Major-Minor

A quick update: At last the symptoms seem to be subsiding ! I can now pick up a mug without whincing and I no longer wake in the morning with pains in the elbow and lower arm. And I've had no physio or massage, and I've played right through it, so maybe this is the answer: Just keep going, plenty of stretches and warm-ups before playing and having faith that time will heal the problem. Thanks for the replies guys. The Major

[quote name='Alun' post='623203' date='Oct 11 2009, 04:17 PM']Simon's fantastic, have done a few gigs with him down here. Hope they go well cheers alun[/quote] Thanks Alan. Simon spends quite a lot of time up here these days due to his relationship with a certain lady singer ! We've done several gigs together and yes he is an amazing talent and also a really nice guy. Cheers The Major

[quote name='alexclaber' post='617787' date='Oct 5 2009, 06:40 PM']I've been using it for ages so I can't remember! Maybe I just extrapolated it from triad? Having googled it it doesn't appear to be in common usage but it is referred to here: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyad_(music)"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyad_(music)[/url] The spelling is due to the Greek root. I think I use it rather than double-stop because double-stop really feels only suitable for stringed instruments because it relates to how the notes are stopped (i.e. fretted) so if you use open strings or a piano then it's not really a double 'stop'.[/quote] Alex That is most interesting. Thank you. I shall try to use the word DYAD from now on - that should flumox some of my pro colleagues ! Yes "double-stop" is specifically a string instrument phrase, referring to the manner in which 2 notes are created ie by 2 fingers on adjacent strings ( on a bowed instrument). Theoretically, an open string played at the same time as a fingered note on another string is not a double stop, but in practice, most string players would still call this a double stop, mainly through lack of any other globally accepted term or phrase. 2 notes played on a piano could I suppose be called an interval, although that term really refers to the distance between the 2 notes, not the playing of 2 notes at once. The Major

[quote name='The Funk' post='617659' date='Oct 5 2009, 04:59 PM']You, sir, are a friend of a legend![/quote] Actually I slightly exaggerated my relationship with Colin ! The story: My cousin called and told me one of her neighbours who played bass guitar had just bought an EUB and wanted to talk to a pro DB player about fingering etc. I said "Sure, no problem, glad to help. What's his name, I'll call him." "Its Colin - Colin Hodgkinson." "What !!! THE Colin Hodgkinson ??" "Well I know he plays in a few bands." So of course we have a chat on the phone about basses and I thought that was that. What a lovely guy. It was great to talk to one of my early heroes. Then this summer, my wife and I called in on my cousin for coffee while we were nearby on holiday. She said " I'll nip over and see if Colin is home" and sure enough, over he came and we had another good long chat about all things bass. We could have talked all day, and would have if my wife hadn't dragged me away. So I like to think of Colin as "my good friend" ! The Major

[quote name='alexclaber' post='617645' date='Oct 5 2009, 04:45 PM']To those just starting out with chords, have a go at root/fifth/octave power chords* (actually they're diads not chords).[/quote] Alex I've not come across this term "diad" before. Of course it makes sense, a triad being 3 notes, so i guess the power chord you refer to is really only 2 notes and so diad sounds about right. But where did you find the term ? The Major

[quote name='alexclaber' post='617550' date='Oct 5 2009, 03:37 PM']This morning on Radio 4 Claire Martin performed a tune accompanied by Laurence Cottle on bass guitar in a chordal tour de force - not a good place to start but shows you far bass guitar can go! [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/01/2009_40_mon.shtml"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/01/2009_40_mon.shtml[/url] The song starts about 6 1/2 minutes into the 'listen again' link. Alex[/quote] Just what you would expect from the great Laurence Cottle - bass guitar playing at its very best ! Thanks for that Alex. The Major

[quote name='GonzoBass' post='617527' date='Oct 5 2009, 03:17 PM']Excellent post Major! Just one [i]small[/i] thing. If I may? - G7 G (1st fing 15th fret on E string)[/quote] Many thanks for pointing out my stupid (age-related) error GonzoBass ! Now corrected. The Major ...... really must learn to be more careful and precise .........

