velvetkevorkian

Hello all, As I alluded to in my recent [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=42654"]thread about nut height[/url], my Realist pickup appears to have given up the ghost- the output is drastically reduced and there's loads of hum. Doing some digging on TalkBass it looks like this is a fairly common issue with Realists, especially on basses with a high bridge and high tension (like mine ), caused by degradation of the piezo element. Has anyone here experienced something similar? Is getting a new pickup going to be the only answer? Cheers Kyle

[quote name='XB26354' post='522817' date='Jun 24 2009, 06:37 PM']Now a two Warwick family. 09 Corvette $$ 6-string in Natural w/gold hardware - arrived last Friday, wicked combination of beautiful woods and ballsy tone. 05 Streamer Stage One 6-string in Nirvana Black w/Seymour Duncan Basslines - an absolute monster with sustain for days. Mat[/quote] I'm not a big Warwick fan but a lot of their designs look far better as 6 strings. That's a lovely pair.

[quote name='Tait' post='522616' date='Jun 24 2009, 02:20 PM']swapping between 5 string and 4 string is supposed to be difficult though.[/quote] Not really. I switch between 4, 5 and 7 strings and really don't understand this at all.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='522371' date='Jun 24 2009, 10:03 AM']I play basses with a variety of string spacings, scale lengths and other variables and the conclusion I've come to is that the numbers don't matter, it's all about the feel and you can only tell if a bass feels right for you by picking it up and playing it.[/quote] Well said.

I've always felt that music is something that's constantly in development, and the theory of it tends to lag somewhat behind its usage. No one (at least, not many!) writes the theory before the music- they write the theory later to try and describe the music. We have a tendency to think of musical theory as something static and unchanging, when in fact its completely the opposite. The development of music can more or less be defined IMO as the breaking of the last generation's set of rules, and this accounts for a lot of the anomalies etc. That said, my favourite (or least favourite, I suppose) is the idea of transposing instruments (horns in F, E flat trumpets etc) when we now have a prefectly good trumpet (or horn, or whatever) capable of playing all 12 notes equally well. It just seems totally redundant.

Is that a wall hanger attached to a wardrobe?

Stopping playing double bass almost entirely shortly after leaving school. There were reasons (finger pain) but in retrospect I could have got it sorted much easier. As a result the relatively good DB chops I had when I was 18 have all but vanished

I play both but the double bass has seen very little action since I stopped going to uni. Trying to make that change now...

But now my Realist appears to have died! Boo!

Just thought I'd let you all know that I finally got it together and files the nut slots down, and the action is much more manageable now- I can actually sustain an E flat in half position without feeling like my fingers are going to fall off. I used a cheap set of files from a local hardware shop that cost about £3 and some masking tape to protect the board. Now I just need to get practising again!

[quote name='Oscar South' post='519387' date='Jun 20 2009, 03:46 PM']I consider Michael the spiritual successor to Jaco, not literally from a stylistic perspective or even because he was taught by and toured with him but simply because of how he approaches and expands the potential of modern bass playing. There is literally nobody on the planet who can even be compared to him.[/quote] +1 He blows my mind every time I hear him. He's not just a great bassist, but a great musician.

For what its worth, I had a similar problem with one of my basses- one of my local guitar shops replaced the truss rod nut for a tenner and its worked beautifully ever since. It may not work with all rods but might be worth checking if you want to keep playing it?

Shouldn't do you any harm at least! I was amazed at the difference in feel I got when I started using decent rosin.

Is there anything specific you want to learn? If its just general improvement your money would be better spent on some lessons with a decent teacher IMO.

[quote name='fatgoogle' post='517851' date='Jun 18 2009, 09:31 PM']Also i read somewere that its good to begin with violin roisin i did it and seems grand,[/quote] I wouldn't recommend this, DB rosin is on another level as far as stickiness goes- violin rosin will just make your bow slide, it won't grip the string at all. Likewise, don't offer a violinist your DB rosin- their bow will probably stick in place!

IME the Stentors are pretty decent for the money- I would say you'd be lucky to find one for 600 euros though. Asking on TB about any bass that costs less than about £3k is a recipe for a stern talking to from the regulars there, as it sounds like you've found...

The headstock made me think Zon but the body doesn't seem to fit- I'm out. I have practised with a fretless in my metal band (you can check my sig for some tunes) although I've not recorded or gigged with it- to be honest I didn't treat it any differently from playing fretted, but I don't go for the full Jaco-esque fretless tone; I prefer a smoother darker tone.

Definitely an improvement IMO

I didn't buy the bass from them, they just did the setup once I received it (it was brand new, soundpost down etc). It was a couple of years ago anyway. I do now have a set of files which I used quite successfully on my bass guitars; I just need to get over my nerves before tackling the big beast. Thanks to all for your help, will keep you posted.

+1 What he said.

No- Glasgow Uni.

I know Dood uses a low F# on his Shuker 7 string, and I believe he uses the Warwick Dark Lord strings.

I honestly can't recall- it was passed around in a lecture, I can't even recall if we actually listened to it or not. I think the simplest way to do it would be to just change the speed but no doubt there's a good reason for it...