rikodriko

Fuller size is not necessarily louder in every case. I attended a workshop a couple of years back and the guy with the smallest bass ( a 'small 3/4') in the group had an unbelievably loud bass ... much louder than any of ours - comes down to the thickness of the ewood, and the woods used in the construction. Be careful with the bigger ones - if you are new to DB, then its going to be a struggle with your left hand even on a small bass as the scale length is so much greater - expect the pain and embrace it! A larger bass will amplify this even more. If you are a 6'10" giant then just ignore this bit. my 2c

I had a palatino EUB off ebay about 5 years back, it got destroyed in transit, so they kindly sent me another one after i had a cadenza at them. When i got it, it needed the fingerboard sandpapering and grading, which my teacher kindly did for me at the time. It had an awful middly sound that i wasnt happy with at all, so after some investigation i got a good deal on a NS design CR4M (ex shop display for £1000 - basically brand new!) and sold the palatino for a £50 profit hehe... The NS rocked - comfortable to play and very versatile, build quality was amazing but i ended up buying a real nice acoustic so the NS ended up gathering dust so i sold this too... Sorry for this long story - but i think its worth spending the money on a good EUB for a lot of reasons. But for the price of a top model (over 3 grand) you could buy yourself a real nice carved acoustic bass.

my old bass teacher - an old jazzer of about 40 years told me the best way was to boil them for ages. Ive never tried it though... anyone reckon this is a bad idea?

Thanks for all the advice. Ill look at the GenzBenz as well... As for building my own speaker cab - it was done by my old bass teacher - im totally rubbish at DIY, so building my own is not an option!

Hi All I have recently been looking at upgrading my amp system, and swapped a Realist for a Schertler Dyn-B contact mic and PRE-AIII (whatever) pre amp. All for < £500 (hehe) . All good. Now im looking at amplification, but, not being a geek in this field, dont really know very much. At the moment im running through an AI clarus and have a good sound from my custom 'home made' speaker cab. Sounds good except the cab weighs a (almost) ton and i have really skinny arms. So - ive heard loads of good things about the GK micro series MB range i think, and also the EA Wizzy cab, but now im looking at the AER bass one combo system - i did a jazz manouche gig recently where the guitar players had the AER micro amps and they were amazing.. i just wonder if that amazing sound is translated to the bass one system. Its got a massive price tag. Yikes... but it coulod be 'the one' All im looking for (as is every acoutsic bass player), is as true as possible replication of my DB sound, loud and portable as hell! Has anyone had experience of these who can give a good comparison? I really like the GK MB mirco series, and whats more Dave Holland likes them too ... Just need more info on the AER stuff...

Hi, Im totally new on this forum - but was using the talkbass instead, but its probably better to have a UK forum, not that im from the UK anyways, but thats another discussion. I have a lovely double bass, with an epic tone. For the past few years i have been using a David Gage realist, into a Clarus head and then to a custom made sympathetic double speaker system that was made by my bass teacher (an old pro). Ive never been happy with the amplified tone, very muddy and nasal - loads of mid range, and think this is because of the realist. I then bought a Boss GE9B bass EQ pedal and tried to reduce some of the mid range that i was hating. No real effect to be honest, and I have to put the levels right up just to hear anything through my speaker. I have never used a preamp with the Realist/Clarus But I'm still not happy, after a great gig a few weeks back, Im really in the mood to change my sound and spend some money to get that proper DB amplified tone, and then i heard about the Dyn-B, and the PREAIII preamp... Expensive stuff it seems. Sheez... I phoned around some places, and the people told me that the Dyn-B was more suited to studio use, and, although used for live performance, it was a mainly a studio setup. So, after all that: here are some questions that someone more knowledgeable than myself can help with: 1. Will using a nice pre amp with my david gage make my sound less muddy and nasal - given that everyone thinks that the realist is the bomb, then why dont i get that feeling? Any recommendations? 2. If i spend all that money on the Schertler stuff will it be better - is it good (*accurate reproduction*) for live amplification? I dont do any studio work, but am just after a nice tone while playing live... 3. lastly - does the signal from the realist degrade over time? It seems that im having to turn my bass head up loads more than i used to, although this may be due to deafness as i play drums as well ... Any and all advice much appreciated.