Also, anyone know what size Allen key is needed for the bridge to adjust the string height? None of my allen keys fit it and I want to lower the action a shade.[/quote] I think it's an Imperial rather than metric hex bolt... I'll dig mine out tonight and let you know what size it is.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: More space, less notes. With DB, people seem more impressed the less you play and with a bit of vibrato you can fill a lot of space with one note.

Why not try one of the Stagg uprights? Lots of people on here have recently picked them up and all seem happy with them. They sell for around the £350 mark so they're well under your £500.

I've slapped my Aria EUB (in the privacy of my own home, of course) a few times to get a handle on the technique and I thought it sounded OK and the Stagg is pretty much a copy of the Aria. The peizo picks up enough fingerboard noise for the percussive sounds though you need to be careful with the preamp volume on the pulls. With a set of nylon strings on, I don't think it would sound an awful lot different to a slapped acoustic - especially to a room full of pi$$ed up psycobillies.

I think a jazz hat is the way to go. I've not got a hat friendly head though. Also, does the material the hat is made of affect your tone in any way? If I buy say, a felt fodera, would I also need to boost my upper mids to compensate?

I think I need to gat a hat - I'm just not looking cool enough on stage. What would hat afficiandos recommend?

I played a gig a few weeks ago with my Aria EUB and got talking to a bloke who had an Eminence and he reckoned it was the only EUB in that price range that was worth having. He bought his unseen and wasn't dissapointed at all. If you have a look at the EUB forum on Talkbass.com, I think there the Eminence is generally considered to be the best you can get for the money. They are designed from the ground up to sound like an amplified double bass for live work, wheras the Aria (and Yamaha) EUBs started out designed as a silent practice bass so their sound is always going to be a compromise. Unfortunatley, the EUB market and in fact, the electric bass market at the £1500 mark is pretty small, so finding one to try is going to be hard. If you talk to any of the guys on here who've bought high end instruments I reckon a fair few will have bought on reputation or recomendation and probably unseen. I think Thomann have a very good returns policy - even if you have to pay £30 to ship it back to them, you could spend the same on petrol travelling the length of the country to find one to try. When I've got the cash (and the ability to justify it!) I'll upgrade my Aria to an Eminence, probably from Thomann and (unless I can track down that bloke in the pub) I'll buy it unseen. Sometimes you've just got to take a chance. Cheers Dave

[quote name='samej' post='199533' date='May 15 2008, 01:09 PM']Also can anyone reccommend me anywhere in Bristol (preferably central) to try and buy amps? Thanks in advance[/quote] Sound Control On Rupert Street (there might be some deals on offer as they're going out of business....) Rickaxxe, just up from House of Fraser Mickleburghs on Stokes Croft All within 5 min walk of each other.

How does the magnetic pup on the Aria sound? I've got one of the SWB-1 models with just the piezo and I'm wondering about adding a magnetic pickup.

[quote name='Rich' post='197863' date='May 13 2008, 12:07 PM'][list] [*][u]Nemesis #1: bass-phobic venues[/u]. There's a venue in Bristol -- I won't name it, but if I say it's on Gloucester Road and the name rhymes with 'Bomb', folks will know where I mean -- which has problematic neighbours and, as a consequence, a real bass phobia. Turning one's backline up to anything remotely audible is met with a frown and a barked request to turn the bass down. I have played several gigs there without being able to hear a single note I've played all night. I would sympathise with them on the neighbour thing, were it not for the fact that the owner of the place is a sad arrogant twonk who seems to think he's running Carnegie Hall, not some jumped-up wine bar in a dodgy part of town. My least favourite venue to play, in the known universe. [/list][/quote] It used to really hack me off when The Bomb' repeatedly refused to book my band simply because they'd 'never heard of you'. I thought that if we played lots of gigs in the same area, got the name about a bit and generally built up a reputation for a solid, reliable band that we've be in with a chance of playing 'Bristol's best live music venue'. You know what? Did it f#*k. I don't even bother with them now with the exception of their rather good breakfasts.... My personal bane: Support bands that overrun and then wander off stage after their set without bothering to move their gear out of your way and then get arsey when you move one of their guitars. I also grew to hate playing gigs with my last band. The singer/guitarist would pretty much ignore what either myself or the drummer were playing and drop whole bars, speed up/slow down, forget whole sections of the song, forget/change the lyrics (making my backing vox, ropey at the best of times, sound like a sack of toss). He also had a great habit of turning up at gigs and saying 'Didn't you bring the PA? They don't have one here'

Have a look on Talkbass.com or Rockabillybass.com for their weedwhacker strings thread - I think the weak A and E strings are a common problem. Maybe a mixed set of weedwhacker and nylon cores will sound better?

