lowlandtrees

http://s649.photobucket.com/user/JimmyH1/media/20160624_100142.jpg.html?sort=3&o=4 http://s649.photobucket.com/user/JimmyH1/media/20160624_100217 http://s649.photobucket.com/user/JimmyH1/media/20160624_100327.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0 Hi These are the links to my new old bass. As you can see the action is pretty high

Jecklin The E is 14mm to the centre of the string at the end of the fretboard and the G 9mm maybe 10mm. The action is high at the nut end also. I did wonder if the high tension strings would be producing the volume and resonance. That is why I posted. I expect to get some loss of volume with lower tensioned strings but hoping that good amplification can adjust that. Hopefully the quality will not suffer.

Just got myself a new old bass. The seller reckoned it was a 60s Hungarian. It is very light and the sound is really loud and rich and resonant.....the seller is a classical/jazzer ....now the bad bit.....it has mile high action (strung with high tension steel). My plan is to put Innovation Silver Slaps on it and drop the action as low as possible. I have contacted my luthier (Bill Kelday) and waiting for a reply. Wondering if I will substantially lose sound quality by carrying out the above. I amplify through a K&K Bass Max into a EA doubler and Wizzy 12 M line. At the moment I play rockabilly but do not want to limit the instrument to this as I occasionally play pizz jazz/latin stuff. I have attached a couple of pics but not sure if the files will view.

[quote name='artisan' timestamp='1466506055' post='3076275'] I might possibly be selling mine in December when I've finished this year's gigs. [/quote]Will look out for that. I just bought myself an old Hungarian. Looks rough and has the action of a cheese slice but a great sound.

None then

Was wondering if there are any Duke DB owners in the Central belt of Scotland who would be willing to let me try out their instrument. I am thinking about buying one but hesitant about laying so much cash out blind. More for playability than sound.

Hi Artisan Is the action on a Duke similar to DB set up for classical/jazz or is it high to allow for the slap?

Called Stringers and Stevenson and they got nuffin....no space....common problem

My budget is around 1500. Was thinking along the lines of a Duke (£1800 ish new) but I have not played one. My current small bodied has has such great action that I am loath to buy something without trying it first ....ie ordering from Thomann. My band actually (embarrassingly) bought an instrument for me. It was like playing a victorian wardrobe. I am getting pressure to get one of these £300 flamers. You probably are aware that Rockabilly is more a religious cult than a musical genre. My sound is very important to me...I know that this is a problem when amping DBs but I have heard so many good players with completely duff sounds. Will give these guys a ring. Got to visit Bryce Ferguson in Juniper Green next week anyway. Thanks

I gave the Violin shop a call but sounds like he only has student instruments that he will string up with nylon strings. Do you know of anywhre else that I can go and try DBs? Will go through to the VS at the weekend anyway but there seems to be a lack of places to go up here!

Was going to Glethga anyway so no big deal, Will give them a call tomorrow. My luthier Bill Kelday also makes DBs but they start at 4k

Think it was Varsity music. The other basses were really dodgy but the two at the back sounded good but looked like they would fall to bits on the way to the first practice or certainly before the end of the second slap. Am going into the West End Glezga this afternoon. Will see if the Violin Shop is open. Most of the stuff that I am doing is Rockabilly but I don t want to confine myself to that.

Been looking for places in Scotland to test drive DBs. Found a place in the middle of Edinburgh. Mostly students instruments. There were two DBs that had the label Nashville on them. The 4/4 sounded very nice (had really high action that could probably be cured with a set up) and the 3/4 seemed to have duff strings on it but could be OK. Anyone heard of this company. I assume that they are Chinese as although they sounded nice they looked pretty flimsy. I knew that a search for an instrument would be tough but getting bored now