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='617423' date='Oct 5 2009, 01:57 PM']Thanks Major. I do all those things and I don't in fact play a lined fretless but an unlined. The point of my question was really about Willis's claim and an explanation for it. Also, what are the implications for setting up the intonation on a fretless - if he is indeed correct - rather than about actually listening to the notes which I realise will always be essential.[/quote] Dave I don't understand your question ! How can you "set-up" the intonation on a fretless bass ? Surely that is what we do when we play the thing ie play in tune. If you are referring to how the manufacturers actually place the lines, then that is too mathematical a question for me. I've always found that, when using the lines as a visual guide, i have to place the finger directly on the line to be close to the correct intonation. But (and this is why I no longer rely on those lines) I once, many years ago, played my lined fretless at a live concert session which was being recorded for radio. The band was rather louder than I am used to, the monitoring was rather dodgy and we had minimal soundcheck time. I thought I was playing in tune at the time, but on hearing the broadcast, I was rather appalled to find that I was consistently a touch sharp throughout. I think i had been relying on my sight rather than my ears. Big mistake ! But this also throws up the question of intonation at high volume levels. Do we lose our sense of pitch as the noise level increases ? I always wear ear defenders these days if I'm playing with a loud band and I feel more relaxed and confident about intonation as a result. The Major

I have a lined fretless and I only use those lines as rough guide. On the DB, we always talk about "adjusting" your intonation as you play ie if you are slightly out of tune on one note, you need to use that information to correct your positioning on the fingerboard so the following note is in tune. If you rely on the looking at the lines on a fretless you will always be out of tune because you are not letting your ears do the work. Try practicing looking away from the bass, only glancing at the fingerboard when you make a large position jump. Listen closely to every note in relation to the last, and make adjustments as you go, using the occasional open string or harmonic to fix the pitch in your ears. And when you play with your band, focus on both your own intonation and, at the same time, the intonation of a fixed tuning instrument like say a keyboard or guitar. Make sure you are adjusting to that fixed pitch. Of course this is only for when you want to be bang on in tune. The beauty of fretless (and DB) is that you can bend that intonation to create a more expressive performance. The Major

Playing chords on BG can be very effective if approached in the right way. My good friend Colin Hodgkinson was one of the first players to try this in the late 60's with his trio Back Door (sax/ bass / drums). You can find him on youtube. Well worth watching ! If you try playing chords in the low or mid region of the instrument, it will always sound muddy, OK for a special effect but limited in reality. Octave double stops work fine anywhere and 5th double stops work in the the mid range and above. I tend to only use chords in the range above the 12th fret and I limit this to 3 note chords for clarity. Minor sevenths (no 5th) and major sevenths (again no 5th) work well. Try this easy little sequence of 3 note chords in C major modulating to A major: Dm7 D (3rd finger 17th fret on A string) F (1st finger 15th fret on D string) C (4th finger 17th fret on G string) G7 G (1st fing 15th fret on E string) F (2nd fing 15th fret on D str) B ( 3rd fing 16th fret on G str) Cmaj7 C (2nd fing 15th fret A string) E (1st fing 14th fret on D string) B (3rd fing 16th fret G string) Fmaj7 F (1st fing 13th fret E string) E (2nd fing 14th fret on D string) A (3rd fing 14th fret on G string ) Bm7 B (3rd fing 14th fret A string) D (1st fing 12th fret D str) A (4th fing 14th fret on G string) E7 E (ist fing 12th fret E string) D (2nd fing 12th fret on D string ) G sharp ( 3rd fing 13th fret G string) A major A (open string or 2nd fing 12th fret ) C sharp (1st fing 11th fret D string) A (4th fing 14th fret G string) Once you have mastered this, you have the basic shapes that you can use in any key. And there are many other options we can look at another time - let me know if you want me to do some more on this ! The Major

Monday 19th October at Woodhouses WMC, 62 Medlock Road M35 9WN Simon Spillett - sax (BBC Jazz Awards - Best Newcomer) Debbie Wilson - vocalist Tom Kincaid - piano Pete Willmott - bass Paul Turner - drums Monday 9th November at Cheadle Hulme Con Club, Mellor Road SK8 5AT Art Themen - legendary tenor sax man Anna Mcgeoch - vocalist (LIPA graduate) Matthew Compton - piano Pete Willmott - bass Paul Turner - drums

