bassace

There’s a Paul Bryant in the Wanted section. GLWTS

No low cut/hi pass, or do I get it another way?

We had a half decent trad band in Cheltenham in the sixties. It wasn’t really our thing but it was commercial. We organised a tour of Cornwall in 63: RN Culdrose, Newlyn Fishmarket, that sort of thing. Our final gig was at the Flamingo Ballroom at Redruth. When we arrived we were met by the owner, Joy Hone, who told us that Georgie Fame was staying at her adjoining hotel recovering from sunburn. As we were setting up he came up on the stage, sat at the piano and played Dat Dere with me on bass and our alto sax player. Not many trad bands would play that. We returned the compliment by booking him and the Blue Flames into Cheltenham a few weeks later. For £50, as I recall. Happy days.

3 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

It’s also common to take classical instruments on approval. I didn’t know this when I bought my Bryant bass and turned up with a bag full of money which he refused to take. 
 

He gave me the bass and rang me a few days later with his bank details.

 

You may know this of course, but it removes a lot of tension when buying from a dealer I guess knowing you can bring it back if it doesn’t work for you.

Dear Paul did the same with me. Going out his front door it was a case of ‘Don’t you want my address?’  ‘Oh I suppose so’. 
 

Lovely bass.

It’s called the green room from the mould on the wall.

I’ve downsized to the extent that I now have just one amp - a Puma 500. I’ve had them all, for DB this is the best. And I’m sure it’ll be great for landscapes.

Amazing amp.

Just settling down after coming in from the wind and rain may I be permitted to hijack this?

In my younger days there was a group on tv a lot called the Hedley Ward Trio. The DB player played a shortened double bass looking a bit like a CzechEase but a long time before David Gage, on a long stick. He explained that it was a Bassette known among musos at the time as a little bastard. I’ve never found any reference since until only recently I saw an ad for an old instrument with a 97cm scale length called a Bassetto. Anyone?

How do you get that under your chin?  By keeping my f**king mouth shut!

When I was ‘very busy’ playing with a seven piece I used a Clarus on top of a 10” EA Wizzy on top of a 12” EA Wizzy. It’s not always a good idea to mix disparate cabs; more a suck it and see exercise. But this worked very well with the 10” somehow putting a firmer bottom into the combination. For smaller gigs I could get away with using just the 12”.

Recently I’ve tended to use a Tecamp Puma on a Genzler array but my smaller Wizzy is definitely a keeper, especially with a trio or quartet on a carpeted stage.

Carved, hybrid or lam?

I hope this has come across from the tube. Quite good I thought.
 

https://youtu.be/g0OgxixunK4?feature=shared

35 minutes ago, TheRev said:

What's the pre/DI on top of the Puma?

Dave, It’s a Broughton HPF-DI with variable HPF, variable impedance, switchable phase and DI (which I don’t use). I went from FDeck to Grace, back to FDeck and finally to Broughton which is my preferred option.

Broughton come up with short runs of high quality gizmos from time but you’ve got to catch them.

Whoops, here we go. As I understand it there’s no hard and fast soloist standard between the makers but such a bass tends to be rather more compact for easier playability. Be it with a slightly shorter string length or more compact body, usually the width of the upper bout.

Having said that I now realise mine isn’t a Soloist but a Panormo copy. Sorry ‘bout that. Still a very nice bass tho’.

16 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

Yes I picked mine up from Paul and we had a lovely chat. He gave me the bass and told me to pay him if I liked it.

I took mine away on appro too. Just as I was going out the door I asked Paul if he should have my name and address. He replied, ‘Oh, I suppose so’.

Lovely man.

I’ve had ‘em all but I’m now happy with this somewhat minimalist rig. Sounds wonderful.

I agree with the above. My double bass journey has been long and tortuous, via Upton, two Martins and countless others before alighting on Bryant Soloist No83.

This is my keeper and is characterised by a gorgeous mid range singing voice. When a decent English bass maker charges £15k to build a bass these days this advertised price for a properly set up Bryant reflects Paul’s modesty overshadowing his considerable skills.

GLWTS

All the gear…

I was in a double bass shop with Ray Brown. We talked about E strings. Trouble was I didn’t know it was him until after he left.

22 hours ago, bass_dinger said:

I wanted to buy Freddies vacuum cleaner from I Want To Break Free.  Present for the wife...

It was a stunt vacuum cleaner.

I’ve been in approx 100 bands. I wouldn’t want to see any of them. Honest.

4 hours ago, tinyd said:

Although it sounds slightly counterintutive (less notes, so must be easier, right?), two-feel can often be harder than walking as well (which might be another reason why you prefer to walk).

In general it's a good skill to be able to switch between the two at will over any particular tune, particularly because when you're playing with other people switching might be the most appropriate choice.
 

Interesting, that.  I switch a lot between two feel and walking but as most of my stuff is freelance I usually discuss it with the drummer so he knows what to expect. I remember once mentioning to the drummer that I could tell when the rhythm is starting to swing and I can be confident in playing two feel. He replied, ‘Yes, but a minim is an awfully long note to be wrong’.

Check out Ray Brown playing Have You Met Miss Jones on Oscar’s We Get Requests. That swings in medium tempo two feel like no other.

I last saw him at Symphony Hall five years ago. He was in great voice and closed with Sanfrancisco without a mic. He filled the auditorium with his voice.

I met his DB player, Marshall Wood, through the ‘other’ forum and we formed a friendship.  TB toured with just his quartet and almost to the end they went all over the place, including a private gig at Buck House for Prince Charles- as he was then.

17 hours ago, Burns-bass said:

 I need a gig bag for a Bryant bass that’s currently living on the floor in the loft (don’t ask)

Tut Tut!

23 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

He's not bad for a 73 yr old to be fair.

Dave

Why, what’s for sale?

‘Do you play requests?’  ‘Only when we’re asked’ seemed to work well enough for us.