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rikodriko

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Everything posted by rikodriko

  1. rikodriko
    Hi 2 questions in 1 !! anyone had any experience with these strings ? The Gut-a-like are not too expensive, so was thinking of buying some just to try out at the same time i am going to buy some more 'traditional strings'. I have been using spirocores for about 6 years, and i think its time for some new ones - my old bass teacher recommended the 'jazzer' from Pirastro - any experience with these also? Would love to hear some comments !! thanks Richard.
  2. rikodriko
    Cool Cool what about loosening the strings ? humidifiers etc?
  3. rikodriko
    I am moving to oz at the end of the year. Really happy about that! I have a nice fully carved bass (worth £3K), and its going in the container. So i have a few questions regarding transportation and what to do. firstly, my main man 4stringfortress sorted me out a decent hard case. Next ... its going to be 2-3 months in the case and in the container. Should i get a humidifier for the inside of the bass? Or should i me more worried about damp and mould? Should i loosen the strings ? Last - im moving from the depths of winter here to the heights of summer there. I have heard stories of people saying 'dont take the bass out the case for a bit' as the change in temperature will cause warping and cracking of the table, back or ribs .. Is this true or just an old wives tale? Any advice here from people who have done this on here? Thanks Richard
  4. rikodriko
    Everyone is saying what a nice chap this ben is... I think i have to agree. The guy sorted me a nice double bass hard case and shipped it immediately. If he was a hot leggy blonde then i might have considered getting divorced. No seriously - great transaction. thanks mate. All in good order and my bass fits in the case like a glove!!
  5. rikodriko
    markers on side of neck are a short term way of maintaining intonation. it works for a while, but you become dependant on them and when you pleay someone elses bass you will be lost. I tried using small stickers on the neck for ages, and thought i was ace, but when they moved i had major problems. You really have yo use your ears. Using a bow will bring out any intonation issues as has been mentioned. use your reference points - open strings, and thimb stop on neck as mentioned. you might struggle for a while but eventually it will come. you will just sh1t yourself everytime you have to play something in Ab or Db !
  6. rikodriko
    tender sides of thumbs go hard after a few days of thumb position ... give it time and itll all come together. Will be pain free once the callousses start growing over.. My ring finger still collapses after 7 years of playing. Books sound great - i also might buy them!
  7. rikodriko
    Hi fellow DB players. Ill probably get in trouble for posting this in here, but whatugonnado ? I need a double bass hard case, quick and cheap !! Can anyone help ? I preparing to move to australia before the end of the year, and dont trust my soft case in the container. Therefore looking for a hard case for my bass. Dont care if its trashed - its just to get it to OZ in one piece. Anyone got one to sell in the south east (I'm in Hove)? Need a 3/4 size. Perhaps i could visit and see if my bass fits in it ... Thanks Richard
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  9. rikodriko
    Thanks All, now a proud owner of a P bass...
  10. rikodriko
    Hi, I normally hang around the double bass forums thats thats what i play. I know absolutely nothing about bass guitars other than they also have 4 strings and occasionally 5. sometimes 6. Slightly smaller than a DB. im in the market for getting more into bass guitar, and have been looking around on ebay and other places. I have found a good condition bass - Fender deluxe active P bass special... at a good price - £350 - or at least i think thats a good price. but my lack of knowledge is holding me back. Can anyone recommend this kind of bass at this price? are these basses generally better than regular P Basses (more knobs to twiddle)? Is this too much for what it is? Any comments appreciated.
  11. rikodriko
    my pleasure Your wife and wallet wont forgive you, but who cares..
  12. rikodriko
    loads and loads via the schertler preamp added in... and a more 'real' tone as well... V happy with it... To be clear i only ever have used the contact mic with the pre amp. so cant say whether there is more if you connect the contact mic directly in to your normal amp... Sold my realist ages ago and have not looked back since. I dont think its particularly crap - just that my new set up is much better, louder and truer - but i had to pay for it !!