[quote name='AndyBass' timestamp='1461953697' post='3039149'] If you don't want to shell on a "classic" American DB (King Moretone or Kay) - then Blast Cult, Knight and Duke seem to be the classy end of modern plys, with Duke by far the cheapest/easiest for us UK folks. They're all comparatively new brands so don't turn up used very often. Engleharts and Strunal 50/4s are also weapons of choice and are more easily found used, and probably more easily afforded. There are also some of the newer King basses floating about now and then. You don't have to have high action to slap, unless you have an insanely fat E string, but a general rule of thumb is higher action for slapping gut or gut-like strings, low action for slapping steels (though often that's to allow for crazy fast slapping). Depends what suits your style really though. Get a Duke 2-tone and stick some cordes lambert on it. It'll look sexy, sound ace, you can stand on em and you won't have to deal with hairy bits of intestine for strings. £2-2.5k. Job done [/quote] Thanks. Been looking into Duke DBs....really like the look of them. What about the composite instruments.........any experience with them ..Any dealers in the UK? I have FB ed them and waiting for a reply.

Never heard of Duke DBs. Will have a look. I think the band would love it if I stood on the bass .....I think that I might find myself in a wheelchair. I like the look of Blast Cult DBs but never seen a used one for sale and don t have the funds for a new one. I have been looking at Englehart. I like the idea of lowish action with nylon strings. In general do rockabilly basses all need high action to facilitate slapping?

Just joined a rockabilly band. I have a very decent Kania da Gamba contra bass (small bodied ) that I like a lot but these guys want to be authentic 50 RB. I am therefore getting pressure to get a 3/4 DB. I am happy to do this but do not want to confine my style to RB. I also play now and again in a jazzy/blues/latin set up. I would like to get a good all rounder. I like the look of some of the classical instruments from Eastern Europe but also like the Kay/King machines as well. Which direction should I go? Can I get a classical instrument and set it up with nylon strings. Can I get a King and put steelies on?

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1460357576' post='3024832'] Great name for a band!! [/quote]Funny you should say that....we are talking about the name of the band today

Just to update on my first public slap bass appearance. I used tape on the one finger and it felt OK but I played the sloppiest sh*tey bass ever. Only the guitarist noticed, The audience were drunker than a drunk that has been drunk his entire life. We did a 3 hour practice then played.....mistake....I was knackered

Thanks. I have been in bands in the past playing other instruments including normal DB but the slapping thing is challenging from the aspect of the damage that it could cause to your fingers and the fact that when nervous you tense up and the slap goes to mince. Will be interesting. Think that we are doing a couple of plug and play open mic things before gigging

Thanks. I use Innovation Silver Slaps. I don t play hard when practising and get the sound but you know what happens when you play with other folk! I want to practice every day so really don t want to blister. I imagine that if you injure ur fingertips that you are out for a couple of weeks?

Any slappers on the forum have tricks to avoid blisters? Apart from practising every day. Started to feel them appear at the last practice and stuck some tape on but it just ain t the same......or do you practice with tape on? I thought that maybe some kind of moisturiser or something ? Don t want to get blisters an blood in the middle of my first R/B gig....not cool

I agree here but I think 'depressed' is too strong a word. I have been in 4 or 5 bands and the best ones were not functioning democracies. One or two guys decided the material direction and we followed. Worked fine and we had fun and local success. I got a recording set up and wrote my own stuff but that is also unfulfilled as it is only myself who plays it. Haven t found the middle way yet. Of course there are bands that are lucky to have everyone on the same page but I am guessing mostly not.

John Martyn

I am in a similar position (62 and proficient DB, guitar and sax) but to be honest I really am not interested in playing in a band with 18-20 year olds so I am just as age ist as they are. Being in a band is mostly about the music but you also often have to hang out together! I have given up JMB long since. There is a general trend I think among people putting bands together. They are either in their teens and twenties or 50s and 60s. The people in the middle are off making babies and bringing them up...exactly as I did. I have had a few knock backs because of my age but not worrying about it. I will travel and find band work if and when desperation arrives