marvin spangles

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1318410182' post='1401642'] As our car was nicked last night, I will not be buying any new gear and may be selling some stuff. This search is off [/quote] Wow sorry to hear that. Hope things work out for you. Was your gear in the car? FWIW I don't think you should rush into choosing the Wizzy 10 without trying it first.

Hey Clarky There's one for sale over in the Talk Bass forum.

Hi sounds familiar to me. I too only came to the bow relatively recently. However it's been the most important factor in my improvement. The bow is very unforgiving of dodgy tuning . And I'm sure you are well aware that intonation issues won't cut it in a studio. I had the unhappy experience of having to add a double bass line to an acoustic guitar track that was already down. The guitar wasn't in concert pitch . Although the music should have been easy I was really unhappy with the session so I resolved to go back to the drawing board. I got the bow out and did several grades (Vi-Viii) . 4- 5 years on I still practise every day with the bow . This really helped me with intonation. If you have doubts keep to the pizz. good luck and let us know how you get on.

congrats on your bass. Re Lacquer on the finger board. There should not be lacquer on it. Perhaps some plonker thought it was a good idea. I'd try using some isopropyl alcohol to gently rub off\dissolve the varnish. Be careful to avoid spilling on to the body of the bass though. You ask whether you got a good deal. Well that's a really difficult question to answer. Also you don't say what you paid. Perhaps you might want to think of it this way. Are you happy with the sound of the bass. Does it fulfil your needs at this stage? Bearing in mind that a decent gigging bass can cost anything from £1000 upwards. I'm assuming that this is a plywood bass. Have you got a luthier to set it up for you? A good set up can make a world of a difference. Looking at the pic it looks as though your bridge is slightly out of alignment with the f holes though it could be the angle of the pic. Get a luthier to check it out for you. I really don't think anyone on this forum can really give you the answers you'd like to hear. good luck

[quote name='fatback' post='1370224' date='Sep 12 2011, 11:10 AM']Using an A as a E and a D as an A etc, hopefully making steel strings a bit easier on the fingers. I swear the fingers of my right hand are an inch shorter than they were. [/quote] Yes I get you. Gone back to Spiros recently myself. Just done a weekend of 4 gigs in a row and both hands know it. I use Mittels with a stark E and was considering Weich's on the D and G. Keep us posted on your progress.

[quote name='fatback' post='1369702' date='Sep 11 2011, 07:11 PM']Thanks for your replies, guys. I'll do some thinking about this. [/quote] Just curious but what do you mean by "bumping"?

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1274364' date='Jun 19 2011, 03:33 AM']Orchestral strings are either gut strings, or synthetic strings that try to emulate the sound of guts. They tend to have quite low tension, and they're intended to be strung with a high action so the string can move a lot and produce high volume. They are designed to sound best under the bow. Jazz strings are typically steel, designed to sound bright and reedy, higher tension, and often don't sound very good when played with a bow. Hybrids are somewhere between the two; examples being Belcantos and Evah Pirazzi. I can vouch for the Evah Pirazzis sounding excellent when bowed and nice and pingy when played pizz but not as sharp as you might expect jazz strings to sound - they are quite rich and mature-sounding.[/quote] Not sure I'd agree with those generalisations. the difference between Orchestral strings and jazz pizz is more to do with the dampening material that is present in orchestral strings which reduces the excessive growl when playing pizz and makes them more suitable for bowing. Also I'd always thought that Belcantos were designed primarily as an orchestral string. Also while jazz strings have the reputation of being difficult to bow there are many bassists who swear by the bowed sound of eg Spirocores though they are very unforgiving of poor technique.

Keith was pleasure to deal with . Prompt payer too. I'd deal with him again without hesitation. Peter

[quote name='aonindy' post='1250346' date='May 30 2011, 02:44 PM']Hey All, towards the end of (mainly classical) DB lessons teach gets out a geeetar and strums along chord progresions getting me to pizz out walking lines / scales etc. Its been suggested I look on tinterweb or ask around for some backing MP3s with simple chord progresssions I could play over on loops etc ... anyone any ideas of this kind of thing ready made before I annoy someone with Garage-Band to work some stuff up for me? thanks! Allen.[/quote] There are many ways of getting backing tracks. 1 Buy some of the Abersold Playalong books . They come with a Cd and you can turn the bass off . 2 Download midi files. There are thousands out there . 3 Make your own using Garage Band or equivalent sequencer. 4 If you have an iphone the Real Book app (about £3.00 or so) contains about 800 tunes which have built in backing tracks. Just wire it up to your Hi Fi and voila ...your own virtual rhythm section.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1243855' date='May 25 2011, 08:36 AM']Thanks for your advice marvin. I am indeed looking for hi-fi double bass sound at volume which may be unachievable! If the new AI heads were cheaper I would have plumped for one of those over the Doubler given their unbeatble sound quality and the extra headroom (800W now I believe). Trouble is the latest list price puts the Clarus+ at just over £1,000 with padded case [/quote] PM'd you