  13. rikodriko
    Hi, not sure if this has been covered already, as i havent read all the posts, but just to say that the schertler dyn-B contact mic and the PRE AI III matched pre amp is absolutely ACE. Still get feedback, but thats normal - the resonance of the bass body will always cause this at higher volumes. Need to position yourself so that you are not facing your amp. I had a Realist for AGES, thinking it was the best on the market, but i was never really happy with the sound. Most doubles bassists are after that 'pure' acoustic tone when amplified, and the realist to me was too middy and nasal, and the output from it was far too low. I investigated the schertler stuff and managed to get the Dyb-B and preamp all in for less than £500 on ebay. Its expensive stuff !! Im loving the tone of it, and also the portability - it just sticks on the bass with green bluetack so moves between multiple basses with ease. It also has a phase switch to switch out the feedback if you in a cramped rehearsal space for example. Would defo recommend. but its expensive !! my 2c...
  14. rikodriko
    Thanks all. After boiling the strings they all came up like new - sound like new - I was also told that meths is a good and cheap option for the strings, as well as being a nice tipple after a hard days work ! I went and bought lemon oil and some 'proper' instrument polish from my local string shop in hove, and it all went OK - until i loosened all the strings to get to the fingerboard, and the soundpost fell into the bass. Oops... got my old bass teacher in to reset it for a tenner though. Phew !! His first comment was 'put the bass on its back before you do any of this stuff' - so this might be good advice for any of you that wants to try it. Also only do two strings at a time so the bridge doesnt move... now onto that meths ... its almost 10 AM !
  15. rikodriko
    Hi all i have a really nice carved DB. I have recently taken it upon myself to clen it up a bit. for the first time ever, i have removed the strings (5 year old thomastiks) and boiled them for about 90 mins. They sound great. Just like new. If you havent tried it then i would recommend it !! As for the body, im going to use Lemon oil to clean it up, including beer stains on the bridge, oops... dont tell malcolm healy as that who i bought it off. Can anyone recommend an alternative to lemon oil? or is that the standard for nice tonewoods? Should i use it for thefingerboard as well? what are your DB cleaning secrets ??? Richard
  16. rikodriko
    Hi All I have had a set of Thomastik spirocore strings on my DB since i bought it new about 5 years back. Never changed them. The bottom E string seems to lack any 'definition/projection' of late (hard to find the correct word), and just has become more of a dull thud and more quiet than the other strings. I dont remember it being like that in the past thpugh, but i guess its a gradual thing and your ears don't really pick it up. Any comments appreciated, my old bass teacher used to tell me to boil the strings and they come up like new, anyone done this and its made a difference? Second - ive never really had experience with other types of string - can anyone recommend some nice jazz strings i could look at - good tone and projection - and woody sound (guess thats more a reflection of the bass itself though ! Hope to hear some expert opinions ! thanks for reading Richard.
  17. rikodriko
    oops. Couldnt find it after i created it yesterday and thought it didnt get posted...
  18. rikodriko
    Feeler: Speaker Geeks please read! I need some advice as to what to do with my custom made bass cab that i've been using for DB for ages. (Just got a Wizzy-10 so looking to shift this one). I really want to sell it now, but its not a 'label' brand. It was hand made by my old bass tutor (John Banks in Brighton if anyone knows him), a bass pro of about 40 years, and a bit of a techie in my mind if hes making his own custom speaker cabs. Basically its an EV10BX speaker with another EV10BX with the magnet removed acting as a passive radiator out the bottom of the cab instead of the normal port. Apparently this improves tone and makes things a lot more efficient, although i have little knowledge of the workings of these kind of things. 4 strings is enough. Where do i plug it in! I still have the magnet for the second EV10BX so still saleable and useable. In a solid, sealed cabinet - solid construction with a Speakon connection on top and a carry handle on the side. I cant provide decent quality photos at the moment as my wife is away with both the family cameras. Very, very Loud and served me well for a couple of years. How much do you reckon this is worth? even if its for parts. I'm thinking £230, paypal or COC. Offers? Anyone? Please tell me if this is way over priced... Thanks for reading this far! Richard
  19. rikodriko
    Feeler: Speaker Geeks please read! I need some advice and direction as to what to do with my custom made bass cab that i've been using for DB for ages. (Just got a Wizzy-10 so looking to shift this one). I really want to sell it now, but its not a 'label' brand. It was hand made by my old bass tutor (John Banks in brighton if anyone knows him), a bass pro of about 40 years, and a bit of a techie in my mind if hes making his own custom speaker cabs. Basically its an EV10BX speaker with another EV10BX with the magnet removed acting as a passive radiator out the bottom of the cab instead of the normal port. Apparently this improves tone and makes things a lot more efficient, although i have little knowledge of the workings of these kind of things. managing 4 strings is enough. Where do i plug it in! I still have the magnet for the second EV10BX so still saleable as two speakers. In a solid, sealed cabinet - solid construction with a Speakon connection on top and a carry handle on the side. I cant provide decent quality photos at the moment as my wife is away with both the family cameras. Very, very Loud, with great tone and served me well for a couple of years. How much do you reckon this is worth? even if its for parts. I'm thinking Circa £200, paypal or COC. Offers? Anyone? Please tell me if this is way over priced... If you in the brighton area, come and have a play on it.
