ardi100

[quote name='ryanzepp' post='395341' date='Jan 30 2009, 12:52 PM']I was wondering what ZELLER double bass are like and whether they ar worth around £600 with a pick up in (K&K) Cheers Ryan[/quote] I've got a Zeller [topic="0"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=33675[/topic]. I ended up spending about £600t all up with all the work, a cheapie gig bag, and a bassmax. I've found it fantastic to play. I'm not a beginner but not advanced either. I gig with a pretty loud band and I'm reasonably happy with the amplified sound. My amp isn't double bass speific but I couldn't afford one! All up, I'm very happy with my set up.

[quote name='crez5150' post='395258' date='Jan 30 2009, 11:15 AM']S'funny.... it was the Tuner I bought..... had a wedding gig and left my usual one at home..... popped into denmark street picked one up for £15. Thought it'd do for the gig..... packed up after the first set...[/quote] My Behringer tuner was pretty crappy at picking the E on my bass guitar. Its, however, a revelation with my double bass!! Whod've thunk it? Is the EQ a graphic pedal? I was slightly interested in one of these.

[quote name='Hoppo75' post='395177' date='Jan 30 2009, 09:24 AM']Thats great mate. The LH500 looks excellent, especially for the price. Just had a read of the LH500 info and most ads say that it's been designed to drive the 'Hydrive' cab range. I don't think I'd be looking at the hydrive range, as I think I'd get better value going 2nd hand on the cabs, so would be looking at SWR/Hartke pro range. I also want to remain fairly portable, hence would be running 1 cab (2x10/2x12). I play such a wide range of music, I need to be able to switch from a tasty funky slap tone to a nice, deep country ballad tone. I think the head will give me a massive amount of control, and a friend has recommended the 2x12 Hartke Pro, but I've been a combo man (same combo) for 20 years so I'm totally out of touch. Can anyone recommend a cab to match what I'm looking for? thx from a numpty.[/quote] There was a Hartke 2x12 for sale on here for ages. I reckon that would sound pretty good with the LH500.

The shop I worked in stocked Ashton. I was going to say I used to sell them but that wouldn't be strictly true. I used to try to talk customers out of buying them for one reason. The brand was far and away the most featured in the returns book. The quality control really was quite atrocious. We were always sending stuff back to the distributors. TBF, they always took the claims and replaced them rather than repair them, but that tells you something too. They didn't have any valve stuff then (this is about 4 years ago) so I can't comment on them, but I certainly wouldn't spend my hard earned on Ashton.

First bass was a no-name hollow body that my parents couldn't have spent any money on. Twas a pig (looked beautiful, thought!). When I used to weork in a music shop I loved selling beginner basses. The spiel always began, In my day . . .

Signed

[quote name='BassManKev' post='374890' date='Jan 9 2009, 10:53 AM']+1 Behringer compressor pedals, they are all great and equal the boss equivilants[/quote] +2 The 506ii easily stores stuff and the berhinger BLE copy was great, £15. My vote goes to my Roland DB500, though. Way louder than its 150W, 3 different programmable memory patches, small (not so light), really nice sound and only cost me £150.

[quote name='raze' post='374097' date='Jan 8 2009, 02:48 PM']Its a bit of a train ride from you but seriously go have some lessons with Steve Lawson hes in london but is by far the best teacher ive ever come across [url="http://www.stevelawson.net/wordpress/"]http://www.stevelawson.net/wordpress/[/url][/quote] I thoroughly recommend [post="0"]chrkelly[/post]. I had one lesson with him (I returned to double bass after a long layoff) and he really helped me with my technique. And he's in Catford, not far away.

I had a lesson with Chris and it was fab, started to sort out my suspect technique in one easy step!! He's a very relaxed teacher who listened to what I needed and responded accordingly. Recommended.

[quote name='samej' post='373319' date='Jan 7 2009, 06:09 PM']Cheers, I just went into the violin shop near me and they had a Stentor for £580 which while more than I would really like to pay, I appreciate is probably significantly better than the Thomann. And it's a local shop which is usually a preferred place to spend my money. I might have to start scraping together some pennies...[/quote] I've got a Stentor and it's great! I did spend some cash getting it set up and new strings put on but none of it was essential and I've now got a bass I gig with that sounds pretty good to my ears.

I've got a Zeller solid top and am using a K&K Bassmax pickup. It's going through a Roland DB500 combo (160W single 12"). I used it today for the first time loud (and our drummer is LOUD - no chance of him learning to play dynamically, he turned up with only one stick!) and it was quite difficult to stop feeding back. I ended up cutting all frequencies (amp has bass, treble and a sweepable mid, which had best results with the lowest frequency cut) to get a decent sound. The other guys in the band said it sounded good but as I'm off to the side and not directly hearing the amp, it sounded a bit boomy to me. I'm going to experiment with the pickup placement (anyone had any success with a Bassmax?) and amp placement - I'll try it off the floor. Any other suggestions? The Bassmax has a plate for fitting between the strings after the bridge but I've read that it's not a great idea to dampen the afterlength. Any thoughts?

