fatback

Wonderful news! Congrats to you both. On the other hand, all those years of worrying that she might turn into a guitarist.... I read about a Baby Bass on here somewhere. Should be suitable.

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1387738794' post='2315115'] I agree Hector, there is a nice place that can be found by just doing things right, forgetting about whether you're playing a good line etc can allow you to focus on the purity of execution, which can be most enjoyable, especially when it becomes part of you as a player and you then see it come out in your playing... [/quote] In relation to this, how do you get the right balance in practice time between the various demands? I'm terrible for getting things out of kilter, so a few weeks on scales and my right hand speed goes to pot. Partly stubbornness I think. I'm inclined to battle at a thing until time runs out. Any suggestions about how to balance out practices so that strength, dexterity, musicality, ear, reading etc all get attention but don't get spread too thinly either? Not too far from the OP I hope, as we need all of the above and more. And if anybody has got a tip for living to be 120, please include in your reply.

I owe my entire db adventure to this forum. Never would have happened in a million years without the wonderful help here. So best wishes to all. Have a peaceful Christmas. And to those who live beside the seaside, let's hope we still have roofs by New Year

Looks like some cabs need extra info in the tech specs, like 'risk of being flamed and/or punched for choosing'.

Don't worry about small hands. Check out the excellent LInda Oh proving you don't have to be 6ft4 with mitts like a brickie. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gysQ6cmngNE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gysQ6cmngNE[/url] You might benefit from checking out various thumb pivot techniques like Rabbath though.

[quote name='Mikey R' timestamp='1387024927' post='2307514'] What Ive noticed in the past, is that people often get offended by the high price put on quality stuff they might want to buy but now have to think twice about. A while ago, I watched a thread over on TB where the OP was really angry at how expensive a new Fodera is. The big problem was the upcharge on a scratchplate, and how criminally out of touch with the working bassist this high end company are. Madness. Personally, I am very happy that people like Alex, Alan at ACG, Jon Shuker and all the other UK based builders of cool stuff can actually make a living doing what they love, and are willing to share their product with us. If we want one of their products, then paying for those products is how we support them so they can make more cool products. Alex, Alan and Jon invested way more in their small business than any owner invested in one of their products, they had to pay for the R&D for the first few units, set up shop, buy the equipment, and so on, before they were able to sell even their first unit. And I guarantee you, even though they are now established, none of these people are getting rich doing what they love. Back to Barefaced, if you want one, and you save your pennies, you can have one. If you dont want one, you can spend your pennies on other things. If you want one, but dont want to save your pennies, then thats not a problem with the product. [/quote] +1000 Good sense. Folk protesting at the existence of expensive things they can't afford need to take a look at themselves. Anyhow, it's a bass cabinet for goodness sake, not a treatment for cancer - who really cares if it's less than perfection? Begrudgery is not a pretty sight. Anyone who starts up their own business making innovative products should get a hats off, whatever business they're in.

If you want to DIY, i guess it comes down to the technical question of whether keeping the enclosure and changing the driver will give you predictable results.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1380447036' post='2225242'] That Liebman article is gold dust. [/quote] I thought all that would be way beyond me, but it quickly rewards the effort. Great.

I believe you only get an extra 3db or so going from 4 to 8 ohms. Not a lot at all. I'm no expert on this though, so you might want to confirm that. I do know that if you want louder, better tone, go for two cabs.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1386794057' post='2304747'] Although I have fret lines, once I've been paying a while and I'm 'in the zone', I stop looking - or I look less often. So I agree [/quote] Related to this, I find with bass guitar I don't have to look as long as i'm sitting down, when all the angles are constant. Standing up, I look much more often, but then lines aren't much use compared to side dots, cos I can't see them. With upright bass, in practice I don't look at all (cos it's fixed angles) but in a gig I like side dots cos I'm moving about and often can't hear anyway. I do think the lines are great for starting off on fretless though, because you can train your stretch visually, if you know what I mean. As for depending on your ears, I'm sure that's correct for practicing, but I'm guessing that folks who say that about gigs play in civilised jazz bands devoid of insane drummers and keyboard players with fidgety left hands.

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1386783309' post='2304505'] A lot of DB players I've heard are often woefully out of tune, including some of the players that are revered in this very community. I also find the term stabilisers very patronising, I'm surprised and disappointed by it's usage, by a mod no less. [/quote] The harshness of my judgements about any person's intonation are inversely proportional to the degree to which they are at the same time shaking their booty. But seriously, as Hector says, we're all trying to get better; that's all that matters, and there's a good deal of humour in the positions people take up. I don't think anyone means to be unkind or disparaging.

[quote name='MB1' timestamp='1386778237' post='2304408'] MB1. Saw that comment just after I'd bought this Just dots on this, a Matsumoku Product. Westone Factory Fretless Thunder 1A circa 83 [/quote] Got one exactly like it. Cracking bass, and the side dots are in the right place too.

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1386713440' post='2303664'] Where can I find out more about this approach? [/quote] It's a version of the Rabbath technique for double bass. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54pMdTCmo8g[/media] [quote]10,000,000 violin, viola, cello and double bass players can't all be wrong.[/quote] It's a while since I saw one duckwalk though.