Steve Have a look at [url="http://www.doublebass-solo.com/"]http://www.doublebass-solo.com/[/url] This small publishing house is run by Keith Hartley who was my first double bass teacher (42 years ago). He has been one of the top London players for most of his life, mainly at Covent Garden (Royal Opera House). The Double Bass Solo books are excellent as they are based on well known melodies transcribed for DB. I often use these books with my students and can highly recommend them. The Major

Hi Rayman I would be happy to give you a short "consultation" lesson so you can see if DB suits you. I live in the Altrincham area but ideally it would be best for you to come to the BBC in Manchester and do it there. This applies to anyone else in the Manchester area who is contemplating adding DB/EUB to their arsenal. PM me if you want to take it further. The Major

[quote name='jakesbass' post='610617' date='Sep 28 2009, 10:08 AM']TBH I have never used them. I am a real stickler for tuning though It causes me grief if singers or horns or other strings are out of tune. I would be inclined to say that learning to rely on your ears is optimal, but I can see an argument for expedience.[/quote] I agree totally with jakesbass here. Use your ears, don't rely on looking at your fingers. Maybe just to get yourself going on DB you can make light pencil markings, but rub them off as soon as poss. In fact one of the advantages of this instrument is that you can do it all by listening - you don't have to keep checking visually like you do on fretted BG when you make a big shift in position. This means you can keep your eye on the music / conductor /MD and the other musicians. Train your ear as soon as poss - that would be my advice. The Major

[quote name='geoffbassist' post='604084' date='Sep 20 2009, 10:44 PM']i also think that if you dont like the weichs then the obligatos will not cut it, although i do like them for jazz. Why not keep the spiros and stick on the evahs in the event of an ocasional show that needs a hybrid string, i know its a hassle but those amazing new tuners can take it :-)[/quote] Actually that is just what I've been thinking - putting the Evahs on just for the odd gig that requires arco. But such a hassle ! In the meantime, would you like to try this set of Evahs ? Great to meet you the other day by the way ! The Major

[quote name='leftybassman392' post='600412' date='Sep 16 2009, 04:29 PM']Major: Got a bit of an update for you. The words have to be deciphered from their original greek meanings, and to say the least there are some conflicting views! Diatonic stems from an original Greek word [b]Diatonos[/b], for which the generally accepted translation is 'through the tones'. Although there are in fact several ways of interpreting this phrase, the one that seems to make the most sense (to me at least) is that it refers to the consecutive whole tones that form the first two intervals in the Tetrachord. There is a slight problem with this interpretation, which is that the Diatonic Tetrachord didn't require two exact tones in the modern sense - however it was a common form of the genus and so appeals to commonsense. Chromatic stems from the Greek [b]Kromatica[/b], which has a root of [b]Kroma[/b], which translates as 'complexion' or (more commonly) 'colour'. Pinning down an exact interpretation of this is a little more tricky, but again the explanation that makes most sense to me is to do with the notion that there were known to be several different versions of the Chromatic genus in common use during the Greek Classical period, which could give rise to the idea that it was a genus that had, or allowed, several different complexions - difficulty with this is the question of how a term normally used to describe a visual phenomenon came to be used to describe sounds. Enharmonic - the origins of this are pretty much lost in the mists of time I'm afraid. The word is generally agreed to come from two Greek originals, namely [b]en[/b], which translates as 'in'; and '[b]armonia[/b]', which has a surprisingly large range of translations depending on context, but using commonsense as a guide it would seem that a good one to use here is'harmony' (yes I know it looks obvious when you say it like that, but the original as used by the Ancient Greeks really did have numerous meanings). Hence we get 'in harmony'. The main problem with this (as you won't need telling but I'm going to say it anyway), is that the enharmonic genus is easily the least 'in harmony' of the lot! At this point my research kind of peters out although one source toys around a bit with some of the other contexts but doesn't really improve on this translation. I'm sure I'm going to regret saying this, but I hope that helps (for what it's worth)[/quote] Andy - so sorry to hear about your Swine Flu ! Get better soon. And don't feel you have to rush with the Greek stuff. Re: Diatonic / Chromatic / Enharmonic: I suppose its not surprising that the meaning of these words has changed over thousands of years, and thank you for your research into their original meanings. I think though that I will not mention any of this to my students as I am sure it will confuse them even more than they are by my teaching ! The Major

