Just found this on youtube

[Major-Minor]

The Major on bass:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNH1rORHgPU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNH1rORHgPU[/url]

Didn't even know we were being filmed. So sorry about the odd bit of bad intonation !

Edited July 13, 2010 by Major-Minor

[Platypus]

Well done Major - you make playing the DB look effortless

[geoffbassist]

Great work pete.
I also really enjoyed your playing on Monday night.
Great arco solo!
:-)

[thisnameistaken]

Lovely. Drummer's the boss, and I just love trombone. I've got one actually, but these days I'm increasingly embarrassed about playing it. I think I was drawn to fretless bass and then double bass because of the similarities with trombone.

And if that's iffy intonation I'm never uploading any clips of me playing DB...

[Major-Minor]

[quote name='geoffbassist' post='888937' date='Jul 7 2010, 09:05 PM']Great work pete.
I also really enjoyed your playing on Monday night.
Great arco solo!
:-)[/quote]
Cheers Geoff - and thanks for coming to the gig.

A little further background to this vid:

This was about 4 / 5 years ago when we (the BBC Phil Jazz Group) were regularly promoting jazz gigs with big name guest artists. On this occasion the guest was sax man Alan Barnes who speaks at the end of the vid.

Trombonist Paul Reynolds was depping with the group on this occasion. Paul retired last year as Principal Trombone of the BBC Phil and has been at the very top of the profession for over 30 years. He is a superb orchestral player - yet a reluctant jazzer ! We always had to persuade / coax / cajole him into doing a jazz gig - but he always came up with the goods ! We miss him a lot.

The drummer is Paul Turner - Principal Timpanist BBC Phil. On piano is Matthew Compton - usually to be found in the viola section!

The Major

[hubrad]

Nice sound.. I particularly like the bit around 2.49, when the camera shifts slightly so we can see you playing the bass!

[Major-Minor]

Here's some pics of the bass I use for jazz gigs. I know very little about this bass. I bought in the South Manchester area it in the early 80's from an amateur dance band player who also collected and repaired basses.
There is no maker's label inside, but I can see a the following written in fading ink:
"Repaired and revarnished by Norman M Heal Blackpool Feb 1962"
The scroll has a hole drilled through it which leads me to believe the bass was used in a theatre pit where, because space was tight, the bass player would hang the bass on a hook on the wall during breaks rather than lying it on its side.
I had nice new machine heads put on last year, at great expense, as they had to be custom made due to the non standard size of the peg box.


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The Major

[thisnameistaken]

Gorgeous.

What's that thing stuck in the F-hole? I've seen them before but never knew what they were, is it something repair-related?

Also what's that pickup?

Ta!

[velvetkevorkian]

I think the thing in the F-hole is a humidifier, to stop it drying out and cracking.

[Major-Minor]

[quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='892985' date='Jul 12 2010, 05:26 PM']I think the thing in the F-hole is a humidifier, to stop it drying out and cracking.[/quote]
Yes it's a humidifier. I started using it a couple of years ago as the bass had started rattling and buzzing rather badly. This thing has sorted the problem. I wet it at least once a week tho'. For those who haven't seen one, its basically just a piece of kitchen cloth in a rubbery tube with holes in it.

The pickup is an Underwood. 30 years old and still going strong !

The Major