lowlandtrees

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

Had old vans all my life(current van from year 2000). I would repair it and punt it/px it to a dealer. If the gearbox is gone then other parts may/may not follow. Some vans are partial to particular problems eg had 3 diffs in one of my transits. You could be lucky and be OK but they are always a lottery. The AA btw do an excellent insurance cover that will pay up to £500 (I think) towards failing parts like this. It has to be part of a breakdown. My starter motor went the first year of the cover.

Land Down Under ...Men at Work. Saw Colin Hay live....just him and an acoustic....he was brilliant but I can only name one MaW number

Saw them early 70s .....think it was supporting Santana in Glasgow Greens Playhouse.........they were probably one of the best live bands that I have ever seen. And the horn section....Phoenix Horns? as tight as.

Mick McDonald ruined the Doobies for me. I hear that Tom Johnston (?) the lead vox before him has re joined.

£165 just about gets you a round of Carlsberg in Sweden. That bass was free

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1456057824' post='2984883'] I need to listen to more of them, I think. We were going to do this in one band but, in the end, decided that our backing vocals didn't come up to scratch... [media]http://youtu.be/hFzG7vD_bZ4[/media] [/quote] Sounds like the Doobies on backing vox

i think that the Little Feat 'Sound' owed so much to the bass playing timing of Kenny Gradney. Lowell George,, I remember, commented this himself. Interesting what happened to the original bassist. Always loved them. That mix of rhythm and melody. There is a kinda hesitancy in the rhythm/bass. Lowell for me though..

Not playing in a band at prez but I remember the days of lugging WEM 4x10 columns and Marshall stacks and PA slaves and 2x15s and mixing desks up 3 flights of stairs. Think it has taken a few years off my bones. The new lightweight stuff is a dream. The whole bands gear in a suitcase. Apart from the damned drummer.

The modified end pin looks like a good idea. I don t intend to use the stand as anything but a stop gap practice thing. While trying to stop the EUB spinning I find that I am missing a lot of important finger stuff. As said my eventual aim is to get a real DB but that is an investment (which I would make if there was a band on the go)/