[quote name='mrjim' post='368396' date='Jan 2 2009, 12:42 PM']i dont know how you can afford to change strings so often...[/quote] [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_red_label_045.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_red_label_045.htm[/url] Used to be £6 before the pound dropped!! I like them 'semi' played in, so I'll chuck a set on 2 rehearsals before a gig and then it's right for a couple of shows.

[quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='363031' date='Dec 24 2008, 07:00 PM']I have been a member since 2004. I originally joined for double bass info- the DB side of the board is a goldmine,[/quote] + 1 I'm a member but mostly read posts on DB forum - still cliquey, all US made basses, very little on Euro manufacturers. But still a goldmine.

I've got a stentor and I'm in South East London (SE13). Feel free to contact me if you'd like to check it out. Edit: Just checked it, it's a Zeller, for Stentor, don't know what model it is but the luthier said it's got a solid top and lami back.

I read somewhere that sax reeds were good for a shim to pad out the gap.

Fortress in Old Street are good (not cheap), as is Gun Factory in Stoke Newington. We used to use Enterprise in Leicester Square till they turned it into a champagne bar(!!).

[quote name='JimBobTTD' post='364652' date='Dec 28 2008, 10:37 AM']It's the end of the year, give or take. Time to take stock! I am astounded - [i]astounded [/i]- at the mass of new toys I have. I can cite a new band (which then never got off the ground) as a reason, but still...it's not as if I didn't have anything at the start of the year! The good news is that due to the sheer amount of tidying up and flogging of stuff lying around (misc guitar parts, pickups, bodies etc), it hasn't set me back much. In fact, excluding the 2 Gibsons, everything else has pretty much balanced out at zero cost. Also, excluding the LTD, everything was secondhand. Total: Basses: +3 (3 in, 0 out) Guitars: +1 (3 in, 2 out) Amps: -1 (0 in, 1 out) Cabs: +2 (4 in, 2 out) FX & misc: +3 (4 in, 1 out) In detail: IN Ibanez SRX500 Ibanez SR 5 string Burny Mockingbird body & neck Pickups, bridge etc for Burny Gibson Les Paul Jr DC Gibson SG LTD M400 Trace Elliot 1x15 Trace Elliot 4x10 Marshall 1x15 Marshall 1960A 4x12 Rane Rack Compressor ART power conditioner 8U Rack Wireless system thingie OUT Squier Tele II Custom Jackson bitsa shredmachine Fender Blues Jr Misc parts I've had around for a while Trace Elliot 1x15 Trace Elliot 4x10 Wireless system thingie (wouldn't work in Sweden) Go on, folks. What did you get up to during the year? (Groan...edit for bits I'd missed out)[/quote] IN Roland DB500 combo Double bass Bassmax pickup Out Warwick ProFet 3.2 EBS Proline 15" The outs didn't quite balance the ins, but they were'nt too far off!!

Hate Les Pauls and SGs, Steinbergers (cricket bat shapes). Don't like most metal styles (warlocks etc). Like Precisions, Stingrays and Warwicks. Love Jazzes.

For gigs, you'll need a minimum of around 150W to get over a drummer on stage. You're probably better getting something small and saving for a bigger rig as and when you need it. You can beg and borrow until then (most of us did that until we could afford/justify it). Or, you could go the whole hog. I sold my Warwick ProFet 3.2 for £80. 300w, nice tone. You could look for something similar. Definitely buy secondhand, the value is unbelievable. Good luck with the search, it's half the fun!

[quote name='Beedster' post='359498' date='Dec 20 2008, 12:25 PM']Probably true of most basses One of the best sounding bass players I've seen live was playing a pretty average late '90s Squire through a pretty crap combo but boy did he sound awesome.[/quote] Wow, was that me?!! I play a decidedly average late 90s Squier through a Roland DB500!! But seriously, it's not as good as my American Jazz Deluxe, but I don't sh*t myself when I drop it either.

[quote name='ardi100' post='358338' date='Dec 18 2008, 09:50 PM']I use my Roland DB500 combo for rehearsals and gigs. Haven't done loads of gigs yet but for rehearsals it fills the room, and our drummer is loud. Playing a school hall with 1000 kids in it tomorrow so that should test it out![/quote] Filled the hall and drowned out the guitarist! Very, very happy indeed!!

I was going to suggest that. It looks like the same font as my Linebacker amp from the 80s.

I use my Roland DB500 combo for rehearsals and gigs. Haven't done loads of gigs yet but for rehearsals it fills the room, and our drummer is loud. Playing a school hall with 1000 kids in it tomorrow so that should test it out!

Nope, I don't get it either!

[quote name='TPJ' post='355198' date='Dec 15 2008, 05:25 PM']That'll happen every time you play the DB. They are very gratifying to play. Enjoy and keep us posted.[/quote] Certainly happened at my gig last night. Not just mine either, it's great playing double bass where most acts are just acoustic guitars!