fatback

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='953964' date='Sep 12 2010, 08:22 PM']Shouldn't really do anything you can't do by fiddling with the head.[/quote] Dunno. I use a Sadowsky outboard pre with passive basses, and it thickens up the sound beautifully in a way I can't match with the amp alone. No effect on volume - it's only gain after all, more a quality thing. i use it at the amp end of the guitar lead, cos it's handy that way. At the other end, it should help with signal to noise, i suppose, but I've not bothered. Can't imagine leaving it behind.

I've just fixed myself up with an EA Doubler and barefaced Midget. My motivation was that if I was humping around the big beast, i'd better make everything else as light and compact as poss. I have to say the Doubler is superb. A few selling points: You won't have to have a preamp because the input impedance is 1Mohm, so saving £100 or so. Of course you might want one anyway for tone shaping. The two channels are either for electric and acoustic or two acoustic inputs, mic and pickup. If you do the last, you have full control over phase. EQ is interesting. There's a variable notch filter to use against feedback, and the ch2 mid eq is centred higher (800hz) than ch 1 (600hz) to better suit the db. Overall, a wonderful warm sound. Not at all clinical. Paired with the Midget, it's gorgeous with bg, I haven't tried it live with upright yet, but I expect it to be perfect. You can tell I'm still besotted.

@ funkle, just to add a small observation. I notice you'd been using a Trace practice amp. I'd been doing the same (blx80). Apart from the threat to my back, and the possible need for more headroom, I was pretty happy with the sound and never had to crank it to distortion. But honestly, I didn;t know what I was missing. A couple of knowledgeable people commented at the gig that we sounded the tightest ever (and we're usually very tight). I don't think it was the playing, i think it was the Midget. No boom at all. Focussed.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='950352' date='Sep 9 2010, 10:23 AM']3. Yes. Put the Midget on the top - polar response is really good like that, which makes a big difference to real world performance. If your amp wobbles get some foam rubber matting or ask us for some foam tape to stick to your amp.[/quote] Sorry for hijack, but what's this about foam tape? I daren't tilt the Midget cos my Doubler is so light it'll just slide off the top if I do.

[quote name='funkle' post='950333' date='Sep 9 2010, 10:11 AM']Thanks, that was a really helpful review. Have you used your Midget for jazz stuff at some point too? And what about for upright? Pete[/quote] haven't tried it except at home with upright, so not very loud, but I can't see it why it wouldn't sound as good as with electric. I think it would be perfect for jazz. We play a fair few quietish swing numbers, and the electric guitarist is a jazzer. I'm playing fretless, and the Midget sits in there beautifully. As I said, i can't separate the EA Doubler effect from the Midget, but I think the cab is mostly what I'm hearing. Very precise sound, I'd say, but not at all cold. Maybe 'controlled' is the word I'm looking for. Would suit jazz very well, I'd guess.

Can't compare, i'm afraid, but I gave the Midget its first outing last weekend. my alt country band regularly shares a very small stage with other sometimes much bigger bands - gear all over the shop. You literally daren't turn around for fear of taking either the guitarists or a punters head off with the headstock. Was I very happy with my little midget (no tweeter) last week? You bet i was. Great sound. Tons of bottom (with eq flat). And, amazingly, I could hear it perfectly, even though I was standing with it a couple of feet behind my knees and didn't have it wedged up either. No boom at all. I was told later it could be heard clearly from clean outside the building. A bit more detail here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=466&st=240&p=946526&#entry946526"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry946526[/url] Build quality looks superb too. Very solid piece of kit. And weightless (nearly).

Hi all, about to rosin my new carbon bow for the first time. Any advice? The rosin is Petz #2, and is very hard and shiny. The bow is Yitamusic carbon. The only youtube info I can find is either about violins or has folk disagreeing and calling each other idiots. Like, should the rosin be stroked on in one direction only? many thanks

[quote name='silddx' post='948783' date='Sep 7 2010, 08:50 PM']Is there a point? Unless you play jazz I can't see one. The occasional inspired extra note here and there, sure, but studying improvisation on a bass!?! It seems ridiculous. Learn to cook instead, it's much more useful and pleasing for other people. It sounds like a recipe for cheating your audience to me. Only musicians will feel any "magic" happening, and that magic will be VERY rare. The audience won't get it anyway, and why not compose something beautiful in the first place. For me, improvisation on a bass is for jazz and pompous tits who convince themselves it's entertaining. I wish they would realise NO-ONE GIVES A sh*t.[/quote] Does not remembering what I played last time count as improvisation? If so, me = tit

[quote name='fender73' post='947394' date='Sep 6 2010, 04:56 PM']Hi all... Am after a budget 5, and love the look of the Affinity 5 string Jazz. Anyone own/played one? Haven't had a chance to play one myself yet. All comments welcome! Thanks Graeme[/quote] Played one in a shop and found the neck very wide. Ok, you expect it to be wide-ish, but Jazz-wide not P-wide Tried an OLP V after it and it felt much more comfortable to me. Just imo, of course.

