essexbasscat

Hi all Came across a double bass in a shop. The shop are selling it on behalf of someone that got it as part of a house clearance. It has cobwebs near the posts that the strings wind around. The machine heads look old, the finish is dull, but not pitted. The heel where the neck attaches to the body is split horizontally approx. half inch below the top face of the body. The split is between 1/16" and 1/8" inch wide. The bridge has the logo 'Adam Warrick' on it. It's made of a white wood and appears a bit fresher than the rest of the bass. It's condition isn't congruent with the overall condition of the bass, which looks generally older The bridge is about 1' above the sound post (that is, 1 inch nearer the fretboard). The foot of the bridge on the treble side has pushed the top in a short way. The string slots in the bridge haven't been cut too deep. You can drive a bus under the action BTW The inside of the slot at the uppermost part of the F' hole on the bass side is lower than the height of the corresponding opposite side of that F hole. There are some lines on the finish on the top (they look like prior pressure marks from the foot of the bridge) that indicate the bridge has travelled towards the bass side F hole at some time in the past. The finish on the body is dark and appears to be like an old varnish or laquer. It's definately not a poly finish. The finish is cracked in vertical lines. If you've seen an old dark finish Gibson 335 from the late 1950's or early 60's, you'll know what I mean. I checked inside for a label, but nothing there. There don't appear to be any identifiying marks anywhere on the instrument. The only writing is on the bridge. Looking through the F holes, the wood of the back panel doesn't show any grain. I can't tell if that's because it's old, faded and dull, or if it's because it's made of ply, or some other composite wood. There's no holes anywhere, it just has abrasion marks here and there. It has old strings on it, but it's surprisingly resonant from the top two strings. The lower ones sound well, but not so resonant. What do you think BC ? does anyone have any ideas ? value ? how much to repair ? can I repair the neck heel myself ? How much should I offer ? Or alternately, how much is a new one these days ? or a reasonable secondhand one ? I'm completely new to this field of bass, so please be patient with me. Thanks all

[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1342612929' post='1737840'] Bass goes 'boom'. Mids go 'grrrrrr'. Treble goes 'sizzz' and occasionally 'clack'. Seriously. [/quote] Love it !

Some dunce drove into the back of my car as we were going down the M11. He must have been travelling 100 + as my boot was fully caved in. Told the singer at a rehearsal later that week that another car had demolished the boot of my car. First thing he said was; "Did you have your bass in the boot ? " "No". "Thank God for that !" Pause. "How are you ? "

Ah, that's really sad to hear. Bob played one of my favourite bass lines - Midnight Train to Georgia, so melodic. A real loss. Jon Lord too. This year is going to be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

[quote name='lojo' timestamp='1342200941' post='1731610'] Is that retail or 2nd hand cost? [/quote] Going by t'other thread (what's the value of your pub gig bass ?), people seem to post either or both. I guess that means it's your discretion

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1342201052' post='1731616'] For me... at replacement prices..just shy of £10k -ish [/quote] If anyone tops this, I want to see the equipement list !

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1342197439' post='1731493'] I think you might have set the upper limit a bit low. Two decent quality lightweight cabs will have you pushing £1000, before you even look at amps, pedals, tuners, DI boxes etc. [/quote] Good point about the cost of two cabs ! The upper limit is over £1000 though at the mo. I'll add another one

Following on from the other one flying around here about 'What Value is your pub gig bass' ? I thought I'd ask the same question about rigs, y'know all the stuff you use for the backline. Many of us use an amp and head, or combo, DI's etc, but some of this stuff can still mount up at the cash till. Me, I used a Peavey 2 x 12 for years from new. It looks like it's done a tour of Afganistan since then, well and truly dog -eared. Probably worth less than £50.00 now. More recently, it's been an Aguilar GS112 and a Peavey MKIV head. All up probably less than £400, but it's reliable and always does the job. What about you ?

Thanks BB Appreciate your comments on the Wizzy, one of those is incoming thanks to Clarky ! Also agree with you when you say that the only way to do it is to hear them (so why ask like this I hear others ask ?) - conversations like this are a good way to start though. Part of the problem may be the difficulty in describing subtle differences in sound, as with 'one sound is thicker, or denser, than another'. I'm going to start using an iAMP quite soon and I'm sizing up the speakers that work well with them. Having heard iAMPs through an EA VL208 and a wizzy, I was really amazed with the way the EA rig exposed even minimal changes to alterations with the tone controls on the bass itself, even with a passive bass. Before then, I thought that sort of thing only came with active controls. I hope to take an iAMP to a bass bash and try it through a BF cab. Once I've done some testing, I'll report back. Thanks again BB

Definately get that one checked out OP. There's other things going on around the elbow as well as the structures that give rise to what is commonly known as tennis elbow. Sooner rather than later is the kiddy with this one

Thanks Bassbod, that's the sort of thing I was looking for Hope you don't mind if I ask a bit further. - You mention great clarity with the BF cabs, while the EA cabs are clean and clear. Does one sound 'thicker' than the other ? or 'fuller' ? I hope it's clear (!) what I mean there. - Was there a mid scoop present on the EA's that wasn't noticable with the BF's ? - Did the BF's voice the iAMP's ability to expose subtle changes made with the bass guitar controls ? (as is often the case with EA cabs) Thanks again BB much appreciated

OK, I guess there aren't many of us that have A/B'd Barefaced and EA cabs with an iAMP. Has anyone out there A/B'd EA and BF cabs with any other amps ? Thanks all

Is it easy to consider pickups in isolation from the other points of the triangle i.e the speaker and amp ? I'm finding over time (aren't bass bashes wonderful ideas ?) that different amps and cabs have different bandwidth characteristics i.e this rig may express more bottom end, that rig's mids are a bit harsh, yada yada..... If I have the opportunity to test a given set of pickups through many different rigs, I'll probably have a more informed idea about the inherent sound of the pickups, but I'm keeping an open mind on this one.

What they said + 100. Joe White is a luthier I trust, but he's over T'other side of London + a bit down the M4

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1341958776' post='1727195'] Bought a pedal from me last week - really friendly to deal with. Thanks Tom. [/quote] My pleasure Toni, it was a nice price too. Cheers Tom

Hi there, curious about something really. Has anyone ever done A/B testing with a Euphonic Audio iAMP, a Euphonic Audio cab and a Barefaced cab ? Just curious as to how EA and BF cabs compare. Thanks for any replies folks Cheers T

Bet you end up going into 'School Days' by our Stan

Hi OP, your post does give a few possible clues. You mention short fingers and being away from the bass for quite a while. Additionally, the pain you describe when/after playing repetitive scales does sound as if the muscles and nerves in your hand / wrist / forearm are being stretched to an uncomfortable degree. As an experiment, you could try practicing scales up around the 12th fret, where the frets are closer together for a while. Your hands would get back in shape again, without too much initial stretching. As your stamina builds, you can slowly spend more time playing a little nearer the tuning pegs, with the aim to gradually increase the stretch over time. Hope that helps

Nick very graciously supplied me with an unopended set of strings, all for a donation to BC, bless i'm. Top man, thank you Nick, you're welcome for a tea at mine anytime Cheers Tom

[quote name='73Jazz' timestamp='1341737529' post='1723235'] Guys, as promised..she is ready! 1973 Precision [/quote] lovely, she's a beauty