Beater Bass

[alexpea]

Hi all,

I'm considering getting a second double bass for festival gigs, crowded pub gigs and house party gigs etc. I've had a few nervous moments with my late 19th century german bass including having a drunk dancer fall onto to me and it and strapping it to the back of a golf buggy at WOMAD to name a few.

So I'm thinking a cheap'ish plywood bass would be useful to take to some gigs. It's quite a lot of money for me to spend even if I went for the cheapest Gedo music bass though so...

Does anyone else use a beater bass for some gigs?

Is it hard work swapping between two basses? My current bass has an Eflat neck and I'm aware that pretty much any modern ply bass I buy off the shelf will have a D neck, could this be an issue?

Sorry for all the Q's

Thanks in advance,

Alex

Edited October 7, 2013 by alexpea

[TPJ]

My only bass is a beater bass I'd rather knock around a £700 bass than a £2-5000 bass. That being said, I also use a BSX 5 string EUB and swapping between isn't too difficult. One gets to know one's instruments after playing them so much and I think that helps making the swaps easier.

[TheRev]

Like TPJ, I only have a beater bass. I've had far too many drunk punters trip over the monitors and into my bass to consider anything else. I do have an Eminence EUB that I use for the classier gigs that i plkay with my jaz-soul trio, but I've also taken that to festivals for the obvious portability reasons.

[alexpea]

Thanks for the replies

Another option I'm considering is getting myself an EUB which would be easier to transport and camp with at festival gigs.

Hmm

[ubassman]

I managed to figure out how to crunch down a Stagg EUB and I took it on holiday to Greece on Thomson - fitted nicely into the overhead locker the size of a small golf bag . Would be perfect for camping and for around £200 a good beater EUB !.

I guess a lot depends on the sound you are after and how important it would be to get that unique acoustic DB tone?

[alexpea]

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1382567966' post='2253915']
I managed to figure out how to crunch down a Stagg EUB and I took it on holiday to Greece on Thomson - fitted nicely into the overhead locker the size of a small golf bag . Would be perfect for camping and for around £200 a good beater EUB !.

I guess a lot depends on the sound you are after and how important it would be to get that unique acoustic DB tone?
[/quote]

wow did you have to remove the neck?

I do play a lot of arco so I'm not sure an EUB would be ideal. The visual impact of a real double bass is also quite important to most of the projects I play in.

[ubassman]

Theres no need to crunch down and it goes into its long bag - perfect for lying down in the wings of a tent. I just wanted to get it as small as small could be so that I could take it on the plane. The fingerboard is attached to the body via 4 screws and its pretty easy to do.

For pizz the sound is fine but for arco work its not that great especially when you are used to a DB.

I havent really found a EUB with a piezo pickup that mimics the DB sound (NS Design CR4 is about the closest ).