Got a Double Bass again

[Jezyorkshire]

Now i am on my own and in a position to pursue my interests I have just bought a Westbury gamba double bass from Peter Hall over in Beverley. Its setup for bowing and its probably a little high for me and has spiro reds on , my old bass had spiro purples on it, I told peter that I would play it as it is and see how I go, got it home and I can tell the combination of reds with higher action is tiring quickly but then I have had a layoff of about 2 years! If I can get my hands on some used spiro purples will give em a try.

[sarah thomas]

Congrats on the double bass. Have you got any photos to show us? Spiro Weich (the purple ones) come along rarely second hand and get snapped up quickly IMO. I ended up buying new, but combined with a lower action have really helped me to get those long notes ringing out. Welcome back to the upright world.

[geoffbassist]

Hey Jez, welcome back mate :-) it's great you are playing upright again and I love those westbury basses. Good choice. I would look at lowering the action & you may find you get used to the spiros. However I find the Mittel gauge hard work on the hands so do prefer the Weichs. I'm a bit of a wimp though and perhaps over time I would get used to them.

Happy Christmas! Cheers Geoff

[Jezyorkshire]

Thanks Sarah and Geoff ,
Definetly need less tension strings, am getting more thump than note and when I used weichs I could hear the pitch easier especially on the lower strings and there was a bit more buzz to the sound and brighter.

[Jezyorkshire]

Spiro weichs and fishman full circle on way from thomman, then of back to peter hall at Beverley for new bridge/strings/full circle fitting and probably a alteration of the fingerboard relief.

[geoffbassist]

[quote name='Jezyorkshire' timestamp='1388435405' post='2322027']
Spiro weichs and fishman full circle on way from thomman, then of back to peter hall at Beverley for new bridge/strings/full circle fitting and probably a alteration of the fingerboard relief.
[/quote]

Great choice Jez, that will be a awesome combination!

[Jezyorkshire]

Thanks Geoff, cant blame the gear then lol

[Jezyorkshire]

Going over to Peter Hall at Beverley sunday, new bridge with full circle pickup, new spiro weichs and fingerboard relief adjustment, plus a carbon fibre tailpiece fitted!

[timbo1978]

Would love one of those basses! Enjoy! Pics welcome

[Marc S]

Welcome back to the wonderful world of DB
I haven't been here too long myself
but I don't intend leaving

Let us know how you get on with your action & strings

Marc

[Jezyorkshire]

collected Westbury after work done by Peter Hall and its fantastic, really great job and its really opened the sound up, tried the full circle through fishman pro eq into effrects return of my mark bass combo and its got a very usable sound, had to keep volume down as it was 11pm lol but with a bit of cut on low mid, mid and high mid its getting there, and it plays so easy now, so much so that i have a gig tonight and even though i havent played double for about 2 years im considerin taking it and having electric on standby lol

[geoffbassist]

Great news Jez! Leave your electric in the boot of your car on standby :-)

[fatback]

[quote name='Jezyorkshire' timestamp='1391388239' post='2356695']
collected Westbury after work done by Peter Hall and its fantastic, really great job and its really opened the sound up, tried the full circle through fishman pro eq into effrects return of my mark bass combo and its got a very usable sound, had to keep volume down as it was 11pm lol but with a bit of cut on low mid, mid and high mid its getting there, and it plays so easy now, so much so that i have a gig tonight and even though i havent played double for about 2 years im considerin taking it and having electric on standby lol
[/quote]

Great news. Keep in mind you can change the sound of the Full Circle by rotating the pickup a very small amount.

Good luck with the gig.

[Marc S]

Hope the gig went well?
Did you use the Double Bass or your bass guitar?

[Jezyorkshire]

the venue was really small, had to leave it in the car, good news is im now rehearsin with 2 bands, one is a country/bluegrass with acoustic gtr, banjo and mandolin and the other is with a guy called Angelo Palladino who currently is playing solo but i answered his ad for a double player and am working on putting lines to his material, thanks for askin