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I love all sorts of bass playing, but never really thought I would enjoy listening to a whole album of solo DB, but recent Spotify listening has changed my mind. I'm not a fan of Spotify, but recently joined it for a month - surprised to find some of my own albums there! - and the bots suggested I might like a playlist called "Solo Double Bass Jazz". First there's an album by Marc Johnson, Overpass, which was a great way into the genre, especially starting with Freedom Jazz Dance. Then came a player I knew little of, Anders Jormin, called Alone. This one has some deep stuff, literally and figuratively. Very Impressive. Then came Moroslav Vitous, whose playing I've know for decades. The album is Emergence. Then Larry Grenadier, Dave Holland, John Patitucci, Eberhard Weber, Gary Peacock, Michael Formanek, Barre Phillips, Carlos Barretto, and Arild Andersen. Wow, each one a great player. And then there's a playlist called Classical Double Bass, with some amazing solo and ensemble recordings, which I want to explore further. It's all too much all at once, of course, but I'm loving what I'm hearing. My own double-bass career didn't last very long. I snuck into the musical instrument cupboard at my Scottish secondary (high) school, was amazed at finding this giant of an instrument, managed to work out a few simple melodies - Christmas Carols, that kind of thing - and a major scale. Then the Head of Music came in, was outraged at my being there, and gave me six lashes of the leather belt, from which my hands still tremble at the memory of 50 years later. It was only the students whose parents could afford to buy an instrument who got lessons. Others were not allowed anywhere near the department. Fast forward 15 years later, and I sent the same Head of Music a press clipping showing I was at the No. 1 spot in the Scottish Classical Music Chart, with a solo lute album. A few years later I read that he had been dismissed for having sexual relations with one of his students. Clearly he didn't fancy me! I've played bass guitar on and off over the decades (now 66 years old) but have always wanted to play the double bass. I've developed a very light and sensitive nailless fingerstyle playing, and as such DB playing is out of the question, but I have just bought a new Godin A5 Ultra bass guitar, with which I can play while pretending it's a DB, and make some connection with that 14-year old school kid who made a connection with the sound all those years ago. Anyway, enough of me, I'm wondering how many of you enjoy listening to solo DB albums, Jazz or Classical? And if you have any recommendations?

A lot of the gigs I have been playing recently are with my rick 5 string 4004, I thought about getting a 5 string 4003 made. i looked into it but ultimately you end up paying the same as a real s/h ric for the same price so I decided to just get a normal 4003 and see if I got on with it. So that turned up today, a matte 4003s - I have a practice tomorrow so I get to hear what it sounds like, but I need to go through my normal set and try and adapt to having a string missing. Traditionaly it has never worked, and I ended up ignoring the 4, but we shall see- its a bit harder to convert a 4003 to a 5 string with the bridge! First impressions are good, apart from the obvious lack of strings! Anyway, useless without pictures, so here we are

It doesn't matter but always thought the pre cool tube preamp was a B10 and the later one with the cool tube was a TB10. I came very very close to ordering one on a few occasions, but ultimately I think it wouldn't replace either my doublebass or an electric bass, so would end up unused.

Liver Let Die - Wings

Is that a fretless Fonder? And the coat...

I'd second both the Harris pre and hot wax suggestions. I know you're after a single pedal solution, but I used to get a cracking gritty tone and Superbassy/ Marshall/ Lemmy tone with the combination of the EHX bass soul food or Joyo Orange Juice, and EHX Glove.

Uncanny. My Rikkers Bodyline actually uses those switches on the humbuckers!

Check out Rikkers in the Netherlands - they do a bass in wood which is literally almost this design! They call it the “treeline” bass

Useful side by side comparison of XS-1 vs Drop. Comments enlightening: - little in it on latency - Boss have focussed on the attack and response as the processing catches and retunes your instrument => the feel is better preserved and the sound of that initial attack sounds right.

Thanks Phil and I was getting somewhere similar with my thinking this afternoon: positives - combos can be light! - ability to use existing kit (and great that @synthaside is getting benefit from his set up - something has gotta be better than nothing, right?) neutral - cost of combo comparable to subs negatives - limited speaker excursion on bass combos vs dedicated subs - only really interested in the sub delivering 30Hz to 110Hz and the combo is not designed to excel in volume at these frequencies (see chart above for illustrative representation)

Very nice indeed! If I ever cross the pond, I'm rudely inviting myself over for tea. And while there might as well play though some of that nice equipment! Really like the Trace. I have a RM 300 evo ii and that will likely be sold and I keep the ABM 500 at home. Shipping on the RM will be much less expensive than an ABM. That's my excuse to keep the first ABM. I have way better basses (vintage) than I am a player. My theory is, if you can't play good you should at least sound good.

I use Rex Thunderbolt for mine, as my 'normal name' is a bit.. you know.. lol I am listed with PRS and associated entities as Rex and Chris, to cover each identity. It has also been handy to deal with some of my natural shyness when on stage, as I feel more able to 'perform' better as Rex, as well as being able to separate my work and personal lives. I have numbers of people that know me as either, but few as both

Everywhere - Driftwood Mac

Baby Universal - Tin Machine

Bizarrely, it reminds me of the Ovation Breadwinner (before anyone says anything, the pic is of the Eastwood Breadwinner, not the Ovation)

I'm not criticising anybody Al I've done many a bodge over the years when money was tight and I needed a practical solution. I'd rather be constructive and help people squeeze a little more out of what they have or save them money when it is tight by counselling against a purchase that won't help. Trying out what you have makes sense. If it works then it isn't wrong but maybe just a bit less than ideal. In this case the lackof a crossover and the positionng of the speakers worries me a little. The idea of a bass cab as a sub not at all. Without a crossover all the bass from the amp is going to the tops and the main reason for a sun is to divert the bass away from the tops so they can be worked harder and cleaner for the mids and highs. You can pick up used crossovers for maybe £50 so adding one at some stage could be a consideration. Having your bass amp behind the mic line with vocals going through it means the vocal mic will pick up amplified vocals. On some stages that will lead to more chance of feedback and it does muddy the vocals anyway. It may be that the bass energy for the audience is worth having and trading it for the downsides still gives a better sound after everything is taken into account. Getting a crossover and putting the bass cab in front of the mic line would be better and a crossover is going to be cheaper than a new sub so maybe that is the next purchase.

Bass is located in Queen Street, Edinburgh, should anyone have that amount in their small-change piggy-bank, btw.

AliExpress special? 😁