Well I finally got to do a jazz gig last friday with the EP's on my jazz bass. Unfortunately not a good experience. I was sweating heavily by the end of the first set due to the extra effort needed to make these strings work. For a slow ballad or or medium swing it was just about ok but as soon as the tempo was taken up, I simply found it too much. Don't get me wrong, these are wonderful sounding jazz strings, deep and rich, but the thicker gauge was just too much for me, and I am not too keen on the arco sound, being used to good ol' Pirastro Flexicor on my orch bass. So next morning off they came. A colleague from another Manchester Orchestra has given me some Pirastro "Jazzer" strings to try so I put the G on and, although nice and easy to play on (just like the Spiros) it sounded too metallic for my taste. So I've put my old Spiros back on, which feel nice and comfortable (like an old pair of slippers) for jazz playing but still really horrible with the bow. So now I'm back to square one, over a £1000 worse off, and wondering what to do next. I played a few notes on a bass fitted with Obligatos the other day and didn't think they are what I am looking for. Great with the bow but not a jazz sound. Maybe I'll try Belcantos. Any ideas guys and gals ? The Major

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='601417' date='Sep 17 2009, 04:15 PM']Agreed but again with qualification (or hair splitting, whatever you prefer). I think 'lyrical' is a subjective concept. One of my favourite 'lyrical' tracks is 'Emperor Jones' off Joe Lovano's 'Landmarks' cd but I acknowledge that some may think it isnt 'lyrical. You can sample the track here - let me know what you think. I think its bone chillingly beautiful. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Landmarks-Joe-Lovano/dp/B000005HGU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1253200404&sr=8-1-catcorr"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Landmarks-Joe-Lova...;sr=8-1-catcorr[/url][/quote] That's a really lovely track. Who are the other players ? The bass sounds gorgeous ! PM coming soon ! The Major

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='601069' date='Sep 17 2009, 09:40 AM']Agreed but when does someone become a 'jazz musician? Is it after they have developed this fluency or while they are still developing it? I think, for me, one of the great things that jazz allows is for individuals to develop their own voice (that is one of the great differences between jazz and classical).[/quote] I think one is a jazz musician the moment you pick up your instrument and play some notes straight from your head without thinking them through first or reading off a page. Its then a very long and arduous road to becoming a good jazz muso or even just a competent one. But we all have to start somewhere. With some of my orch colleagues (the few jazz oriented ones amongst us) I sometimes do jazz/improv workshops in colleges and schools. Its always interesting to see how kids, who can play a bit, really struggle to get over that first hurdle - to play notes without written music. And its such a joy to see them when they succeed. One little lad (playing tenor horn I seem to remember) was in tears because, when it was his turn to try to improvise over a blues groove (we had given them all 3 or 4 notes to play with), he just couldn't do it. We took a break from the session, and took him aside and talked quietly to him, building his confidence, getting the adrenalin pumping etc etc. When we started the session again, he blew a few notes, realised he COULD do it, and off he went - no stopping him ! The smile on his face said it all ! He was a jazz muso from then on - maybe not a very good one ! but that doesn't matter, the fact is he could play from within, create his own music, we had freed up the constraints that the music education system so often places on our aspiring musicians. The Major

[quote name='mcgraham' post='601129' date='Sep 17 2009, 10:58 AM']Great point. Great jazz musicians are those who can express themselves when playing. Speed and technical ability are simply the means to an end, and not the end in itself. However, what it means to 'express' oneself may not always be accessible or obvious to everyone. I would supposit that good jazz is made by those who want to play something as they feel it, and are not wholly directed by ego or adhering to what they think they should be playing. If you can 'get that' from certain pieces, then I think you're doing well![/quote] +1 The one word we have not mentioned here is lyricism. Personally, I warm to any jazz soloist who displays a lyrical approach. One who tells a story, ebbs and flows, uses dynamics, builds to a climax. I'm not a fan of the ego-driven note cruncher who churns out endless riffs and phrases all at the same dynamic level with no direction or structure. I played a gig with trumpeter Gerard Prescensor last year and he embodies everything I like in a jazz soloist. So easy to play with because you can sense the direction, feel the flow. He reacts to the sounds around him and engages with the other players and of course he wowed the punters. He is in perfect technical control of his instrument but has the confidence to know he doesn't need to prove it. Also played with pianist Julian Joseph. What a tour-de-force that guy is ! And his music is not easy. Unusual chord sequences in keys like Gbminor with lots of odd-meter grooves. But again, one sensed that he was in total control of the band, leading it wherever he wished, yet reacting to ideas from within, rhapsodic in his soloing, with fearless expeditions into uncharted territory. God, I was knackered by the end ! Never sweated so much in all my life ! The Major

