Linus27

Currently playing in a 50s and 60s rock and roll band and a lot of the original bass was played on a double bass. We are doing a fair few acoustic gigs and I fancy dabbling into playing some of these songs on DB. I am a total newbie and don't fancy spending a fortune and have no idea what I should be looking for. So can anyone recommend some good beginner double basses. A Squire of the double bass world if that even exists. I see Thomman do so double basses, no idea if any good though.

Thanks for the advice. 

What are you looking to learn from a teacher? Reading music or just playing bass?

I would just assume you are doing the only gig you have been asked about and play dumb to the other gigs and when they get mentioned, let them know that you know nothing about it and why were you not told. Let the penny drop for them that they've been a bit crap at communicating. They won't do it again after that .... hopefully.

25 minutes ago, EssentialTension said:

Here's one ... https://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-real-james-jamerson-amp.854013/

Thank you 😁

19 minutes ago, project_c said:

As far as I know, there was not a lot of tidying up. The tone is a P with flats, with crazy high action, going through those transformers, which colour the sound in a much more subtle way than you'd think, with most of the tonal characteristics actually coming from the tape saturation - just an artefact of old school crusty tape recording. 

All of that has a fairly minimal impact on the sound. 95% of that tone is down to Jamerson's talent, ability, technique, life experience and whatever he happened to be drinking that day.

There's a giant thread about this topic over on talkbass btw, but these techie discussions almost always completely miss the point. It's a bit like talking about how to make a delicious cake, and only focusing on what fork you should eat it with. Doesn't make that much difference.

Do you have a link to the thread on Talk Bass?

A bit of a blank canvas this one and some of the stuff you have suggested I wouldn't class as high end. It also depends on what you plan to use your gear for.

I've just joined an amazing 50's/60's cover band and bought all new gear. I got a Fender American Jazz 75 Vintage Reissue, a Markbass Little Mark 3 and 2 x New York 112 cabs. Its sounds amazing although I'm not 100% set on the speakers. I have a Stingray which is great but doesn't really work tonally with the band. I have a gorgeous Precision as well but it's not happy working with my Markbass rig. I just bought a Fender Rumble V3 100w combo and the Precision sounds amazing through it.

So the point is it really depends on what you are going to use your gear for. 

Great thread, keep it coming.

Tarnation x 2, I've been after one of these but ended up buying a Fender Rumble 100 instead .... yesterday 😔

2 hours ago, Muppet said:

We're talking about the new 40w and 800w Rumble combos with the amp and cab and effects modelling software built in,  rather than the V3 units? @rushscored4 has just taken delivery of one,  so I'm eagerly waiting for his review...!

 

 

Yes, the new Rumble Studio 40w and Rumble Stage 800w combos.

I just picked up a Fender Rumble V3 100 watt combo and I am really impressed with it tonally. Plugged my Precision in, a little EQ fiddle and it sounds amazing. Not something I could do with my Little Mark 3 and NY112 cabs. Got me looking at the Rumble 500 head and speakers. If my Jazz sounds equally as good then very tempted to flog my MarkBass rig and move over to a Fender rig.

Well I found it interesting. I'm not sure to be honest. There certainly is a tonal difference between certain past of the bass. The Jamerson parts are his style for sure but they sound too rigid. His bass playing is a lot more floaty and bouncy. I don't know what style Kaye played so maybe she can play Jamerson style. So no idea to be honest but I found it interesting still.

When I started playing bass, fretless was always something I aspired to becoming proficient at. I bought a cheap nasty fretless but could not get on with it, largely down to my lack of skill and technique. More forward after playing for about 10 years and I tried again and this time no problem and I've not looked back. The weird thing was a lot of my own bass lines played on a fretted bass were played like they were written for a fretless. Possibly because I was heavily influenced by Pino (Paul Young), Derek Forbes (Simple Minds) and Paul Webb (Talk Talk) who were all fretless players. I eventually got a fretless neck made for my favourite Jazz bass and it sounds amazing. I've now had to put the original fretted neck back on it so my plan is to get a Status Fretless neck for my Stingray. So can't wait

3 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

Have you actually tried any of them? If not, you need to. What suits you may not suit us and vice versa. They are probably all much of a muchness in quality terms - they are similarly priced/sized. You simply must try them to see which you prefer.