Just had a practice, then a gig, with the new Midget (no tweeter) + EA Doubler. Outstanding! I haven't used amp or cab paired with anything else, so I don't know which is contributing what to the happiness, but here's a rundown anyhow: Used only with my old Yamaha bb400s fretless. No double bass tried in anger yet. The gig was a medium pub with a big square space. Pretty full. The music is country/rock with a medium-loud drummer, electric guitar and amplified acoustic. Weight - Doubler, approx 2.5 pounds. Midget 12kg. Unreal. First time ever got to a gig in a taxi. One trip to the stage. Not quite in the tin whistle players' league, but oh my, it feels great after Trace. Loudness: Very very. I couldn't get the rig over 1/3 in my house cos everything was rattling. For practice and gig, master at 12 o'clock. The gain controls are linear on the Doubler, so there was that much to go again. Can't imagine needing to go any louder in a pub situation than I was doing, never mind cranking it up. Sound: Superb. First the Doubler - I was afraid it might be too hifi. I normally rely on a DHA VT-1 to grit everything up a bit. After the practice, I didn't even bring it to the gig. No need at all. The sound wasn't a bit hifi; it was warm, and when I dug in had all the grit I needed, without distortion. Cut clean through, no bother. The EQ was flat apart from -1 or -2 db in the mids. I don't know whether it was the cab, the amp or the combination, but the overall sound was very accurate but very musical. Nothing clinical at all. Perfectly good for rock. What about the bottom? Tons and tons. With no boom at all. I couldn't believe how tight the bottom end was. I can;t stand boominess, and there wasn't a hint. at the practice, i tried for a dubby kind of sound by rolling off the highs and cranking up the bass eq, and the Midget sounded huge with no farting. Now that astonished me. Sounded as deep and satisfying as any 15". About the Midget, people have said that when you crank it up it gets loud by getting angry. I know exactly what they mean. Now, i was a bit worried that angry might mean barky, but it didn't. It kept a very musical quality. Interestingly, the Midget definitely improved over the first three hours of playing. A little mellower, even more pleasing. So: Super light weight. Very very loud. Beautiful lows (and notice I didn't say 'for a 1X12'). And a bit of grit and character, none of your smoothy-pants thing at all. Add a BF Compact to this and I can only imagine the rig from heaven. Mind you, beware - the Midget comes as standard with only one speakon, and quite a few amps, including the EA amps, have only one output. Pretty limiting for an 8ohm cab, especially if you want to sell it on. I know Alex's dislike of daisy chaining, but in the real world, that's what we often have to do. I asked for a second speakon. If you get a BF cab, do the same Having said that, huge congrats to Alex on an absolutely outstanding cabinet. That's it.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='942221' date='Sep 1 2010, 03:20 PM']I would disagree with that actually. I played a lovely DB with a rosewood board (not 'ebonised' either, just left au naturel) at the weekend, it sounded excellent. The owner told me he'd once suggested to his luthier that he wanted an ebony board on it once and the luthier asked "Why?". You also might find you just bloody love the sound of the bow and want to use it loads. [/quote] I think the problem was not so much that it had to be ebony as it had to [u]not [/u] be some kind of dressed up cheapo softwood. I wouldn;t have noticed the difference between the terms 'ebony' and 'ebonised' if i hadn't been warned. Grooving leading to splitting if it gets wet busking, I think was the problem. +1000 to the sound of the bow biz. First time I heard that sound as the player hears it, I nearly fell over. Couldn't believe how lovely it was.

[quote name='Colledge' post='940994' date='Aug 31 2010, 02:29 PM']volume can't be measured in terms of power, you have a trade in of amount of speakers and power. you could easily cover your needs with 100w if you don't mind carrying some big, heavy, efficient speaker cabs. If you have more money though, you can make smaller speakers make as much sound as a less powerful amp with more (larger) cabs.[/quote] +1 Very sensible point.

There's great info in the db section, as Bilbo says. It can be hard to sort out though. I bought my first lately, on advice from the good folks here, and a few considerations stood out: 1. All-ply is fine, [u]especially[/u] old ones. A good ply (or hybrid with solid top) can be better than a cheaper all solid. 2. If you're going to busk and have worries about humidity and splitting, go ply. 3. Chinese is probably bad. Czech (like the Thomann 22s, I think) is good. 4. An ebony board is a must. Not 'ebonised'; that's painted. 5. An adjustable bridge is a huge benefit when you're trying to find the right setup for you. 6. Get a lesson before you buy anything. Apart from the playing bit, it'll get you a chance to handle a good bass (your teacher's), and you'll know what to aspire to (even if you won't be able to afford it). 7. Get a lesson. Did I say that? 8. Yes you will need a setup - it's certain that the bass will be improved out of all recognition. DIY is fine when you know what the real thing should be. And it's great to get to know a good luthier. 9. Factor in the £100 for a carbon bow. Everybody says you must learn to bow for the sake of intonation, and they seem to mean it. 10. Factor in the cost of a pickup, and a preamp (if your amp isn't a high impedance jobbie.) 11. Factor in £50 for books. 12. If it's rockabilly slapping you're interested in you may need to use different strings. More cost. 12. You won't need a hard case. You will need a soft case. Mmmm. There's probably more. Lots more. With my very limited experinece of having taken the plunge, i guarantee you will not not not regret it