[quote name='bassace' post='601054' date='Sep 17 2009, 09:13 AM']Because it's probably a given that if it's orchestral it's a full size and if it's jazz it's a 3/4 - or am I oversimplifying, Major? But there again, do many musos talk too much about their instrument unless they've just bought it?[/quote] We get all size basses in the orch. Tom Martin has been in a few times recently and his main bass (one of his own making) is on the small side (yet big in tone). For Prom in the Park last week, he brought another bass (old English i think) which was much bigger. One of our regular deps has an old Italian which is tiny, but again a big sound. My jazz bass is fairly big (and heavy!), makes a big pizz sound but curiously rather thin with the bow (despite my new Evah Pirazzi strings) whereas my orch bass is just an average size with a shortish stop (41") and an average sound, strong in the middle register. The late Dave Fletcher had a monster of a bass - and he was a short guy (but powerful and stocky). I heard it was up for sale around the £70K mark. There really isn't any pattern to this. Players choose their basses for the sound and playability that they are comfortable with. One of our (diminutive) girl players bought a big beefy old Italian (paid in excess of £30K for it) only to find, after a year or so, that she was developing various pains from playing. She tried going back to her small student bass, but the pains persisted, so now she has taken a year off to re-work her technique to cope with the big brute (which is an amazing bass). The great thing about playing in an orchestral bass section is that we are all interested in our instruments, and of course we do talk about them, and about the various deps and extras basses that come and go. The Major

[quote name='TheRev' post='600233' date='Sep 16 2009, 02:15 PM']There's still a fair difference between a 36" scale electric bass and a 41" scale 3/4 double bass - it's hardly going to to be a straight transition.[/quote] My point was this: I have average sized hands. I play a 35" BG and my DB's are 41" and 42". I have no problem playing any of these instruments as far a stretch is concerned. For someone who is used to playing a 36" BG, bearing in mind the different techniques required for the BG and DB, they should have no problem with the hand-position. To be honest I've rarely heard any of my pro colleagues referring to the size of their basses in terms of 3/4 or full-size or anything else for that matter. Its either "that's a bloody big bass youv'e got there" or " what a big sound you get from such a small instrument". Actually a big bass doesn't necessarily mean big tone. The Major

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='600366' date='Sep 16 2009, 03:49 PM']Only up to a point, Major (although no one will agree where that point is). Improvisation exists in many genres not just jazz so to say that anything that is improvised in the way you describe is jazz is too simplistic. We probably agree on far more than we don't. The best definition I ever heard is credited to various people, including Louis Armstrong; 'if you have to ask, you'll never know' My point is simple: its not random. Ever. If Coltrane played 'random' notes on Giant Steps its would not be the classic it is. If you can't hear it, fine, but its not random. Its like any dialogue or conversation. It requires a knowledge of syntax, sentence construction, logical argument etc; it develops in the moment. If it was random, the cheese fleck party rhumba wet the floogy plim plim and then where would we be? .[/quote] Bilbo - you are right of course to point out the limitations of my simplistic statement that if music is improvised, it can be classed as jazz. But that's why I pointed out the "universally accepted stylistic aspects" that help define jazz (pulse/harmony/dynamics etc). Of course, improvisation is a major part of Asian Classical music (for instance) but the difference is that in this tradition, the concept of even the most basic harmony is anathema. Actually its quite easy for a jazz musician to sit-in in this context as long as he/she thinks in terms of the set scales (ragas) and doesn't wander off harmonically. I've worked extensively with Indian Carnatic musicians and they have a much more flexible approach to tempo than we do in jazz. If you tried to keep a steady pulse with these musos you would soon be "out". Thinking about rhythm - "swing" is such a misunderstood word, I hardly dare use it ! But lets just say that a lot of the music that originated in the jazz and bebop eras is based, rhythmically speaking, on that wonderfully fluid triplet-based feeling that we loosely call swing. It doesn't appear in any other type of music - in many ways it defines the jazz sound. But its not the only rhythmic device used in the jazz world - far from it in fact. But "pulse" or continuous regular tempo is nearly always involved in a jazz performance. Actually Bilbo, I've done some (forgettable) jazz gigs where I'm convinced some players WERE using random notes - but we'll gloss over that. You are right, good improvisation is never random. A fluent player will choose every note for the emotional or physical impact those notes will have, whether it be concordant or discordant, relaxed or tensed, heart-wrenching or brutal. And that's another good word to bring to the party - FLUENCY. A jazz musician will know their instrument inside out, will know the effect of every scale and arpeggio and how these notes can be overlaid against the underlying harmony to create the soundscape they desire. So Bilbo - when are you going to invite me to your cheese fleck party to do a rhumba ? I promise not to wet the floogy ! Plim Plim The Major