  20. rikodriko
    PM'ed ... RE the wizzy... I need it posted though...
  21. rikodriko
    unlucky dude! Ive got an amzing bass with an amazing tone, and was recommended a realist - so i bought one and my amplified tone is muddy, and nasal and the output is so low that its almost unworkable... All the reviews on the realist say that its the best pickup EVER for DB, but is just dont work on my nice (non ply) DB... recently just bought a schertler Dyn-B contact mic and preAIII preamp system on ebay and im super happy with the results - im closer than ever to replicating my unamplified DB sound - now just gonna buy a EA wizzy speaker and i think ill be sorted then. So - to cut a long story short - you are right not all Pickups work the same on DBs - experimentation is the key - but thats time effort and money...
  22. rikodriko
    ok ... 'Slappers' !! Burning question, i havenever bothered to learn slap technique, but these videos are really really good, and i agree with fact that it must be musical and not showy offy... I want to know if slapping the bass like these guys do will eventually destroy the fingerboard? I have a really nice bass with an ebony fingerboard and i really dont want to cause any cosmetic damage. Im precious about my bass and hate myself for being so... If i was going to learn the technique then is it worth buying a cheap ply bass and using that for slappage?
  23. rikodriko
    Yup fat back ... some good comments... and i'm too much of a newbie to start ripping into people. for what its worth, using a bow will only make your intonation better - an off key note will sound much more pronounced played arco than pizz (I know from using a bow). but learning to use a bow can be tedious and time consuming. Theres a very good aebersold book out there - 'jazz bowing for the improvising bassist' or something like that. Very good. Also the 'jazz bass book' by john goldsby is a very good technical reference as well as having loads of historical info on who is/was who in the jazz bass world .. sorry, all my refs are jazz based... regarding markers - I agree in that they help in the beginning - like i said i used them, but the problem is that when you play, you end up focussing on the markers themselves rather than watching your hands, and most importantly (and patronisingly!) listening to the note. Once you rid yourself of this dependance you will automatically make minute adjustments as your ear gets more finely tuned to the note. that said, i do have a sneaky pencil mark at the octave when trying to aim for thumb position.. its just that i got rid of the 3rd and 5th and 7th markers, just dont tell anyone... Never heard of the rabbath pivoting technique - sounds like something good to try out i reckon.
  24. rikodriko
    agree with the above as well... you cant play a DB well with the technique you use for BG - both the left and right hand techniques and fingerings are different - also, you need to get the height right as well , especially for the bow. Example, you use the tips of your fingers for BG fingerstyle, but on a DB you use more the fleshy sides of your fingers to dig in and get good volumenand sound and will develop callouses in slightly different places. Also - markers are bad - try to avoid these - there are markers you can use on a DB without having to put stickers on '3rd fret' and '5th fret etc' - a good teacher will show you where these are without the need to deface the bass. Also - if you then try someone elses bass and there are no markers you will be stuffed. I had markers all over mine for about a year, but i then ditched them - i struggled for about 2 weeks, but got it eventually, now i can find more or less any note without needing to look - you develop the muscle memory over time... Couple of lessons will do you good and prevent injury and picking up bad habits. Expect pain in the beginning - but dont push it too much and in a coupla weeks you will charging like ray brown - sort of...
  25. rikodriko
    Hi, you may have more luck on talkbass.com instead - as its US based. Good luck!
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