Reading through this thread, it reminds me of when I first started playing and the idea of [b]one[/b] decent bass would make me moist. 20 years later I'm in possession of four basses (out of the total 8 that I've ever owned), each of which does it's own particular job. So: Musicman Sterling: My first and only proper, decent bass. Does everything I want it to and will never, ever be sold. Bass Collection fretless: used for the acoustic band I used to be in and for the Pearl Jam numbers in the rock covers band I was in. Fender acoustic: Bought for my acoustic band, is now an in front of the TV noodler. Very handy for those moments when you have an idea but plugging in is too much hassle. Aria SWB Lite electric upright: This is currently my main gigging bass, simply due to the style of music we play. There was a time when I took three basses to a gig - the Sterling, the Bass Collection and the Fender, simply for the different sounds they provided. Now, the Aria is the only bass I use live and at home gets about 80% usage, then the Sterling approx 15% with the rest shared between the other two. I sometimes think I should sell the Fender and the Bass Collection as they rarely get used, but I don't need the money and they may get used in the future and I'd miss them if they weren't there. As for the Sterling - I fell guilty that i don't play it as much as I used to, but on the one day a week that I pick it up, I remember just how good it is and if I ever play in a rock or funk band again, just how much I'd miss it if sold it.

The distributor in the UK is SMART distribution but they're very thin on the ground in shops. Thomann are probably your best bet.

I quite like driving to a place I've never been before to pick up a new piece of gear - if you really want the rig and you have the time then make a weekend road trip of it. Do you know anyone in between you can visit/crash with?

[quote name='dabootsy' post='185087' date='Apr 25 2008, 09:36 AM']Another one for me is that when our guitarist tries to explain something like an accent at the end of a chorus he seems to have to play through whole song on his own , i think he just likes to hear himself play[/quote] They all do that. Every single one of them. I hate them so much. Does he do that thing where if you ask him what chord he's playing, he plays it (usually very loudly) and says: 'that one'?

[quote name='OldGit' post='174033' date='Apr 10 2008, 05:27 PM']What's puzzling me is why there's a strap peg on the heel ... Maybe for hanging it up?[/quote] My Aria's got the same thing - a button on the heel and another roughly behind the bridge so if you were that way inclined you could strap it on and play it like a bass guitar. Feck knows why you'd want to though.

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='172119' date='Apr 8 2008, 11:36 AM']www.thomann.de do reasonably priced bows, both German & French.[/quote] What's the difference? I'm humming and haaing about buying a bow but frankly don't know where to start. Plus, the guy I bought my SWB from said it sounded terrible bowed so I'm reluctant to shell out on a bow if there's apossibility I'll never use it.

[quote name='tiffen' post='172125' date='Apr 8 2008, 11:44 AM']Hi I play this in our band and the guitarist reckons the bass should do the fill bit I dont seem to be getting the right sound I have been playing B A F# E E starting on the A string and Finishing on the open E string. Do I play it an octave higher or is this quite wrong. Do any body else play this if so how do you play it cheers[/quote] I always played it an octave higher. It's played on keyboards in the original track so you might want to try using a synth pedal to get the right sound.

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='171966' date='Apr 8 2008, 12:31 AM']yes boycott all chinese stuff because of their awful human rights record, tibet and Sudan. boycott all american stuff because of the injustice of the IMF and World bank screwing the developing world through trade, illegal wars in the middle east and general policy of going around the world killing folk who disagree over the last 50 years. boycott all UK stuff for following US on the above, being a major player in the arms trade, failing to put anysort of commonwealth pressure on mugabe or china (for the above), or turkey, or israel...... don't ya just love our western-colonial cultural moral smugness?[/quote] This has got me thinking about how hard it is to shop 'ethically'. I have basses made in USA, Japan and Korea (south, obviously), amplification & cabs made in USA, Italy, China and UK.... but where do all the components come from? Regardless of where a product is built/assesembled, the chances are that it will have components (screws/wire/capacitors/casings etc) that come from the cheapsest possible source - probably China.

Welcome to the EUB gang mate.

I'm using the Thomastik acoustic posphor bronze strings. They're nylon core with a phosphor bronze winding so they're nice and mellow with a decent sustain. They're not cheap but they seem to last forever.

[quote name='warwickhunt' post='168612' date='Apr 2 2008, 05:30 PM']Thanks Lee... and everyone else of course Well I may be one step nearer to taking the plunge as an old playing mate from way back spoke today about a laid back acoustic style band and it has me seriously considering it.[/quote] Just do it mate - you won't look back. Moving to upright has totaly rekindled my desire to improve my playing, I play more gigs that I ever have and it looks well groovy. Aside from reproachful looks from my neglected Sterling, it's all peachy.

It's also worth considering the Aria SWB Lite one. Thomann have them for about £750. Whether it's better than the NS Wav is probably down to taste but what I like about it is that it has a body rest and endpin (the Wav uses a cymbal stand type thing I believe) so You're not rooted to the spot.