OK let's just try to find the very essence of jazz (in all its forms): Putting aside for the moment all the recorded jazz, the fundamental aspect of the performance of this music is that it is "of the moment", it is ephemeral, it is a unique musical moment, never to be repeated...... If we compare lets say classical music to jazz (my 2 predominant areas of expertise): A classical performance is centred around the composer's ideas and wishes. The performers interpret the written score to the best of their ability. Yes they can make small adjustments to tempo, to phrasing, to dynamics ... but essentially one performance of a work will sound pretty similar to another. A jazz performance is centred on the PLAYERS themselves. They are the creative lifeblood of the music. It will be a unique musical moment. The same written notes and chord sequence will be entirely different in the hands of different musicians. The players themselves will carve and mould the outcome on the fly. And it will be a different performance every time they play the same tune/sequence. A classical musician knows exactly how long the piece they are playing will last (give or take a second or two) because it has been practiced and rehearsed to perfection. A jazz musician has no idea how long their piece will last, it can go in any direction, the interplay between the musos determining the outcome. In a classical performance, each player has a good knowledge of the parts that all the other players will produce. In a jazz performance, the players only know the basis upon which the other players are working, they have no idea what each other will play, and this gives the music its vitality, its uniqueness. When a listener goes to a classical concert, they already know what they are going to hear, indeed they probably chose this particular concert on the basis of the programme. When a listener goes to a jazz gig, they will have little or no idea what tunes will be played, but they will have chosen this gig because they want to hear a particular player or group of players, and they know they will hear a unique, never to be repeated performance. Because there are (and have been) many thousands of jazz musicians since this music emerged, its impossible to say that jazz is this, or jazz is that, because every participant brings his or her own preferences and styling to their improvising. There are simply too many "voices" in the world of jazz to make bold statements like "such and such a band is not jazz". If those musos are bringing a freshness to each performance because of its openness to creativity, then we could say that it is jazz. However there are certain stylistic aspects that are prevalent in what is universally accepted as jazz: Jazz music tends to be rhythm based - there is usually some form of pulse in the majority of the music. Harmonically this music tends to be deeper and richer than the 3 or 4 note chords used in pop and rock styles. The use of dissonance and "tension and release" are common. The music is predominantly instrumental in nature. The use of dynamics varies hugely across this genre, but is more common than in rock/pop. One more point: Due to its very nature, a jazz performance is not always a success. Players can try something, trying to push their own boundaries, and it may or may not work. This is for many jazzers the exciting thing about improvising. Great music can happen - or maybe not ! But the moment is gone, and we move on in the hope of creating some magical moment in time. I know some forum members will disagree with my thoughts here - so let's have a heated debate !! The Major

[quote name='Paul Galbraith' post='599875' date='Sep 16 2009, 08:42 AM']Hi guys - I'm new to the forum... I'm an acomplished electric player (can play jazz) & looking for a decent upright. * What size doulbe bass do you guys reckon is the best? Is 3/4 standard (or best) for a jazz/ blues player? I have a 36" 6 string overwater fretless, so hand contortion is not a problem! Thanks in advance for replies[/quote] If you are used to playing a 36" BG then I guess you could cope with any sized DB beast ! Really the important thing to look for is an instrument whose tone you are happy with. Things like the bridge height and type of strings are adjustable, but if the underlying tone quality is not to your liking, then there is little you can do to change it. My advice would be to try as many basses as you can before deciding which to go for. You may be surprised just how different each bass can be. Having found something you think you may be able to live with, I would advise finding a pro DB player to take it to for their input - maybe have a quick lesson while you are there - then you will have the confidence to go ahead with the purchase. Good luck ! The Major