If you use a thumb pivot with 1234 or 124 and restrict your thumb positions to 3 or 4 (say F#, G, A and B relative to E string), you won't need lines at all. Side markers on the thumb positions will see you right every time. It's a phenomenally accurate method for intonation because you need make very few position shifts, and those you do make are to a limited number of destinations. I took to this method for learning the upright, but it's produced an amazing improvement in my intonation for fretless bg.

[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1386604883' post='2302048'] I'm coming from a guitar playing background of learning one finger per fret so that generally is how I find myself playing bass naturally. I'm planning on taking up double bass next year so that could give me problems if I have to start doing 1 2 4. Jazzyvee [/quote] Two different considerations are at play in this debate, I think. The first is physical, and there's no doubt that the third finger used on its own is prone to injury. At the lower end 124 is more sensible from that point of view. The second consideration is to do with how your mind works, and that's maybe where you're concerned about moving to upright and having to change fingering. There, 124 vs 1234 is not the problem; the problem is the change in coverage, ie the change from 2 tones to 1 1/2 tones and the resulting change in the pattern you use for playing and thinking about scales. The solution that worked for me was to learn to play 124 but with a thumb pivot that allowed me to keep my old 1234 patterning. If you want to make the upright transition relatively easy, then restrict yourself to three or four thumb positions only. You can cover all the lower half of the board from there. I know people will (rightly) say that playing by pattern is a bad thing, but it does take time to move away from patterns to the point when you can finger anything in any way. The thumb pivot approach also means that you can pretty well instantly transfer anything you play on bass guitar to upright. The fingering won't be the most efficient (you won't be using enough open strings, probably) but it will work out of the box. Health warning - I'm a learner not a teacher, and some if not most double bass teachers may not like the pivot method at all. I know I make people tut tut when I suggest it. It's mostly suitable imo for people going from 1234 on fretless to the upright, and it saved me oceans of frustration and Simandl-induced boredom.

I read an interview some years ago in which Jaco said the lines on his defretted bass were helpful. Worked for him. His reasoning, if I remember, was that whreas on an upright bass the angles between arm and board are pretty well fixed, on the guitar, especially when you're moving around, there's too much changing and you need a visual reference. I've got both lined and unlined, and I found at the start that the lines helped me develop precision in hand stretching. Really best for playing sitting down, recording etc. More useful imo is to have correctly positioned side dots. On mass produced basses they're often placed either side of the note, as those basses are essentially defretted (unfretted?). I got mine repositioned and found that very helpful. I wouldn't worry about 'ugly'. Far more important to play in tune imo.

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1386598313' post='2301938'] Ever since I bought my second DB, my Eminence EUB hasn't been to a single practice - good as it is, it just doesn't compare to the big wooden box. The hassle of lugging it around is worth it from the first note. [/quote] I suspect that's exactly what would happen with me. Made more likely by the practice being the only time I hear the db amplified and really cranked up.

[quote name='ChunkyMunky' timestamp='1386358162' post='2299341'] This is all excellent stuff, thank you very much everyone. I'm going to see if I can hunt out a cheap DB (wardrobe rather than the broomstick variety) and then see where it goes from there. I'm sure the Stagg would be a nifty backup, though! [/quote] Good on ya! Go for the big baby. True that the Stagg would be a good backup. I'm tempted to get one for routine band practices to save all that lugging around.

Someone on here pointed out that if you lie the bass on its back you need to put something under the body to lift it to prevent strain on the neck. I hadn't known that, but luckily when you fold my back seats down they are angled up slightly anyhow, so the headstock is never carrying weight.

[quote name='TheRev' timestamp='1386269625' post='2298112'] The lack of an XLR out is a bit of a pain - how have you got around it? [/quote] The simple jack to XLR conversion lead has never been a problem for me, although you do need to carry it as sound guys won't have one. Got mine from OBBM. EA say they chose the jack out to save internal space. The main thing is it's a proper balanced output.

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1385855853' post='2293011'] Tried gloves, matey? There are all kinds of medical ones for the circulation. I broke my hand and arm years ago, and I can feel the cold right in the old breaks! Better than any weather forecast for knowing when snow is coming. [/quote] Neoprene gloves like anglers use are amazing. You can cut off the fingers. It's almost like they generate heat.

If your planning a wee family concert, a good selection of free Christmas music, bass melodies as well as full scores, vocal parts etc, here: [url="http://www.stringbassonline.com/freechristmasmusic.htm"]http://www.stringbassonline.com/freechristmasmusic.htm[/url] Some other good free scores on there too. Sorry if posted before.

+1 to see a doc. If you're (also) going to try herbal alternatives to NSAID medicines, look at proper medical research not voodoo, plenty available on the web. There's no doubt that some work as well as the conventional medicines. For general protection of inflamed joints cod liver oil is the biz. The mechanism was discovered a couple of years ago. In inflammation, enzymes nip away at the proteins in the tendons etc. Cod liver oil (the omega 3) blocks the enzyme action. Joint damage is massively reduced, even prevented. Technical paper here, also with reviews of white willow bark , turmeric and other substances proven to work. [url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3011108/"]http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC3011108/[/url]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1385500187' post='2289090'] Is eveyone here more attached to their DB than their elec basses even if the elec basses cost more? I know I am and I am so glad to see Hectors bass repaired, much more than if it were a p bass or something. [/quote] Couldn't care less if my electrics vanished in a puff of smoke. Wife convinced that in a hostage situation - double bass or wife, that she'd not stand a chance. My protests are described as feeble in the extreme.