Yeah, that's my plan but was interested to see what's others opinions were.

Looking to purchase a lightweight portable combo to be used for occasional acoustic sessions and as a home practise amp. I'll be using my Kala U-bass through it live to play 50s/60s covers or a Jazz and Precision at home. Budget is £300 and I'm after around 100 watts. I have nailed it down to the following,

Fender Rumble 100 V3 - £257
Gallien Krueger MB 110 - £290
TC Electronics BG250-208 - £292
Ampeg BA-112V2 - £258
Peavy Max 110 Mk2 - £254

Anyone have any experience of any of the above? Any I should avoid or are the best of the bunch? I quite fancy the Ampeg, even though its 75 watts, I've never owned one before and quite fancy one. I know nothing about Gallien Krueger or what any of them will sound like so any advice appreciated.

23 minutes ago, GreeneKing said:

I'm pretty sure you had my favourite SGC Nanyo for a while too

Was it an orange natural wood colour? If so, then yep, I sure did 😊

There is one good thing for bassist with some of these signature basses. If you play in a tribute band, then you can get the right looking bass for the job.

For me, some of the Sig basses are nice and some seem pointless. The Tony Franklin one is good but for the reason being it is the only fretless Precision Fender make. Why they don't make a fretless Precision in standard or have it as an option is beyond me especially as they have re-issued just about every model they have ever made over the last 10 years or so. The Flea bass I actually like. I think it's a lovely bass and sounded amazing. If I bought one then I would change the Flea neck plate and probably strip all the paint off. However, a Flea sig bass to me should really be a Stingray so the Fender offering is just a nice vintage looking Jazz bass to my eyes. 

The Adam Clayton basses make no sense to me. Adam is more famous for playing a beaten up Sunburst Precision, not some sparkly Jazz thing.

Lovely story, enjoyed reading that so thank you for sharing. I think I have one of your old basses, a teal green 2eq Music Man Stingray with maple neck. Mega light for a Stingray and I named her Sinead 😊

Can I just add that I'm not sure it is a case of fret levelling and maybe a case of new strings or some kind of settling in process as the buzzing went away on its own after a week.

And me but I think I had the 4x10nrather than a 15.

Just now, Happy Jack said:

That photo is dangerously close to being accurate, y'know. 

It somehow captures my smooth suave man-about-town air, my sense of being a Bond villain just out of his lair, and finally my complete and utter absence of hair.

 

To be honest, it was just the absence of hair that did it 😂

Oh my god, this is hilarious. Happy Jack as Yul Brunner is genius. Keep them coming Skank.

1 hour ago, MoonBassAlpha said:

Has anyone put the Trace 1x10 up against the smallest Barefaced (one 10) yet?

Mmmm thats another option actually, Barefaced One 10 and a Markbass Nano for acoustic and home and the Nano as a backup. Mmmmmm 😊

So this is where I'm at so far. Either buy a TC Eelectronic BG250 208 Bass Combo for £300 for acoustic gigs and home practise and a Markbass Nano for £300 for backup head to the main rig. However I am interested in the Trace Elliot Elf for £250 and the Trace Elliot 110 cab for £320. This setup would be great for acoustic gigs and home practise. I'm just not sure if the Elf will cut it volume wise at 200w as a backup head. My Little Mark is running at 4 ohms but the volume is only ever at 9pm so its never being driven hard. Think I need a trip to Bass Direct.

Oh wow, that looks gorgeous. I wish Markbass did yellow lights like that 😍

I've been considering one of these. Do you think it would be loud enough with two acoustic guitar, a drummer playing hot rods on a box and a vocalist?