[quote name='Clarky' post='1243330' date='May 24 2011, 07:39 PM']Interesting. I do agree the Doubler is a little flimsy but I guess that the price you pay for such a miniscule, ultralight (2.5 pounds!) amp. Hope to get a quick go on it tonight when back home (been in sunny Frankfurt for the day hence the absence of my usual 278 posts!) The AI is the single best sounding DB amp I have ever heard but its just not loud enough for my band unless I use it (frankly a bit of a waste of it) as a power amp for my Mackie speaker. One of the two will end up for sale on BassChat of course ;-)[/quote] The Focus or Clarus as it is now is actually more powerful than the EA Doubler ( although I said it is flimsy I think it is a serious piece of kit) . I can see that you are a journey to sort out your sound problems with your band. I have no idea what sound is in your head. I'd imagine you are trying to get the best quality and loudest sound from your onstage amp without getting any feedback. In a loud band situation that's always going to be tricky. I suppose it depends on what type of sound you are after. If you really want the 'sound' of the DB then you will really have to think about the whole signal chain. ie bass , pu, amp and speaker. There are many proven set ups that seem to work well for many pros. I have no idea what the mag pick up is like. I understand it will allow for big volumes but will you have to sacrifice tone? I have played in a Rock based 14 piece using a Hybrid DB, Full circle AI Focus EA 112 CXL . It wasn't a great experience though because the onstage monitors were so loud that I had to constantly dampen the strings on my bass to stop it vibrating . I was guesting so I wasn't brave enough to suggest that the onstage volume was way too loud. That been said I have used the same set up with a 12 piece big band ... with a great onstage sound . I just hope the FOH was as good. Keep us up to speed with your journey.

[quote name='Clarky' post='1242345' date='May 23 2011, 10:03 PM']Too early to say - can only play at very quiet volumes due to neighbours! Sounds quite bright with my Shadow pickup. I need to play around with EQ to get a bassier sound .... but I have been instructed by she-who-must-be-obeyed that its too late to be playing it now. I can't believe how small and light it is. Edit: one thing I am less enamoured by is only having one speakon out (I stupidly didn't spot that when researching). Thats fine if you have a good cab that can keep up with the band but in my case I have found the best results with my AI Coda combo with a PA speaker on a stand at head height (for me) as well as the combo cab on the floor (for the drummer). Can probably solve this with my Barefaced Midget as thats mighty loud but even so, an extra speakon out would have been a nice option (which needn't have dramatically altered the miniscule dimensions of the Doubler). Also the DI out is a jack socket, although I had been warned about this in advance by BC'er Fatback so I had a short jack-to-XLR cable made by obbm, as Fatback did. Edit again: I just sneakily tried it at low volume through my Midget T and it sounded a whole lot bassier than through the Mackie C200 PA cab I first tested it with. Promising[/quote] Hi Clarky The EA is a good amp and should be loud enough for most gigs . I alternated between the AI focus and the EA doubler. The lack of an extra speakon out can be solved if you have a speaker with two speakons. I like both these amps. The EA is slightly coloured IME(not a bad thing especially with EB) where as the AI seems more neutral. Build quality the AI wins. I feel the EA is a little on the flimsy side.

[quote name='Skol303' date='May 20 2011, 03:50 PM' post='1238312'] Ok, here goes... I've always wanted an upright bass - I absolutely love the sound - I think you've answered your own question. If you love the sound then get a Double bass , a good teacher ...sorted! You won't regret it.

+1 on Spiro mittels

[quote name='bassace' post='1233483' date='May 16 2011, 07:23 PM']There is a vacancy for a double bassist on a jazz course being run in Oxford by Sue Greenway. Sue is a very experienced sax player and a great communicator. Flyer is attached; looks like good value for money. [attachment=80113:sc0001d781.pdf][/quote] Maybe I've missed something here ... what are the dates of these classes?