Don't ignore Yamaha. BB404?

horses for erm...? /ducks/

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='940078' date='Aug 30 2010, 04:49 PM'][i][b](Scene: A living room in the year 2027. As the curtain rises we see an armchair. In it sits a downcast man with thinning hair. He is idly flicking through channels on the Holo-TV. A teenage girl enters, blowing the dust off a bubble-wrapped package of indeterminate vintage)[/b][/i] Girl: Hola, Pops! I just found this in the attic! WJE (for it is he): Why, it's my old Fender bass! Girl: What's a Fender bass, grey-haired father of mine? WJE: When you were no more than a wee mite, I used it to purvey quality low-end thump in popular dance-combos of the period. Girl: Before we moved here to the Martian Colonies? WJE: Indeed. How fortunate I didn't sell it, given that a modern 2000w rig weighs only 4 old Earth ounces and fits in your back pocket. I shall take up my calling once more! Both: Huzza! [b][i](Scenes of joy ensue. Finis)[/i][/b][/quote] LOL + 1000 on keeping one bass (your fave). Like lots of folks here I quit for years, and my biggest regret was getting rid of my 68 Jazz. My second biggest regret was the Wal Don't go there! Look on your basses as an investment. if you don't go back to playing (but you will!), you still have an excuse to keep em.

[quote name='JTUK' post='937999' date='Aug 27 2010, 12:17 PM']I pick them for a band depending on chemistry and that sort of nonsense, but since I met them on music dates, then they were stranglers at one point.[/quote] That's the trouble with people you don't know. Some might even have played jazz

[quote name='steviedee' post='937773' date='Aug 27 2010, 07:14 AM']What exactly do you mean by 'pop attack' I have a bassmax on both my basses and use a doubler but haven't really noticed anything specific but I'll have a wee noodle about and see if I get the same thing.[/quote] It's as if the attack of the note has lots of high mids in, quite 'synthetic' sounding, not natural at all. Sorry I can't record anything just now for various reasons. Don't actually know what strings are on it, but it belonged to a jazz player, so they'll be pretty conventional, rather than rockabilly-ish.

Fitted the K & k Bassmax on the E side, and I'm having trouble with a 'pop' attack. The problem is mostly above D on the A string. Otherwise the sound is fairly good approximation to the acoustic. I'm using an EA Doubler on Ch 2, and a BF Midget, and I can only get rid of the 'poppy' attack by drastically cutting the mid eq. Using the notch filter doesn't help. I'm not using a preamp, as the Doubler is high impedance. The pickup may not be seated in a perfectly parallel bridge slot, but shifting the pickup about a bit doesn't change anything. Any ideas? The bass sounds great acoustically, and I'm not expecting to reproduce that, but I should be able to do better than this and without brutal eq. Any ideas? Thanks for your thoughts.

[quote name='Faithless' post='935087' date='Aug 24 2010, 06:13 PM']it got me thinking about this Auralex Gramma thing.. First of all, in future I'll be using a lil' Ibanez Promethean combo, so if it i'll on the stage floor, hooked with Gramma pad, I'm going to struggle to hear myself, so, if I tilt-up the cab (about 45 degrees or so), will Auralex still work? I mean, does the cab have to sit on Auralex [i]fully[/i], so the Pad is effective?[/quote] Alex C offers auralex wedges for tilting cabs up. I'll be getting one soon, and it'll be interesting to see if they help with boom as well as doing the tilting job.

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='928553' date='Aug 18 2010, 12:35 PM']I will need a bigger car though. Got my DB, amp and associated gubbins in the wee Daihatsu but if I had to carry bass guitars and pedals too I would need to put stuff in the passenger seat.[/quote] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=99944&st=0&p=934927&#entry934927"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry934927[/url]

[quote name='Wil' post='934910' date='Aug 24 2010, 03:46 PM']I dont know if that's the best band name ever or the worst band name ever [/quote] I did wonder whether it might not attract the wrong sort of fan entirely...

[quote name='Sean' post='934058' date='Aug 23 2010, 07:22 PM']Someone had a bargain [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260650303612&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT"]here[/url] on this 415, though the seller was creaming it at £30 on the shipping, especially as a business. BassDirect charge a tenner![/quote] Yeah, I was watching that 415, but £30+ for shipping put me off. Especially as I'd have to pay for defretting as well.

Been away and just heard. Sad, sad, sad. RIP, and condolences of course.

At $399 a bit pricey